Better Call Saul

[Technico Support]

Jimmy: "I am seeing a shrink.  Twice a week."

A real "but doctor, I am Pagliacci" moment.

[Curt McGirt]

It was a relief to see Jimmy used his brain while dealing with those moronic thieves this time. For half a second I actually thought he was fucked, then we got 

Spoiler

more Huell~!

Here's an interesting bit written in the Rolling Stone recap (had to check because I missed a bit watching Raw)

Spoiler

Is it a coincidence that the star of Jimmy’s Sandpiper ad dies around the same time that Kim joins the firm that’s defending Sandpiper? The events of last season suggested the case could drag on for a long time, but I also wouldn’t be shocked if Kim and Jimmy somehow wind up on opposite sides of a courtroom before the series is over.

Now that's a thought...

Do we know who the person is that Mike and his daughter are grieving over? I'm guessing it's her mother/his wife who must've met a sad end. 

[The Great ML]

I’m just imagining a Jock Ewing style declaration, “I AM SANDPIPER!”

[ChesterCopperpot]

9 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Do we know who the person is that Mike and his daughter are grieving over? I'm guessing it's her mother/his wife who must've met a sad end. 

That's his daughter in law. It's Mike's son Matty that they are grieving over. 

[Ultimo Necro]

Bold prediction - Kai the German builder does not last the season.  Not with Mike watching him.

[HumanChessgame]

My guess for what happens between Jimmy and Kim before BB is something kind of like what he did with the senior home - in order to protect her or get her out of a jam he admits to something shady or immoral that results in her hating him (perhaps the truth about his brother).  I agree with the notion that if something bad were to happen to her then he wouldn't be as together as he is later on.  Is there any word on how many seasons the show is going to run?

[Niners Fan in CT]

It is renewed for at least next season.   

[Craig H]

The Jimmy and Kim stuff this week was pretty sad. For Jimmy, it's the realization that this woman he loves doesn't love him that same way and may not even love him. He'll do damn near anything for her, but she sees through it. I think she either winds up falling for the guy who runs the new law firm she works for or Jimmy comes clean about doing shady shit or something about his brother and that's the permanent divide between them.

The worst thing about BCS is that I really want to see those two characters wind up together, but I know it's not going to happen so everything is just a big tease.

Best moment this week was Hamlin's "Fuck you, Jimmy!" I got a big laugh out of that. That's the other thing that sucks. Jimmy and Hamlin would be a great team if Hamlin weren't so rigid and robotic. He's a little like Laurie Bream from Silicon Valley in that way. If he were a bit looser and a bit more human, Hamlin and Jimmy would have a really good working relationship.

[sydneybrown]

On 9/12/2018 at 10:55 AM, Craig H said:

Best moment this week was Hamlin's "Fuck you, Jimmy!" I got a big laugh out of that.

That actually annoyed me.  AMC obviously gets a few "fucks" a year and that felt like a wasted one.  They are overdoing Hamlin at his wits end. The audience is smart, they don't need someone acting borderline psychotic for the audience to think "oh, he's not doing too well."  Hamlin is the opposite of how someone like him should be acting.  

That being said, the pinata scene is the "I am the ONE who KNOCKS" BCS moment.  Last five minutes was the best of the season.  

[Curt McGirt]

Oh, c'mon. That shit was funny.

[Craig H]

Jimmy and the pinatas was far from a "I am the one who knocks" moment. It was just another scam by Jimmy, one he setup in his nail salon office asking about the pinatas. "I am the one who knocks" was all about Walt having his head permanently up his ass thinking he was untouchable and more of a threat than anyone else.

[Casey]

Maybe I missed the connection in the episode, but the flashforward to the events towards the end of S5 of Breaking Bad with Saul in his office with Francesca seemed a little random and out of place. Unless I missed the connection to something later in the episode.

That's the first scene in BCS that's taken place during any of the seasons of Breaking Bad, right? The black & white Cinnabon stuff doesn't count.

[John from Cincinnati]

You’re correct in that it was the first scene in that time period shown during BCS. 

You can draw any thematic conclusions yourself.  I’ve seen a couple interesting reads, but nothing I’m 100% sold on.

[Niners Fan in CT]

The opening montage was so well done..  showing a couple drift apart as they have.  Sad as well.   Saul is here.  Kim is still with him and she'll go through this case but how many more times is she going to be dragged through the shit?    That one part was hilarious.  "You are selling drop phones out of a van?"   "......."  

Hector is his regular scumbag self,  Gus picked right up on it.  But he's not about to let him fucking walk and talk again that's for sure.  His mind is there and that's all Gus wants,  he'll stunt the rest of the progress. 

[Curt McGirt]

Huell's deadpan response to Jimmy's office was spot-on. Also like how they had Hector ogling the nurse just to underline "hey, it's this creep again". 

[Technico Support]

This is such a great show.  Even though this is just a season of pieces being arranged on the chessboard, it's still so compelling.

I may have mentioned it here or maybe in the Westworld thread, but seeing this show develop is a great testament to staying off reddit.  I checked these shows' threads from time to time and the wild speculation is so amateur hour.  Everyone was anticipating some big event where Jimmy and Kim split, and what would eventually turn Jimmy into Saul.  Everyone had wild theories.  Everyone is throwing shit at walls.  And in the end, what we got was something so much more true to life.  I mean, I'll reserve a spot and say I'm wrong if there is some massive blow up down the line, but just seeing two different people grow apart is so much more real and great than "OMG some shit happened and they had a Megapowers explosion!!"

And "when does Jimmy become Saul?"  Jimmy has always been Saul.  Shit, he was eyeballing "Saul shirts and ties" in season one.  The business cards are a nice "fuck you" to the viewers more interested in the destination than the trip, though.  There really is a segment of the viewership expecting checkers when Gilligan is playing chess.

 

[Curt McGirt]

The fall of Kim is gonna be so sad. At the same time you feel happy for Jimmy and then feel like a dirty bag of socks for it. 

Also, the German dude is fucked.

[nofuture]

http://www.freewill-baptistchurch.com/

Make sure to donate to this worthy cause.

[Craig H]

My emotions went on a roller coaster on this one. I'm still not totally feeling the stuff with Mike and the German engineers, but the Kim and Jimmy stuff and Nacho's sad ass life was what got me. I kept waiting for Kim to finally break things off with Jimmy and when Jimmy has the talk with the salon owner, I thought that for sure the relationship was dead.

So when Kim makes out with Jimmy after winning the case I was both happy for Jimmy and kinda filled with dread. This whole time I started to think that Kim breaks away from Jimmy because he's just a conman and a hustler, which replaced the previous feeling that Jimmy would ruin Kim. Now we're right back to Jimmy ruining Kim. That all felt confirmed when Kim holds the bottle top to the tequila bottle and tells Jimmy she wants to do it again.

Kim is my favorite character on this show and if there's anyone I want to see make it out of this unscathed it's her, but now I don't think that's going to happen.

Then there's the stuff with Nacho. I feel bad for the guy. He's stuck in a real shit sandwich. He made a play to get out and now he's in the drug game even deeper. Looking at the IDs for his dad and himself was a bummer. And then came the end of the episode, which was quite the, "oh no" type of moment.

[John from Cincinnati]

 

[Spritenaut 32]

1 hour ago, Craig H said:

Kim is my favorite character on this show and if there's anyone I want to see make it out of this unscathed it's her, but now I don't think that's going to happen.

I feel like there's zero chance Kim walks away from this without being ruined in some fashion (personally, professionally, other).

[Technico Support]

When Jimmy was writing the letters and postcards, my first thought was, "Miracle on 34th Street!?"

What a fucking show.  You know it's good when, even with an extended episode, you say NOOOOOO when the credits start. 

The only word I can come up with for the Kim character is "inscrutable."  We've just been guessing what's going on in her head all season but now we finally get it and holy shit.  She's as addicted to the con as Jimmy but she's been fighting it until now.  Going legit, doing pro bono work, separating herself from his business...but then she gets involved with one con and she's right back in.  It's an addiction story.  Man oh man.

Things are not going to go well with the Germans.  I'm worried this is really going to bite Mike in the ass, as he's seriously going half-measure with this thing.

Poor Nacho.  And holy fuck did I think that was going to be Tuco in the kitchen.  Instead we get Mexican Steven Ogg with his crazy eyes. 

 

[Craig H]

I also thought it was going to be Tuco and I'm guessing the writer and director thought the audience would think that too since it was something of a callback to Tuco cooking at various time. 

So, regarding Nacho, doesn't he make it out alive? I could swear there's a reference to him being alive during Breaking Bad.

My fingers are still crossed for Kim that she makes it out alive with her career in tact. I just can't and don't see Jimmy living with himself if he's somehow responsible for Kim's downfall. I also wonder if she's doing this because she's afraid of moving to Wyoming or potentially moving to Wyoming. 

[John from Cincinnati]

7 hours ago, Technico Support said:

The only word I can come up with for the Kim character is "inscrutable."  We've just been guessing what's going on in her head all season but now we finally get it and holy shit.  She's as addicted to the con as Jimmy but she's been fighting it until now.  Going legit, doing pro bono work, separating herself from his business...but then she gets involved with one con and she's right back in.  It's an addiction story.  Man oh man.

I don't think she's "addicted to the con" and I don't think she's been fighting it. I read the same lack of professional satisfaction we've been discussing all season. But where Kim went in this episode surprised me. She's clearly bored. And Jimmy's flim flams are clearly exciting. She wants some excitement. 

So I don't think "addicted" is the right word. In time, she'll find flim flamming isn't for her. Hopefully she doesn't pull too hard on that thread. 

[John from Cincinnati]

1 hour ago, Craig H said:

So, regarding Nacho, doesn't he make it out alive? I could swear there's a reference to him being alive during Breaking Bad.

This never registered when I watched Breaking Bad. You're correct. Just read this:

Quote

For those who haven’t watched “Better Call Saul” in a long time, Saul tells his fake kidnappers that Ignacio (Nacho’s real name) is to blame for whatever they’re mad about, and then assumes — with terror in his voice — that they work for Lalo. As Breaking Bad references go, he’s a pretty deep cut: when Vince Gilligan announced plans to introduce Lalo at a press event in the summer, the reporters present were mostly puzzled. Saul’s comments to Walt and Jesse suggest that both Nacho and Lalo will be in play by the time this story catches up with that one (or else Nacho is Saul’s dead or absent buddy who becomes an easy fall guy). Tony Dalton (a Texas-born actor who’s worked a lot in Mexican TV) makes a solid first impression in the role, so hopefully this will turn out to be more than filling in a blank most viewers had long since forgotten existed.