BETTER CALL SAUL

[Jay 37,282]

Pondering some more on the episode, I still think its placement in the season is incredibly poor.

 

As the season has gone on and the stories built and built, there was so much to thinking about, speculate, discuss, etc.  Especially after episodes 6, 7, 8, and 9, I feel like we hit new heights of sharing thoughts and ponderances about everything going on.  Everything was so exciting, there were so many different characters in different interesting situations, the pacing of the show was perfect after the slow build for a while beforehand.

 

This episode though, leaves us with so little to talk about it.  It was so singular in its focus, it only told one story, and that one story was pretty complete by the end, and it seems like we have no reason to return to any other characters in it besides Gene.

 

Flip things around, and if this had been the season premiere, that feeling of having nothing to talk about would be way less.  We'd be pondering what he meant when he said he had no wife, we'd be wondering if we were gonna see bits and pieces of Gene throughout the rest of the season, or only at the end, or maybe not again at all, etc etc.  And then throughout the whole season, we could look for little tidbits that might mean something in the Gene episode we had seen, etc.

 

And then ultimately we'd get to the breakup and jump to full Saul Goodman time at the end of what would have been the tenth episode, with only 3 episodes left.

 

Now that would have been more exciting.

 

I'm shocked they preferring releasing this episode here....

[Anthony 572]

As long as the last 3 episodes are good, you can always rewatch this in whichever spot you like!

 

I wonder if anybody has ONLY watched season 6 of the show. They must be so confused right now.

 

Btw, how cool was the montage music? Not only is it Lalo Schifrin, not only is it from Mission: Impossible, but it's actually called "Jim On The Move" as well!

 

I suppose they've already told us where we're going next...

 

[Jay 37,282]

It's a deliberately ambiguous poster - he could be taking the jacket off, or putting the jacket on

[Jilal 569]

To me it seems more like he's taking it off, given the way it's seen swinging without his left arm dragging it along.

[Anthony 572]

It's already off by virtue of him being Gene. My interpretation is he's putting it back on. Heck, the very episode we just watched was basically him becoming Slippin' Jimmy again!

[SpaceCoyote 150]

Such a great episode! What a swerve. I guess I’m the only one who really enjoyed Pat Healy as Jeff? Then again, I was also a little relieved when it was announced that Don Harvey was unavailable, because, while I typically enjoy his work, I thought he was a little too big in his dialogue scene with Gene last season. 

 

There is definitely a change with the character, but that’s due just as much to the writing as the performance (and it’s for the better). I can’t imagine this plot line with the character as Harvey portrayed him (one of the rare times the BB/BCS teams’ strategy of laying tracks down while the train is moving isn’t completely seamless). I loved Healy’s reaction when Jeff eventually left the store the next morning and realized the plan had worked. The inflated Jeff of S4-5 popped to reveal a wimpy sad sack enticed by power and riches, which Healy has nailed before in the movie Cheap Thrills. I wish he’d had this nervy, little guy energy previously, though. You still could’ve gotten the threat across in the S5 cold open without Harvey’s physical presence, and it would’ve been more interesting with someone like Healy.

 

I like this comment from ‘davegettlegod’ on Reddit regarding the ending:

 

Quote

I think him putting down the Saul Goodman shirt and tie and walking away with the KC Royals lunchbox was a subtle hint as to what’s to be expected. He proved to himself that he’s still able to be slippin Jimmy and pull scams and cons. I think this final scheme with Jeff is his last hurrah as Saul Goodman. That’s what him putting down the shirt represents. I think now he wants to find Kim.

I expect to see Jeff again, but I’m excited by the possibility that (if we do or don’t) there might not be one last antagonist to overcome for this show’s ending.

 

16 hours ago, Jay said:

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

Between this episode and the burial in “Point and Shoot,” Porter is getting to do his most “traditional” composing of the Gilliganverse lately. The use of woodwinds reminded me of Fargo (movie and show), which would make sense if intentional, given the setting.

[Anthony 572]

I kinda wish they'd George Lucas 4.01 and 5.01 now and reshoot the Don Harvey scenes with Pat Healy for consistency. This is the only time in BB or BCS where the lack of consistency has really bugged me.

[Jay 37,282]

12 hours ago, SpaceCoyote said:

I guess I’m the only one who really enjoyed Pat Healy as Jeff?

 

Sounds like it, at least around here!

 

12 hours ago, SpaceCoyote said:

Then again, I was also a little relieved when it was announced that Don Harvey was unavailable, because, while I typically enjoy his work, I thought he was a little too big in his dialogue scene with Gene last season. 

 

I tend to agree that it was a bit over the top for such relatively little setup.  BUT!  I am convinced if he was available, he would have channeled the right energy for this episode.

 

12 hours ago, SpaceCoyote said:

There is definitely a change with the character, but that’s due just as much to the writing as the performance (and it’s for the better).

 

I agree he was written differently, but I think even with the original actor they would have written it the same.  I think they knew the actor who played him before could do all the emotions required of him in this episode.

 

 

12 hours ago, SpaceCoyote said:

I expect to see Jeff again, but I’m excited by the possibility that (if we do or don’t) there might not be one last antagonist to overcome for this show’s ending.

 

Yea, I had assumed Jeff was the final antagonist for Gene to overcome in the final episode(s).  I was surprised he was taken care of so easily!

 

12 hours ago, SpaceCoyote said:

Between this episode and the burial in “Point and Shoot,” Porter is getting to do his most “traditional” composing of the Gilliganverse lately. The use of woodwinds reminded me of Fargo (movie and show), which would make sense if intentional, given the setting.

 

Yea I picked up on some Fargo vibes as well!

Another great show, if anybody in this thread hasn't seen it.

 

2 hours ago, Anthony said:

I kinda wish they'd George Lucas 4.01 and 5.01 now and reshoot the Don Harvey scenes with Pat Healy for consistency. This is the only time in BB or BCS where the lack of consistency has really bugged me.

 

I'd rather they reshoot 610 with Don Harvey...

[Alex 2,833]

I just think of Don Harvey´s Jeff as when he has got the upperhand on Gene, and Pat Healy´s is when Gene has the upperhand.

[Jay 37,282]

The Insider podcast this week was insufferable at many times

Kelly Dixon again stretched every question out to 5x the length the question needed to be, interupted people to do her own thing, and asked questions that made no sense

 

At one point a very interesting question was asked about how they came up the logistics of filming Jeff stealing things, the security camera footage for all the screens, and Bob & Jim sitting in front of those screens, only for Kelly to interrupt before it could be answered, ask a completely different question, and they didn't circle back to that stuff until like half another later as a result.  At another point she couldn't word a question about replacing the Jeff actor properly, so Peter Gould thought she was asking for a recap of the Jeff storyline so far, so he wasted a bunch of precious podcast time recapping it.  Insufferable!

And there was so much self-congratulating, and Vince wasn't even there!  They also basically said the only reason this episode is placed here instead of at the beginning was because they wanted to subvert the audience expectations, after jumping to Saul to the next week ignore that jump entirely.  WTF? That's not a reason to do things....

[SpaceCoyote 150]

The title of next week's episode (which was being kept under wraps until now) has been revealed by TV providers, along with another vague episode description. Be warned: the title is not vague.

 

Spoiler

6x11: Breaking Bad

Episode description: "The partners escalate their enterprise to new levels."

 

They actually did it! Breaking Bad has an episode called Better Call Saul, and Better Call Saul has an episode called Breaking Bad.

 

Additionally, I saw someone repost a NYTimes profile on Bob from February that described a scene being filmed for episode 12 (two episodes from now) that takes on a very different light after the events of this week's episode. I would advise against reading it (or rereading it, in my case), because you can connect a lot of dots. I stopped pretty quickly. I only mention it to say that it implies there is more behind the placement of this episode than just subverting expectations. There is more story to be told. I imagine the conversations about this season's structure will be very different once the final three episodes have aired.

 

Speaking of which, just a friendly reminder that the remaining episodes are written and directed by Tom Schnauz, written and directed by Vince Gilligan, and written and directed by Peter Gould.

[Jay 37,282]

That episode title is awesome

[SpaceCoyote 150]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

The Insider podcast this week was insufferable at many times

Kelly Dixon again stretched every question out to 5x the length the question needed to be, interupted people to do her own thing, and asked questions that made no sense

 

I meant to include this as part of my previous post, but nothing will top her point-blank asking what the point of the Gus wine scene was in last week's episode. I believe that podcast also included her asking if Kim was telling the truth when she told Howard's widow she once walked in on him doing coke? A real talent as an editor, and seems like a nice person. But whew.

[Anthony 572]

The podcast has really gone downhill this season. Too much gushing about how great everyone is, and every question is elongated unnecessarily to the point of obscurity. Even Michelle McLaren annoyed me for the first time ever.

 

Sorry Chris McCaleb, but as host, you should be keeping people focused and not letting Kelly keep interrupting with her "fan questions".

 

They always seems to be worse when Vince isn't present (which he hasn't been for the last 3).

 

The one thing I did pick up on which they quickly drew attention away from was they suggested

 

Spoiler

It's not the last we've seen of Jeff

 

[SpaceCoyote 150]

I would say it isn’t downhill, because this is how it’s always been, even back to the Breaking Bad one. The DVD commentaries are great, though, and give me what I want out of the podcast (including no Kelley, unless she worked on the episode, which hasn’t been the case for seasons). It’s just hard to wait when you have something like the podcast that is available right away.

[Anthony 572]

I've not actually listened to any of the DVD commentaries, though I have listened to every BB podcast episode and most of the BCS podcasts. How do you think the commentaries compare?

[Jay 37,282]

There's always good stuff in every Insider podcast, it's just a shame they can't tell Kelly to reign herself in, that would fix a lot of problems.  Slotting a recording time of 2 hours per episode would help too so they don't leave so many stories on the table (and they can edit out Kelly's rambling instead of leaving it all in too)

[SpaceCoyote 150]

Because the participants are watching the episode as they record, the conversation has a structure and everything is covered. No jumping around or forgetting anything. That also means there’s no formal host, although Vince or usually Peter will introduce it and keep things on track. It’s a similar mix of writers, producers, actors, and other people involved in the production, and the main cast appears more often for both shows than with the podcast.

 

EDIT: I should add that I ripped the audio from my blu-rays to listen as if they’re podcasts (usually on the drive to work after rewatching an episode the night before) and you don’t miss anything by not watching along.

[Jay 37,282]

31 minutes ago, SpaceCoyote said:

I meant to include this as part of my previous post, but nothing will top her point-blank asking what the point of the Gus wine scene was in last week's episode.

 

That was brutal

 

31 minutes ago, SpaceCoyote said:

I believe that podcast also included her asking if Kim was telling the truth when she told Howard's widow she once walked in on him doing coke?

 

Oh man I forgot about that.  Yeeeesh

[Jay 37,282]

How much of a period of time do you guys think this episode covered?

 

Because their meetups to eat cinnamon and drink coffee were certainly happening once a week, not daily, as they talked about that week's college football game.  So this episode must have covered... 2 months time?

 

Maybe started in mid October, ended in mid December?  Are we about to have a Christmas episode?  

[SpaceCoyote 150]

11 hours ago, Jay said:

How much of a period of time do you guys think this episode covered?

 

Because their meetups to eat cinnamon and drink coffee were certainly happening once a week, not daily, as they talked about that week's college football game.  So this episode must have covered... 2 months time?

 

It's impressive he could keep Jeff (and friend) on the hook for that long! That's a serious amount of patience and commitment on everyone's part, particularly the newbies.

 

11 hours ago, Jay said:

Are we about to have a Christmas episode?  

 

It's funny that we never saw any seasonal decorations or holidays celebrated over the course of these two shows and movie. The "Better Call Saul" episode of Breaking Bad even took place in December 2008!

 

 

[Matt S. 492]

13 hours ago, Jay said:

How much of a period of time do you guys think this episode covered?

 

Because their meetups to eat cinnamon and drink coffee were certainly happening once a week, not daily, as they talked about that week's college football game.  So this episode must have covered... 2 months time?

 

Maybe started in mid October, ended in mid December?  Are we about to have a Christmas episode?  

 

I'm a little late to this discussion, but I'm shocked to find out this episode was October 2010, meaning only a month or less since Saul left ABQ.  (I've never listened to any of the Insider podcasts or reddit discussions; here is the only place I chat with anyone about it.)  It always felt to me like the Omaha scenes took place much later, several months if not a year later, and he was entrenched in his life as Gene, settled into the daily routine of running the Cinnabon, etc.  Such as the scene in the very first Gene flash-foward where he digs the shoebox out of his closet and watches his old Saul commercials, just felt to me like he was reliving ancient history, but despite the passage of time he just couldn't shake the paranoia that sooner or later somebody would find him (the way he would look twice at customers, or not want to set off the alarm in the trash room at the mall.)  Maybe I just misread it, or maybe I felt that way because we're experiencing the show over the span of several years?

[Jay 37,282]

No no no, it's a month after Walt died, NOT a month after they got disappeared. 

 

They got disappeared in March 2010, and then Walt hid in NH for six months until finally returning to ABQ in September 2010

 

So October 2010 is 7 months into Gene's Nebraska life. 

[Matt S. 492]

Damn, you’re right!  I screwed that up.  Makes much more sense, thanks!

[Jay 37,282]

No problem

[Jay 37,282]

It's interesting to realize after going into hiding, both Walt and Jimmy took approx the same time to bust out of hiding and get more bold

 

I wonder if any of Jimmy's behavior is a result of seeing that Walt died on the news, like a relief that he doesn't have to worry about him specifically, only law enforcement. 

[Anthony 572]

Do we know whether Gene has found out Walt is dead? I mean, it's clearly happened, and I imagine it made national news, so how could he not know, right?

[Jay 37,282]

Right. 

[SpaceCoyote 150]

We now have titles for the last three episodes. 12 and 13 haven’t been officially confirmed, but they come from TVPassport, which shows upcoming TV listings and has revealed all the titles so far.

 

Spoiler

6x11: Breaking Bad (writer/director Tom Schnauz)

6x12: Waterworks (writer/director Vince Gilligan)

6x13: Saul Gone (writer/director Peter Gould)

Perfect choice to end on.

[Anthony 572]

I guess he is taking that jacket off then. 

[Damien F 1,742]

I did not know that the Jeff actor had changed but something felt off about the character when I was watching the episode. He didn't seem as intimidating as his previous appearance. Now I know why. 

 

I think the episode is perfectly fine except for its placement in the season. I guess they didn't have it as the opening episode because they wanted to keep the momentum of Nacho's and Lalo's plot from last season's finale. I think the most suitable place would have been after Nacho's final episode before the Howard scam preparation kicked up a gear.

[SpaceCoyote 150]

Tonight...

 

 

Gee, that looks familiar...

 

 

 

[Jay 37,282]

Oh man today has been so busy I almost forgot it's Better Call Saul night!

 

Breaking Bad

written by Thomas Schnauz

directed by Thomas Schnauz

 

Previous episodes written by Thomas Schnauz

• 1x03 Nacho
• 1x09 Pimento
• 2x01 Switch
• 2x08 Fifi
• 3x02 Witness
• 3x07 Expenses
• 4x02 Breathe
• 4x10 Winner
• 5x06 Wexler V Goodman
• 5x09 Bad Choice Road
• 6x02 Carrot and Stick
• 6x07 Plan and Execution

Previous episodes directed by Thomas Schnauz

• 1x09 Pimento
• 2x01 Switch
• 3x04 Sabrosito
• 3x07 Expenses
• 5x09 Bad Choice Road
• 6x07 Plan and Execution

[Anthony 572]

I do enjoy Schnauz' sense of humour. And he's written and some directed some excellent stuff in the past.

[Dr. Rick 1,155]

 

 

[Jay 37,282]

Ha!  I came across that last week and thought about posting it but then didn't for reasons I can't remember

[Edmilson 7,385]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

4x10 Winner

One of my favorite episodes in all the BB/BCS universe.

[SpaceCoyote 150]

There were so many talented writers on this show, all of whom worked together under the guidance of Peter Gould (and, to a lesser extent, Vince Gilligan) to craft these stories and character journeys beat-by-beat. But when you compare credits, Schnauz is far and away my creative MVP of BCS. I hope his stellar work with these two shows opens doors for him to tell his own stories, although I’d also love to see him collaborate with Gilligan again, as they go way back and really gel together.

[Jay 37,282]

Well, that was... something. 

 

The Breaking Bad era fill-in scenes were all really cool and interesting. 

 

The Gene stuff is a confusing mess of half-explained motivations. We gotta wait a week to understand why he's doing what he's doing. I hope it's something really really good! 

[SpaceCoyote 150]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

The Gene stuff is a confusing mess of half-explained motivations. We gotta wait a week to understand why he's doing what he's doing. I hope it's something really really good! 

Everything changes after the call to Kim, just like when she left him in 6x09. I’m not sure if he spoke with her or someone at her work (a sprinkler company, and next week’s episode is called “Waterworks”…), but he either got into it with her or heard that she’s no longer where he thought she was (or none of the above, but it clearly wasn’t what he wanted to hear). Regardless, I think Jimmy/Saul/Gene was waiting for the heat to cool off so he could attempt to reconnect with her (“she asked about me?”). If that is no longer an option, then why is he living this anonymous, miserable life instead of chasing the endorphin high of another con (the only thing he has left to live for)? Over the last six seasons, we’ve watched Jimmy/Saul/Gene self-immolate whenever he loses someone or something rather than face reality. That’s what birthed the beta version of Saul Goodman (Chuck’s suicide) and the real McCoy (Kim leaving). Going from the bad news phone call to 24/7 reckless scamming is his version of drinking himself to death, basically. This is his rock bottom. Part of him probably wants to get caught.

 

Anyway, Walt and Jesse appeared (and will presumably be back for Vince next week, which is nice), but all I want to talk about is that grave transition. Yowza. This was a very unusual episode that clicked into place nicely for me by the end. People with cancer are nothing but bad news for Jimmy/Saul/Gene!

 

Also, for a John Williams connection, that is grown-up Buzz from Home Alone as Gene’s first mark who keeps pushing bets.

[Holko 9,499]

A clever scene pick to work around the hair/bald cap problems from El Camino! Too bad it was kinda just fanservice. Some real nice montagework this episode!

[SpaceCoyote 150]

Some quotes and reveals from a Tom Schnauz interview with Rolling Stone.

 

On why Jimmy/Saul/Gene is doing what he's doing this episode:

Quote

We started talking about this episode, where Gene was going back to his old ways. And we’re seeing what influenced him to become Saul, which was the Kim breakup and her not telling him about Lalo being alive for the reasons that she did — it really crushed the man who Jimmy McGill was. After that phone call he has at the side of the road in this episode, when he calls Florida trying to reach Kim Wexler, we don’t hear what happens on that call, but something on it brings back all the pain from the past, and his need to cover it up again. So his drug of choice is Saul Goodman, and that’s the best way to heal himself.

 

...Gene was a temporary “I’m in hiding” moment, but he couldn’t suppress it. He never dealt with the pain of his brother, never dealt with the pain of losing Kim, seeing Howard die. He didn’t deal with any of it. When Chuck died, Howard went through the steps of healing himself, he took the blame for it, he went to therapy, and did all the steps that Jimmy should have done, so all these deep things he’s pushed down will rise to the surface. We want to see how we resolve that. That’s where we’re heading in the final episodes.

 

Schnauz also confirmed that getting a full Gene episode last week wasn't done just to subvert audience expectations.

Quote

From Season One...I wanted to mix the timelines up heavily. I don’t think anybody said, “No, let’s not do this.” I think as the final season was coming, we were all like, “Well, are we going to do this or not?” And we were only going to do it if we felt it worked. And it felt like it worked here. For some reason, we were talking about doing it in 610 [the previous episode], but it felt like we didn’t have enough of Gene at that point to really say it works to bounce back and forth between the two timelines. He did the scam in 610 to get Jeff off his back, but then he got the rush of adrenaline, or whatever the drug is that helps him cover up the pain. But then he made that phone call, the pain came back, and huge, he smashes the phone, he kicks the glass, and he’s hurting and he needs to take that drug. And he slips back into it.

 

On bringing back Walt and Jesse:

Quote

I had to write this scene for 611 before we shot 602. We filmed this during the filming of 602, because it was the only time that Aaron and Bryan were available together. There were some facial hair things Aaron had to stick to for Westworld. This was the only time we could do it, which was April of 2021. So I had to write the scene — and luckily it was self-contained — so that even if things changed in 611, we weren’t going to be screwed if we filmed this so early. I was in my hotel room and I got this photo of a costume fitting of Bryan and Aaron in their ski masks and posing as goofballs. And I was so happy. We did a rehearsal the day before, and everybody was locked in, and we got the RV set up and running. It was a real time warp. It was crazy to be on that set and shooting with those guys in the circumstance. I can’t say enough about the job they did getting into those roles. Particularly Bob. You watch Bob in the scene, he is so different than Jimmy, he is full Saul Goodman. It’s such a different character than Jimmy McGill.

 

On the moment Jimmy really becomes Saul Goodman:

Quote

Something we talked about is that when he’s really, really, full Saul Goodman is the point when he decides it’s OK to kill somebody. In my first episode of Breaking Bad, “One Minute,” they talk about what to do with Jesse, and he says there are “options.” That’s a much different character from Jimmy and from early Saul. There were some steps that happened that got him to that point that we’re not seeing. We did talk about whether we should portray those: “Should we see a moment where he feels like somebody needs to die?” We talked about there being a situation where there’s some case — I think they did this on The Good Wife — where Saul is saying something to Mike, “Well, if this guy is gone, it would be really helpful,” and Mike is saying, “You want this to happen?” It was one of those scenes we pitched but didn’t do.

 

Also,

• The RV interior was built from scratch
• The Saul/Francesca phone call was added by Peter Gould and Ann Cherkis after the story was broken. They weren't building towards anything when the flash-forward was shown in 4x05; they figured it out two seasons later.
• As fans have theorized for years, Daniel Wormald (Mark Proksch), introduced all the way back in season one, is Laser Tag Danny from Breaking Bad. This was Schnauz's intent when he wrote the episode that introduced him, and he hoped to confirm it onscreen eventually, but we'll have to settle for this.
• Lastly, Schnauz says that they decide who is doing each episode before they break the story, so any connections about what happens in them are purely coincidence. But he assumed that Walt and Jesse would be introduced in 6x12, Vince's episode next week. That obviously didn't happen, and both Vince and Peter agreed that this episode was the right fit. "I felt like it should have been Vince’s episode, but just because of the way the story broke, it fell on me." That could be him revealing that Walt and Jesse won't appear again. Or maybe he's talking about Vince not getting to do their "first" appearance.  
  Spoiler

  When Bryan Cranston talked about appearing in BCS after the news broke months ago, he said that he and Aaron Paul filmed a scene together, and then each filmed a scene separately. So they're either appearing again, or each had a deleted scene in this episode.

   

[Anthony 572]

I've never disliked an episode of BB or BCS...but I didn't really like this one. I'm starting to think this season should just have been 10 episodes.

 

This week especially is just a confusing mess. The BB "gaps" they're filling in aren't even areas I considered gaps, yet there's still this massive unaddressed space between Kim and Jimmy's breakup and the BB timeline.

 

I thought the entire point of the show was to explain how Jimmy became Saul, yet we've had 6.75 seasons of fantastic storytelling, only for them then to say "...and then he became Saul".

 

After 6.09 I didn't know where the show would go, but I certainly didn't expect this. And it's not in a good way. The Jeff stuff is excrutiatingly slow and with characters we're not invested in.  I started rewatching 6.10 before this and gave up half way through.

 

6.11 felt like the El Camino of Better Call Saul - all the RV stuff was fun but felt just like fan service and nothing else. Saul's perspective of the events of that BB episode don't shed light on anything else. It's just...there...but it's all unnecessary.

 

The phone calls with Francesca and (presumably) Kim were the best parts of the episode. The rest was a real drag, and like the bar scene with Gus, I kept thinking "hurry up, there's barely any time left and you're using it up with this?!". 

 

I never thought I'd say this, but I want less Gene.

 

It feels as if they said to AMC "we want a couple of extra episodes", but then they ran out of story early and are now just dragging their heels.

 

Man, I can't believe this is my position on what has otherwise been a flawless show.

 

Maybe it is still good, but I'm still not used to the sudden shift in gears.

 

I did like Francesca's throwaway "Don't they have internet where you are?" line. I'm gonna guess that Marion is going to discover more than just funny cat videos soon...

 

This episode felt like the last couple of seasons of Sherlock. It thought it was cleverer than it actually was, and it didn't bring the audience along for the ride. I feel disconnected from it rather than invested. Man oh man, if we could only go back to another Point And Shoot.

[SpaceCoyote 150]

1 hour ago, Anthony said:

6.11 episode felt like the El Camino of Better Call Saul - all the RV stuff was fun but felt just like fan service and nothing else. Saul's perspective of the events of that BB episode don't shed light on anything else. It's just...there...but it's all unnecessary.

 

I've got to push back a little against saying that the glimpses we see of Saul's perspective from the BB timeline don't shed light on anything. It emphasizes that he actively pursued a partnership with Walt against Mike's better judgment. If he hadn't, it's easy to image Walt dead or in jail within six months. Saul wasn't along for the ride - he was literally in the passenger seat with Walt. The Saul/Mike scene also reveals that the former was more aware of Gus than he let on to Walt and Jesse. Gene moving forward with stealing the cancer man's identity is paralleled with Saul walking into Walt's classroom to emphasize that Jimmy/Saul/Gene keeps choosing self-destructive pathways that lead to ruin. It seems like the show is trying to underline the negative aspects of the character that have been easy to overlook because of how we've seen him suffer and struggle, especially in comparison to Walt.

 

The creative team of BCS have said from the beginning that their aim is for the show to work outside of Breaking Bad. That if you decided to watch this show first, you could follow along with the story. These last couple episodes have probably been a little harder to parse for newbies, but I'd argue that the RV scene is both purposeful and economical in showing new viewers all they need to know about Walt and Jesse as characters for this chapter of Saul's life. Walt is a terse know-it-all with health issues, Jesse is his lackey, who's a bit of a doofus and resents the dynamic of their partnership, and at this stage they're both way out of their league.

 

I also thought the bar scene with Gus was his best scene from this show, though, so our experiences here are very different.

[Anthony 572]

This review sums up my position perfectly. Trust me, I don't want to be here. I'm so frustrated that I am.

 

Quote

Saul’s relapse into criminality also causes him to ruminate on previous brushes with the dark side. And no brush was bigger, hairier and scarier than Walt. We reel back to Saul’s first visit to their campervan meth lab. Suddenly on our screens are Walt and Jesse. 
 

They’re doing their greatest hits, too. Cranston growls and bristles; Jesse says “yo!” and sniffs a lot. Saul, being Saul, is hustling charm personified. “You two make the blue stuff here!” he surmises after Walt unsuccessfully encourages Jesse to keep his mouth shut about their burgeoning meth empire.

 

In isolation, the scene is a delight – a bonbon amid the dramatic hard candy that has been this season’s Saul (which has broken our hearts by killing off beloved characters and splitting Jimmy and Kim). 

 

The difficulty is that it serves little dramatic purpose. Breaking Bad fans don’t need to be reminded about Walter and Jesse. And those who have skipped Breaking Bad and gone straight to Saul will be confused. This is one of the few scenes in Better Call Saul that only makes sense if you are up to speed on its prestige TV sibling. 

 

What it is, in other words, is fan service. As is a later flashback where Mike (Jonathan Banks) presents Saul with his research into White’s operation and advises him to steer clear of a dangerous amateur (how wise he was!).  

 

One of the great charms of both Breaking Bad and Better Saul Saul has been their refusal to pander to the viewer or to take them by the hand. Bringing back a beloved character to keep fans happy is, by contrast, what you expect of a schlocky Marvel show or Star Wars spin-off. 

 

White’s return, however, veers alarmingly close to indulgent. With the series's final two instalments yet to play out, judgment must be reserved. Still, it’s hard not to conclude that right at the death, and ever so slightly, Saul has dropped the ball. 

 

[SpaceCoyote 150]

8 minutes ago, Anthony said:

This review sums up my position perfectly. Trust me, I don't want to be here. I'm so frustrated that I am.

 

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What it is, in other words, is fan service. As is a later flashback where Mike (Jonathan Banks) presents Saul with his research into White’s operation and advises him to steer clear of a dangerous amateur (how wise he was!). 

 

 

Got to be honest, I'm struggling to see how that can call the BB scenes nothing other than fan service while acknowledging in the next sentence that they also reveal something new about the story and the decisions of its characters. Not sure what I can say other than I'm sorry this didn't work for you.

[Anthony 572]

46 minutes ago, SpaceCoyote said:

Not sure what I can say other than I'm sorry this didn't work for you.

 

Not as sorry as I am.

 

These last two episodes just haven't felt like Better Call Saul. I didn't mind the little diversion last week, only now it's not a diversion, it's become a problem. That might be intentional, but it's still an odd choice to throw such a curveball for your final episodes.

 

Edit:

 

• I thought it may have been at the time but I've now read it as confimed - the gas station Francesca goes to is the same one Jesse visits where he bribes the cashier with meth.
   
• Apparently in various dubs of the show, people have worked out some of Gene's side of the second phone call. 
   
  Spoiler

  "you have no idea what I did or didn't do, okay? Why don't YOU turn yourself in, you don't have to be considerate of me, I can only be hanged ONCE. Okay, look, Kim, why are we even talking about this. We're both too smart...“

   

 

 

[saulocf 79]

I think this is GoT Season 8 or SW9 level of having such a bad ending that will spur the whole thing as a whole. For me, this was the weakest season by far, and it did feel like the aforementioned finales that I mention above in a way that it feels that there weren’t many plans and now they are desperate on closing every little thing too neatly. It all started to go down will with Nacho’s death. If that was supposed to be his end, why didn’t they kill him in last season finale? It’d would have been much more impactful. 
 

But this episode was a new low. The cameo appearances were straight out of SNL. Nothing interesting is happening and I am simply not caring for any character. In a point that I am felt in the last 3 episodes that the show could have ended in the end of the episode and nothing else would be missing. I don’t care anymore if we will ever re see Kim (would be very interesting if we didn’t get to see her again!).

 

One other thing that it bothered me in other seasons but this one they took it too far is on the “we are not going to show or let you hear something until later.” That didn’t work well in the beginning of the season with Kim and Saul planning on Howard as it totally backfired for me on not letting us hear Genes talk on the phone and understand his motivation.

 

I still hope the series finishes strong, but each following episode is getting worse then the previous one

[Alex 2,833]

The aim of the flashbacks was to show the parallel between BB Saul and Gene now. Making the same mistake. Saul entering the school meet Walt was the beginning of the end for him, and Gene entering the house at the end of the episode is likely to be the start of his downfall.

[Anthony 572]

After 7 years of seeing Jimmy as a mostly sympathetic character, this dark turn for Gene isn't what I saw coming, nor do I find it satisfying. 

 

On the plus side, at least the "true" BCS story had a proper ending and wrapped things up for most characters nicely...it just wasn't as the end of the series. (6.09)

 

4 hours ago, saulocf said:

But this episode was a new low. The cameo appearances were straight out of SNL. Nothing interesting is happening and I am simply not caring for any character. 

 

One other thing that it bothered me in other seasons but this one they took it too far is on the “we are not going to show or let you hear something until later.” That didn’t work well in the beginning of the season with Kim and Saul planning on Howard as it totally backfired for me on not letting us hear Genes talk on the phone and understand his motivation.

 

I still hope the series finishes strong, but each following episode is getting worse then the previous one

 

I'm with you dude. Luckily I only feel this way about 6.10 and 6.11, but being kept out of the loop on Jimmy and Kim's plan did start to frustrate me in the first half of the season. 6.07 more than made up for this, but the whole "never assume you're smarter than the audience" rule VG and PG always go on about seems to have been thrown out the window.