20 Best Episodes Of Better Call Saul

11. Pimento (Season 1, Episode 9)

Better Call Saul
Netflix

Pimento is, for this writer's money, the first time Better Call Saul proves it could be a great show capable of removing itself from Breaking Bad's shadow, and most of that comes down to Jimmy and Chuck's feud, and Odenkirk's boiling performance.

A slow-burning glimpse into Jimmy and Chuck's fraught relationship, the episode finds the younger McGill struggling to reconcile the fact Chuck blocked his path to a career in his firm, a secret which first causes revulsion, then confusion, then raging anger as he cuts Chuck down and berates him.

Odenkirk's dramatic chops throughout Pimento, as Jimmy takes a crucial step in denouncing his brother and his name, make for an absolutely wrenching display of pity and resentment, selling its final moments as a crucial series turning point.

Pimento also offers up the subplot in which Mike hilariously locks horns with Steven Ogg's cocky merc, and his first time dealings with a scheming Nacho. It may be early, but this is Better Call Saul already hitting its stride.

Contributor

Aidan Whatman hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.