Nacho
Directed by Terry McDonough
Air date: February 16th, 2015
In a flashback, Jimmy is in jail and faces multiple charges and the prospect of having to register as a sex offender because of his "Chicago Sunroof" incident. Chuck promises Jimmy he'll serve as Jimmy’s defense counsel, but only if Jimmy agrees to stop running cons and engaging in illegal behavior. Jimmy promises he'd do anything for Chuck.
In 2002, Jimmy is worried about Nacho's plans for the Kettlemans. He indirectly tries to warn Kim about the danger her clients are in. But when she tries to press him on how he has come to believe this, he avoids answering the question and claims it is just drunk speculation on his behalf. Jimmy later calls the Kettlemans from a pay phone and uses a disguised voice to warn them they're in danger. They look outside and see Nacho's van.
The next morning, Jimmy is at work at the courthouse when learns from Kim that something has happened to the Kettlemans. He rushes to leave, but gets into another argument with Mike when he charges him nine dollars over a missing parking validation. Jimmy gets around it by pressing the button opening the gate barrier inside Mike's booth while he is distracted, shouting "Screw you, geezer!" as he drives off. Mike just silently regards him driving away with a Death Glare on his face.
Arriving at the Kettlemans' house, Jimmy finds it surrounded by police and the family has gone missing. Believing that Nacho has kidnapped them, Jimmy tries to call him with the number he gave him, but only gets his voicemail. He tries waiting for Nacho to call him back, but while he does so, he sees two men walk towards him in opposite directions. He runs off, only for them to reveal themselves as plainclothes cops — a neighbor reported seeing Nacho's van on the night of the kidnapping, so he was arrested, and requested Jimmy to be his legal counsel.
Jimmy sits down with Nacho at the station, and tells him witnesses have seen his van parked outside the Kettleman house, and that blood was found in the van when the police searched it. Nacho maintains that he is innocent in the matter of the kidnapping; he was only there to case the house in anticipation of the robbery. Nacho accuses Jimmy of tipping off the Kettlemans, and threatens that if he cannot prove his innocence, the police could uncover his connections to Tuco, which would get Jimmy killed.
After surveying the daughter's room, Jimmy comes to believe the Kettlemans staged the kidnapping. He privately explains his theory to Kim, during which he confesses to her that he anonymously warned the Kettlemans about Nacho, which caused them to go into hiding, and that Nacho has threatened with sending some guys after him if he doesn't find a way to get him off the hook. However, he has no way to prove his claims.
Jimmy returns to the courthouse, wanting to speak to Nacho, but is confronted at the entrance to the parking lot by Mike, who refuses to allow Jimmy back inside due to their earlier altercation. Outraged, Jimmy attempts to pick a fight with Mike, who quickly shows that he is still quite dangerous and physically capable despite his age, as he blocks Jimmy in one move and effortlessly subdues him by twisting his arm, resulting in Jimmy getting arrested again.
At the police station, the detectives at duty explain the situation with the Kettlemans to Mike, telling him that they want him to press assault charges against Jimmy, to use as leverage to force Jimmy to reveal the Kettlemans' location, telling him that is a chance for him to "do some good", a comment which visibly angers Mike. Mike then, surprisingly, changes his mind after listening to Jimmy's theory, and tells the detectives that he is dropping the charges. He privately admits to Jimmy afterwards that his reason for helping him out is because he believes Jimmy's theory about the Kettlemans' disappearance to be correct. Mike explains to Jimmy that he was once a police officer in Philadelphia, and while working there he encountered a similar case where a suspect faked his disappearance. The suspect was at first believed to have fled overseas, but in reality he was hiding out in a foreclosure two doors down from his own home. Mike tells Jimmy that he strongly suspects that Kettlemans are in all probability doing the same thing, since it is human nature to not want to leave your home.
Based on Mike's lead, Jimmy returns to Kettlemans' residence, and locates them camping out in the forest in the hills above their home, singing loudly. Jimmy confronts them and tries to have them return on their own volition as the police will be involved if they do not. As he reaches for a duffel bag, Betsy starts a tug-o-war with it. The bag rips and cash rains down.
Tropes:
- The Ace: The Flashback sets out that Chuck was once a competent and respected lawyer, even if somewhat arrogant.
- The Alleged Car: At the payphone, Jimmy sees two men approaching, so he tries to start his car but it fails. He then decides to take to his heels instead.
- Faked Kidnapping: Jimmy finds the Kettlemans who faked their kidnapping and hid out in the woods.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Flashback clearly sets out Chuck as the responsible sibling, and Jimmy as the foolish sibling.
- Foreshadowing: Mike's refusal to cooperate with the two police officers in booking Jimmy hints at a larger resentment with the police force, in particular, his expression of Tranquil Fury when one of them puts a hand on his arm and says "help us do some good" and the contempt in his voice when he responds to "I thought you had our backs, buddy."
- Horrible Camping Trip: Downplayed. The Kettlemans' camping setup isn't the worst, but it's clear that it's very makeshift and their children don't seem nearly as enthusiastic as the parents are.
- Idiot Ball: So the Kettlemans know they're fugitives on the run and they continue to sing out very loudly, "B-I-N-G-O! B-I-N-G-O! B-I-N-G-O! Bingo was his name-O!" giving away their location?
- Inelegant Blubbering: According to Chuck, Jimmy was practically sobbing while on the phone with his mother.
- Mugging the Monster: Jimmy attempts to assault what he believes to be a harmless old man in Mike. Little does he know that Mike is a former beat cop who can still more than hold his own as a Badass Old Guy.
- Nervous Wreck: Jimmy becomes one when he fears the worst for the Kettlemans. It's evident when he can barely keep himself together while frantically trying to call Nacho on a payphone.
- Never My Fault: Nacho assumes the only reason he got arrested is because Jimmy ratted him out, and not because he parked his extremely suspicious van in the street of an upper class suburban neighborhood for two nights in a row and neglected to clean the blood out of it.
- Noodle Incident: The flashback during the opening scene reveals that Jimmy was once arrested for sexual assault for engaging in a "Chicago sunroof". Exactly what such an act entails will not be revealed until later in the season.
- Only One Finds It Fun: Inverted. The Kettlemans all seem to be enjoying their impromptu camping trip that they set up, except for the son, who is very clearly irritated with singing campfire songs and outright expresses relief when Jimmy appears to force them to go back home.
- Saying Too Much: While on the phone with Kim, Jimmy accidentally lets slip that the Kettlemans might be in serious danger.
- Shout-Out:
- Jimmy popping into (or rather, un-zipping quickly) the Kettlemans' tent and screaming "HERE'S JOHNNY!" Fitting because Jimmy is an avid movie watcher and always brings up movies in many conversations.
- When Mike talks about the suspect who faked his appearance during his days on the police force, he says that they speculated that he was either in the Bahamas or in the "Jersey Pine Barrens".
- Tear-Apart Tug-of-War: Jimmy and Betsy get into a tug-o-war over a duffel bag, causing it to tear open and spill the Kettlemans' embezzled cash.
