Better Call Saul

[Craig H]

You two nailed it. I'm dumb for missing out on both the overwhelming amount of work that needs to be done for all of those banks and Kim seeing the people behind bars.

Something else from this episode that I again didn't care for was the cartel stuff. This was a part of the show I thought I wanted more of and honestly I just want more of Jimmy and Kim doing Jimmy and Kim things.

[John from Cincinnati]

So far we've pointed out Gale and Ira. But we missed this week's other major cameo!

 

[Curt McGirt]

Oh goddammit!!! The unsliced pizza was one of the funniest things Breaking Bad ever did and I'm kicking myself for not tying the two together. "Anybody got a pair of scissors?"

Now I wanna know when we get to see Lavell Crawford and Bill Burr again. 

[Rehabilitated Rick]

8 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Oh goddammit!!! The unsliced pizza was one of the funniest things Breaking Bad ever did and I'm kicking myself for not tying the two together. "Anybody got a pair of scissors?"

Now I wanna know when we get to see Lavell Crawford and Bill Burr again. 

He appeared in the last season (looking considerably lighter), planting Jimmy's phone in Chuck's coat pocket. 

[Curt McGirt]

Ah, forgot about that.

[Curt McGirt]

The look on Mike's face in that meeting, so full of barely concealed rage and disgust. He looks like he's either gonna stab someone or have a Scanners moment. Or maybe both at the same time. 

Hoo, those Salamanca boys...

[Craig H]

I'm really starting to wonder where this is all going. This season more than any other is just meandering a lot. Everyone has the own personal existential crisis and that just seems like the theme for this season. I'm not sure how else to say it, but I just want the story to go somewhere, anywhere. All of the characters this season are extra quiet and reflective, but no one is quite open. I know there was a lot of dialogue last night, but at the same time it didn't feel like anyone said much of anything.

Basically, every character should go see the therapist that Kim wants Jimmy to go see.

[John from Cincinnati]

1 hour ago, Craig H said:

All of the characters this season are extra quiet and reflective, but no one is quite open.

You should be careful about wanting Mike to talk.

[Technico Support]

Awesome episode.  Mike is a badass; he didn't even buy Gus' theatrics. 

Neelix from Star Trek Voyager was probably the last person I expected to guest star on this show.

[Curt McGirt]

Jimmy might have balls the size of Gibraltar, but did he really think those were gonna keep him from getting robbed? He should have at the very least picked up a can of pepper spray or something. 

[John from Cincinnati]

I can see why they only offered critics the first four episodes in advance of the season.

[peterien]

4 hours ago, West Newbury Bad Boy said:

I can see why they only offered critics the first four episodes in advance of the season.

In a good or bad way?

[John from Cincinnati]

16 hours ago, peterien said:

In a good or bad way?

It’s the first episode to feature a scene set within the Breaking Bad timeline. I’m sure they wouldn’t want that potentially colouring pre-season reviews. 

[Craig H]

That opening was equal parts really cool and really heartbreaking. The rest of the episode was good stuff.

I still can't get a read on Kim. I initially believed all of you saying that Kim nearly killed herself working on the Mesa Verde stuff, but then she's so bored she took on public defender work and she took on enough of it to harm her status with Mesa Verde. Maybe she wasn't so much worried about the amount of work needed to work on Mesa Verde with their huge expansion, but maybe it's more that she's conflicted with not actually defending folks and getting into the muck in courtrooms, hence the meeting with the judge last week.

[John from Cincinnati]

She's looking for any meaning she can get from her profession, hence her jumping in there to defend the sort of people the system is designed to chew up and spit out. Going back to her movie choices at the end of last season, she's looking to be more of an Atticus Finch if she's going to stay in this line of work. 

I struggle to imagine Atticus Finch and Saul Goodman sharing an office. 

[A_K]

It'll go full circle. Either Hamlin or Kim (or both) will be defending Saul's ex-employee, by the time the flashforwards have concluded.

[John from Cincinnati]

I didn’t stop and think about it while watching, but the “Tell ‘em Jimmy sent you” line is almost certainly pointing towards Kim or Howard. And based on the trajectory of their professional interests, I’d say it’s likely Kim. 

Another thing I never thought too much about while watching Breaking Bad were the practical roadblocks to the superlab. I knew it was bananas and Gus would need to put a lot into it, but I didn’t dwell on it. We better get a couple fun montages out of its construction. 

[Curt McGirt]

Just caught the beginning. Jimmy literally shredding the Constitution to get to whatever was hidden in the wall was an inspired touch. 

And Bad Boy, nice eye/ear on that line, that could be a hint as to how and where either of their characters end up.

[Niners Fan in CT]

I felt Kim took an interest in criminal defense because she,  like Jimmy,  had her own issues when she was younger. She said something to Jimmy after he was robbed and he wnated to do something about it that "you're not that guy anymore".  I think Kim and Jimmy are drawn to each other because they were both troubled but Kim is trying to help others from making the same mistakes she did whereas Jimmy is just Jimmy (and eventually Saul).  Kim was more concerned about the well being of that young woman than she was.  

[Technico Support]

11 hours ago, A_K said:

It'll go full circle. Either Hamlin or Kim (or both) will be defending Saul's ex-employee, by the time the flashforwards have concluded.

 

10 hours ago, West Newbury Bad Boy said:

I didn’t stop and think about it while watching, but the “Tell ‘em Jimmy sent you” line is almost certainly pointing towards Kim or Howard. And based on the trajectory of their professional interests, I’d say it’s likely Kim. 

Another thing I never thought too much about while watching Breaking Bad were the practical roadblocks to the superlab. I knew it was bananas and Gus would need to put a lot into it, but I didn’t dwell on it. We better get a couple fun montages out of its construction. 

Great call, guys. 

Re the superlab, to paraphrase something I saw elsewhere:

BB writers back then: "Who cares about the logistics of building it?  Nobody is going to delve that much into Gus' backstory."

BCS writers: "....shit"

But honestly, there's got to be some sort of point the specifically show it being built.  Maybe a testament to Gus' determination or something?  Because nobody would have cared about hand-waving the whole thing by saying, "there was already a basement."

[Hamhock]

11 hours ago, West Newbury Bad Boy said:

I didn’t stop and think about it while watching, but the “Tell ‘em Jimmy sent you” line is almost certainly pointing towards Kim or Howard. And based on the trajectory of their professional interests, I’d say it’s likely Kim.

But Francesca's already met Kim - there wouldn't need to be an explanation at all. It has to be Howard.

[BurningBeard]

Speaking of, what the hell was going on with Howard? Is he having a breakdown due to what happened with Chuck? Wouldn't it be funny if Saul Goodman's first client is Howard after a major downfall

[HumanChessgame]

Kim's intern/paralegal...I get the sense she's going to be a player at some point and perhaps discovers more than she needs to know? Either about whatever Jimmy and Kim get involved in or Mesa Verde's doings?

[BurningBeard]

4 minutes ago, HumanChessgame said:

Kim's intern/paralegal...I get the sense she's going to be a player at some point and perhaps discovers more than she needs to know? Either about whatever Jimmy and Kim get involved in or Mesa Verde's doings?

I reckon she's going to usurp Kim when she drops the ball one too many times

[Craig H]

53 minutes ago, CreativeControl said:

Speaking of, what the hell was going on with Howard? Is he having a breakdown due to what happened with Chuck? Wouldn't it be funny if Saul Goodman's first client is Howard after a major downfall

I think that's exactly what happened to Howard. He had that meeting with Jimmy where Jimmy was all like, "Yeah man, really sucks that it sounds like YOU drove Chuck to kill himself" and Howard has been a shell of himself since.

I loved the detail being put into creating the superlab.

Regarding Francesca, I really want it to be Kim she's supposed to contact, but you guys are right. She knows him Kim is so telling her to say that Jimmy sent her is pointless so it must be Howard. Which again makes me fear the worst for Kim. At the same time, if Kim died, I don't think that's a blow that the Jimmy or even Saul character could withstand. So maybe she really does find her way with Mesa Verde and she's off living in, shit, Idaho or Utah or something and she tells Jimmy never to speak to her again. Maybe Howard even winds up owing Jimmy one.