Better Call Saul

[Craig H]

I don't see how Jimmy slips back into being Saul. Everyone else inside has his back because he's Saul, but he looks like he's living out a simple life as Jimmy, getting to cook and bake bread and not pushing inmates away that want to love him because he was Saul. It's prison, what would be a better way to ensure your safety for life? Let everyone else embrace you for who you were, or try to fuck someone up on day 1 and then risk getting shived the rest of your days?

[Throat]

He has no choice but to be Saul to them, but does that not undermine him reclaiming his real name? Can he be Jimmy if everyone around him sees him as Saul? Who is he now? Both? Neither? How long is the Saul cred gonna last if they see him as just a quiet guy living a simple life of baking bread and not the larger-than-life crooked lawyer they knew him as? Is he gonna win their respect through quality baking like Paddington did?

[southofheavy]

If he figures out how to make prison Cinnabons, Konosuke Takeshita's commit a felony on his next excursion.

[RandomAct]

As mentioned earlier, I think the grift can last with minimal effort on Jimmy's part, just by giving free legal advice and being a charmer. They were literally making up musical numbers for the guy, so he'd have to work really hard to push them away.

[ohtani's jacket]

Peter Gould said in an interview that the Saul stuff was like an actor being recognized for a role they played. He pointed out how happy Jimmy is when Kim calls him Jimmy at the end. I just find it hard to believe that he goes from awful things he does to get the sentence down to 7 years to "Jimmy" without ever straying from the straight and narrow again. I know Chuck says he can change the path he's on, but I can't help but remember Chuck's line about Jimmy never changing. Suddenly, Jimmy making bread goes from a prison sentence in Nebraska to his saving grace in prison? I think, at the very least, he gets that ice cream he wants. 

 

[HumanChessgame]

6 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

I wanna read what the newspapers and the Internet got ahold of related to these cases. Surely Jimmy ended up with a six-figure book deal. 

Isn't it illegal for people to profit off of their crimes like this? Though if anyone could find a loophole in that it would be him. Jimmy cutting a deal for such a book deal with the profits going to Harry's widow and other victims of his actions in return for Kim being exempt from any potential civil suits would be totally on-brand for him though.

Even though he was a shyster for most of his career, Saul probably gave competent legal representation to a lot of marginalized people who were getting unfairly harsh sentences or were legitimately innocent. He can still help other inmates get appeals or find loopholes in their sentences without freeing people on death row or finding ways to smuggle in contraband or stuff like that. I see his activities on the inside as more like the Shawshank Redemption where he's just trying to make the circumstances more bearable for everyone (and maybe finding some hustle to get himself ice cream or an actual mattress in his cell) as opposed to starting some prison racket. Hell, I'd watch a miniseries/El Camino type follow up movie just following Saul's prison shenanigans. You could even bookend it with a geriatric Jimmy getting paroled and putting together his memoirs.

[ohtani's jacket]

I imagine a future where Kim is working tirelessly to get an 80 year old Jimmy out of prison on compassionate grounds. 

Interestingly, both Bob Ordenkirk and Rhea Seahorn believe they continue to see each other in the future. 

[Curt McGirt]

6 hours ago, Throat said:

Can he be Jimmy if everyone around him sees him as Saul? Who is he now? Both? Neither?

He's always been both. Think about what Walter said to him in the hideout: "So you've always been this way." It's pretty much a dual personality deal. Saul took over for a long time but Jimmy was still in there, somewhere. He managed to come out during the sentencing. Now, in prison, I'd say he's gonna be 90% Saul and 10% Jimmy -- when he's cooking, alone, and when Kim's around. 

[Throat]

2 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

Now, in prison, I'd say he's gonna be 90% Saul and 10% Jimmy -- when he's cooking, alone, and when Kim's around. 

Maybe he's Gene when he's baking.

How many people have been arrested with a Best Quality Vacuum business card on them? Not that that means anything. Everyone appreciates that their vacuums are the best quality, even criminals far from New Mexico.

[ChesterCopperpot]

 

[peterien]

It was the perfect wrap up to a series that is an all-timer. 

I didn’t expect Bob Odenkirk shooting finger guns at a camera to have me crying but I'm so very glad it did. 

What a ride.

[Log]

The supporting cast is so amazing for this show, that somehow, Odenkirk gets a bit overlooked.

Where the Waterworks episode was Rhea Seshorn's tour de force, I thought the finale was Bob's.  He basically had to play multiple characters, and sometimes in the same scene.  His initial speech to Maria where he turns on a dime at the end was amazing.  So was his speech in court.  Apparently, they had a take they were happy with where Odenkirk went really emotional on that courtroom confession.  But, then, he asked to do it again more reserved.  It makes sense since we'd seen him be emotionally fake in court and it freaked Kim out.

I'm actually sad that this series is over. I've never had that when a show ends. I think it's because it's sort of the culmination of that universe, and I just love the storytelling so much.

[SprintingFromAmerica]

 

[Craig H]

My god, TK, please manage to sign Takeshita to a long term deal and get a title on him.

[SprintingFromAmerica]

Plenty of people who weren't lawyers on the outside give legal advice on the inside, Howard 'Mr. Nice' Marks when he was serving time at Terre Haute for example - so a guy like Jimmy would probably be golden even if he never was Saul.

Of course, yes he will always be Saul now - when Kevin 'Waingro' Gage did time, everybody called him Waingro so Jimmy has no chance whatsoever of anyone calling him Jimmy. But yeah, it felt like it could have ended worse for the guy....he's probably not likely to get his hands on any Drambuie on the regular, but he might actually have a better life than as Gene.