Better Call Saul tours the majestic culverts of Albuquerque as Gus swallows a painful loss
TV Reviews Patrick Fabian
First things first: Hank and Steve aren’t totally off the mark with their musings on the etymology of culvert. The Oxford English Dictionary says it is “recent” and its origin is “obscure”; some have suggested it is named after a person. But a Dutch-French hybrid is a possibility: couler (to flow) + vaart (a boat journey or canal). And now, back to our regularly scheduled recap.
We don’t see much cross-cutting on this show, so the centerpiece of “Namaste” is quite remarkable — a chase sequence with Hank and Steve pursuing the guy picking up the money at the dead drop while Gus waits for word that the guy has gotten away clean. This is a high-stakes moment for the Fring enterprise. Here’s a man who is all about mitigating risk, insulating himself from the drug business with layer after layer of legitimacy and misdirection. In this gambit, he not only has to give up three bags of cash, but run the risk of arrests at levels in his organization that could be tied to him. He protects his people by providing diagramming a getaway play for the pickup, abandoning a truck and the cash. But if things hadn’t gone as expected, that could have gotten the DEA far closer to Los Pollos Hermanos than Gus wants to imagine.
As events beyond his control play out in the desert, he responds by clamping down control in the restaurant. Poor Lyle, the manager, scrubs that fryer over and over, trying to make the boss happy, as Gus stares at the burner phone that will tell him Operation Culvert came off. When Gus sends him home, Lyle wants to know “do you think it’s okay? Is it clean?” Gus isn’t willing to call this success — just “acceptable.” He hates the tradeoffs of playing defense against Lalo. You can’t say it’s good. You can only steel yourself to accept the discipline of what it had to be.
Jimmy and Kim, meanwhile, aren’t accepting jack squat. We don’t know that the cold open in the flea market is a bit of a flash-forward until we go back to the immediate aftermath of their bottle-smashing party (which involves a frankly upsetting amount of Odenkirk side nudity). Their agendas for the day both include opportunity — a chance to reconcile with Howard, and a meeting with Mesa Verde that could save Acker’s house. Of course, the two approach opportunity differently. Jimmy’s not interested at best, openly distrustful and resentful at worst. Kim, on the other hand, has manufactured this opportunity herself, out of sheer willpower. Jimmy slaps away the proferred hand of legitimacy, and Kim finds her legitimate proffer slapped out of her hands. So by the end of the episode, they’re partners again — joining forces outside of the lines to get a win-win that the system is determined to deny them. Jimmy lobs bowling balls at the establishment from outside the gates, and Kim plots to undermine them from within, but both have chosen a decidedly rebellious form of legal practice. What remains to be seen is whether Kim’s by-any-means-necessary quest, which has justice as its aim, can form a lasting alliance with Jimmy’s go-fast-break-shit disruptor vibe, which aims only at bowling over stuffed shirts like Jim Thorpe going off-tackle. He talks a good “sticking up for the little guy” game, but there’s not a hint of idealism in Saul Goodman.
Before Jimmy goes to lunch with Howard, we see that his discount law business has potential cash flow issues; the gleefully-vandalizing skells aren’t exactly rolling in dough. He ends up advising them to get their hooks into Grandma’s bank account, and friends, we are a long way from the man who tried to stop Sandpiper from draining their captive oldsters dry. So why is he not only uninterested in Howard’s invitation to join a lucrative steady practice, but actively offended by it? Because the name McGill now stands for everything he’s against. It’s not just that he doesn’t want to be in Chuck’s shadow; he doesn’t even want to be in the same profession. The law is about sticking it to the man, and at HHM, he’d be the man. No more aspiring to cocobolo desks and company cars; the boot of a Suzuki Esteem (“it’s an import”) is only office Saul Goodman wants or needs. Screw Howard and the luxury sedan he rode in on.
One last nihilist to check in on, and Mike is at the end of his rope. Stacey doesn’t want him to babysit Kaylee until he gets a handle on his temper, so Mike goes spoiling for a fight with the same street toughs who jumped him last week. This time they get him down and knife him in the side, in a moment that made me gasp out loud. And then he awakens in an adobe compound with a cross on the wall — a mission? This is uncharted territory. A good place to be as the real stories of this season are just kicking off.
Stray observations:
- Love the soundtrack to the cold open: “Laventille Road March” by Bacao Rhythm and Steel Band.
- Among the items Jimmy hefts in the antique store: lamp, trophy, tv (“still works!”), cast-iron teapot, lug wrench, pressure cooker, kettle bell, horseshoe, lawn dart, typewriter, laughing buddha, and golf club. Not only does he get a bulk discount on the bowling balls, he walks out with the bag — and you know he talked the owner into throwing it in for free.
- Tonight’s Jimmy McGill classic movie pick: Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders (1983), referenced when he tells the skells they can do a few years in prison plus a little probation and “you’re gold, ponyboy!”
- Is Jimmy affecting some Yiddish for his Saul Goodman persona? He throws “nudnik” at the skells.
- Somebody already snagged the NAMASTE personalized license plate from the NM DMV, but no worries! Resourceful Howard shows off his leet-speak by turning the E into a 3.
- Who is Saul Goodman? 1. Last line of defense for the little guy. 2. Life raft when you get sold down the river. 3. Sharp stick when you get stepped on. 4. Guy with the slingshot when you’ve got Goliath on your back. 5. Righter of wrongs. 6. Friend to the friendless. 7. Man fucking a horse (Mesa Verde is the horse). 8. All of the above.
- “All that’s left are your many, many misdemeanors.”
255 Comments
Man that is some classic Vince Gilligan writing. Start in a flashforward that only makes sense after viewing. Also I felt so bad for Lyle. I had to work in retail which is similar to fast food and having an annoyed boss who won’t tell you what you did wrong is depressingly common situation.
Just an FYI, people crediting Gilligan the last couple of years are heaping praise at the wrong person. He’s still involved with the show and gives notes on scripts but he hasn’t been in the writers room the last two years and is more hands off than ever.Apparently Gould talked him back for season 6 though.
You know I remember reading that, but for some reason I just forgot. The man has one hell of a good writing staff. God, they managed to talk him down from a terrible El Camino ending.
How do you know it would have been terrible? It would have been different, for sure, but I doubt it would have been terrible.
I say terrible because that’s what Vince Gilligan himself said. He wanted Jesse to end up being caught by the police while saving some new character. The whole writing staff talked him out of it.
Of course he’s going to say that now, because he went with the other idea. But I don’t think a plot where Jesse end up in jail and finally feeling relief because he can finally do penance for all the bad shit he’s done that’s been eating him alive sounds terrible at all.
Jail is horrible at all times except for psychopaths. That’s why they were invented at first before it became a profit making scheme.
I don’t disagree at all with that statement. I didn’t mean that Jessie would enjoy prison, but after all the shit he’s done that his conscience has been torturing him over, I can imagine he might feel a little bit of relief to realize that the responsibility for his punishment has been taken off Jessie’s hands.
*Jesse* has been imprisoned enough, he’s had plenty of time to think of what’s happened and what he’s done, all throughout the quasi-Guantanamo situation he was in. I liked to see him drive quietly away when all was said and done. Also liked how he used his unsympathetic parents, to tell them some truth, what they’d like to hear, but not doing what his mother asks of him, of turning himself in, nobody in his mindset would not fight-or-flight the situation he finds himself ultimately in before what appears to be freedom at last where almost anybody can rebuild their life, the North. (Canadians see the Yukon and NWT’s like Alaska sort of, many people just go there because there is constant work in the gold and other mineral mines, flying planes to stop forest fires, all jobs one does with their hands, so perfect for anyone like Jesse. It’s as great an ending for a character we will get…I’m afraid. Didn’t Forster tell Jesse that his partner dug his own grave according to him….”and so did your lawyer”. I gulped a little.
I am in total agreement about the ending they chose. I think it was the most appropriate, given what we know about the characters and how we feel about them. All I was saying is that if they had gone with a different ending, it would not have necessarily been “terrible.” That’s all–I have no problem with the ending they ultimately chose.
I looked it up and Jesse finally paying for what he did would have been a much more satisfying, honest ending. Sorry. The dumbass is going to get caught eventually, I would have enjoyed seeing it.Vince is a better writer than you.
Well, he still directed an episode in season 4. But yeah, praise the actual writer of the episode, they’re credited after the actors right below on the screen beginning every episode.
Man that is some classic Vince Gilligan writing. Start in a flash forward that only makes sense after viewing.Outside of the fact that he’s not writing the show, there are literally hundreds of writers in entertainment who do this
I thought it was a linear extension from the previous night’s literal beer bash and Jimmy was “upgrading.”
My thoughts on the very clean fryer was that there would be cleaning chemical residue all over the place. I think I’d rather have fries cooked in a slightly less hygienic applicance.
Are most retail managers secretly drug kingpins (sorry, Lydia, I still don’t know what else he is!)?
Well there is one boss I have who is the spitting image of Anjelica Hustons Morticia Adams. I like to joke that’s she’s some kind of black widow. I have another who is enough of an asshole to be a meth kingpin. So I’ll say maybe.
It’s the MVD here…Motor Vehicle Division.
Well played. As usual, the winner of the comments is in the gray.
Not today!
My guess is we’re in for a Jere Burns appearance at the place Mike is holed up.
Well, its not “Better Call Wynn” like we all wanted, but I’ll take it.
They sold it to Netflix. Duffy starts a riverboat casino in Harlan Co. by towing one into a swamp. It’s called “Wynn’er Take All” and it’s streaming now.
Fake News. Jere Burns’ eyebrows exceed maximum payload allowed for new Netflix series leading men.
Who are you, Raylan? You don’t have to browbeat the guy.
He was already in the “Problem Dog” episode of Breaking Bad, and I don’t know why that guy would be there.
That is literally where my mind went. It has to be a cameo from someone in Breaking Bad and the only logical one was Wynn Duffy.
How does a Jere Burns appearance make sense? All I remember of him was that he was a the head of the counseling group for Jesse in Breaking Bad. Is there some backstory (other than his daughter’s death) that says he lived in an adobe compound and/or patrolled the streets of Albuquerque helping out old dudes getting the crap beat out of them?
I’m pretty sure that Gus sent an unconscious Mike to the doctor that makes an appearance in season 4 of Breaking Bad (who treated Gus after the self-induced poisoning scheme that finished off the cartel).
Huh… I figured it would be the Doctor that Gus always seems to use.
Gus as a boss would scare the living poop out of me, I am terrified at home when I see him show up onscreen.I’m really surprised in the Breaking Bad and Saul universe, thus far, we have not yet seen someone’s face plunged into a vat of boiling oil. Still waiting.
The vast majority of the scenes show Gus to be an incredibly ideal boss, though. Other than the Lyle situation, Gus behaves in a manner that is incredibly straightforward about what he wants. Even when he was lying about the Cousins holding the restaurant hostage, Gus offered his staff therapy and time off.We’re just seeing both Gus and Mike totally off their game and letting stuff slip.
Yeah, awful boss Gus seemed way off, but I guess that was the point.Also, I guess it reaffirmed that Gus is generally a great boss; otherwise, Lyle wouldn’t have worked so hard to get the fryer “right.”
I think the scene was a parallel to Gus in the meth lab calmly donning the plastic smock and opening up the box cutter while Walt and Jesse watched. He was sending a message to his underlings about the price of failure.I suspect in Lyle’s case it was less about the actual state of the fryer and more about Lyle telling everyone good job at closing and letting the employee go home without finishing up taking care of the fryer. Gus doesn’t want his direct reports missing anything their subordinates are doing,
In case anyone was wondering what the latest ear worm of a catchy track—to be featured on BCS—that was playing while Saul “Jimmy” Goodman, was vandalizing Howard’s home and vehicle, it was Aphex Twin – Diskhat1 and can be found on Spotify.
Thanks! I was taken by the dissonant notes over the tight percussion.
I listened to that EP yesterday and was more than a little surprised to hear that track in the show.
Donna, your recaps are akin to the always-consistent dessert upon which you can count on and anticipate after dining in your favorite restaurant.I was misdirected by the cold open and imagined Jimmy, in an effort to further ingratiate Kim to his MO, was choosing “upgrades” from the previous night’s beer bottles. I’m happy to be many steps behind the show’s creative team.General note: One subplot only hinted at in “Breaking Bad” that I’m dying to see revealed this season or next is the origin of the relationship between Tuco and Skinny Pete while in prison. For Tuco to willingly arrange a meet-and-greet as a favor to Skinny Pete suggests that Skinny must have ingratiated himself to Tuco while serving time together. My guess is Skinny witnessed an act of violence by Tuco but kept his mouth shut or directed the guards to look elsewhere. But knowing the creative team, it will no doubt be more elaborate and creative.
well said, Donna’s was a quality, insightful review, best thing I’ve read on AV in a while ..
Big ups to Donna for doing these! Tight, concise and to the point.
Thanks friends! Appreciate y’all reading along.
Say hello to that Noel person for us. I’ve heard he’s on Netflix.
Hearkens to the golden days of TWOP.
I actually found it really underwhelming when the payoff was just that Jimmy threw something at Howard’s car. I assumed there was something way more complex happening there
Number seven on the “Who is Saul Goodman?” list is probably the most on the mark. Jimmy doesn’t just dislike the establishment, HE HATES IT! When Jimmy’s talking about the little guy, he’s primarily talking about himself.Howard and Mesa Verde both represent the establishment to him. If he can stick it to Mesa Verde by helping Acker keep his house, then he’s going to do it. He hates them so much he’s probably doing it pro bono. I also get the idea that Acker’s attitude appeals to Jimmy’s sense of honor, such that it is.In Howard’s case, it’s personal. Howard was right on the money when he admitted he should have had a spine and given Jimmy a break. Howard may have put his role in everything that happened at HHM in the past, but not Jimmy. He never will. I didn’t notice a sunroof on Howard’s Jag, so I’m guessing the bowling balls were the next best thing. Besides, I imagine Chuck told Howard about the Chicago Sunroof incident, so Jimmy would be the prime suspect. This way, even if Howard suspects Jimmy, he can’t prove a thing.
Lyle, my guy. Just leave. It’s just not worth it.
Lyle wants to be district manager.If Lyle knew about the risk he’d take on by being promoted, Lyle wouldn’t want to be district manager.
They don’t talk about it much on the show but Pollos Hermanos has a great health insurance plan. Working for man with murderous rage roiling just under his polite demeanor is a small price to pay for such benefits.
I think Lyle has a little crush.
Oh Howard, you ended up being such a stand-up guy, that after Jimmy manipulated you into feeling that you were partly responsible for Chuck’s death, the guilt and regret has you now offering Mr. Goodman an esteemed position at HHM. It reaffirms once more your good guy bonafides. It’s all the more tragic and regrettable that Saul has no time to suffer the establishment that he sees HHM and Howard as a poster boy for, and will now push away yet another golden opportunity which he could have used his powers to do good (as Howard even alludes to), and furthermore will push away and alienate another person who truly cares about him.Just thinking how in a short time he’ll have that pitiful little office in a strip mall, when he could have had so much more. No wonder Gene is a panic attack stricken man in the flash forwards, who only has his painful choices from the past to ponder, and wonder if they’ll come back to haunt him.
Maybe it’s me, but I always understood Howard. For a guy put in the positions he was put in, his choices made sense to me. If anything I tended to feel bad that he got caught in the middle of drama he just didn’t know the full story about. There’s something about him that feels coded to ‘villain’, but he’s the guy who says “I’m not the bad guy” and he actually means it.
There’s something about him that feels coded to ‘villain’, but he’s the guy who says “I’m not the bad guy” and he actually means it.This. The show inadvertently painted him and still kind of does paints as some kind of arrogant, elitist, douche because of the suits, language, and demeanor and how he initially treated Kim in the beginning, but he’s always been a decent guy who’s been very fair to Jimmy, but also had to kowtow to Chuck because of Chuck’s status as the managing partner of the firm.
Howard was the Dark Knight of HHM.
Dressed head to toe in Hamlindigo
Another way to look at it is that HHM is the kind of place where it takes a crazy turn of events for it to even dawn on Howard that Christy Esposito has the deck stacked unfairly against her by Howard’s committee.
He’s a decent enough guy operating in a rigged system, but it’s a system that he himself rigged. That’s the pretty blunt irony of a Jag with a namaste vanity license plate. He’s got a dim sense of issues, but not much more than applied to the surface.That doesn’t justify chucking bowling balls at the Jag, and Saul is going to do a lot of even worse things than that. It does mean, however, that Howard is always going to be a guy, maybe with a wince, behind a lot of rotten things too.
Eh, no for the reasons I mentioned. Especially since, and saying again, it was Chuck who really “rigged” the system and that Howard had no choice but to go along with it or lose the firm.Again, Howard is not a good guy, but he isn’t a bad/villain guy either. He’s just a typical corporate lawyer who always had a soft spot for Jimmy and is decent and fair when it comes down to it.
Chuck was dead when Christy Esposito got the business.
Not relevant to the point that I made. Howard is the way is and always has been mostly Chuck who did most of the “rigging” you mention. Howard is just a lawyer being a lawyer.
Chuck was so far out of the picture when BCS started that Howard was trying to use lowball offers to take the M out of HHM. Nobody at HHM reported to Chuck anymore. It wasn’t his company, and numerous scenes through the years made it clear that the partners followed Howard’s lead. Authority in a law partnership flows to the partners who bring in clients and bill hours, and Chuck contributed nothing anymore.
Howard feared the lawsuit that might ensue if Chuck one day started making trouble, but he had long stopped involving Chuck in anything, since Chuck was housebound and unable to use a phone and talked to nobody but Jimmy.
Howard was always the managing partner, the sales guy, the client relationship man. Chuck was the lead litigator. And he hadn’t been that for a long time. Howard ran the show, and the idea that he wasn’t behind the system that left Christy Esposito behind is unconnected to everything shown on screen. And it also removes agency from Howard to such an extent that it completely undercuts his character.
You are still missing the point here to make one that is not relevant to anything anyone is making.The point once again is that Howard is the way he is because of years of Chuck’s coaching, mentoring, guidance, and domineering. Even after he passed away, his influence clearly shows in the way Howard treated Esposito.That said, despite all of this, Howard does have empathy, especially compared to Chuck who was utterly ruthless, and he’s displayed it many times to Jimmy and even a few times to Kim. He even disagreed with Chuck to be nice to Jimmy and Kim. That’s the point we’re saying here, that Howard is a more complicated figure than the mustachioed twirling bad guy you failing so hard to push.
I totally agree with your assessment of Howard! He mostly catered to Chuck’s wishes regarding Jimmy because it was Chucks reputation as a fierce litagator that brought in the big-name clients to HHM. But Howard always like Jimmy and admired him.
Howard is the embodiment of latte liberal white privilege.
No, Howard has a little more going on than that, which is what makes him an interesting character. But he’s a guy like Gale who doesn’t want to ask hard questions despite having the freedom to do so.Of course, Howard’s not enabling the mass manufacture of huge quantities of meth, so he has that going for him.
Yeah but Howard is playing a big role in sustaining the overly-tailored suit fashion of that era and he forked out money for vanity plates. So he is a monster in his own way.
Nice catch, I didn’t think about Howard being the Gale-archetype of BCS. I think you may be onto something. They both seem to have just enough cluelessness to believe their choices aren’t causing harm.Of course, I found Gale to be incredibly unlikable even amongst all the BB characters, yet I’ve found Howard pretty likeable. Maybe it’s because they’re on completely opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of level of style.
Oh, please. Keep the freshman seminar race-baiting out if it. Unless you’re prepared to talk about the very toxic privilege of non-whites like Gus, Hector, Lalo, and Juan, to name just a few.
I mean, maybe, but I don’t really see how that’s relevant to the dynamics of Better Call Saul, which are pretty much all dynamics between different white people.
I believe that Howard is the managing partner of the firm. Chuck was the litigator….
Chuck was a managing partner. The M in HHM is McGill. There have been episodes where Chuck has discussions with Howard over his ownership share of the firm.
Yes RJ, I know that the M stands for Charles “McGill”. But I don’t think you understand what a “managing partner” is… they’re the one who acts as the “manager”, handling the day-to-day business activities of the firm, hiring and firing, promotions and assignments, smoozing the clients, Etc. Chuck most definitely did NOT do ANY of that, being that he was housebound and wouldn’t even use the telephone! Chuck was the Founding Partner of the firm, along with Howard’s father. He was the litigator of the firm. (You’ll notice that you never saw Howard in court – not while Chuck was still alive anyway)
It’s just fictional characters on a fictional TV show dude. No need for the argumentative pedantry. Who cares.
Not being argumentative in the least, my friend… simply stating a fact.
Yeah I agree. I’ve never found Howard to have done anything particularly objectionable and found him to basically be a sympathetic character. Furthermore, I don’t really understand why Jimmy hates him so much. Yes I understand the supposed reason for it as stated in the text I just don’t find that believable or logical
It’s not reasonable for a normal person but Jimmy is a morally evil human-being who needs someone to demonize so he doesn’t have to accept his own shortcomings.
Agreed. Remember, Howard told Kim that it was Chuck who was preventing HHM from hiring Jimmy so she could try to convince Jimmy to move on. I saw that as Howard trying to spare Jimmy’s feelings from being crushed by his brother trying to hold him down.
A lot of it is the fantastic casting of Patrick Fabian. Something about him, in every role he’s in (and there have been a lot!) just instinctively screams “he seems like a normal pleasant guy but secretly he’s the villain”. To the extent that he looks like the villain even when he actually is just a normal pleasant guy.
I contend Howard, as insufferable as he can be, is the only genuine good guy in the entire Gilliganverse (at least where major recurring adult characters are concerned). Kim has clearly the heart in the right place but is prone to do crazy shit when provoked, and Mike’s daughter-in-law isn’t really trustworthy.
I read your last point with interest. Initially I was a bit suspicious of her, thought maybe she was manipulating Mike a bit, but lately she just seems like a single mom trying her best to raise her daughter. Is there something in particular that makes her untrustworthy in your eyes? Not arguing against your point, but wondering if I missed something subtle.
I’m not sure Kim would agree with your assessment of Howard as a ‘genuine good guy’.
Is the partner of Jimmy/Saul to be considered a good assessor of which guys are good and how to not enable them?
Stacey became a bit manipulative and asking money from Mike without asking outright because to her, her husband and the father of her child is dead because of him. It’s the only way Mike got her confidence back when he admitted to it all to her. Mike was also very different in s1 and s2, by now he’s back to old habits he had after Matty died and being a citizen cop by attracting bad guys on purpose to get his anger out. Mike wouldn’t be like this if Gus had stayed out of his way and let him do the logical thing : let him snipe out Hector. But nope, Gus’ megalomania, very Walt Season 5-reminiscent, I found to be in that episode, won’t allow that, he wants his perfectly cold revenge and independent perfect lab only when it is corporate quality. It’s sad how Nacho is the one that brought on all of this, kind of, his paths create the Breaking Bad universe.
Nacho is a good guy who just learned to live the poor Mexican-American life, refusing to work a menial job to death for a meager salary, seeing how it seems to fling a whip that makes his father the bitter man that he is, refusing any help from his son due to old straight and narrow views despite a loving son who wants him safe and finally retire from that blood sweat and tears for little return job. So, yeah he’s not a good guy at-first-look like Howard, Mr.Right, but everytime he almost gets out, he gets pulled further in.
It was really nice to refer to how Jimmy stuck up for the high school girl who got rejected from the scholarship competition. It might make Howard change his perception of the kids in the upcoming years.
That was before Jimmy literally died inside in that underground parking at HHM after talking with her. He left her his “legacy”, so that she doesn’t end up trampled by life, addicted to drugs because of repeated failures she will get, unfairly and even worse, becoming “adult” entertainment. There’s what, 3 girls I know who did do that who had BSc and 2 who had a BA and going for a Master’s, but they had to cheat the system to get to the colleges they wanted. Jimmy’s advice to her is a, use your mind, stick to it, don’t let their feelings affect your feelings and don’t let your feelings crush you down either. You’re smart, you did a dumb thing as a teenager, who didn’t? But those who get caught, will never fare as well typically as those who don’t.That’s practically the lesson of Rectify by the time we finally know who really killed that girl in the last season. It’s not some of Jimmy’s imagination or “hubris” gone wild. He’s the most well placed person to tell another achieving, bright person who’s being treated like he was for so long what to do and considering her age, that it’s not too late to stick it in “their” face.
Howard at first glance seems like a cliche douche. But very early on they established there was a real character under the artifice. It first really stuck out to me when he reflected about getting into HHM because of his father. That actor deserves way more credit than he is due. And honestly I know Jimmy is an asshole but the bowling ball thing is just pure unncessary asshole-ness. #TeamHoward
Jimmy had the sweet gig at the Santa Fe Law Firm with the fancy desk and cool boss and he HATED it. Jimmy is a feral animal. He doesn’t do well in a cage, even a fancy gilded one.
Cocobolo.
Gesundheit!
Story of my life. I’m way to invested in Jimmy / Saul.
He didn’t hate it until he was struck twice by Cliff for the commercial AND had Erin put on his ass actually slowing down the work with her extreme self-righteousness. He was damn proud he had found out that Sandpiper said that some “optional” thing at Sandpiper was never opted out by anybody because it would then negate them some extreme basics…I forgot the details, but it was like he was telling Chuck, not Cliff.The last straw was seeing that commercial with the same damn “not too fast or too nebulous” blue swirl behind the text Cliff decided to do, again, but using Jimmy’s idea of a commercial in the first place. Like he said at the end of season 4, he did everything right (cut corners but results were assured) for the betterment of himself and others. The service-to-other that was Jimmy McGill only survives when he has clients who can pay whatever exorbitant price he charges, who isn’t impressed with him and furthermore use them as a shrink and banker like Walt did. That’s what made his character so great to deserve a spinoff prequel, most of those scenes with Walt…you could even see he didn’t like the idea of having the White house bugged when he sat in the car pensively.He’s compartmentalizing even to degrees he doesn’t really realize himself, he IS pissed off at Howard for just not checking out Chuck out of the firm and paying him off, he still sees Howard as the reason for what was likely the worst year of his life….but he pretends otherwise.He was almost flattered, but as he saw Howard drive away, with his “finally at peace with his own self / not season 4 Howard” NAMAST3 buddhist/new age Howardism of a registration plaque, he gets pissed off at old Howard. Like everyone else in this episode. Much less funny than the previous episode, this one left me almost as angry as everyone else is in there. Although, I wonder what plan him and Kim pulled out to save the old mean geezer’s house and piss off Paige, the woman Kim can’t endure since a long time now, but continues to patronize due to her diehard professionalism.
Yeah, I can’t ever see Saul fitting in at HHM, and I can’t shake Howard’s narcissistic side, no matter how deeply he tries to cover it with vanity license plates. If he’d taken the job, I doubt it would’ve lasted a month, and it would’ve been both their faults.
This is Saul’s Gray Matter moment. He could have got rich (his original objective) the legit way by accepting the offer of his establishment superior, but instead he chose his own way, because it’s the only way to stick it to the man.
Well, sort of. I appreciate the success gone wrong metaphor, but the difference between Gray Matter and a position at HHM much different. For Walt, he lost out on the opportunity because he is weak— and probably the first event that led to his evolution into a villian. For Saul, the opportunity for success was spit upon, and drudged up his already criminal underside. Whatever the case, it is much easier to like Saul less and less.
That’s a really good way of putting it
He will eventually get that Sandpiper money, at the most unexpected moment, but I bet he will be loaded enough by then that it will be. “Oh thanks, Howard, here’s my bank coordinates, you can go deposit yourself, see ya.”
Howard on the balcony seeing his defiled Jag, alarm piercing the night—literally screaming in pain, was a first rate bit of acting. He knows it was Jimmy’s special way of giving him the finger. That little shoulder shrug said it all. Basically, “I’ll take that as your final answer Jimmy” along with a little “Yeah, I had that coming.”
The preview scenes had him prompting Jimmy for his thoughts on his standing offer, so, no.
Wait, what? Really?I never watch the previews so that I can watch BCS with a fresh perspective, but if that is the case, DAMN! Howard is not as smart as I thought he was.
PLEASE don’t not post the contents of the previews in the discussions. Many of us avoid them. Thank you.
I don’t know why. They tell you pretty much nothing.
Maybe not explicitly but my brain annoying fills in gaps like “well we haven’t scene X with person Y yet, and we know that’s coming so I bet Z is going to happen now.”
There’s a lot more to it than that. Jimmy showed himself to be a really good lawyer capable. He tried to go the legit route. He was a public defender in an attempt to show Chuck that he was serious about being a lawyer. He wanted to be law partners with his brother either at HHM or in their own firm. What happened in the end? He finds out that his own brother hates him and has been secretly sabotaging his attempts to join HHM or even strike out on his own (Chuck knew that when Kim made copies at the office that it would be traced back to him and therefore become an HHM case). The multi-million dollar case that he uncovered and worked hard for is taken from him. Instead of being treated like an equal by his new firm, he’s drowned in rules and bureaucracy and talked down to when he steps out of line. He hates HHM not just because of the ghost of Chuck but also because of everything it’s taken away from him. Howard having been Chuck’s puppet for so long is a major symbol of all that pain. Jimmy is a wounded dog. He’s more likely to bite your hand than let you pet him. Becoming Saul Goodman was Jimmy burning down the last bridge to Chuck, HHM, and the entire concept of being a by-the-book lawyer.
I not only agree with everything you’ve said, and others in this thread—some excellent points all around—but that’s what I mean about the tragedy of it all. Howard certainly made mistakes, but he’s freely admitting to them and taking accountability, which is something I can always respect and use as a foundation for repair and moving forward.That’s not something that Jimmy can accept because of everything you stated, and yet if he could overcome his resentment, anger, and fear of what happened before, the irony is that this time it would probably workout for him, Howard, and HHM because of everyone’s experiences and hopefully growing from them.Saul Goodman has made his ultimate choice and nothing, not even a pristine, golden, olive branch that cleans the slate and makes everything right for his present and future will be accepted. It happens IRL all the time, and given the character depth and how familiar we are with everyone in BCS, just makes the impact of it as tragic as it is compelling.
I just don’t think that it would work out for him, though. As good of a lawyer as Jimmy is, there’s always that bit of Slippin’ Jimmy in there. That’s not going to run well with a big firm like HHM. Eventually, things are going to come to a head again. Howard may actually be setting up for HHM to take a big hit this time too by hiring Jimmy. Yes, it’s tragic that Jimmy can’t face and overcome those issues with Howard, HHM, and Chuck; but even if he overcame those, he’s still got that con man in him.
Perfect. Have a star.
Vandalizing Howard’s car is a defining moment in the conversion from Jimmy to Saul. It was an act that was purely spiteful and cruel. Saul isn’t doing this for personal gain—money, power, nor manipulation isn’t the purpose. If anything it is symbolic. If Howard were anything like Chuck, Jimmy/Saul would expect consequences for vandalizing the car. But this is Howard, and he is smart enough to suspect Jimmy/Saul, but instead will just disappointedly shake his head and call his insurance company.
I see it more as his last act as Jimmy. It’s not as classy as a Chicago Sunroof, but it’s minor illegal activity that I don’t see Saul caught up in. Jimmy was the person Howard dismissed. Jimmy is the mail room clerk Howard discouraged, the person Howard thinks of as less-than, never good enough. The jackass who thought he could erase the years of underestimating and looking down on our HERO. That was Jimmy’s good bye.
The thing is, in Jimmy’s mind, he is doing good by bombarding Howard’s driveway and disturbing his attempt at serenity. Like last season (I think) when he hammered Howard for supposedly not nutting up when the firm was failing, Jimmy believes that he’s helping through his bullying.Jimmy believes that people should be wolves, not sheep… and I’d argue that there’s a significant truth to his perspective that the sheeps are sometimes not any better for the world than the wolves. Jimmy learned this lesson every time he tried to make a go at being a sheep, so for the time being he’s locked in to spreading the Wolf Gospel.I think Jimmy genuinely saw Howard being weak through the latter’s olive branch and newfound enlightenment and then thought “the sooner I break him of this foolishness the better off he’ll be.” I honestly can’t disagree with Jimmy this time.“Namast3?” Fuck.
Should have called this episodes “Ethics Violations” as between the two of them Jimmy and Kim broke about 8 professional rules of ethics in this one.
Mike clearly needs to join a Fight Club. He’ll get all the therapy he needs.
Brother-in-law-meth-kingpin-right-under-his-nose aside, Hank doesn’t get enough credit for being a really good cop with really good instincts.
That stunt Saul pulled with the lookalike felt like catching the end of a totally great courtroom drama I wish I watched the rest of.
Hank doesn’t get enough credit for being a really good cop with really good instincts.Hank’s “hunch” about where the perp’ was going to be only worked because they wanted the truck and the money to get found.So, no. In this case Hank got more credit than he deserved.
Ah, but Hank wasn’t satisfied with the bust. Gomez is like “We won!” and Hank’s like, “Did we?” He’s always got his antenna of suspicion up, and those are the instincts about him I like.
I see what you’re saying. Hank knew he didn’t deserve the “win” but since he’s aware of that fact, it’s a sign of his instincts. Fair enough.
Yeah, it was kinda Columbo meets Hercule Poirot in a movie of the week. Clever, but wildly unprofessional. I wish we’d seen the judge give him both barrels in her chambers.
Hey, his brother-in-law is just a milquetoast chemistry teacher with a 12-year-old son. He’s never seen meth in all his 46ish years of life.
I wish I could remember the name, but Saul’s shenanigans were based on a real case where a defense attorney did pretty much the same thing. . . . only, I believe, the witness was a cop who was none too happy to have identified the wrong person. If I remember correctly, the attorney got in trouble with the bar for inducing false testimony. Considering Jimmy just got his license back, it’s a pretty ballsy move.
If there’s one thing Jimmy has, it’s balls.
Three of ‘em that he haggled down to $75.
Indeed!
Zing!
I remember seeing the “trick the witness into IDing a false defendant” on another show before. I think it was The Practice or Boston Legal or one of those David E Kelly lawyer shows. Of course Jimmy/Saul seems like the kind of guy who would borrow tricks like that from pop culture.
It was The Practice. In that case, the judge gave the witness a second chance to identify the defendant while she was sitting next to the decoy.
But the defendant and the decoy had switched dresses while the judge was reaming out the defense attorney, and so the witness managed to get the identity of the defendant wrong a second time. So the judge dropped the charges and sent the defense attorney to jail for contempt.
He sure is. And being a film buff supplies him with fuel for a lot of elaborate cons from obscure movies nobody else at the courthouse has seen, except maybe Kim. I imagine he has a lot of cons that start with “I saw this in a movie once…”
The whole scene was nonsense that you could not get away with in a real courtroom.
It was a great stunt, but I couldn’t help but wonder just how weak the prosecution’s case was if all they had was an admittedly tired eyewitness who apparently wouldn’t be able to pick the suspect out of a lineup.
Mike would really excel at upholding the first two rules of Fight Club.
I want a whole show just of Saul doing criminal law. Courtroom hijinks, fast-talking clients, Kim, sticking it to the man…
Like most of Better Call Saul’s depictions of criminal defense law the stunt was completely ridiculous and would’ve gotten you way more than a stern talking to from the judge, like I don’t know but maybe disbarrment territory.
Misleading a tribunal and contempt of court.
I’m more than a week late with this but generally in a trial, the judge makes sure it’s stated “on the record” that the defendant is present before they begin for the day or after the lunch break. If a lawyer tries to have a lookalike sit there it would be an almost certain disbarrable offense and also probably felony contempt of court.
Glassdoor: El Pollo Hermanos. Fast food restaurant with multiple locations in New Mexico. Anonymous Employee in Albuquerque, NMPros: All you can eat chicken. Cons: Micromanaging owner with an evil eye that would put Medusa in her place.
An owner who’s stare would give Avery Brooks’ Hawk character chills up his spine.
Or Sisko, for that matter.
deep cut.
“A man… fucking a horse?”I nearly did a spit-take at that.
Saul learned from Jimmy’s mistake: You don’t have to expose yourself to risk by shitting in someone’s car when a plausibly deniable bombardment will send the same message. I woulda gone with Buddha, but maybe it was a bit on the nose.Another lesson learned: don’t bring a mike to a knife-fight.I really didn’t think those were the same rough lads that messed with Mike last week, but I could be wrong.Howard’s plate for his second car, when the chronology of Breaking Saul reaches the Tesla automotive debut, is “NAMAST2” I feel like we’re reaching my long-predicted relationship kill-point between Kim and Jimmy, now, which is that one of them will betray the other (or believe a betrayal happened) in the end. She secretly hires Saul to represent the opposing side, naturally believing that she can tell him to back off when she wants him to in the same way that Gus manipulated the medical care that Hector received. But Jimmy/Saul’s one good trait is that he’s principally bound to legally protect his clients’ interests from his perspective (even if he has to hurt them even worse in order to win).So now Saul is all-in on Barry Corbin’s asshole squatter, even if Kim wants him to back off later. Kim hired a guy who will do anything to take apart the other side to protect his own client’s interests. This is particularly true when Saul is defending David against Goliahorse.Will someone wind up being humiliated or worse when Kim’s self-righteous unstoppable force meets Saul’s singular immovable principle? Will this end in a disbarment for Kim as I’ve long suspected?
He wasn’t in the credits, but that was character actor Tim DeZarn as the witness on the stand in the courtroom. He’s been in a ton of stuff, but some of you might recognize him as Mordecai, the Harbinger of Doom in ‘Cabin In The Woods’. This show is killing it with the bit parts for powerful character actors. Berry Corbin, Tim DeZarn, the list goes on. There are no small parts on Better Call Saul.Man, Gus is a fussy bitch when he’s not happy. He never seemed like a bad person to work for until tonight. Demanding and a perfectionist, yes, but not sociopathic. The microscopic adjustments he made to the fry baskets were hilarious and terrifying. Lyle, if you need help with that resume, gimme a buzz.Great to see Hank and Gomie again. ‘Your left hand every night!’ I thought I heard they were only going to be in two episodes this season, but either that was it, or I heard wrong. Loved Hank swallowing his pride there at the end of his bit and thanking his staff even though he ultimately wasn’t happy with the outcome. He’s a bit of an asshole around the edges, but he’s a damn good cop. Dean Norris is hitting long line drives out into the parking lot every time we see him, and I’m digging it.Dying to know where the hell Mike is. That was some freaky ‘Lost’-in-midseason-cliffhanger type shit. Certainly looked like Mexico, didn’t it? Maybe Lalo had him picked up. Or the cousins.
You can tell it’s Breaking Bad Mexico because they make everything so yellow. Neat trick to change the feel, but I can’t unsee it at this point.
I got a Clint Eastwood vibe off Mike in his last scene. The gimpy arm and t-shirt was from “Every Which Way but Loose” and waking up in a mission was pure “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.” Who knows if it’s intentional. Mike channeling Clint Eastwood seems like a good fit.I’ve been wondering as well if we’ll get more of Danny Trejo here soon.
Holy shit, I didn’t even consider that! Good call.
Or, Lalo rescued him.
Could be. Maybe some kind of attempt to get him completely away from Gus and then turn Mike on him. We’ll see.
Oh man, so much of this show and BB has deep roots in old-school Westerns. Vince is a big fan, and it shows. No surprise Peter Gould and his crew have carried on the tradition this season.
As much as Lost still holds a special place in my heart, let’s hope the explanation for Mike’s appearance isn’t as vague as Lost’s usually were.
I’m guessing Gus has had Mike tailed the entire time and Mike was rescued by and is currently under the care of Gus’ organization. That’s how Mike gets back into the Fring’s fold.
Yeah, it’s clear he wasn’t picked up just by some rando. That was pretty intentional.
If that’s the case, I have a feeling his attackers are going to feel a bit of pain too.
I dunno, Mike started the fight. He didn’t have to walk down that street.
I was just thinking that. Of course Gus wasn’t gonna let him be without surveillance, he needs him when construction resumes.
I think Gus was keeping Doug the Nanager there as an alibi or something incase the guy didn’t get away from Hank and them. Hes probably a much better boss usually
That was obviously the case. Surprised you are apparently the only here that realized that.
I think the person involved with Mike’s rescue and mysterious retreat to Mexico is that Mexican doctor — the one who seems to have a friendly history with Gus. Mike looked to be expertly patched up and the area where he wakes up looks similar to where the doctor had his clinic in Breaking Bad.
I thought Mike was at the shack Tuco took Walt and Jesse to before he got killed by Hank in Breaking Bad.
Nah, the overhead shot of where he was looked like a full compound. The house Walt and Jesse got taken to was just a place in the middle of nowhere.
A brown (a canadian 100) that it’s at Gus’ very competent doctor who also deals meth, current underground clinic.If true, that also begs the question, why hasn’t Gus used his doc on Nacho, I mean, the vet told him, he’s not sure if there isn’t even a slight perforation of his intestines, there’s a bullet in one shoulder, a piece of Doug Paulson’s skull in the other. I think after pulling out the Espinoza compound raid, Gus would have healed his double agent. Maybe he did and we didn’t see it, but I don’t expect that after what we’ve seen him do to him this season.
A brown (a canadian 100) that it’s at Gus’ very competent doctor who also deals meth, current underground clinic.If true, that also begs the question, why hasn’t Gus used his doc on Nacho, I mean, the vet told him, he’s not sure if there isn’t even a slight perforation of his intestines, there’s a bullet in one shoulder, a piece of Doug Paulson’s skull in the other. I think after pulling out the Espinoza compound raid, Gus would have healed his double agent. Maybe he did and we didn’t see it, but I don’t expect that after what we’ve seen him do to him this season.
Speaking of Hank, Gomez tells him the money count was $770 thousand, but Hank announces to the other LEOs they recovered a half-million. Am I the only one who heard this, and is wondering what the hell is that about?
I didn’t hear it, but Hank could’ve just been speaking shorthand to his crew. He doesn’t seem like the embezzling type.
Jimmy’s hatred of Howard is so misplaced, and sad considering that Howard seems to have some genuine affection for Jimmy. Also, did anyone think Gus was gonna do a Victor to Lyle ?
No. Gus has worked very hard to separate his legitimate and criminal businesses, and he would never let his anger threaten that separation.But he will *by god* micromanage the hell out of the fryer.
“Does this look…acceptable?” [knife to the throat] [Fring silently walks away]
Was he keeping him there for an alibi?
That’s what the person I was watching it thought as well but I really think it was meant to show how Gus deals with stress by being a scary stoic control freak.
I think he was feeling helpless in the one situation he couldn’t control (Lalo) so was exerting psycho levels of control in the area that he still could that night.
I think he had a backup plan in which the fryer played a part…
Could be… or a bigger picture role for him if things had not worked out 😐
Let’s just say that I was very, very relieved when the fryer was shown to be empty of hot oil.
Not nearly as relieved as Lyle.
until the end I thought this was connected to the drug pickup and he was gonna use Lyle in some way. turns out it was probably more a metaphor of the whole situation.
My wife was theorizing he wanted Lyle present so he had a witness for an alibi…but why would he need one?
Nah, it was a metaphor that Gus was micromanaging the cleaning of the fryer because he was so worried about the drops.
I was worried that this might be the end for Mike and then I remembered that there’s still all of Breaking Bad ahead of him.Which is really the big problem I have with this show – we already know the end (with the exception Kim and some of the side players). Will the DEA catch up with Gus next week? No. Will Mike be beaten to death by thugs? No. Will Jimmy ever get away from the Cartel? Maybe not.Even Lalo is relatively safe (or dies without Jimmy knowing about it) since, when he’s kidnapped by Jesse and Walt in the second season of Breaking Bad, Saul believes he’s been kidnapped by the Lalo and the cartel and blames Nacho for something that happened (which I’m guessing is the whole working with Gus thing).I kind of wish I hadn’t seen Breaking Bad and could start with Better Call Saul. It would’ve made Mike’s end all the more heartbreaking.
Jimmy doesn’t really know Fring is the ringmaster of everything, though, so I’m thinking Nacho pulls off something good in order to use Saul to get Lalo out of the picture without revealing his own connection to Gus.
Two thoughts:1) After all is said and done, I’m guessing there’s going to be some fan theories that newbies should start with Better Call Saul and watch Breaking Bad second. Sort of like how there’s fan theories about the order you should watch the Star Wars films.2) I do think the show is in a interesting position with Mike and Gus, because yes, we know that they ultimately die in Breaking Bad. But what is going to be their resolution at the end of THIS show, because we also know that they will NOT die at the end of the BCS timeline (minus the Gene time jump). What I’m trying to say is their last scenes in this show will most likely not be a reenactment of their deaths. So how are they going to go about concluding their storylines via this show, and will it make us view their BB deaths in a new light?
Damn your intelligent commentary BCS fans! I need to get some work done, but there is so much great insight happening that I can’t break away!
We can only see them have great interactions and actions in their scenes. That’s all I care for when it comes to them in this season and the next (last). Now Kim and Nacho…both cases make me incredibly nervous.
We can only see them have great interactions and actions in their scenes. That’s all I care for when it comes to them in this season and the next (last). Now Kim and Nacho…both cases make me incredibly nervous.
we already know the end (with the exception Kim and some of the side players)But really, that is a Gilligan signature storyline. There’s always an unexplained flash forward that the plot leads up to.
Lalo is not relatively safe or any kind of safe. Saul most likely has no idea what happens to Lalo at some point in the future of BCS. He might assume Lalo is still alive when Jesse and Walt, but he has no real idea.And has been said, the ‘how’ is much more important than really anything else. True of any Vince Gilligan show, really. I’ve never correctly guessed how anything will happen either on this show or Breaking Bad. Vince and Peter and crew come up with shit that no one could ever guess ahead of time.
Even when they give us clues! We could have seen the plane crash coming. We could have seen Gus coming back.
Man, I could not figure out for the life of me what the hell was going to become of that floating plastic eyeball in the swimming pool. And then once you know, it’s as obvious as could possibly be! Brilliant writing.
Wow, I did not expect to get to the “the plane crash is good now” stage of Breaking Bad fandom.
“Good” as in a positive development? No. But, was it a part of the storyline that worked? For sure. I am happy to discuss it further, but I thought it was thematically on point and worked really well.
I’m on the fence about it. But from what I remember, it was pretty controversial at the time. All the flash-forwards led people to expect a big shootout at Walt’s home or something, and there were a number of people complaining that it was a cheap piece of misdirection and the plane thing came out of nowhere.
1. I think it was a CRUCIAL episode in establishing the moral universe of Breaking Bad. The plane crash was meant to be a sign from the universe about the massive ramifications of Walt’s actions. His decision to ignore it or explain it away prepared us for the next season when he went fully into the moral quagmire of his life.
2. It didn’t come out of nowhere. Jane’s significance to her dad was well-established, as was her problems with addiction. The point was to see that Walt could not do what he did in a vacuum. It was going to spill out.
3. By grounding the finale in a non “drug violence” world, it wisely took the show outside of Walt’s immediate world. To me, this is when the show was wisest in using violence. Victor, Tyrus, Gus, and Gale getting killed? Violent, but not that impactful. Drew Sharp, Mrs. Pekatewa, or the passengers? HUGELY upsetting – they were not participants in the world. They just had the misfortune of living in the world of our characters.
Jane’s Addiction.
‘when Jesse and Walt kidnap him’, that should say.
Yeah, at this point I’m pretty only interested in the Saul / Kim story.
Yeah but it can’t be that big of a problem for you because you knew this going in and it didn’t stop you from watching.
Jimmy knows what happens with Nacho and Lalo for certain.
Jimmy knows what happens with Nacho and Lalo for certain.
So……I was wondering if Gus kept that kid working for an alibi?
Perhaps I’m seeing it a different way, or looking too far into it, or just completely misinterpreting it, but I saw Gus keeping poor Lyle there as a means to an alibi if something went wrong with the drop and he was somehow implicated or blamed. He knew the kind of hard-working kid Lyle was. His taunts of a unclean fryer was almost a dare of “Eff you, I’ll do it myself,” to make Lyle say, “No, I can do it, Mr. Bossman!” As soon as the drop went down without a hitch, he let Lyle go, but still stayed in “acceptable” character to Lyle so as not to arouse suspicion. Lyle is going to come into work the next day, and Gus will offer up some sincere-sounding apology, when in reality he used Lyle for an alibi, yet another example of the legitimate business being nothing more than a means to an end of the illegitimate one.
Was Gus keeping the kid there working for an alibi?
Yes.
Why can’t I find a used knick-knack store like the one in the opening sequence? * So much cool stuff!*rhetorical question.
Two options:Come to Austin, TX or Portland, OR and googlemap “consignment shop”Bid on unpaid storage lots (any city), you’ll find almost all of this shit after 3 buys.
I know they publicize it in an attempt to boost ratings, but I kinda wish they hadn’t announced Hank and Steve’s return before the season started (same goes for Gus’ first appearance in season 3). I would have loved the sense of surprise I’d have gotten from their returns like I did with Walt’s appearance in El Camino.
I had somehow gone without knowing about their inclusion, only to be spoiled by AMC using a still shot of 8’s jail interview for the 3rd episode header. D’oh!
This season has been everything I hoped the show would be when it premiered. Love the Sol Goodman courtroom and client scenes. It’s still hard for me to wrap my head around Howard offering Jimmy a job at HHM. What’s his motive?
Kim cleaning up the broken glass mess was a bit on the nose symbolically, but then I realized I would probably do the exact same thing. Another reason why I relate to Kim so much. She is looking a lot older and worn this season and I’m sure that is a result of the makeup dept. Overwork and compromised ethics have a lot to do with it, but I also think is has something to do with making her look closer to Bob Odenkirk’s age. And Donna is right about the disturbing side nudity— Odenkirk sure doesn’t feel the need to get in shape for the role!
He seems to be in perfect shape for the role of a middle aged lawyer with no athletic hobbies or gym membership.
Yeah he has a pretty average body for a man his age. I thought it was witty how they did that overhead shot which is normally used to give viewers a good look at the female lead’s gorgeous body (and I’m sure Rhea Seehorn would’ve looked great) but instead we see unfiltered Odenkirk
Best moment: By-the-books Kim clearly envious and in awe of defend-the-little man-by-any-means-necessary Saul during his courtroom shenanigans—after her own play-by-the-rules failure at the Mesa Verde meeting.Bob Odenkirk nude! That has to be a ratings booster.
Cool Breaking Bad Easter egg I noticed was the amount taken in the Fring sting was 710,000 dollars. The same amount Hank tells Walt in the Pilot episode was the most he’d ever taken in a bust.
Nice, catch! I vaguely remember that conversation now.
Episode 6 is titled ‘Wexler v. Goodman’, and Kim just set in motion the reality that this will be about much more than Mesa Verde v. old guy and his house. Her boss knows who Jimmy/Saul is from the office party and will likely hear from Kevin and Paige that she tried to get them to act in opposition to their business interests to save old guy and his house. She might end up getting fired for this, or forced to discredit/embarass/defeat Saul in court in order to maintain her own professional standing and reputation.
I think Kim routinely going back to Slippin’ Jimmy-ing is sort of a narrative necessity. We can’t contrast Jimmy turning into Saul with Kim being a corporate lawyer, because the latter wouldn’t feel like the virtuous alternative, it would just feel like a different brand of bad (possibly even worse). So Kim has to be the idealist who aims for justice and equality despite having to work within the confines of the law.
Wonderful review, per usual, but in New Mexico, it’s the “MVD”, not the “DMV”. Jimmy discussed this with Francesca back in season 3.
I still love all the Saul stuff and really am “meh” about the Gus and Mike stuff. As much as Hank and Steve were great in BB, did this little side quest with the drugs really add anything to the show at all? Probably the biggest minus in this whole series for me is they just cannot get away from the BB story. All these seasons in, and really none of the Gus stuff is even remotely connected to the main story. It just sits there as fan service.I saw Howard’s offer as the proverbial “one last chance” at being good for Saul before he goes off the deep end. What was really poignant was Howard totally got why Jimmy changed his name. Just the fact the Jimmy did that was tragic. I also thought Jimmy would see Howard’s offer as charity and a way to make up for years of bad behavior towards him by his firm. Howard might have been the poor guy stuck in the middle, but jimmy will never let it go.Kim cleaning up the broken glass was just another perfect character beat for her. She will never be like Jimmy. They break is obviously coming. She has a little streak of rebelliousness in her that maybe other buttoned down lawyers would not have, which is probably why she was always attracted to Jimmy, but she could never go down the same road fully as Jimmy. She does not have the history or motivation like Jimmy does. BTW, I do not think Kim dies but leaves Jimmy. If she died that would just be way to traumatic for jimmy/Saul to ever be able to be the mob shark lawyer he was in BB. It would completely break him
Kim hiring the guy that will fight against her client is such a conflict of interest that, not only would Mesa Verde fire her, she could be brought up for disciplinary action at the Bar. I think that Mesa Verde would fire her just for her relationship with Jimmy.
They haven’t yet and I don’t think they know they’re a literal couple who lives together. Paige was in awe at Jimmy’s “destruction” of Chuck in court at the bar hearing. Mesa Verde doesn’t have to know she hired JimmySaul for that. Yeah, she would never have done that before, but by mid season 4, Kim reorganized her priorities dramatically. She doesn’t care about the falsified evidence of Pryce’s video anymore. She’d actually want to see it if it was mentioned again. She’s becoming a lovely anti-hero herself. Only hero who tries to leave all the crime behind is Nacho and he gets himself deeper in…although, not many people would have caught him for the pill switching thing, only an extremely smart psychopath with a lot of sycophants like Gus could pull this. The guy has extreme bad luck.
1) That’s one hell of a wall’o’text to be wrong in2) We see how Hector became disabled and how Gus actually saved him sparing no expense, just to the degree he liked. So he could get his ultra cold revenge dish at the time he wanted. His megalomania reflecting a lot to Walt’s in season 5.Also, Gus can pull the pitiful Waltesque act in front of Lalo, the resemblance was uncanny to Walt talking to Gus in s3e1 in the Pollos booth.Mike will become Saul’s P.I. some time soon, so that’s backstory filling here, especially since it seems their paths seemed like they would never cross after that failed attempt at hiring him early in season 4. He’ll have to find something to do while the lab construction is happening.Also, Gus is involved in whatever fiasco happens with Nacho and Lalo, something that traumatizes Saul. So, there’s all of that.
This whole show is a prequel though – it needs to explain how Saul could refer Walt to Gus in BB (He’s like a gazelle….)
I used to agree with this consensus: i.e. that the Jimmy/Saul/Kim lawyering show is better than the the Mike, Gus, Nacho, Lalo (and now Hank and Gomey) show about meth dealing show. However, since Chuck’s death I’ve started to have the contrarian opinion. The core of the Jimmy/Saul/Kim show about high powered lawyers in the ABQ was the conflict between Jimmy and his brother and Michael McKean is just a wonderful actor. Without Chuck/McKean’s presence as a foil to Jimmy I just don’t think a show about Jimmy and Kim primarily where it’s becoming increasingly obvious that there’s no hope of Jimmy becoming a legitimately lawyer, is less interesting to me than it was. Meanwhile I’m finding the machinations of Nacho and Lalo to be more interesting. I do wish the plots were more connected though
“Is Jimmy affecting some Yiddish for his Saul Goodman persona? He throws “nudnik” at the skells.”
When we first meet Saul (Breaking Bad season 2 episode 8) he tells Walt that he’s a “fellow potato eater” but has changed his name from the Irish McGill to the Jewish-sounding Goodman in order to appeal to his clientele, who he says “prefer members of the tribe.”
Is Walter White of Irish ancestry?
I don’t know if W.W.’s ethnic origins has ever been addressed.
When Walt first introduces himself to Saul, he uses Badger’s surname ‘Mayhew ‘, which prompted Saul’s “fellow potato eater” comment.
Did anyone else think the skells (as a pair of annoying, wheedling doofs) were meant to evoke the Sklar brothers (the music store owners from season 3)? Both tried to wheedle Jimmy’s service price to zero. Last time, Jimmy ended dejected and humiliated. Here, he puffs up about his skills and grinds them for grandma’s money.
Or the two skateboarding scam idiots Saul somewhat rescued from Tuco earlier in the series. Saul seems to have a way with pairs of idiots when they come his way. Hell, he’s already had a run-in with Badger.
Wow, how long ago was this? Odenkirk looks so young.
It was 2009, in what was I believe Saul’s first appearance on Breaking Bad.
http://sequart.org/magazine/63315/looking-back-at-the-first-appearance-of-saul-goodman/
Did anyone else think that Bob Odenkirk would be a great casting choice for Nite Owl, when they saw the “frankly upsetting amount of Odenkirk side nudity”?
No mention of Saul’s courtroom antics? I could watch a whole series of just cases like those.
It was definitely the most Lionel Hutz moment for courtroom-Saul that we’ve seen so far.
“I’m not wearing a tie at all!”
They were ridiculous and probably grounds for disbarrment if they occurred in the real world
Quit trying to make “skells” happen
(loved the recap)
That’s so Fetch!
Thanks for the insightful review, Donna. I do love this show, and reading your take and the comments over the next few days helps make the next episode seem so much closer.
Barry Corbin’s acting was so good when he sees the picture –
“It’s a man………fuckin….a horse.
‘which involves a frankly upsetting amount of Odenkirk side nudity’OK, Boomer. No. What’s upsetting is that a supposed grown-ass woman found a little male side nudity ‘upsetting’. I’m ashamed for you that you even wrote that. You shouldn’t even be watching cable TV if that 5 sec of bare Bob ‘upset’ you. It wasn’t gratuitous. It wasn’t the woman – for a change (so you should actually be happy about it). It was organic to the scene, and a beautifully lit and framed shot. Way to be an outdated puritanical prude and body shame all at once. AND, Bob Odenkirk is sexy as hell. We should be calling for MORE naked Bob, not less. Decent review otherwise, but please take that low consciousness crap elsewhere. I can’t roll my eyes at your hard enough.
I have never such a passionate defense of pasty middle-aged paunch.
Can somebody explain why Gus was so hard on the kid about the cleaning? I got the impression he was trying to keep the kid there until he got the call for some reason, but I can’t figure out why. Gus doesn’t like losing, but it doesn’t seem like him to get emotional and as a power play (?) take it out on a decent innocent employee of los pollos. I really feel like I’m missing something. Why was he so hard on the kid?
I think he mainly wanted an alibi in case things went wrong at the culvert. However, we have been getting an increasing number of hints that we will be learning about Gus’s past in Chile and that it won’t be pretty.
This. Alibi just in case.
And they never miss an opportunity for character development. Gus is a more sadistic bastard than we already knew.
I think he was gonna pull a Jeffrey Dahmer on him if the plan failed. His house’s address is 1213 afterall…
Gus was angry that he was losing a bunch of money and there was nothing to do about it, so he took out his frustrations on someone he could order around.For a while I was thinking that guy was gonna end up IN the fryer.
I don’t think he was taking it out on that one kid per se. It’s just that he was having a lot of neurosis about how the whole dead drop thing was going and he channeled that into his OCD about cleanliness. The kid just happened to be sort of caught in the crossfire being his store manager or whatever and wanting to have Gus’s trust and respect. And Gus never lost his temper with him or anything. He just calmly explained his insane standard regarding cleaning the fryer and offered to do it himself and let him off the hook
I interpreted it as setting up an alibi. By keeping the kid there until he was sure his guy got away, he was guaranteeing he had a witness that he was uninvolved if things went wrong.
Ok, I think you are right. But it’s a little weird alibi, “I couldn’t have been involved, I was at work” most cops wouldn’t expect him to be there directly. Maybe it’s a mix of that and what Blaffair said is that he didn’t like what was going on and channeled that into something he could control OCD cleanliness.
My takeaway was that they were trying to show that Gus doesn’t really value his emoloyees. Everyone should know this after he murdred one them in cold blood in Breaking Bad but apparently a lot of people still think Gus would be a good guy to work for
documenting it here now for posterity: i think the way Kim is going to get excised from Jimmy/Saul’s universe is by getting busted for one of their joint shenanigans. she’s going to plead guilty (because she can’t even toss a bottle off a balcony without eventually taking responsibility), likely save Saul’s ass in the process, and wind up spending a large chunk of her life in prison.
Kim ends up with Howard.
Wow this is pretty good
Mike looked like Clem the Demon from Angel. He is haggard.
How is getting a mistrial a win in US judicial system? Doesn’t that mean his client is going to wait forever in his cell for another trial?
It was good to see Ray again after all these years.
This show is running on fumes and repeating the same tropes over and over. How many times is Saul stuck in a car with thugs wondering where they are going? How many times is Kim going to stare into space before she makes a bad decision? The same pretty much goes for Gus,Mike and Nacho. I really like these characters but they just keep spinning wheels and we know how it all comes out anyway. I felt this way all through last season as well and it’s just more of the same, milking the story for more than it’s worth.
“It’s just a quick drive down by the border”Is when Slippin’ Jimmy became Saul.
I’m behind, obv. Why did Gus make Lyle stay while he waited for the call? I feel like Gus never does anything without a reason, but I couldn’t figure that one out.
Two years later, re-watching before the final season begins and I have to say that Gus was likely being such a stickler with the fryer cleaning not so much to have an alibi, but because unlike the tense waiting for the dead drop bust to happen, the fryer cleaning was something he could actually control.
As soon as he got word that his guy made a clean getaway, he lightened up about the fryer cleanliness.
A character named Saul talking about fighting Goliath. If there’s one reviewer I expected to pick up on that, it’s Donna Bowman.