Really good episode. Halfway through I thought they were heading towards a big court case finale with Saul pulling a miracle out of his ass and Kim leaving HH&M to help out. Now that they settled that case, I'm really curious how they're going to end the season over the next 3 episodes.
I had the same plot possibility going in my head as I was watching it. That's what I like about the show so far. As you are watching, there are quite a few possibilities about how something could play out. And the one that actually plays out is the most surprising one.
The feeling I'm getting from the entire story arc of season 1 is simply:
Saul, by nature, is a scammer. But he's trying to do the right thing with the idea that you push through doing things the right way and eventually people notice your integrity. This is enforced by his brother saying exactly that. And even though his brother is in a bad place now, he obviously at one time did very well based off his own advice. But every time he does the right thing, he just seems to get the short end of the stick. But every time he runs a scam, he gets ahead.
Take a bribe from people that are douchebags anyway, get ahead.
White hat scam to get the douchebags back to the right deal that also helps his biggest friend, his dream of expanding gets compromised.
The whole season seems to be the theme that schemers get ahead. Integrity's "feel good moment" is short-lived when the bill collectors are knocking at your door.
So he will eventually make the compromise that he will be that scheming lawyer, but justify it by scamming people he considers had it coming to them.
He's breaking relatively bad.