Better Call Saul

[caley]

I loved the bingo scene, just Saul gradually getting more and more infuriated at the bingo balls and losing his shit.

[(BP)]

Some of the Marco stuff was silly and the denouement felt abrupt, but the bingo scene was perfection. It was an expert balance of humor and poignancy that the show's nailed all season. I loved the Chicago sunroof story, "but that's on me I guess."

[caley]

It's quite funny to watch Saul and see little things that Odenkirk used on 'Mr. Show' to completely different affect here.  Like the bingo scene could have been a great Mr. Show sketch with Bob growing increasingly infuriated by getting Bs and it would result in a great big hilarious Odenkirk meltdown, but here it was used to show his dissatisfaction with his current life.

[sydneybrown]

I did like how he complained about how his crimes suddenly made him Charles Manson, when he once actually was Charles Manson on The Ben Stiller Show.

[Technico Support]

Poor Kim. She really tried to do him a solid and he spit the bit.

 

I was kinda hoping for more with how he became Saul. He had the whole world ready for the taking had he gone to the court house. He could have shown Chuck that he is just as good a lawyer if not better than him.

 

 

He neither had the world for the taking with that job offer nor was anyone doing him a solid.

 

How many law firms are in ABQ?  Yet the only job offer that HHM could wrangle for Jimmy was in a different city (Santa Fe)?  The entire thing was a setup.  They even had Kim mention that Hamlin was the one who managed to pull off the deal.  The entire job offer was just a way for Hamlin to get Jimmy out of his town and out of his hair. 

[Curt McGirt]

I never even thought about that. If that is the case then we can see a straight feud with HHM next season and Jimmy/Saul getting vicious in his own practice.

[Technico Support]

Well that was my interpretation.  Always ask why something is written the way it is.  In this case, why did the new firm have to be in a different city?

 

The Cicero montage was little long but it was great; a metaphor for an addict who has fallen off the wagon.

[bink_winkleman]

I was listening to some Saul talk on Grantland's television podcast, and apparently Nacho was initially going to have a much larger role this season, indicating that we were going to have more action before they decided that they needed to concentrate on fleshing out the Jimmy/Saul transformation instead.  This is the kind of show that can afford to do that, because they came in with a loyal audience and a second season right off the bat.  So I imagine that season two is going to be much more action packed.  Not that I minded this season at all - I thought it was fantastic. 

 

My only complaints about this final episode are that some of it seemed a wee bit too obvious ("best week of my life"/"I'll never leave money on the table again!") and not maybe getting a little more of Mike's development, too.

 

Well that was my interpretation.  Always ask why something is written the way it is.  In this case, why did the new firm have to be in a different city?

 

The Cicero montage was little long but it was great; a metaphor for an addict who has fallen off the wagon.

 

I saw the job offer as a "shortcut," another thing that Jimmy was being handed - this time, through Kim's work.  And Jimmy was done with that, and ready to take on the world on his own terms.  I also think this it all still comes back to Chuck.  Jimmy no longer believes he can do honest work, and fully believes what his brother said about becoming the unholy "Slippin' Jimmy with a law degree." 

[Ultimo Necro]

I just finally caught up with this.

Before the final scene, Mike is on a call, presumably with the vet, where he says "and you've done business with him before" or similar.

Hoping it's the vet setting him up with Gus!

[Technico Support]

February 15 at 10pm y'all

[Curt McGirt]

[EVA]

So season 2 started last night...

I spent the whole scene with Jimmy and Kim conning the Wall Street douche feeling like he was familiar to me (I mean, beyond the actor turning up in nearly every show on TV at some point) but couldn't place it until afteward...He was the Wall Street douche who's car Walt blew up in the BB pilot! Ken Wins!

And the high-dollar tequilla was the same tequilla Gus used to poison Don Elladio!

They continue to make really clever choices in how they call back to BB without going straight to the fan service nuclear options.

[Curt McGirt]

Pissed that I only got to see half the show because I had to work late due to inventory coming up, then got home just in time to see all of it... and forgot it was on, watched a rerun of @Midnight (that I didn't know was a rerun) and checked the guide to find Saul sitting RIGHT. THERE. beneath Comedy Central. Goddammit. Now I don't know what's going on. And I wasn't about to sit through more Chris Hardwick to find out. 

 

EDIT: Read a recap so I'm up to speed. Gotta admit the toothbrush scene was just perfect. It was incredibly romantic in such an improper way. 

[EVA]

Considering the premiere was all about the Jimmy/Kim relationship, I'm fairly convinced the season ends with something bad happening to her.

They also teased on Talking Saul (because of course that's a thing now) that we'd see more of Future Saul this season.

[RandomAct]

One thing this show has been amazing at, is making you pull for Jimmy and enjoying his moments, in spite of knowing where he ends up.  We know how his story goes(up to a certain point), but I couldn't help but feel really good for him in that nice ass office.

[BurningBeard]

Only just caught up on Series 1 due to it finally being put on Netflix. I wouldn't say I've loved it but I think that's down to my own expectations - I was expecting a 30 Rock-esque comedy show with Saul ducking and diving as opposed to an origin story. Anyway, once I was over that it's a solid tv show. The absurd hilarity of the bingo scene in the last episode was one of the best monologues I've seen on tv in a long time and I got a kick out of him being that || close to legitimacy before turning his back on it

[A Guy Named Tracy]

At this point, the scenes with Mike are much more enjoyable than the scenes with Jimmy/Saul.

[EVA]

Did you not stick around for the Hoboken Squat Cobbler?

[Technico Support]

Hoboken squat cobbler, full moon moon pie, Boston creme splat, or Simple Simon the ass man

 

Also, don't sleep on Nacho's amazing line, "that thing looks like a school bus for six-year-old pimps."

[Elsalvajeloco]

I think part of the vibe of the show is that foreshadowing is heavy as hell. So the surprises are a little dull because we know Slippin Jimmy fucks up at some point. The fact that now Mike is asking for favors when Jimmy is working on the Sandpiper case is a dead giveaway. He has found another hustle to get his kicks.

 

Mike doesn't run his operations through being a toll booth worker. Jimmy has got the fucking cocaine in plain sight with the laundered money. He's doomed.

[RandomAct]

For me, the big part of the anticipation is seeing just HOW Jimmy fucks up.  So many possibilities such as him getting caught doing something illegal, Kim throwing him under the bus or Chuck's jealousy getting him somehow.  I think it's very obvious that he still wants Chuck's approval, and he'll probably never get it.

[The Comedian]

I have a theory on the Omaha stuff. It seems like everyone is assuming that these scenes take place post-"Felina". Here's the thing, though; I'm pretty sure Jimmy/Saul was in Omaha long enough to get established as Gene before Walter left New Hampshire. And RT. 80 from the Northeast out west runs right through Omaha. And Saul did mention Omaha to Walt - yeah it came off like a joke, but who knows? "Felina"-Walt pretty much developed a weird omniscience anyway, so maybe he stops at Cinnabon on his way back to New Mexico...

[Technico Support]

I get the impression the flash forwards are much further out.  But who knows.

 

Breaking Bad references in the last episode:

 

The toy pig Mike and Kaylee are playing with is the one he eventually ties to a door to distract a hitman in the final season.

 

Jimmy and Kim are watching Ice Station Zebra.  Ice Station Zebra Associates will be the name of Saul's holding company for his law practice. 

[RandomAct]

My favorite thing with this show is trying to figure out what finally makes Jimmy become "Saul".  We keep guessing that it's someone around him, or a stupid mistake, but I'm beginning to think that it's his own self doubt.  Throughout this series, it seems like he never makes the right decisions, because he always doubts himself, and it leads to him doing something dumb(like the unauthorized ad for the firm).  He never had the courage to take the tape to his boss, because, even though it was a good commercial, he was convinced everyone would hate it.

[Technico Support]

Great point.  I also think he just can't help but become Saul.  He's a con artist through and through and nothing is going to change that.  He can't help but take the short cut, con a mark, etc.  Even when he doesn't need to do it, he does because he likes it. 

 

I made a comment a while back that the "trip to Cicero" montage was analogous to something you'd see in a movie about drugs, where we'd get a montage of a binge as the addict falls off the wagon.  In a way, BCS is an addiction metaphor.  Jimmy knows he can and should go straight but there's something so irresistible for him about pulling a con instead.