Why does "Alpine Shepherd Boy" break Better Call Saul season 1 contains: "Uno," "Mijo,"Hero," "Nacho," "Five-O," "Bingo," "RICO," "Pimento," and "Marco."
Missing from that list is Better Call Saul season 1, episode 5 - "Alpine Shepherd Boy" and it doesn't take a master linguist to see this title bucks the pattern. "Alpine Shepherd Boy" gets its name from the small Hummel figurine Jimmy McGill encounters while assisting Mrs. Strauss with her will - a very rare, very collectible, very valuable figurine. The revelation of Alpine Shepherd's Boy's monetary value sets up a signature Saul Goodman scam that comes to fruition in Better Call Saul season 4's "Something Beautiful," but the title sticks out like a sore thumb among the O-heavy season 1 episode list. And there's a story behind that.
According to Vince Gilligan (speaking on Better Call Saul Insider Podcast), "Alpine Shepherd Boy" was originally titled "Jell-O." A reference to how Jimmy McGill prints ments for his elder law business on the bottom of jello pots at the Casa Tranquila retirement home, "Jell-O" would've continued the Better Call Saul season 1 naming trend considerably better than "Alpine Shepherd Boy." Unfortunately, the switch was made due to legal complications - a courtroom wrangle even Jimmy McGill couldn't talk his way out of.
"Jell-O" is a ed trademark of Kraft - a brand name that Better Call Saul would need legal permission to use. Gilligan explained Better Call Saul was ultimately unable to use the brand name for its episode-titling purposes, but didn't elaborate on precisely what obstacle impeded the show. Most likely, Kraft didn't want one of their child-friendly products associated with a TV series about drugs, murder and crime, which makes sense. But perhaps AMC was reluctant to promote a product without compensation, or maybe keeping the original "Jell-O" title simply wasn't worth the paperwork and fees that come with borrowing a ed trademark. Nevertheless, Gilligan and Gould "desperately" wanted to call the episode "Jell-O," and breaking their Better Call Saul season 1 pattern "harshed [their] buzz." The Better Call Saul producers also revealed "Jell-O" was the title that actually sparked the idea to have every season 1 episode end with an "O" sound, with the others all spawning from there. Ironic, then, that "Jell-O" was the only title to get cut.
Arguably, the enforced switch works better as a representation of Jimmy's character in Better Call Saul season 1. Every title conforms to the same pattern, apart from one standing out awkwardly from the group. That could be seen as an accidental metaphor for Jimmy himself as his Better Call Saul story begins - someone desperately trying to fit into the legal world, but always looking the odd one out.