Walt and Jesse face a problem when Badger gets arrested. Credit to the dealer, though, he doesn't go down easy. He immediately marks the "customer" as a cop and even notes that the nearby vans are dead giveaways that its a sting operation. Sadly, he falls for the "I have to tell you honestly whether I'm a cop or not if you ask me directly" line and gets busted.
Enter Saul Goodman, a defense attorney who stumbles into the operation and manages to take the case. This marks the character's debut episode and I can already see why he got a spin off. Yeah, you can say he's just a sleazy defense attorney, but Bob Odenkirk manages to turn him into a real standout character.
This episode is actually a throwback in many ways. It falls more into the "black comedy" arena, similar to many episodes from the first season. A lot of this does come from Saul's persona and antics, but it is still very much present.
I also highly enjoyed the last few minutes of the episode as Walt and Jesse scramble to save Badger from screwing things up by setting up the wrong person as their fall guy.
The show seems to be at its best when Walt and Jesse are backed into a corner and they are forced to think on the fly and improvise a solution. Not only is it fun to watch, but it benefits the characters as they get to shine in ways that most circumstances don't allow.
Still, the fact that the two are rookies is clear and Saul uses that to sway Walt into letting him in on the operation. On the plus side, he does seem more well versed in this and points out that Badger won't be the last dealer to get busted, so having him on call will come in handy.
Sure, it'll hinder Walt's progress in saving enough, but as Jesse notes, this is the cost of "exponential growth". Saul does note that they can make (and keep) more money as a result of his involvement, so it could very well turn out to be a sound investment.
Were Saul not such a fun, well written character, I don't think that the episode would have worked nearly as well as it did. As it is, I think that this is one of the more memorable episodes of the season.
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