BETTER CALL SAUL

[SpaceCoyote 150]

16 hours ago, Jay said:

And she finally tells Jimmy she knew Lalo was alive, and even admits that she didn't tell him because she knew he would put the kibosh on the Howard scam, and that she feared he'd break up with her as well (this is the only thing in the whole episode that didn't really track for me.... why did she think that?).

 

My guess is she's afraid Jimmy would want Kim to stay away from him in order to protect her.

 

16 hours ago, Jay said:

The jump forward to 2008 was shocking.  I was NOT expecting that...

 

...I'm happy to be in the BB era to kick off the final 4 episodes, but hope we get some information about the 4 years we just jumped past.

 

We'll find out for sure next week, but it looks like this was only a partial time jump, as the tag on Saul's Cadillac has a November 2005 expiration date. Some people have suggested that not renewing his tag is in-character, but I have to imagine the APD would love to bust him for anything they can, so he has to be careful on something like that. A faulty handicap placard (which has a 2008 expiration date) could be harder to bust someone on since it's only visible when he's not around. I fully expect next week's episode to jump the remaining three years into the BB timeline, though. The partial jump might have been implemented just to show how quickly everything changed post-Kim.

[Jay 37,346]

15 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

I think there's a few layers to Gus' moment there - yes he is focused on revenge, but there's also a brief glimpse of shame and fear, realising that he can't let himself get close to another person again for fear of another loss, but also possibly a sliver of guilt for "betraying" the memory of his partner.... The amount of complex facial acting that Espisito pulls off in this scene is delectable - especially juxtaposed with his almost constant stoicism in the rest of the show.

 

Yes, definitely, well said!  For sure he was remembering what happened to Max and realized he cannot let another person into his intimate life like that.  The acting in this scene from Giancarlo was incredible.

 

15 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

Between this and the slight wincing he does when being patted down at Don Eladio's compound this is the most vulnerable and human that we've ever seen Gus. Incredible.

 

The wincing from the patdown reminded me of his vulnerability when he sat down on his bed and rubbed his leg that had the ankle gun on it all day

 

15 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

I audibly gasped when Kim said that. The single most callous thing Kim has ever done, but so complicated as it was also done to protect Jimmy.... Rhea does such an incredible job of not letting too much on about what Kim is thinking in the moment, so it wasn't until the scene in the apartment that we realise that her fear of what she's capable of is what drives her away. This is not how I expected their relationship would end but it is so perfect.

 

Yes, again well said!  She basically destroyed Hamlin's reputation to his wife and colleague for the only reason of taking the heat off Jimmy and permanently selling the lie they created because she wanted to take down Howard.  Brutal.

 

15 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

I suspect the next ep will cover the events of BB and then we'll jump to Gene-town. And HOPEFULLY a reunion with Kim 😭😭

 

There is absolutely no way that we won't catch up with Kim in the Gene timeline, no chance!!  The questions now are how does he handle the cab guy, does he find her or does she find him, and then what happens when they reunite...

 

15 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

Also one thing I loved: the opening montage with the "Saul Goodman & Associates" sign and the camera angled to emphasise "ASS". I love the cheeky sense of humour in this show.

 

Yes!  I noticed that too, and laughed out loud!!!

 

8 hours ago, Anthony said:

The two time jumps in this episode frustrated me a little: the opening montage glossing over the day after the night before, and then not showing Jimmy or Kim "finding out" about Howard's suicide, not showing them talking to the police...

 

It all felt a little too easy. The HHM scene slightly redeemed this, as there would have been no point showing these missing scenes then also repeating things in the scene with Cheryl. Plus Mike said to Gus it all happened as planned - okay, so at least Mike explained this last week.

 

I was initially taken aback that we didn't see them talking to the police and such, but by the end of the wake scene I had all the information I needed and completely think the writers did the right thing here.

 

8 hours ago, Anthony said:

And then the big time jump. Excuse me, but I haven't waited 7 years to reach this point and then for them to go....and then he became Saul Goodman! No!

 

I like the whiplash effect and the stark conrast between Kim's apartment and Saul's rotating bed with a hooker in...but we better get some of the gap between the two filled in. I want to see the decision making/justification behind this ridiculous lifestyle. Jimmy's head isn't in this space when Kim breaks up with him - it's how Jimmy got to that point that I've been waiting to see.

 

I've always said that in Saul's introduction in BB he comes across nothing like Jimmy. And even then throughout the series he isn't quite as sleazy as in that first episode. In 609, Odenkirk plays Saul like that first BB episode again, but it's such a departure from Jimmy that I need to see some kind of bridge between the two - it's just really jarring otherwise.

 

I feel fairly confident that the next episode or two will shed more like on the aftermath of Kim leaving and his arrival to where he is at the end of 609.  Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like something that will be in there to me.

 

 

8 hours ago, Anthony said:

The scene with Gus also frusrated me. Usually I relish scenes that go at a snail's pace and you have no context as to what's going on or where they're going. But I trust the writers are taking them somewhere. The Hedberg scene from 401 is one of my absolute favourites. But this went on far too long and just went...nowhere. Gus won't take the time to celebrate, he's stuck in the cycle of revenge that Nacho's dad describes - was there not a more concise way to show that? 

 

Maybe I'd have had a little more patience with the scene if there weren't so few episodes left. There's so much other stuff I still want to know, this felt like it was wasting precious time.

 

Wow wow wow, I couldn't disagree with you more, especially your statement that the scene "went nowhere".  The scene was not only incredibly well-acted and well-written, it reveals so much about Gus's character.  A short scene that reinforces Gus not wanting to celebrate would have been pointless; THIS scene covers that AND his commitment to his revenge AND his fear of having another lover in danger, and is executed perfectly!  Maybe you'll like it more if you watched it again?

 

8 hours ago, Anthony said:

That said, it was still a good episode, but it felt a little flat compared to the intensity of the last two. 

 

If EVERY episode was intense, the extra-intense ones wouldn't stick out as much!

 

 

1 hour ago, SpaceCoyote said:

My guess is she's afraid Jimmy would want Kim to stay away from him in order to protect her.

 

I don't buy it!

 

1 hour ago, SpaceCoyote said:

We'll find out for sure next week, but it looks like this was only a partial time jump, as the tag on Saul's Cadillac has a November 2005 expiration date. Some people have suggested that not renewing his tag is in-character, but I have to imagine the APD would love to bust him for anything they can, so he has to be careful on something like that. A faulty handicap placard (which has a 2008 expiration date) could be harder to bust someone on since it's only visible when he's not around. I fully expect next week's episode to jump the remaining three years into the BB timeline, though. The partial jump might have been implemented just to show how quickly everything changed post-Kim.

 

 

I don't know.  What's more likely:  We are in 2005 and he is hanging up a handicap placard that is set to expire 3 years in the future, or we are in 2008 and his license plate has an outdated sticker on it?

 

Also: The break-up with Kim happens in June 2004.  Would he really go that bald by some time in 2005?  Or would it take until 2008 to lose that much hair?

 

 

I guess we'll find out next week

[Jay 37,346]

Hmmm, someone on reddit has a theory that the final scenes are set on February 11th, 2005 based on the audio they put into the episode in Saul's car:

 

"After the time jump, if you listen very closely to the radio as Saul is driving into his office, it is stated that the S&P 500 rose by 5 points the prior day. If you narrow down this period to 11/1/2004 - 11/30/2005 (based on the license plate expiring in November 2005), the only day the S&P 500 rose by exactly 5 points is 2/10/2005. Therefore, the next day when he’s driving into work would be 2/11/2005, which was a Friday."

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/betterCallSaul/comments/w33pfl/february_11_2005/

 

He even has an explanation for the handicap placard expiring in 2008:

 

"Permanent handicap placards issued in New Mexico expire 4 years from the date of issuance. This is confirmed through the New Mexico MVD website."

 

So this all means Kim left in June 2004, he successfully applied for a handicap placard in November 2004, and we're seeing him in February 2005 - almost 4 years away from meeting Walter and Jesse in December, 2008.  Incidentally, Kim's birthday is February 13th.

[SpaceCoyote 150]

42 minutes ago, Jay said:

"Permanent handicap placards issued in New Mexico expire 4 years from the date of issuance. This is confirmed through the New Mexico MVD website."

 

So this all means Kim left in June 2004, he successfully applied for a handicap placard in November 2004, and we're seeing him in February 2005 - almost 4 years away from meeting Walter and Jesse in December, 2008.  Incidentally, Kim's birthday is February 13th.

I meant to mention in my post that handicap placards last for years. I was one of the people who brought that up on the BCS subreddit, but it didn’t change many minds, which I get. I hadn’t caught the radio audio, which leaves less up to debate and has to be deliberate.

 

The timing would be less confusing if they’d used an expiration date that wasn’t in 2008, and if his balding wasn’t so severe. I’m predicting that next week’s episode picks up in 2005, catches up to and covers Breaking Bad, and ends at or right before the Gene timeline (it’s directed by Michelle MacLaren, who directed the most BB of anyone, and was well-known for montages). A full episode of Saul Goodman in all his glory. I know some people would want more, but this is a prequel to a show that covered Walt’s post-Mike run as a successful drug kingpin into a single montage that ended with him giving it all up (“Gliding Over All,” also directed by MacLaren).

[Jay 37,346]

Another Rhea Seehorn article

 

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/better-call-saul-rhea-seehorn-interview-season-six-1383649/

[Anthony 572]

So 609 contained the same camera shot of Kim's apartment following the clean-up that the teaser scene at the end of 607 had.

 

The only thing that was missing was Jimmy's "so after all that...a happy ending" line. I wonder if that's from a later episode or if it was just for the teaser?

[Jay 37,346]

Hmm, probably a later episode. 

 

 

[Jay 37,346]

The song from the cold open is released

 

 

[Anthony 572]

On 20/07/2022 at 4:50 PM, Jay said:

Wow wow wow, I couldn't disagree with you more, especially your statement that the scene "went nowhere".  The scene was not only incredibly well-acted and well-written, it reveals so much about Gus's character.  A short scene that reinforces Gus not wanting to celebrate would have been pointless; THIS scene covers that AND his commitment to his revenge AND his fear of having another lover in danger, and is executed perfectly!  Maybe you'll like it more if you watched it again?

 

On rewatching, the scene is fine. Heck, it was a good scene even the first time I saw it. I was just acutely aware of how few episodes there are left and was thinking "don't spend time introducting new characters when we've got such little time remaining with the existing ones".

[Jay 37,346]

You really needed a new character to make this scene work.  I guess it could have worked if a prior episode had introduced this sommelier and this was a reprise, but he really didn't have any time this season to go to a bar because he was hiding from Lalo the entire season until this moment

[SpaceCoyote 150]

So we’re not in 2005 or 2008. Still a little more ground to cover before we enter the Breaking Bad timeline (which I fully expect to happen on Monday). This makes the most sense, but the tag seems unnecessarily confusing now.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

8 hours ago, Anthony said:

 

On rewatching, the scene is fine. Heck, it was a good scene even the first time I saw it. I was just acutely aware of how few episodes there are left and was thinking "don't spend time introducting new characters when we've got such little time remaining with the existing ones".

 

I get the feeling that's pretty much it for Gus' storyline, so that's why it does work for me. I can't really see him or Mike having anything major left to do for the rest of the show now that we're firmly in Saul/BB territory - anything interesting or revealing about either of those characters is already there in Breaking Bad. Both Gus and Mike had moments in this episode that were both capstones to their inner conflict, and turning points putting them on the path to their eventual fates.

 

Aside from plot reasons, the point of Gus in Better Call Saul was to further shade the character as he appears in BB. This episode was very succinct in giving us what we need to know about Gus: his single-minded drive to consolidate power and destroy Don Eladio and the Salamancas. We were told that in BB, but BCS actually shows us, using the restaurant scene as the moment Gus not only fully commits to this goal, but also as the gestation for his plan to poison Eladio.

 

Same with Mike; we know from BB that he is a highly skilled and intelligent asset to Gus with a dark past. But given everything that Gus has made him do over the years, why still work for him? Mike's scene with Nacho's father shows us: because despite his insistence that he's a hitman with a conscience and a moral code he knows deep down that he's doing evil, and he can never truly be redeemed for the damage he has caused. So he sticks with what he knows, and keeps earning the money to compensate for the future he robbed his granddaughter of.

 

There's a sense of futility to all of this, which is enhanced by our knowledge of what happens to these characters. What matters is how we see these characters react to the realisation that they're on the Bad Choice Road and there's no getting off.

[Jay 37,346]

13 hours ago, SpaceCoyote said:

So we’re not in 2005 or 2008. Still a little more ground to cover before we enter the Breaking Bad timeline (which I fully expect to happen on Monday). This makes the most sense, but the tag seems unnecessarily confusing now.

 

Hmmm, I wonder if Schnauz is just wrong / mis-remembering.  Why would Saul be driving a flashy car with an out-of-date sticker on his license plate?

 

Maybe we're not supposed to think about it.  And ultimately, really, it probably doesn't actually matter when it is.

 

The cold open of the episode ended with Saul saying "one day we'll wake up, brush our teeth, and realize we went the whole day without thinking about it" or whatever the exact line was.  I think this day we jump forward to is meant to be the first day Saul wakes up and goes about his day and doesn't think about Kim.

[Jay 37,346]

Did anybody else notice that when Kim and Jimmy notice Cheryl on the upper level and go up the stairs to talk to her, there's a shot that lingers for an unusually long time showing hem each placing their waters down before going to talk to her?

 

What was up with that?

 

 

14 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

I get the feeling that's pretty much it for Gus' storyline, so that's why it does work for me. I can't really see him or Mike having anything major left to do for the rest of the show now that we're firmly in Saul/BB territory - anything interesting or revealing about either of those characters is already there in Breaking Bad. Both Gus and Mike had moments in this episode that were both capstones to their inner conflict, and turning points putting them on the path to their eventual fates.

 

Don't we still have to see Tuco get his boxing glove necklace back from Mike?  Well, maybe he just buys another one I guess.

 

14 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

Aside from plot reasons, the point of Gus in Better Call Saul was to further shade the character as he appears in BB. This episode was very succinct in giving us what we need to know about Gus: his single-minded drive to consolidate power and destroy Don Eladio and the Salamancas. We were told that in BB, but BCS actually shows us, using the restaurant scene as the moment Gus not only fully commits to this goal, but also as the gestation for his plan to poison Eladio.

 

Yes!  Well said!

 

14 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

Same with Mike; we know from BB that he is a highly skilled and intelligent asset to Gus with a dark past. But given everything that Gus has made him do over the years, why still work for him? Mike's scene with Nacho's father shows us: because despite his insistence that he's a hitman with a conscience and a moral code he knows deep down that he's doing evil, and he can never truly be redeemed for the damage he has caused. So he sticks with what he knows, and keeps earning the money to compensate for the future he robbed his granddaughter of.

 

Yes! Well said again!

 

14 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

There's a sense of futility to all of this, which is enhanced by our knowledge of what happens to these characters. What matters is how we see these characters react to the realisation that they're on the Bad Choice Road and there's no getting off.

 

Yes, exactly!

 

In this episode we saw the 4 remaining living main characters of the show examine their choices and being given a chance to change their ways.

 

Gus is presented with an opportunity to abandon what's been driving him and maybe have a different/happier life, but chooses not to and goes back to his revenge and empire building

 

Mike is told bluntly that he's just as bad as the people he thinks he is better than, and does nothing about it and stays in the game

 

Jimmy is confronted with the aftermath of everything he's done, and sticks to his lies about and seems to shrug everything off and want to just go on with life as usual

 

And finally Kim examines everything she's done and is the only one to actually decide that she cannot stay on this path and has to change.   And all her explanations of why she had been going down this path made perfect sense and completely explained all the seemingly confusing choices she made in some prior seasons.  And her explanation for needing to immediately stop everything and leave is logical and in character too.  It's painful to see but just makes so much sense.  But I feel like we've only seen her immediately reaction to what they had done, and I cannot wait to catch up with her some years down the road and see what her more developed thoughts on her scamming years with Jimmy are.

[SpaceCoyote 150]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

Did anybody else notice that when Kim and Jimmy notice Cheryl on the upper level and go up the stairs to talk to her, there's a shot that lingers for an unusually long time showing hem each placing their waters down before going to talk to her?

 

What was up with that?

 

Kim placed her glass safely in the center of the ledge, while Jimmy put his so close to the edge that some of it was hanging off. In season five, Kim throwing bottles off her apartment balcony showed that she was becoming reckless, similar to her starting to smoke inside (they'd previously placed bottles on the balcony ledge, which was itself an indicator of getting less and less concerned with consequences). The shot in 6x09 could intend to show her state of mind: she's back to playing things safe and striving to be on the straight and narrow. Jimmy is once again the one teetering over a cliff, and he's about to fall off and break.

 

Also, there are three glasses (two of which are Jimmy and Kim's, and presumably the others is Cliff's) and one mug there. The mug looks nearly identical to the one Howard filled with latte art for his wife, which she ignored and dumped into a thermos. Maybe she's using his mug for her as part of her coping process?

 

Also...

 

 

I give up, lol. Seems like, as you suggested, we're not supposed to think about where we are in the timeline. It doesn't matter.

[Jay 37,346]

1 hour ago, SpaceCoyote said:

Kim placed her glass safely in the center of the ledge, while Jimmy put his so close to the edge that some of it was hanging off. In season five, Kim throwing bottles off her apartment balcony showed that she was becoming reckless, similar to her starting to smoke inside (they'd previously placed bottles on the balcony ledge, which was itself an indicator of getting less and less concerned with consequences). The shot in 6x09 could intend to show her state of mind: she's back to playing things safe and striving to be on the straight and narrow. Jimmy is once again the one teetering over a cliff, and he's about to fall off and break.

 

Brilliant!!

 

1 hour ago, SpaceCoyote said:

Also, there are three glasses (two of which are Jimmy and Kim's, and presumably the others is Cliff's) and one mug there. The mug looks nearly identical to the one Howard filled with latte art for his wife, which she ignored and dumped into a thermos. Maybe she's using his mug for her as part of her coping process?

 

I didn't even notice that - nice catch!

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

7 hours ago, SpaceCoyote said:

 

Kim placed her glass safely in the center of the ledge, while Jimmy put his so close to the edge that some of it was hanging off. In season five, Kim throwing bottles off her apartment balcony showed that she was becoming reckless, similar to her starting to smoke inside (they'd previously placed bottles on the balcony ledge, which was itself an indicator of getting less and less concerned with consequences). The shot in 6x09 could intend to show her state of mind: she's back to playing things safe and striving to be on the straight and narrow. Jimmy is once again the one teetering over a cliff, and he's about to fall off and break.

I love this, agree with Jay, brilliant catch!

 

I’m going to miss combing over the details of this show here, I always learn so much. What a gift it is to have a show so layered and oozing with extra meaning. 

 

While on that note though, I’m glad I never put too much stock in the exact dates within this show, because it sounds like a nightmare to reconcile!

[Anthony 572]

That's a great explanation of the glass shot. It struck me as an odd thing to focus in on. But it makes sense!

 

I'd be surprised if the date thing hadn't been thought about - they know fans look at the most intricate details, and this seems like a pretty obvious one to double check.

[Jay 37,346]

Casual fans of the show don't even have a clue that BCS is set in 2004 or that BB was set from 2008-2010, so the date truly isn't important; You get from context that he's settled into the persona he had in BB, and how close or far he is from meeting Walt is irrelevant because he live that persona for years before Walter and that was always clear.

 

I think the 2005 sticker is supposed to be a clue to dedicated fans that it's around a year or so later, and I do think it's meant to be the first day Saul didn't think about Kim and is just fully into this Saul life for the forseeable future

[Anthony 572]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

I do think it's meant to be the first day Saul didn't think about Kim and is just fully into this Saul life for the forseeable future

 

Possibly the first time he hasn't thought about Kim, or the first time he hasn't thought about Howard's killing...or both!

 

This response is good enough for me. "It doesn't matter."

 

[Jay 37,346]

Ha, apparently in episode 1 we saw the initial sign Saul puts up on his office

 

[Anthony 572]

I thought that was one of the more obvious "preaster eggs" we were going to eventually see, since it was so prominent and had never appeared before.

 

I wonder if we'll see how Saul ends up with Caldera's book.

[Jay 37,346]

I'd definitely say the book and Tuco's necklace are danging issues they'll cover in the next episode or two

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

I’m more curious about the other book from the 601 cold open - HG Wells’ The Time Machine. My theory: after Kim’s departure Saul obsessively reads the book again, this time in order to go back in time and prevent it from ever happening. The reason he works for Walt is so he can use his scientific knowledge to create a time machine and-

 

 

lol not really. But man, I’ve been reading some pretty dumb theories on the BCS subreddit lately.

 

Can’t wait for the next ep. When do the episode posters/artwork usually come out?

[Anthony 572]

13 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

Can’t wait for the next ep. When do the episode posters/artwork usually come out?

 

Right about now. GENE!!

 

[SpaceCoyote 150]

Interesting! This backs up the episode description from the Spanish streaming service MoviStar Plus+, which was much different than what we got in the States (as in the vague, one-to-two sentence descriptions from TV providers). I wonder if this is merely a flash-forward teaser, or if we’ll be jumping around the timeline in these last few episodes rather than going linearly from Walt & Jesse to Gene.

[Dr. Rick 1,155]

Is that Jimmy's pinkie ring below the cinnamon roll?  

[Jay 37,346]

Some more ruminations on 609

 

When Kim packed up her condo to leave Jimmy, she chose not to take the Zafiro Añejo stopper with her, because we saw it in Jimmy's new house in the 601 teaser.  Maybe she just forgot, but I think it was intention, part of her true break from the scamming life.

Speaking of his propensity to keep mementos of his past, in addition to the stopper and Marco's ring, he also has a "World's Greatest Lawyer" mug throughout the BB era, which is like a daily reminder of the "World's Second Greatest Lawyer" mug Kim had given him.  Damn.

 

I think I also understand what Kim meant now, when she said she was afraid if she told Jimmy about Lalo that he'd call off the scam and then she'd leave him.  I think she's basically saying she's afraid that she only stayed with Jimmy because she loved their scamming life so much, and without a big scam in the works she'd lost interest?  If that's right, that's really cold of her...

 

 

BTW, have we yet seen in either show how Jimmy comes up with the "Better Call Saul" catchphrase?  I can't remember...

[SpaceCoyote 150]

8 minutes ago, Dr. Rick said:

Is that Jimmy's pinkie ring below the cinnamon roll?  

 

It is! Whenever he's fiddling with the ring, something big is usually going down. So that's a good tease.

 

7 minutes ago, Jay said:

BTW, have we yet seen in either show how Jimmy comes up with the "Better Call Saul" catchphrase?  I can't remember...

 

I don't think so. Given that we've skipped to the sign being up, I guess that one is lost to time.

[Jay 37,346]

I doubt we've skipped to the sign being up and will never see more scenes set before it.  I think a lot of nuance about Jimmy's life between Kim leaving and Water showing up will be revealed, as well as more details about what else Jimmy was up to during Walter's reign and how Jimmy really felt about having to go into hiding... as well as the Gene resolution

[SpaceCoyote 150]

Agreed that we'll see more of Jimmy during-and-post-Walt, but I'm not expecting to see any of what we missed in the time-jump from 6x09 (or if we do, that they'll take the time for the creation of the catchphrase). There's undeniably stuff they could cover there, but they also said everything they needed to say with just the jarring cut from Kim walking away to Saul's morning routine.

[Jay 37,346]

Some funny memes

Spoiler

 

[Anthony 572]

Bolsa's reaction when Eladio finally left was priceless. The biggest "thank fuck that's over" expression. And then he immediately pours a drink.

 

4 hours ago, Jay said:

he also has a "World's Greatest Lawyer" mug throughout the BB era, which is like a daily reminder of the "World's Second Greatest Lawyer" mug Kim had given him.

 

Now Kim is no longer a lawyer, Jimmy's taken top place.

[Dr. Rick 1,155]

 

 

[Jay 37,346]

I love this time - the long Monday workday is over, now I get to go home and spend time with my wife, then sit down, turn the lights off, pour a nice glass of scotch, and watch one of the final 4 Better Call Sauls ever

 

 

 

Nippy

Written by Alison Tatlock

Directed by Michelle MacLaren

 

Previous episodes written by Alison Tatlock

• BCS 407 Something Stupid
• BCS 502 50% Off
• BCS 507 JMM
• BCS 605 Black and Blue

Previous episodes directed by Michelle MacLaren

• BB 209 4 Days Out
• BB 303 IFT
• BB 307 One Minute
• BB 309 Abiquiu
• BB 402 Thirty-Eight Snub
• BB 405 Shotgun
• BB 410 Salud
• BB 502 Madrigal
• BB 508 Gliding All Over
• BB 510 Buried
• BB 513 To'hajiilee
• BCS 102 Mijo
• BCS 402 Breathe

[Anthony 572]

13 minutes ago, Jay said:

Directed by Michelle MacLaren

 

I hope we're due an epic montage!

 

This point of the week kinda sucks as it means I have to avoid this thread and any entertainment-based websites for about 24 hours to prevent spoilers.

[Jay 37,346]

I have a theory that I'll put in a spoiler tag because it concerns an actor they announced would be in the show this season but hasn't turned up yet

 

Spoiler

My theory is that Carol Burnett plays a relative/accomplice of Ed the Disappearer.  I think the writers wanted to have another scene with him and Jimmy and/or Walt, but since Robert Forster passed away, they rewrote it slightly to have her deliver the same information

 

[Dr. Rick 1,155]

I think this is Gene letting the cab driver guy who recognized him sitting on the mall bench take a bunch of merchandise out of a mall store to keep his identity quiet.  Thoughts?

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

2 hours ago, Dr. Rick said:

 

 

 

It's so weird seeing Bob in light-hearted, joking comedian mode... I'm so enthralled with his incredible dramatic work in BCS that I'd nearly forgotten that's what he used to be best known for!

[Dr. Rick 1,155]

3 hours ago, Dr. Rick said:

I think this is Gene letting the cab driver guy who recognized him sitting on the mall bench take a bunch of merchandise out of a mall store to keep his identity quiet.  Thoughts?

 
Hey I called it!  😂🤣

 

As a native of Omaha and a lifelong diehard Nebraska Cornhusker football fan this episode had me rolling with all the football talk between Gene and the guard.  This takes place in 2006 for sure since they referenced games against Texas and Oklahoma St, teams Nebraska played back to back weeks that year.  
 
Little things like bringing up players and coaches and Nebraska’s eventual move to the Big 10 conference were cracking me up!  
 

Based on the preview I’m assuming Jimmy is on his way to find Kim?  That scene reminded me of the end of Cast Away where he is at the intersection in the middle of nowhere. 

[Alex 2,835]

42 minutes ago, Dr. Rick said:

 
Hey I called it!  😂🤣

 

As a native of Omaha and a lifelong diehard Nebraska Cornhusker football fan this episode had me rolling with all the football talk between Gene and the guard.  This takes place in 2006 for sure since they referenced games against Texas and Oklahoma St, teams Nebraska played back to back weeks that year.  
 
Little things like bringing up players and coaches and Nebraska’s eventual move to the Big 10 conference were cracking me up!  
 

Based on the preview I’m assuming Jimmy is on his way to find Kim?  That scene reminded me of the end of Cast Away where he is at the intersection in the middle of nowhere. 

2006?

 

[Jay 37,346]

Well, that was... something. 

 

I am confident that would have been much, much better served being the season opener instead of here at the end game. 

[Jay 37,346]

Better Call Saul 6x10 Nippy

 

I have a ritual with each new season of Better Call Saul, where I re-watch the Cinnabon Gene scenes before each new season premiere.  I accidentally learned ahead of this year's season premiere that it didn't open with a Cinnabon Gene scene, so I didn't re-watch them beforehand this time around, which I was glad for because it would have been jarring to re-live that phone call with Ed and then have to wait many months for the next scene.

 

So here we are after 9 episodes have aired and I mostly felt like I just saw a usual 10-episode season of BCS, and had no idea what to expect next.  Between the official poster showing a cinnamon roll and Marco's ring, and then the AMC+ thumbnail for the episode flat-out showing Gene, I quickly re-watched the old Cinnabon Gene scenes before starting the new episode, and I was very glad I did!  I had forgotten about the one where he tells the mall cops where a shoplifter is hiding, but then jumps up and yells "get a lawyer!" before having his false alarm heart attack a few minutes later.  And boy, I had forgotten how awesome the casting was of the guy who played Jeff the cab driver; you only see his eyes in the 401 cold open, but then in 501 he's really got quite a presence.

 

And that's the elephant in the room about this new episode:  The new Jeff actor sucks.  OK, that's harsh - maybe he's not bad in a vacuum, but he looks  different, sounds different, and acts  different than the old Jeff.  Frankly, his entire vibe is just entirely different!  It was incredibly distracting, especially watching it moments after the previous actor's take on it.  It is such a bummer there was scheduling conflicts.

 

My next major issue with the episode is its placement.  I think I would have like this episode a lot, lot, lot more if it had been the Season 6 season premiere.  It would have been the smart thing to do!  Every other episode started with Cinnabon Gene, this would have been a great continuation of that.  It also doesn't really make any specific references in anything that happened in season 6 so far, so wouldn't have had any issues on that front.  And frankly, it would have been awesome to then go back into the main story, the whole time wondering in the back of the mind if that was the last we saw of Gene, or if we'd circle back to him at the end of the season.

 

Instead, being placed here at the end of everything is detrimental to its enjoyment, I believe.  The main story that show had been telling so far is wrapped up, yes.  But as we are now in a place where we can re-examine and re-contextualize what we knew about the Breaking Bad era, and there's so few episodes left to wrap up, it just felt weird to spend an hour with Gene, ignoring all of that.  Because when it comes down to it, this is really about 25-30 minutes worth of episode stretched out to a full hour, I'd say.

 

It was fine, it wasn't terrible.  Carol Burnett was great, the scam was interesting, the fact that he had the ring in his box is an "of course!" moment, and the final moment of him leaving Saul-esque clothes on the rack is tantalizing.  But that's it.  What else is there to say?

[crumbs 14,306]

I think this episode will be divisive, perhaps the Better Call Saul equivalent of Breaking Bad's Fly - a perfectly fine episode in its own right, but an unexpected handbrake from the episodes surrounding it.

 

I'm disappointed Michelle MacLaren finally came back to direct another episode and this was it. She also directed the fourth last episode of Breaking Bad (the incredible To'hajiilee) and frankly there's no comparison... but my own fault for expecting BCS to follow a similar narrative trajectory to BB's endgame.

 

Just would've preferred she had a meatier episode for her final gig, considering her immense work across both shows. No criticism of her direction here; this was probably the most tense, edge-of-your-seat telly I've watched since the train heist in BB. The problem is simply, as @Jay highlighted, making this the fourth last episode of the series. Such a sharp turn from everything the first 9 episodes, at the exact moment we were primed to dive into the Breaking Bad timeline.

 

And yeah, the replacement actor for Jeff was horrible. I'm sure they tried hard to get the original actor but I almost would've held up production (or moved this earlier in the production slate) if he was the best replacement actor they could find. The original Jeff had such an imposing presence, towering over Gene in their scenes. His ice cold stare, his black eyes. He said so much without saying a thing. The new actor did not convey any of this. Saul's pitch to him about "getting in the game" wasn't remotely convincing; the new actor portrayed the character like a clueless, bumbling buffoon.

 

All I can say is thank f*** the entire series didn't culminate in Saul's confrontation with this character; that could've been a complete disaster. And yet, having the Jeff storyline culminate this way also felt underwhelming and conveniently easy for Saul.

 

All the more reason this episode should've been somewhere in 6A, instead of spending 7 episodes on Jimmy & Kim building the Howard scam.

[Holko 9,519]

2 minutes ago, crumbs said:

And yeah, the replacement actor for Jeff was horrible. I'm sure they tried hard to get the original actor but I almost would've held up production on this episode (or moved it earlier in the production slate) if this was the best replacement they could find at short notice. The original actor had such an unnerving, imposing presence, towering over Gene in their scenes. His ice cold stare, those black eyes. So many little details the new actor did not convey... at all. What a shame.

TBH I felt a lot of my disappointment with him came down to the writing, that this is what they do with this setup, he ends up such a throwaway presenceless character.

[Jay 37,346]

15 hours ago, Dr. Rick said:

I think this is Gene letting the cab driver guy who recognized him sitting on the mall bench take a bunch of merchandise out of a mall store to keep his identity quiet.  Thoughts?

 

Did you come up with this all on your own, or is this something the reddit hivemind postulated?

 

12 hours ago, Dr. Rick said:

 As a native of Omaha and a lifelong diehard Nebraska Cornhusker football fan this episode had me rolling with all the football talk between Gene and the guard.  This takes place in 2006 for sure since they referenced games against Texas and Oklahoma St, teams Nebraska played back to back weeks that year.   

 

The main plot of Better Call Saul takes place from June 2002 (first episode) through June 2004 (when Kim leaves him).

Breaking Bad took place from Walt's 50th birthday on September 7th 2008 to when he died on his 52nd birthday on September 7th 2010.

El Camino takes place over the next few days right after that

 

The Cinnabon Gene scenes have been taking place after that, we didn't know until this episode if it was 2010, 2011, 2012, etc etc

 

According to this article though, we know they are in October 2010.

 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/better-call-saul-season-6-episode-10-interview-1235186002/

Which makes no sense because there wouldn't be that much snow, but hey, there wouldn't be that much snow in New Hampshire in September either, but what can you do.

 

 

12 hours ago, Dr. Rick said:

Spoiler

Based on the preview I’m assuming Jimmy is on his way to find Kim?  That scene reminded me of the end of Cast Away where he is at the intersection in the middle of nowhere. 

 

 

I put your thoughts in a spoiler-block because not everybody watches the "next time on" stuff.

 

Spoiler

All the "next time on" previews for the final 5 episodes have been in B&W, so it doesn't necessarily mean we're seeing a Gene scene.  But it looks snowy, so it probably is.  I betcha that dialogue we hear isn't about Kim though, they're probably tricking us.  And certainly comes from a completely different scene than the shot it's pasted over.

 

44 minutes ago, crumbs said:

I think this episode will be divisive, perhaps the Better Call Saul equivalent of Breaking Bad's Fly - a perfectly fine episode in its own right, but an unexpected handbrake from the episodes surrounding it.

 

Good way of looking at it yea

 

44 minutes ago, crumbs said:

The original Jeff had such an imposing presence, towering over Gene in their scenes. His ice cold stare, his black eyes. He said so much without saying a thing. The new actor did not convey any of this.

 

Yes!

 

44 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Saul's pitch to him about "getting in the game" wasn't remotely convincing; the new actor portrayed the character like a clueless, bumbling buffoon.

 

Yes!

 

44 minutes ago, crumbs said:

All I can say is thank f*** the entire series didn't culminate in Saul's confrontation with this character; that could've been a complete disaster. And yet, having the Jeff storyline culminate this way also felt underwhelming and conveniently easy for Saul.

 

It proves to himself that he is still capable of pulling off a (pretty impressive, all things considered) scam, and its left ambiguous at the end when he puts the shirt down if he realizes he doesn't want to scam again and perhaps wants to go find Kim, or if he is thinking about his next scam but knows he can't be flashy about it?

 

44 minutes ago, crumbs said:

All the more reason this episode should've been somewhere in 6A, instead of spending 7 episodes on Jimmy & Kim building the Howard scam.

 

Yep

 

Frankly when I re-watch the entire show someday, I'll absolutely watch this in between 510 and 601 for sure

 

40 minutes ago, Holko said:

TBH I felt a lot of my disappointment with him came down to the writing, that this is what they do with this setup, he ends up such a throwaway presenceless character.

 

I found him to be written AND acted supremely differently than before

[Dr. Rick 1,155]

3 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

Did you come up with this all on your own, or is this something the reddit hivemind postulated?

 

I came up with it on my own!    I don't ever get on reddit

 

4 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

 

The main plot of Better Call Saul takes place from June 2002 (first episode) through June 2004 (when Kim leaves him).

Breaking Bad took place from Walt's 50th birthday on September 7th 2008 to when he died on his 52nd birthday on September 7th 2010.

El Camino takes place over the next few days right after that

 

The Cinnabon Gene scenes have been taking place after that, we didn't know until this episode if it was 2010, 2011, 2012, etc etc

 

According to this article though, we know they are in October 2010.

 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/better-call-saul-season-6-episode-10-interview-1235186002/

Which makes no sense because there wouldn't be that much snow, but hey, there wouldn't be that much snow in New Hampshire in September either, but what can you do.

 

You're correct, apologies for the error.  It was indeed October 2010.  2006 also had the same teams Nebraska played back-to-back weeks.

 

I do recall one year in my youth when Halloween was postponed due to snow and ice so it does occasionally snow in October however it is rare.

 

 

 

[Oswin Pond 58]

Fantastic episode. It was a real breath of fresh air after the last intense ones. It felt like old Better Call Saul, I've missed this vibe.

 

It really hit different after 6x09, I'm glad they put it here personally. The Jeff recast however was truly awful, the OG actor was so much better. 

 

I love the music they put on the "next time", it really feels depressing, I hope they're included on the blu-rays.

[Jay 37,346]

Porter's score in the episode was cool; He gives the Gene scenes a different vibe than any of his Jimmy or cartel scoring.

 

I noticed especially when re-watching the first 5 cold opens before this episode

[Anthony 572]

The question we should be asking ourselves is if THIS is what they decided to show us at this point in the story, WHAT ON EARTH is going to happen in the final 3 episodes?! I'm even more lost as to what's left to wrap up now.

 

I liked the total change of pace after the last few that were total-stress-fests. I enjoyed the con and Jim O'Heir. I agree with what everyone has said about the downgraded Jeff actor. It's such a shame the original guy wasn't available.

 

I did the same as Jay and watched the other black and white teasers immediately before this episode. There were some neat re-used camera angles and little prop refernces (more for continutiy than being overt easter eggs). I'm not sure if I'd have recognised the other security guard as the guy from the season 3 teaser if I hadn't seen it a few minutes earlier.

 

I also thought they said 6.10 was the episode where Walt and Jesse were coming back, so perhaps this originally had different placement in the running order?

 

Schnauz Farm!

 

We also got the two soundbites from the recent teasers - "After all that, a happy ending." and "If you get greedy and decide to come back for more, don't.". Totally throwaway and not from a context we'd have ever imagined.

 

I thought the ending was rather ambigous - I liked that Gene was back at Cinnabon but seemingly happy. Was him picking up the shirt and tie meant to suggest he's is thinking of picking up the Saul persona again, or hanging it up for good? I really don't know what problem(s) Gene has left so solve - the phone call on his birthday I suppose. This episode took place in October 2010, and his birthday is early November...