‘Better Call Saul’ recap: Brotherly love could prove Jimmy’s undoing

If an adversary shows even the slightest weakness, attorney Chuck McGill (Michael McKean) will surely exploit it.

In the case of sibling Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), his “weakness” is brotherly love. And that admirable quality could lead to his imprisonment on “Klick” (Episode 210), the Season 2 finale of AMC’s “Better Call Saul.”

Chuck endured the most humiliating setback of his career because Jimmy clandestinely altered building permit applications for Mesa Verde Bank and Trust, a key client of Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill.

This paperwork snafu delayed the bank’s interstate expansion efforts and prompted Mesa Verde to fire Chuck and hire Jimmy’s attorney girlfriend, Kimberly Wexler (Rhea Seehorn).

Knowing he’d been sabotaged, Chuck aggressively questioned a print shop employee about the forged documents. That’s when Chuck collapsed from supposed “electromagnetic hypersensitivity” and violently banged his head on a countertop.

Attempting to treat Chuck at an Albuquerque hospital is Dr. Cruz (Clea DuVall), who believes her combative patient is insane and should be committed to a psychiatric facility.

Jimmy refuses to commit Chuck, however. Instead, Jimmy becomes an emergency temporary guardian to ensure that Chuck receives appropriate medical care -- despite his vehement objections.

Unmoved by Jimmy’s kindness, Chuck concocts an elaborate revenge scheme that begins by sending a resignation letter to his law firm partner Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian). Jimmy hears this disturbing news and urges Chuck to reconsider.

“Hey, how you gonna retire before you get me disbarred?” Jimmy jokes. “Before you run me out of town on a rail, huh?”

“I can’t do the job anymore,” Chuck says disingenuously. “I blew it, completely and utterly. And then I blamed you!”

“What if I told you, you didn’t make a mistake,” Jimmy says, apologizing for the trouble he caused. “It was me. It all went down exactly as you said.”

“You do realize,” Chuck shrewdly points out, “you just confessed to a felony.”

Jimmy shrugs nonchalantly, claiming “it’s your word against mine.”

What Jimmy doesn’t realize, however, is that Chuck secretly recorded their conversation. And that damning tape could put Jimmy behind bars.

In other action, Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) targets Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis), a ruthless, high-ranking member of the Juarez cartel. This after Hector threatened to harm Mike’s beloved daughter-in-law Stacey (Kerry Condon) and granddaughter Kaylee (Abigail Zoe Lewis).

The first blow Mike delivers involves disabling one of Hector’s trucks and stealing $250,000 in drug money. Then Mike purchases a sniper rifle from Lawson (Jim Beaver), a shady arms dealer, and follows Hector into the desert.

Mike watches impassively from a hilltop as Hector’s thugs execute the truck driver, Ximenez Lecerda (Manuel Uriza), after he’s falsely accused of participating in the robbery.

Peering intently through his rifle scope, Mike is seconds away from shooting Hector with a large-caliber bullet.

But stepping into the line of fire is cartel lieutenant Nacho Varga (Michael Mando), who recently conspired with Mike to get Hector’s nephew Tuco (Raymond Cruz) arrested on assault and weapons charges.

Soon Mike is drawn away from the sniper post by the blaring of his car horn. Attached to his windshield is a note conveying a simple yet urgent message: “Don’t.”

Nacho apparently wants Hector left alive, which is no surprise to fans of “Breaking Bad,” the sequel to “Better Call Saul.”

Wheelchair-bound Hector will die in the memorable “Face Off” episode, of course, when he slays drug kingpin Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) by exploding a pipe bomb.

But that murder-suicide won’t happen for a long time to come. So this means Hector and Mike will cross paths again, no doubt, when “Better Call Saul” returns next year for Season 3.