Better Call Saul Season 5: Why Mike Took The Gas Cap From Jimmy’s Car

There was a good reason Mike removed the gas cap from Jimmy’s car in Better Call Saul‘s latest episode. Season 5 of Better Call Saul has taken the titular lawyer perilously close to becoming the sleazy criminal viewers know and love from Breaking Bad. After first deciding to lower the standard of his clientele, Jimmy’s services were quickly snapped up by the local cartel, and the once aspiring lawman now finds himself defending the murderers and drug dealers of the Salamanca family. Bit by bit, Jimmy’s sense of justice is being eroded and replaced by a semi-reluctant lust for money and power.

In “Bagman,” Jimmy is once again serving as the lawyer of Lalo Salamanca, and following on from his bail hearing victory in last week’s episode, is charged with personally collecting Lalo’s £7 million bond – for a 2% fee, of course. The job begins simply enough, with Jimmy driving out into the New Mexico desert and picking up 2 hefty bags of cash from the Cousins. However, this newcomer to the “rough stuff” soon finds himself in the midst of an armed holdup, and only thanks to the guardian angel-like presence of Mike does Jimmy escape both unscathed and still holding the money. The duo embark on an arduous walk home after Jimmy’s car gives out to bullet damage, and they destroy the vehicle to cover their tracks and hide the evidence. But Mike strangely removes the gas cap before trashing the urine-colored Suzuki Esteem.

This moment is a throwback to Better Call Saul season 3. Though it seems several lifetimes ago now, Mike was once gunning directly for Hector Salamanca after he made a threat against Mike’s family, but the former cop was being warned off the assassination by a mystery figure. Eventually, Gus Fring was revealed to be the man pulling the strings, and had a tracker placed inside the gas cap of Mike’s car in order to keep track of his movements. Fast forward to “Bagman” and it seems that the same trick has been pulled on Jimmy. This explains how Mike found Jimmy all the way out in the desert and, sure enough, when Gus’ new button man stows away Jimmy’s gas cap, the handheld component of the tracker is visible in his bag.

This prompts 2 questions: why was a tracker placed on Jimmy’s car, and why was Mike so quick to remove and hide it? The placement of the device was surely part of Gus’ ongoing attempts to bring down the Salamanca family in Better Call Saul. Gus knows he can’t hit Lalo while the man is in prison, so it’s in Gus’ own interests to ensure the Salamanca boss makes bail and is released. Knowing Jimmy was representing his enemy, Gus either had a tracker planted on Jimmy’s car as a standard measure to keep tabs on the situation, or he suspected the lawyer would be who Lalo would send to fetch the money, and correctly assumed Jimmy would need protecting.

As for why Mike removes the tracker rather than just letting it rot with the abandoned Esteem, there are 2 potential explanations, both of which could be true. Firstly, if the Salamancas or anyone else discovered the tracker in the wrecked vehicle, they might start to suspect the involvement of a third party, and Gus’ hold over the Salamancas could be ruined. Better Call Saul has already seen Gus set fire to his own restaurant in order to maintain this advantage – removing the tracker seems like a reasonable precaution. However, Mike also keeps the device secret from Jimmy, and this is likely nothing more than an attempt to stop the lawyer losing his cool. Things were tense enough in the desert without Jimmy railing at Mike for secretly tracking his vehicle.

Better Call Saul season 5 continues with “Bad Choice Road” April 14th on Netflix.

About The Author

Craig Elvy
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Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig’s interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own.
Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS.

Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer.
Jim Carrey is Craig’s top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.

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