"Amarillo" might be Jimmy at his most purely good to date. He’s in the thick of collecting clients for the Sandpiper case, which for now means stopping a bus on the way to an early bird special in order to lay on his charm. It’s everything we’ve come to expect from Jimmy so far—he’s kind and fun with the elderly, weaving a story so convincing it’s no wonder he signs over 20 people to to join the case. But, as Chuck maliciously (and correctly) points out in a meeting, the opposing counsel in the Sandpiper case will be looking for evidence of solicitation, which could get Jimmy disbarred. After a stern talking-to from Kim—who has put herself on the line for him—Jimmy makes a tough decision: to do things by the book.
This happens in the form of a commercial, which Jimmy conceives as a targeted way of getting around the Sandpiper staff by reaching residents directly (during the first ad break of Murder, She Wrote, naturally). It’s a perfect distillation of Jimmy’s gifts—reliant on Jimmy’s deep knowledge of the case, and of his clientele, and heavily reliant on his gift for showmanship. Better still, we get to see the ad, which is rather convincing—and it works. In a wonderful, wordless sequence, Jimmy squirms, waiting for calls from residents, until the lights on his phone go up one by one. The lines are clogged.
Ensnared in a scene of ideal domesticity, watching Ice Station Zebra with Kim, it seems like Jimmy has found the best possible version of himself—except that he didn’t tell the bosses about the ad. It’s not quite illegal (after all, he’s taken great pains to work inside the law), but explaining his decision will certainly put a strain on both his job and his relationship with Kim. Returning to the movie from a tense phone call, he asks Kim, “Anything blow up yet?” Not yet, but it’s coming.
Alignment: (Mostly) Lawful Good
