Hey McGilligans! It feels like just the other day I was writing my last recap. Oh that’s right. I was. But I have been warned by a very good friend that if I don’t get my priorities straight and stop taking pictures of my cat, then, well, nothing but he was very stern, so here we are.
Anyway, previously, Jimmy was chafing hard at his respectability leash and metaphorically peeing all over the carpet so D&M would just let him run free. Instead they decided to kennel train him. Kim found out the hard way that while Jimmy’s heart is in the right place, his mind is often plotting the quickest, sleaziest way to get there. Howard showed his dark side and it wasn’t pretty, but he still doesn’t suck anywhere near as much as Chuck does. Who was once married to a charming woman named Rebecca who took an instant liking to Jimmy, which probably prompted Chuck to file for divorce and pretend he’s allergic to electricity.
Tio Salamanca came back, without his little bell, after Macho hatched a plan to get rid of Tuco that didn’t involve committing a capital offense.
And Macho is, and will always be, my OTP.
Jimmy’s having a rough night. His corporate condo is too big and comfortable for his taste and he can’t get any sleep. As “Sleepwalk” plays we watch how Jimmy deals with his insomnia. And it’s as you’d expect, engaging in shenanigans and tomfoolery with those wicker balls Kim mocked earlier. He bowls, he drops them in a basket from his split level, he randomly steps on them, he lies on the sofa tossing them until he eventually gets tired of them.
It’s 1:30 in the morning, so he settles down to watch some early aughts late night TV which consists of Chia Pet commercials, network sign-offs (really, in 2002?) and … a Davis & Main ad soliciting possible plaintiffs to their Sandpiper case. Only it’s not the good, Jimmy ad that got 200 calls after airing once during “Murder, She Wrote.” No, it’s a droning ad with the blue swirls on a black background.
Jimmy’s rightly miffed about this development, especially since he has to put up with Tracy Flick as his babysitter, so he packs a garment bag and heads back to where he belongs: in his cramped office in the back of Zen Nail Spa where he can finally get some sleep.
Next morning, Jimmy’s getting ready to head back up to Santa Fe and his tastefully dull life at D&M. Luckily, Mrs. Nguyen barges into his office while he’s getting dressed to provide some excitement for the day. She’s pissed (duh) that Jimmy just came back without telling her, but as he points out, it is still his office since he’s paid the rent.
Shiny, happy people
She thinks he’s an idiot to keep coming back when his new job even gave him a car, so she assumes Jimmy had to be fired. Au contraire, Mrs. Nguyen. No matter how hard he tries, they just won’t fire him. Not because of the ad. Not because he’s usually late. Not because he’s made it his life’s mission to piss off Tracy Flick. Not because he randomly leaves at all hours of the day. Nope. They won’t fire him. So he heads back to Santa Fe.
When Jimmy gets in the Mercedes, the thrill is clearly gone. Now all the annoying things about it (like how you end up driving like someone who drives a Mercedes) are more noticeable. The cupholder is still too small, the shoulder harness tries to decapitate him and he can’t even reach down to grab his travel mug that Kim gave him. I’m sure this scene was a metaphor for something.
Meanwhile, Kim’s brushing her teeth, but it’s just not the same without Jimmy using her finger as his toothbrush. She has a sad, partly because of Jimmy but mostly because her job at HHM has become a slog.
As she’s on her way out, she sees that she has six messages on her landline, but decides against listening to them because she knows they’re from Jimmy and she knows he’ll try to charm her. Before she can leave, though, Jimmy calls again. This time to sing “Bali Ha’i” into her answering machine. Turns out he’d been singing songs from “South Pacific” into her machine and was planning to move on to The Carpenter tomorrow. Kim’s not mad because that’s the effect Jimmy’s singing has on people.
Keep trying, Kim. You’ll eventually develop those facial muscles to smile.
Over at HHM, Kim’s been moved back to her regular office, but Howard’s still none too pleased with her. He gets her for their meeting with Kevin and Paige from Mesa Verde but, seriously, Patrick Fabian must have practiced long and hard to get such a dour frown on his face. He looks like he just ate raw liver. Kim tries to engage him in some conversation, but no go. He’s saving all his positive energy for the clients and as they cross over into the conference room hallway he turns on a dime into “glad-handing Howard Hamlin” with his Pepsodent smile. That was disturbing. Maybe Jimmy was right about Howard all along.