I can understand why some fans were disappointed with this one, but i personally thought this episode worked extremely well in this season. Firstly, it (seems) to have wrapped up the Jeff storyline, and I absolutely loved the way Gene handled this dilemma. Getting vacuumed again would be superfluous, and having Gene kill Jeff would make no sense for his character. Gene was able to solve his problem by returning to his Slippin Jimmy roots, which was entertaining and even a bit heartwarming. It was nice to move away from the sadness and intensity of the last several episodes. Second, all 6 seasons have been leading up to this. The audience has been waiting all these years for the show to finally reach the Gene timeline, and I was not disappointed. After all, Gene's existence seems to be pretty lonely and bleak. Seeing him be passionate about something, and seeing those glimpses of his past (returning to his schemes, the mention of Walter White, the real emotion he felt while talking about his brother) really helped to connect this timeline to the rest of the show. Lastly, I think this episode's greatest strength was the uncertainty. For much of the show, the viewer has known that Saul has to survive into Breaking Bad, as do other major characters like Gus and Mike. But Gene's fate is uncertain, no one knows what will happen to him. For the first time, I felt genuinely nervous about his character's future. Even though a shoplifting scheme sounds extremely tame compared to other things that have happened in this show, it was still able to keep me on the edge of my seat.
This episode reminded me a lot of the Breaking Bad episode "Fly". Maybe they seem unimportant, but they're not just filler episodes. I think "Nippy" serves an important purpose in this show, and one that will likely become more apparent as it comes to an end.
This episode reminded me a lot of the Breaking Bad episode "Fly". Maybe they seem unimportant, but they're not just filler episodes. I think "Nippy" serves an important purpose in this show, and one that will likely become more apparent as it comes to an end.