How Jimmy McGill Manipulated Everyone (Better Call Saul)

[Music] Vince Gilligan is the master of writing manipulative characters individuals who don't initially appear to be particularly dominant or dangerous yet they possess a unique ability to Puppet Master those around them but while Walter White and Gus Fring hide their Sinister motivations behind a carefully managed Public Image Jimmy McGill or Saul Goodman is the exact opposite Jimmy is the cliche sleazy salesman the type of huster you've probably encountered in your daily life that for some reason you can't quite put your finger on just feels untrustworthy his techniques are more transparent and bombastic often born out of desperation as if he has no other card to play except the dirtiest trick in the book throughout better call saw we see Jimmy go from resisting his natural talents to slowly succumbing to their charms and over time harnessing them to enrich himself and even settle old scores but given we live in a world filled with sleazy sales tactics that are always trying to convert our attention into a transaction sometimes awareness is the best defense so let's take a deeper look at the manipulative tools Jimmy McGill employs to gain the upper hand throughout better call saw now of course we are going to analyze the mechanics of Jimmy scams but to understand them best we need to lay some groundwork although we may like to think we could spot a phony from a mile off the truth is that our first impression of someone tends to inform our expectations of them whether it's positive or negative we tend to quickly categorize things in our mind which is why companies pour so much money into creating a strong Public Image that instantly feels reliable and professional we tend to look out for social proof like multiple employees or an impressive polished building all of which subconsciously proves to you that you're encountering something others have invested in which makes it feel safe whereas if you just look at Jimmy a man whose office is tucked away at the back of a nail salon with no other employees it's evidence that no one else is investing in this business making it feel risky so Jimmy combats this bad first impression by pretending he has a British receptionist to quickly sell the idea that there are more people involved in this operation than just him yes Mrs kettman so good of you to return oh Splendid first impress matter we infer a lot from very little this is why when Jimmy is trying to appeal to the elderly he intentionally dresses in a similar suit to the TV lawyer Matlock to subconsciously create an immediate mental association between himself and the expensive lawyer they like watching on TV although Jimmy is prone to shortcuts he has great attention to detail in whatever scheme he cooks up for example the most effective advertising is free so when Jimmy wants to build a false sense of trust with potential clients he decides to portray himself as a hero this achieves several things at once it makes him seem like an honest trustworthy person that's looking out for others but it also lays the groundwork for him to sell his David versus Goliath story that he's allegedly being forced to take down his billboard due to a larger company bullying him out of the marketplace this prays on the Public's sense of Injustice and they will intuitively feel the need to correct the world's mistake by giving him business as they can identify with his struggle to make his American dream come true in this overpowering corporate environment which leads directly into the next Point forming a connection human beings are social creatures We Trust what we relate to and what we know and if we don't know someone then there needs to be some form of emotional connection created in order for us to allow them into our circle of trust Jimmy McGill is a Storyteller where other lawyers use arguments he uses emotional persuasion as he knows that ultimately your decision isn't going to be based on what you think but that what you think is going to be dictated by what you feel in the very first episode he employs this on the jury by trying to reactivate their personal memories of being a teenager oh to be 19 again you with me ladies and gentlemen do you remember 19 if I were held accountable for some of the stupid decisions I made when I was 19 oh boy wow he's trying to make the jury identify with the defendants so that they won't want them to be punished for mistakes they made with an underdeveloped Teenage brain this is so that they won't just feel that they're letting the boys off the hook but in a roundabout way they're also emotionally letting themselves off the hook for the mistakes they've made in the past as a teenager or when he's trying to win over the photocopy employers Jimmy brilliantly sells the story of the photocopier being the heartbeat of any successful business but but he intentionally personalizes it along the way by painting an intimate picture of his shared experience of using the product I was down on my hands and knees with my tie over my shoulder and ink stained hands and a line of employees out the door all of these visual personalized details sells his connection to the photocopier like here notice how he showcases his Insider knowledge by using terms like mystery streaks I was cleaning ink off gears and rollers trying to figure out where the mystery streaks were coming from and just look at the employer's reaction he's seeing a part of himself in Jimmy as if this guy doesn't just get my business he gets me he's been down in the dirt in the trenches with me or in season 6's black and white episodes Jimmy needs to gain an employees trust over the phone so she'll let him leave his box in the storage room overnight so the robbery can take place she's initially cold saying this is not her problem but then someone walks in an asks Jean is everything okay and he has to act like all is fine to his Superior so Jimmy uses this fake background evidence to form a connection with the other employee on the basis of solidarity I I understand it's just I mean we both have people we have to answer to right these are subtle techniques that a lot of people use every day they just don't realize they're even doing it nor are they doing it for nefarious purposes but for con artists like Jimmy they do it to emotionally maneuver what they want out of you they'll hone in on your similarities to make it seem like I'm just like you and you trust yourself so therefore you should trust them too being a good salesman is all about persuasion and persuasion is a subtle tool of manipulation as the goal is essentially to catch a person's thought and redirect them towards the outcome you want but how do your thoughts get captured in the first place forming a connection is one way but it's also about using persuasive language for instance there's a difference between being offered and being instructed persuasion tools usually subtly instruct your mind every step of the way think of the carnival slogan step right up and how that's instructing your mind to take charge it's an active instruction with upward momentum and emotional weight behind it step right up be brave give into your desires prove yourself so now let's just look at the words Jimmy uses to persuade the jury oh to be 19 again you with me ladies and gentlemen do you remember 19 so right away Jimmy sets up a positive thought of oh how we all miss being 19 then he tries to pull in the minds of the jury like a ring Master this collectivized them which adds a degree of social pressure to it don't be left out we're all going on a journey back in time together don't resist and then a clear instruction do you remember 19 so the this will picture themselves at 19 to create a personal connection let me tell you the juices are flowing the red cor pusles are cor pusing the grass is green and it's soft and Summer's going to last forever so here he's painting a picture of a positive memory we've all been there right and to make sure we're all on the same page he reinforces now do you remember yeah you do so just look at that asks a question and then answers it with yeah you do he's leading their thoughts not allowing them to deny it but if you're being honest I mean well really honest you'll recall that you also had an underdeveloped 19-year-old brain so here he's introducing the word honest into the equation to build trust me personally if I were held accountable for some of the stupid decisions I made when I was 19 oh boy wow now he's creating a connection he's personalizing it and I bet if I were in church right now I'd get a big amen and then then he cements the connection and instructs The Listener to picture an honest church-going Congregation of people all agreeing so he can conclude that we're all on the same page this makes it mentally harder to push back on or go against the grain as he's collectivizing the jury praying on their desire to fit in these kinds of persuasion tools are used in everyday advertising the sales team don't just inform you what their product or service does they try to find a way to burrow into your subconscious by forming an emotional connection with you and guiding your mind to make the transaction and The Guiding emotion towards making the sale is often subtly based on fear fear of living without the product or fear of missing out for example when Jimmy gets a job in a secluded cell phone store he needs to ship product so he takes a bland disposable phone and makes it symbolize so much more it's now a solution to a much deeper fear the need for privacy without his product the government could theoretically be listening to your calls then when the first customer he's seen all week finally arrives Jimmy sets the stage and pretends to be on a call to someone else telling them that he doesn't have enough product left to meet their needs 10 no can't do it everyone wants these things this creates a fraudulent feeling of scarcity which makes the product appear more valuable he then cement that idea by having a stack of phones marked as already claimed to other customers so that everywhere the victim looks there's social proof that lots of other people are already taking advantage of this deal to stimulate his fear of missing out even if we look at the most basic psychology of advertising it's centered around repetition that the more you see the brand name around the more you get to know it unconsciously attached to it and trust it which is why Jimmy always comes up with a catchy slogan for his businesses that rhymes if it isn't better call Soul it's give me Jimmy give me Jimmy this way the jingle sticks in your mind you may even find yourself humming its tune and that's enough to create some form of lingering affection and Trust towards the brand it's no secret that Jimmy McGill is a liar he fabricates and distorts reality to manipulate the outcome he wants but given the multifaceted nature of Jimmy's deception he needs to distract us from the holes in his story and for this Jimmy employs Two key approaches the sympathy card and the embarrassing confession this is so effective because it goes against our Natural Instincts most people don't want to appear weak they'd rather be envied than pied think about it most of the time the only people that know your secrets your Achilles heel your heartache or your most embarrassing moments are your close friends and family your inner circle of confidant that's because there's an intimacy to that vulnerability that needs to be earned and is therefore respected so Jimmy uses this reality to turn the tables and distract people from the truth by masking it with false vulnerability whether he has to appear as if he's grieving being squashed by corporate overlords or looking for his missing cat Jimmy will prey on his victim's good nature to work his way into their hearts so he can start manipulating their minds oral alternatively he'll manufacture an embarrassing story that feels like the truth to distract away from another lie for example when the police are highly suspicious of Daniel for selling drugs Jimmy fabricates evidence that the reason Daniel sounded so sketchy and nervous is that the items Stillen were actually fetish videos in which his client would sit on a pie wriggle around and cry while wearing a costume once the LIE is confirmed with a video Jimmy filmed the detectives believe it must be true as it's so embarrassing that they now feel as if they know everything there is to know so by showing them something more secretive than they ever expected he ends their curiosity when Theo shows up and intimidatingly asks Jimmy to Rell him the story of how his car allegedly broke down in the desert Jimmy tries to play both cards at different times the first time he retells the story the same way he did to Lao earlier to demonstrate continuity the second time he can see that Lao is looking for something new so he retells the story using different phrases and then concludes with an embarrassing confession so I had to drink my own pee yes a lot of it so you wanted details there you go hoping this will close the book and look like the LIE he was trying to conceal but then L still asks him to tell it again so Jimmy has to change Tac this time playing the sympathy card by emphasizing how much much pain and effort he endured heavy heavy bags I walked and I walked and I walked and I finally made it to a truck stop and notice how he's also using the persuasion tool of repetition to try to bury the words deep into L's memory and paint a clearer picture of what his alleged experience was like all alone out in the deserts which bring BRS us to the scams and this is where the show's excellent writing really shines and actually educates the audience on what to look out for in real life if I told you that you were going to get swindled by a persuasive con artist you'd probably start picturing a charismatic confident salesman that made you a series of false promises that were of course backed by evidence after all you're no fool but Jimmy scams are all about luring his victims into a false sense of security by allowing them to feel as if they are in complete control if anything they're the ones ripping him off for example Jimmy befriends someone in a bar forming a fun connection and a good first impression on their wallom through an Alleyway Jimmy lets his new pal find a lost wallet with $1,000 inside then they spot Marco drunkenly lying on the ground nearby now any normal moral person would give the wallet back and move along with their life but when they approach Marco he acts drunkenly antagonistic to draw a line of conflict between them and him this makes it mentally easier for the victim to decide to do the wrong thing and once he decides he is going to steal the money he is now a criminal and therefore has no recourse as he can't exactly go to the cops and say hey I got ripped off while robbing a drunk guy I got dibs on that watch man no see that now notice how Jimmy is the one to introduce the idea of of the watch he initially let the other guy lead so he feels like a passive follower making him even more inconspicuous but somehow he needs to make this watch more tantalizing than the wallet of guaranteed cash so again to take advantage of his worse nature he creates friction between himself and the victim by acting super sketchy about the details of the watch and trying to conceal that it's a Rolex this makes the victim work for the information so he values it more by triggering his fear of missing out in a weird way it now feels as if Jimmy was trying to steal the watch not just from Marco but from his fellow Thief once his victim discovers what appears to be the truth he tries to take the Rolex for himself and leave Jimmy with the cash and due to the fact he's the one taking control of the deal he never suspects he could be being screwed over as he thinks he's too busy screwing Jimmy over but to make things Fair he gives Jimmy an extra 580 bucks pretending ending the watch is only worth 3,000 when he secretly believes it's worth much more so now the victim happily flees the scene feeling like he's the winner when in reality he just handed the scammers $580 for a fake Rolex so by playing a dumb and seeming a step behind Jimmy is letting the victim drive and feel like the big man as no one suspects they're being played when they're playing someone else think of it like a form of manipulative Judo he prays on what his victim perceives to be their greatest strength and uses it against them like when Jimmy runs a similar scam against the stock Trader Ken by playing to his ego he sets his first impression by asking him a novice question about stocks is there a financial limit to how much a person is allowed to invest now notice the language here and why this would Peak Ken's curiosity if he had asked him is there a financial limit to how this little a person is allowed to invest Ken would not be interested as it would seem too small for him and his elevated sense of self but by asking how much he's planting key words in Ken's mind he then asks even if it's an inheritance which gives the impression he's just come into a lot of money and has no idea what to do with it knowing an alpha like Ken will try to take control of the situation and use it to his Advantage so like a manipulative Maestro Jimmy is gu in can to want to prey on him so he'll Court them and treat them to a night of outlandishly expensive drinks even though they've done nothing to deserve it except to allegedly inherit money and pretend to sign up to his fund so here Jimmy is using the victim's superficial value system against him Ken is only interested in using people for their money so Jimmy turns the tables and uses him for his each scam requires the victim to look down on the Predator to consider him a step behind too slow or too pathetic to pose a real threat this means Jimmy knows he doesn't come across as particularly polished or smart and therefore wants to punish those who underestimate him a natural consequence of living under the shadow of his arrogant older brother if we take the coin scam as an example Jimmy and Marco are somehow going to manipulate this successful suited businessman into buying a half dooll coin for $110 now if they both just went over to him and began pitching the alleged value of the coin he wouldn't even be tempted as it would feel like they're trying to get rid of it instead they need to clout his judgment by igniting his competitive side so firstly Jimmy starts off by trying to sell to Marco as if they don't know each other making the victim a mere spectator then when Jimmy goes to the toilet Marco creates a connection with the businessman by scoffing to him that this guy is playing me right so again by deferring to him they're playing to his ego as if he can see what's really going on better than anyone else then in one genius manipulative move Marco pulls the businessman's attention onto him by asking him to be a witness and setting the stakes that the cops might be called and when he tells me this is a scam you know what I'm going to do I'm going to call the cops and get the scum back thrown in the can you're my witness okay this way even if the businessman tries to ignore it his attention is going to be laser focused in on that call no matter what as he now knows he may need to recollect this for a police report Marco asks the fake coin dealer on the other side of the phone if this and ball story is true and then whatever it is he pretends to hear he goes quiet starts muttering and turns his back when he hangs up the businessman asks him what he was told yeah you know he he didn't really know much so again by lying to him the egotistical businessman feels as if as per usual he can see what's really going on here and won't be played for a fool once Jimmy returns Marco offers him $50 and Jimmy says no as the coin is worth 800 psychologically anchoring the price up high in earshot of the victim this causes the businessman to enter the bidding war as Marco has triggered his fear of missing out and by turning his back and lying to him he set up an adversarial Dynamic where the two men who originally connected are now competing now if this slick professional didn't feel like he's better than Marco and more entitled to win than he is he could have avoided being scammed but instead he one-ups his offer and buys it for $110 Marco then chases him out of the bar claiming this isn't fair further inflating the value of the phony coin and the businessman snaps back that money talks you lost it's over highlighting how yet again they've made the victim feel like the perpetrator and they now flee the scene proud of themselves for crushing their opponent when really they've just been scammed by a couple of husters so always beware just because you feel in control if something seems too good to be true it probably [Music] is Jimmy uses a similar approach to sabotage specific individuals taking what is normally their great his strength and turning it into a glaring weakness for example similar to his younger brother Chuck has exceptional attention to detail but unlike Jimmy he always believes he's right no matter what so when Jimmy secretly takes his Mesa Verde files while he's sleeping and subtly changes the address he's masterminded a situation that is guaranteed to implode Chuck's credibility as not only will he have filed the wrong address delaying the opening of the branch by 6 weeks but he will also refuse to take any responsibility for it he even insists the address he filed still must somehow be correct despite what he's being told as he would sooner believe his clients don't know their own address than even consider that he could have possibly made a mistake so philosophically and even psychologically Jimmy's sabotage techniques rely on aam's razor the idea that the simplest explanation is likely the correct one as water May sde really supposed to believe here that their lawyer is the victim of an incredibly elaborate conspiracy theory or that he simply made a mistake the same is true with how Jimmy and Kim sabotage Howard Hamlin's reputation their goal is to convince a community of lawyers who are used to following evidence to draw conclusions that straight laced Howard is secretly living a wild life of drugs and prostitutes so they need to create a consistent pattern unignorable manting evidence first Jimmy Begins the suspicious Behavior by having two hookers falsely confront Howard at his lunch with Cliff now on its own this wouldn't be enough to convince anyone it's a bit of fun gossip but could easily be a prank then Jimmy sneaks what looks like drugs into Howard's gym locker so that it falls out right in front of Cliff now there's a pattern then he dresses up as Howard stealing his car to drive past Cliff while he's at lunch with Kim and kicks a hooker out of the passenger side door confirming the initial suspicion he then manipulates the kettlemans into shopping around town for a lawyer asking if they can have their charges overturned due to the fact that their lead lawyer herard Hamlin was an alleged drug addict this makes it feel like common knowledge everyone knows and everyone is talking about it all leading to one big final move when Howard is already onto Jimmy as per usual he lets his victim feel in control by letting Howard hire a fake PR private investigator to follow Jimmy around they then look up who the Sandpiper mediator is going to be and orchestrate fake photographs of someone that looks exactly like him handing Jimmy what looks like an envelope of bribe money and ding the photos in a substance that will make Howard's pupils dilate this way when Howard freaks out and accuses the mediator of being corrupt he torpedo his reputation alongside this case all in one move and when he tries to explain what he believes has happened what is Cliff honestly supposed to believe that Jimmy a man who has a stake in the profits of the Sandpiper case went against his own Financial interests to construct this ludicrously elaborate conspiracy theory against Howard to make it look like he's cracking up and paranoid due to his drug habit or that Howard just like the evidence suggests may have a drug problem that is now impacting his work so in both examples Jimmy constructs a situation where where his victims end up looking like little boys making up childish excuses so that they don't get in trouble although all of this is complete fiction Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould's writing team do a phenomenal job of making every step of each scam feel true to our nature as we don't necessarily learn anything just from what Jimmy does but in how realistic the other characters reactions are as that's what helps us to understand where our own vulnerabilities lie better call feels like a very different show to Breaking Bad but that's because Jimmy McGill is a very different type of manipulator than Walter White he's an everyday salesman a Sleazy swindler and Huer that doesn't just play the cards he's dealt he plays the opponent in front of him nefariously picking up tails to turn your most intuitive strength into your most exploitable weakness because by feeling like you should always be a step ahead of him and always in control you won't even notice you're being scammed until it's too [Music] late well if you've made it this far firstly thank you for watching but if you could now give the video a like possibly even leave a comment and click on that subscribe button it will encourage that mysterious algorithm to do its thing he

Channel: Just an Observation

Views: 220,031

Keywords: better call saul manipulation, breaking bad manipulation, better call saul psychology, better call saul persuasion, saul good man persuasion, jimmy mcgill manipulation, jimmy mcgill sales technique, how jimmy mcgill persuades, how jimmy mcgill manipulates, bob odekirk, better call saul scams, better call saul sabotage, better call saul scam breakdown, better call saul, vince gilligan, better call saul video essay, better call saul analysis, better call saul review

Id: QYyhGq8_MpU

Length: 27min 30sec (1650 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 06 2024