BETTER CALL SAUL

[Jay 37,373]

VIDEO: Inside Episode 201: Better Call Saul: Switch

[Jay 37,373]

Talking Saul 1x01

 

For those who don't know, this is a talk show hosted by Chris Hardwick that aired live after the season premiere.  The guests were Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn.  Since it was the first episode, they discussed the entire first season as well as the premiere, and their discussion was interspersed with some pre-packaged featurettes (one highlighting the wardrobe of the show, another Hamlin's character).  There was unfortunately a lot of padding (for something that aired over an hour, there was 39 minutes of show and 21 of commericals, and of the 39 only probably 30 at most was actual discussion).  Some things I learned:

 

I hadn't realized that the stockbroker guy they scam was actually the guy from Breaking Bad that Walter burns his car at the gas station, so that was neat.

 

They discussed a nice parallel between the opening flash-forward and the final scene with the light switch:  Basically,  pre-Saul (Jimmy McGill) is quick to go play with something he doesn't know the consequences of; post-Saul (Gene the Cinabon manager) is too scared to open the exit door knowing what side effect there could be.  Cool.

 

At some point it was indicated that Kim and Saul had known each other for 10 years prior to the start of season 1, so that was good to learn too.  I think its implied that them boning this week's episode was their first time.

 

Bob said again that he prefers to act knowing only what his character knows at the time; He doesn't read the episode outlines, isn't involved in any discussions about the show's writing, and watches the show as a fan to see where the story goes.

 

Rhea Seehorn looks fairly different gussied up for a talk show compared to how she is shown on Better Call Saul and even Whitney for that matter!

 

They showed a clip from next week's episode that was pretty funny:

The pharmaceuticals guy arrives at the federal court building in his giant H2 and recognizes Mike and they have an exchange)

 

 

 

In other news, just found this cool article with Peter Goul on Variety!

 

http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/better-call-saul-season-2-premiere-peter-gould-jimmy-mcgill-1201704062/

 

That first answer makes total sense to me, as it did seem like the Season 1 final moment was sending Jimmy off to become Saul too soon, and I'm glad they saw the light and retconned it a bit so they could slow down and show more of honest  Jimmy before getting there!

[Jay 37,373]

Nice roundup of a bunch of recent interviews and tidbits!

 

http://www.amc.com/shows/better-call-saul/talk/2016/02/bob-odenkirk-talks-season-premiere-with-ew-saul-wins-wga-award

 

The final episode being an entire B&W flash forward would be crazy

[Jay 37,373]

The season 2 premiere got great ratings!

 

http://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/659351-amc-reveals-better-call-saul-and-walking-dead-ratings

 

The audience for the second season premiere of Better Call Saul grew 83 percent in total viewers and 98 percent in adults 18-49 in three days, for a total live+3 audience of 4.7 million viewers and 2.7 million adults 18-49. The critically acclaimed series returned for its second season airing against the Grammy Awards and without “The Walking Dead” as a lead-in. The second episode of “Better Call Saul” airs tonight at 10 p.m. on AMC.

[Red 75]

Good to hear. Like its predecessor, this is a great show. Vince Gilligan and company are just incredible writers and creators. 

[Jay 37,373]

Better Call Saul 2x02 Cobbler

 

Fantastic opening with Chuck playing the piano.  The camera lingered on a woman's name at the top of the sheet music, so that will play into something in some future episode I'm sure (love interest for Chuck, or both Chuck and Jimmy?  I even wondered if it could be Kim Wexler's real name or something).  The visit from Hamlin was PERFECTLY played by both actors (I'm pretty sure this show features the best acting on TV currently).  Loved how Hamlin slowly warmed up to bringing up Jimmy, and let Chuck know he had taken the Davis and Main job.  McKean's reaction was so perfect.  Clearly it was this information that solidified his resolve to go into the office.  But was his motivation only to simply see Jimmy in action?

 

I loved how until the very end of the episode, Jimmy was miles away from the resolve he made at the end of last season.  We saw him working very hard at D&M - not distracted by any light switches or anything else, just working hard - and even impressing Davis with an observation no one else had made yet about the case.  This was great.

 

I loved the boardroom scene where Chuck finally visits the firm.  We had a bunch of various lawyers doing their part, then Jimmy elegantly joining in like he's always belonged.... and then Chuck shows up.  Actually, Jimmy knows Chuck is about to arrive as soon as an intern walks in with a plastic bin.  Odenkirk's acting is perfect, the looks on his face as everyone gets their cell phones out in the box and he psyches himself up.  When Chuck sits down and simply asks everyone to continue, and Jimmy has to pick up where he left off before the interruption, its a brilliant moment.  He has hesitation and has trouble getting started again at first, until Kim puts his hand on his leg under the table (which no one else sees) and he is finally able to pick up right where he left off.  This was so well done!  

 

Likely, the acting in the hallway when Chuck wants to talk to Jimmy and he could seemingly care less was perfect.  Nice little scene between them.  I have no idea what Chuck's motivations are (does he want to get Chuck disbarred?  Does he finally approve of his brother being a lawyer?) and I can't wait to see where it goes.

 

Side note: I loved the prior moment where Kim re-arranged the seating assignments so she'd be next to Jimmy, and his fondling of Marco's ring at times throughout the episode.  Brilliantly sets up how the episode ends..... Because the entire Jimmy half of the episode would have been enough to make it a good one, but then there's the entire Mike / criminal side of the episode...

 

The pharmaceuticals guy shows up at the federal court house / police station parking lot in his giant H2 and luckily Mike is working that day to talk some sense into him.  The scene where he has to convince the total idiot to give up on his baseball cards is so great, and I love when Mike realized the guy will never drop it, his resolve to get them back for him.  So well done!

Mike's meeting with Nacho at the car place was pretty good - I wouldn't have guessed he had any kind of day job.  I love the deal Mike works out to get the cards back in exchange for the H2.  I figured that would be the end of it... and then he calls Jimmy!

 

Fascinating to put the phone call where Mike asks Jimmy "Are you still morally flexible" directly after the hallway scene with Chuck.  His instant answer of "where and when" was unexpected after how GOOD Jimmy had been all episode, and yet not surprising when you think about it.  I loved how it cut right to Jimmy sitting down with the guy with the two detectives (the show does a good job of having the viewer play catch up at times).  Reminded me of the times Jimmy had to do this in Season 1.  His solution (fetish videos were stored in the hiding spot, not drugs) is a good one and seemingly invented on the spot (Jimmy/Saul was always good on his feet).  The scene was very funny, and the fact that it was stretched to the point where the detectives wanted to see a video as proof seemed like needless button at first, until the final scene with Kim happened and it all came together.

 

She is gleefully enjoying his story of the entire situation, until he gets to the park where he actually made the video.  Kim them immediately reminds Jimmy, and the audience that he has now officially falsified evidence (something I hadn't thought of).  She is appalled, while Jimmy is just trying to pawn it off as a goof.  The acting by both is great here.  With Jimmy, its always 1 step forward, 1 step back.  Jimmy and Kim had had a great relationship this episode, clearly they are spending the night together more often, they were show sharing cigarettes, playing footsy during meetings, and she gave him a nice present when he got his new job (I loved the metaphor of his old life not fitting into his new one when the cup holder of his fancy Mercedes wouldn't fit her cup in) and even talked about sharing a residence in between their jobs.  But just when he thinks everything couldn't be better (in his legit lawyer world and his criminal side world), she drops the "falsified evidence" bomb on him.  He manages to get through the conversation OK, but its clearly (or as clear as anything can be in a Gilligan show) that they are building to a point where he will have to choose between his personal goals and a relationship with Kim.  It's only going to get more interesting from here!

[Jay 37,373]

Better Call Saul‘s Pryce: The Yo-Yo Master Who Couldn’t Yo-Yo

[Jay 37,373]

Better Call Saul 2x03 Amarillo

 

I've realized something.  This show is heartbreaking.  We watch Jimmy and Mike struggle to get by and do right by the ones they love (Kim for Jimmy, granddaughter for Mike) but even in an episode where everything goes well for them, there's this overhelming sense of sadness that comes from us knowing their future: Jimmy in hiding and Mike needlessly killed.

 

Loved the opening this week, with Jimmy working his magic to get a whole bunch of new Sandpiper residents to sign up for the class action lawsuit.  That was great, but what was even greater was what followed; The boardroom scene where Chuck sniffs out Jimmy's side-stepping of the law (that no one else seemed to pick up on) and calls him on it.  The best part was that I genuinely didn't know how Jimmy would react, or change his behavior afterward.  I absolutely loved that he stayed true (Kim is such an influence on his life right now) and came up with the commercial idea, which was a great one!

Of course, Jimmy isn't perfect, and him running the commercial without Davis' approval was a dumb move.  I'm curious to see how dumb it was next week, if we see Davis reaming him out at all that is.

 

The Mike storyling was equally interesting this week - maybe even more so.  You have the paranoia that his daughter-in-law is having about gun violence in her neighborhood.  I loved that Mike did a stakeout without her knowledge, and I genuinely didn't know what to expect.  Just LOVED the setup where you think she's right and he hears guns... then it was just newspapers.

 

So the next day, when she's freaking out, showing him the "bullet hole".... is she running a scam on him, here?  Is she, basically, pressuring him into giving her more money (by way of relocating her)?  Fascinating.  Mike basically sees through her BS, but wants to help her anyway.  And that means taking a job from thet vet that goes beyond what he was hoping to do.  Basically, he'll kill a guy for Nacho.

 

And Mike gets one step closing to the one we know from Breaking Bad...

[Jay 37,373]

Better Call Saul 2x04 Gloves Off

 

Guys, has this show slyly become the best show on television?  It's not even as though this is a stand-out episode or anything, its just that the show has been consistently GREAT for 14 episodes in a row now and shows no signs of changing any time soon.

 

I am very happy that we get to see the immediately aftermath of Jimmy airing the commercial without anyone's consent.  The way the scene unfolds is so brilliant because you go in routing for Jimmy, expecting him to talk his way out of trouble the way he always does... But Clifford Main's side is so completely spot-on you really can't argue with him, and Jimmy doesn't even try.  I loved how Main told him that he now has two strikes and would be scrutinized from here on out.  Another tough spot for Jimmy!  Who - it should be noted, was truly trying to do the right thing (get people who were harmed their money back) - but did it as always with "shortcuts" as he saw fit (which Chuck will later call him out on).

 

An aspect that didn't even occur to me at all was that HHM wouldn't be happy with Kim if she knew about it.  And of course, her being the moral rock of the show, can't lie, and tells Chuck and Hamlin that she did know about it.  Once again you go in routing for Kim to get out of it, but then can't argue with the others' side once all is said and done.  Though the punishment of being sent to that basement for menial tasks is pretty harsh!  I loved that Jimmy caught up with her there (nice touch that he knew the janitor's name) and their conversation was another one that made sense but was still heartbreaking.  You really feel that Jimmy has to win her over all over again, now.

 

What came next for Jimmy after talking to Kim was talking to the only other person he knows that will listen: Chuck.  This entire sequence was SO expertly done!  I love the determination Jimmy had as he arrived and approached, quelled slightly by his willingness to return to the mailbox to put his electronics in... and then his immediate shift to caretaker mode when he finds Chuck in a bad way on the couch.  I love that he spent the night, and got him tea when he woke up, and they started talking.... and it almost immediately turned into confrontation.

 

The confrontation was so good, I immediately wanted to watch it again.  I love that Jimmy's entire concern was for Chuck and Hamlin to not punish Kim for his mistakes.  He was being completely selfless here, which he stretches to the extreme - "I will leave law entirely if you give her her job back", and the hypocrisy of Chuck is unveiled.  It would be extortion for Chuck to do this to further Kim's career, but Jimmy not practicing law is what Chuck wants... or is it?  I loved the call back to their last season "chimp with a machine gun" conversation (also the pig fucker callback was nice too).  The highlight of the whole confrontation is Chuck saying "This isn't Let's Make A Deal" and Jimmy replying "Yes it is!"  This tells you everything you need to know about Jimmy as he is now.  He is more or less a good man who more or less wants to do the right thing.  But he does not care about the means to get to the end.  To him, maybe lawyering is more making deals with people by getting the upper hand (like he did when he stole the Kettleman's money to use as leverage).  This is, essentially, what he's like in Breaking Bad: We never saw him in a courtroom in that show, you kind of assumed most of his business was deal making.

Good stuff all around, and I'm curious to see what Jimmy's new life at Davis and Main is like next week!

Mike's storyline this week was equally good as Jimmy's!  It turns out Nacho doesn't want Mike to kill just anybody, but his boss Tuco Salamanca.  Boom!  Here's where the fact that you know you're watching a prequel set in; You know Tuco will survive whatever happens.  So it starts out being a bit ho-hum perhaps, but once Mike is meeting with a gun salesman to take him out from a distance, your mind starts to think of all the ways a shootout will happen but Mike and Tuco will survive. Then Mike doesn't buy the gun, and we as an audience are behind on Mike's plans until after they are happening (though the cold open provided a clue).  Man, Mike's plan was a risky one, and it seemed like it could have gone really wrong (like say if the cops didn't show up as quickly as they did!).  At the end, when Mike is beat up and meeting with Nacho to get his money, a very interesting connection is made.  Since he got Tuco out of the picture for a few years but he's not dead, Nacho pays Mike half of what he would have for Mike to kill him.

 

In Breaking Bad, Mike famously told Walter not to take half measures, to go full measure.  Here, 6 years earlier, Mike is carefully weighing all options and choosing the half measure.

 

I don't think it will be long until he learns his lesson.

 

Stray observations:

-Love the title of the episode. It refers to both the gloves that Mike takes off Tuco's neck, but also Jimmy and Chuck getting down to business and hashing out their differences (and even Mike getting physical with the criminal world, I suppose)

 

-Love that all the cast members that have been crediting in every episode from the beginning are now getting stuff to do every week.

 

-I feel like Chuck is the bad guy of the show, yet he's kind of right in so many ways!  This show plays with grey areas of characters like Breaking Bad did, but in a completely different way.  I love it!

[Wojo 2,453]

Just when we thought we'd said goodbye to the Salamanca clan... And he gets more to do then ring a ding ding! 

 

Kim's reaction to the golden haired jackass was wrenching. 

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Yep. This show is pretty ace. 

[Jay 37,373]

Better Call Saul 2x05 Rebecca

 

This show continues to have the absolute best writing on television.  Damn.

 

Loved the cold open!  The dim lighting the entire cold open had was an unusual choice for lunch a long sequence (the cold open was almost 10 minutes long - almost 1/4 of the entire episode!), but I wonder if it was as much to hide the age of the actors (this scene must have been set in what, like 96?) as much as mood-setting.  Did they say Chuck's wife's name?  If so, I missed it; I wonder if its "Rebecca" (not only the name of the episode, but the name on the sheet music Chuck played from the other week.)

 

The dim lighting continues into act 1, as Jimmy and Kim are both working late into the night.  Kim to keep her head down and try to work her way back into good graces through hard work, and Jimmy to find a way to vindicate her.  Before he shows Kim his plan, he has a run-in with Erin, who is a great new addition to the cast.  I thought she was a paralegal in a prior episode, its interesting she's a full associate.  Her energy is perfect for the show and as a foil to Jimmy, and I don't think it surprised anyone that he made up an excuse to get away from her.  His plan he presents to Kim - her suing HHM for extortion - is ridiculous, and her telling him that and why is perfectly delivered.  Every beat of the Jimmy / Kim relationship this season has been expertly handled, with the right amount of hope and heartbreak.  I hope they get to be together for a bit before the inevitable end....

 

The best parts of this week's episode where definitely Kim's story.  I loved  both montages of her cold-calling trying to get a case to bring in.  I was a bit confused why she was doing it in that stairway in the first montage, and there and bathrooms and other places in the second (loved the music in the second one by the way).  Mostly because I assumed she was doing it out in the open there due to 2002-era cell reception; IE, her cell phone probably wouldn't work that well in the basement.  But then she gets the case in the basement and  underground parking garage.  Oh well.  Anyway, it was so great when she got the case, and Hamlin was clearly happy, and then immediately cold shoulders her and sends her back to the document review room.  He is one cold MFer.

 

At this point you don't know if Hamlin is behind this or Chuck... the ending Jimmy/Chuck scene from last week seemed to indicate it could be Chuck's plan, and Jimmy certainly thinks so.  And we know last year it was Chuck that was keeping Jimmy down, something Hamlin wouldn't have done on his own.  Well this week Hamlin plays Chuck a visit, and we learn that its entirely Hamlin keeping Kim down.  This is very interesting.  I suppose its solely due to him taking the reputation of his firm extremely seriously, and considers Jimmy's commercial a black mark that would have been avoided if Kim had acted differently.  You have to wonder how long he plans to keep Kim down there.  Damn.  The look on her face when Hamlin went inside was one of the most heartbreaking moments on the show yet.

 

Another great scene was Jimmy and Erin in the courthouse.  I loved how Jimmy had brought a beanie baby with him, knowing it would be needed, and Erin's immediate rejection of the entire idea.  It's similar to Kim's reactions to his tactics in the past, and you wonder if anything is finally getting through to Jimmy or not - I'm assuming now, and he'll keep doing this kind of stuff.  The scene in the bathroom where Jimmy meets a former associate who is seriously jealous of Jimmy's new position was a good one too.  Hopefully it helps Jimmy realize what he has here....

 

BTW, I loved the little bit where Jimmy and Erin see Mike at the courthouse parking lot, with him humming the Rocky theme as they drive in

 

What a brilliant ending!  I loved how Hector's arriving was preceded by a dinging bell  Mike's desire to do a half-measure instead of a full measure is almost immediately coming back to bite him.  Not only did the Salamancas look up his info and presumably shadow him long enough to know where he likes to eat, he's being pressured to bring more police attention to himself as a way to get Tuco out of a longer jail sentence.  Mike's reaction once Hector left was fantastic, I'm sure he's regretting not just taking Tuco out now.  I can't wait to see where this goes next.  I wonder how much longer Hector will be a player before he has his stroke.

[Jay 37,373]

Better Call Saul Gets a Third Season

 

 

YES!!!!

[Wojo 2,453]

Fap fap fap. 

[nightscape94 965]

I'm avoiding reading through this thread because I'm still behind on the second season, but I finished up the 10 episode first season, and I was impressed.  It was good anyway, but it became pretty great by the middle, and was consistent throughout.

 

I was also not aware that Netflix was streaming uncut versions because there were a couple of explicit F-bombs.  Very welcome, and very appropriate for the scenes and character.

[Jay 37,373]

Well, you're safe to read every post until the final post of page 15.

 

Yea, the pig fucker line was great.

 

Page 5 is when the show start and we begin discussing the episodes as they aired

[nightscape94 965]

Cool, thanks for the thread vetting!

[Alex 2,835]

This really is a phenomenally written series

[Jay 37,373]

The best!

[crocodile 8,018]

It is well written, acted and produced. Many fantastic standalone sequences are terrific shorts or miniatures. But I still don't see the point of it, as a series.

 

Karol

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Does there have to be one? What was the point of Breaking Bad?

[Alex 2,835]

9 hours ago, crocodile said:

It is well written, acted and produced. Many fantastic standalone sequences are terrific shorts or miniatures. But I still don't see the point of it, as a series.

 

Karol

 

For me at least it's interesting to see how the likes of Jimmy and Mike ended up where they are in Breaking Bad. I think there's so much to each character that couldn't be explored in Breaking Bad due to other more prominent character like Walt, Jesse, Hank etc

[Jay 37,373]

The show is so well done a prior enjoyment of Breaking Bad isn't even required to like it.  I wonder if in a future revisit of both shows I'd watch BCS first.

[crocodile 8,018]

15 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Does there have to be one? What was the point of Breaking Bad?

It had a compelling (if unlikely) premise and strong character-driven story. I don't see much of a story here. And I already know where it goes. Unless, of course, they will surprise us somehow. I sure hope those flash-forwards will pay off in some way.

 

I'm not saying that I don't enjoy BCS. There is a tremendous quality on display all around. That in itself makes me come back each week. But there is something lacking...

 

Karol

[A24 4,345]

I wait until all the episodes have aired. Is it any good? I don't want to read this thread, you people might spoil it for me.

[Jay 37,373]

8 hours ago, crocodile said:

Unless, of course, they will surprise us somehow.

 

What? It surprises every week!

 

 

 

8 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

I wait until all the episodes have aired. Is it any good? I don't want to read this thread, you people might spoil it for me.

 

I thought you watched season 1 didn't you?

 

Anyways, it's the best written show on tv. A++ television.

[Jay 37,373]

Better Call Saul 2x06 Bali Ha'i

 

I like how this show has evolved from The Jimmy Show to The Jimmy & Mike Show to The Jimmy & Mike & Kim show.  Kim took center stage for most of this episode and her story was in my opinion a pretty tragic one wrapped in a seemingly positive exterior.

 

Kim's story starts with her finally moving out of doc review and back up to a main office, but that glamour is short-lived when Hamlin immediately chastises her for not having her things unpacked yet, and silently walks with her to meet the clients she got without even responding to the one thing she attempts to say to him.  Love the deep breath she takes before closing the conference room door.  I was thrown for a loop a bit when we next see her in court, because I figured it would relate to that case when it turned out to be a Sandpiper hearing.  This leads to something I haven't seen them do on this show yet; repetitively overexplaining.  At lunch, the guy from the opposing firm tells Kim a nice story about how he realized a court hearing he went to was never going to be won by him when his boss didn't show up; This was undermined by having him already tell her that in the courtroom before lunch!  That scene should have been axed.

 

This lunch leads to a job offer that Kim contemplates, and the parallels to Jimmy's decisions last season are quite evident, especially when Hamlin sticks her with a crazy task just before lunch that he knew she would have to skip to finish.  This leads to Kim first going to lunch instead of doing the work then ultimately blowing off the entire afternoon of work.  I imagine we'll find out what repercussions this might have.  It's actually quite interesting that when a guy hits on Kim at a bar, her instinct is to neither blow him off out of loyalty to Jimmy, nor treat him as an actual potential mate; but rather she immediately uses a fake name and seems to size him up for scamming potential.  The fact that Jimmy immediately comes to help comes as no surprise, though the scene where he was interacting with Erin and his assistant before he got the call was pure gold.

 

It's no surprise that Jimmy spends the night after their scam, but what's really interesting is that she doesn't have a good answer to give about why she is hesitating to take the job offer.  The parallels with Jimmy taking the Davis and Main job instead of trying to live the life of a conman are made apparent, but we generally don't know enough about Kim to know what her decision about a similar situation will be.  Hopefully we'll find out next week!

 

Mike's storyline this week was really good.  His decision to take a half-measure against Tuco has completely bit him in the ass.  Not only has he had thungs break into his home, but they are threatening his granddaughter now too (nice cameo from those Breaking Bad Mexican cousins guys).  In the end, he has to relent to Hector Salamanca and agree to tell the cops the gun was his, decreasing Tuco's jail sentence from 10 years down to just a couple (does the law really work like this, btw?  Especially if Mike doesn't tell the cops the gun is his until weeks later?).  What's interesting, though, is that he gets Hector to give him $50,000 instead of the $5,000 Hector had offered.  I think this was a pretty damn ballsy move by Mike.  He was essentially banking on Hector thinking the reduced sentence for his nephew - who he admittedly said deserved to be in jail - was worth that much money.  Hector agrees, which makes me wonder if that's the last we'll see of the Salamancas for a while or not.  Loved the touch that Mike gave Nacho $25,000 out of the $50,000 since he didn't ultimately take care of Nacho's Tuco problem like he promised.  Mike's moral code is an interesting one to watch the nuances of every week.

 

Man, I haven't even talked about the cold open yet, which was brilliant!  Jimmy is having trouble sleeping and we get a nice montage of him getting up to various different things it he middle of the night.  When nothing works, he drives the hour from Santa Fe to Albuquerque just to sleep on his old pull-out sofabed in his old office inside the nail salon.  Brilliant!  This cold open covers an interesting plot point: That Davis & Main decided to run commercials after all, and if Jimmy had only ran his idea by the board instead of just doing it all himself his career path at D&M would be markedly different right now.  But more importantly, it is a great piece of character development for Jimmy.  He may have the job, apartment, and car that he tells Kim at hte end of the episode he's happy with, but inside he can only sleep well being his old self - whether its by sleeping in his office in the cold open or at Kim's after running a scam later.  In fact, this cold open strongly informs the final scene with Kim and Jimmy, where he tells her he's happy he took his offer and that she should take hers.  We've actually seem him struggle throughout the entire episode with his new role in life - unable to sleep, coffee cup holder in the car not working, and struggling with a babysitter monitoring everything he does at the office.  He's essentially lying to Kim, but I think he's doing it for her good.  He knows who he is at that Davis and Main won't work out for him, but he'll keep doing it for her, and he wants to her to be an actual good person, like he can never be.  This episode has brought Kim closest so far to the Jimmy life instead of the corporate life, and I can't wait to see where it goes next!

 

Ultimately, I think the show is setting us up for more heartbreak, and Kim will make the wrong decision, and we'll never be able to forgive Jimmy for ruining her life.  But since I think that, that probably means the show will do something completely different instead that I can't predict.  Hmmm.

[Jay 37,373]

Better Call Saul 2x07 Inflatable

 

OMG, a flashback to childhood Jimmy!  This cold open was excellent!  I liked the setting and all three actors.  If I can take any points off from it, it would be that it kinda falls into the trappings of "one event/interaction leads to a massive change in character" thing, when everything else in the show is so nuanced.  One aspect I really loved, though, was how the cold open is enriched by the story Chuck told a couple episodes ago about Jimmy stealing from the till.  Good stuff.

 

The scene where Jimmy attempts to resign (dictating to Omar) was immaculate, brilliantly written and acted.  Omar is actually a really great supporting character that will be missed (along with Erin and Clifford Main, too).  Despite seemingly agree to want to stay, the sign of a wacky arm-flailing inflatable tube man, freely doing its own thing in its bright colors, sends Jimmy deep into thought as he heads for Albuquerque.

 

When did this show become the king of montages?  The montage this week of Jimmy getting himself fired is the best one the show's done yet!  Absolutely loved all of it - the 

music, the editing, the things Jimmy does to pull it off!  The ending of the scene is perfect too, with Main telling Jimmy "You never gave us a chance: Why?"  Jimmy's answer is perfect, and ultimately obvious: "Square Peg" (which would have been a good title for the episode, but Inflatable is a good one too!)

 

Meanwhile, Kim has essentially gotten the job at the new firm, but before she can resign at HHM and accept there, Jimmy pays her a visit, with a bold new plan I didn't see coming: Go into practice together.  Of course Kim politely refuses, as she will also treat the law with the respect that Jimmy cannot.  And then we have Jimmy setting up shop - with his newly purchased cocobolo desk - back in the nail salon.  And he hadn't even sold off his old car!  At this point, i realized how goddamn smart it was for Gilligan and Gould to ret-con the season 1 ending, and have Jimmy spend 6 1/2 episodes in Davis & Main before ending where, essentially, he was at the end of last season - in business for himself, planning on doing the law "his way".  Thank god they decided to do that!  The Davis&Main story was full of great scenes and characters (it was nice of Omar to help Jimmy move in!).

 

I also loved the little sequence where Jimmy initially has a voice mail message with another fake assistant, before redoing it as himself.

 

I loved that Kim's final interview with the firm led to finally learning a little bit about her life before HHM.   Rhea Seehorn is so great in this role, the scene afterwards where she smokes a cigarette and looks at Jimmy's proposed business card and rips it in half tells us so much about her without any dialogue being spoken.

 

The final scene is another surprise, to Jimmy and me.  Kim like Jimmy is actually sick of working for the man, and wants to be her own boss like he proposed.  But she still cannot and will not do the law his way, and proposed to open separate firms in a shared space.  This could, clearly, be either the world's best idea or the world's worst.  There's so many things to ponder - why can't Kim keep her dating and business life completely separate?  Is this going to be a sad ending for Kim as Jimmy slowly sinks her down to his depths?  Or will she end up having to leave him in a time of crisis?  Cannot wait to see where this goes next.

 

Stray thoughts:

 

"Hey Cliff, for what it's worth, I think you're a great guy."
"I think you're an asshole."

 

Mike's story this week: Jimmy acts as his lawyer as he tells the cops the gun was his.  Of course they know he's lying ("did they threaten you or pay you off?") but I guess there's no much they can do about it.  Later Mike is seen getting Stacey&Kaylee a new house, and then stares at a Mexican restaurant in his last scene?  What is he planning?  Will we see what gave Hector his stroke?  The scene where Mike drives away from the house was kinda weird too.

 

I loved Jimmy's WM business card!

 

The scene where Kim accidentally calls her potential new boss Howard was perfect and makes her decision all the more believable.

[Jay 37,373]

Better Call Saul 2x08 Fifi

 

Impressive long take to open the episode.  Once I realized just how long the shot was going on for, and how much work must have went into building this large fake border crossing set and all the necessary stuff for the camera crane, etc... I was expecting something really big to happen during the shot.  But... nothing really does.  Watching drugs (I assume) get into the US from Mexico and make its way into the Salamanca's just kind of maid me think I was watching Breaking Bad again for a bit.  I've had enough drug stuff with Breaking Bad, I kind of liked that BCS has been about something completely different.  I dunno what Mike is planning to do with his spikey tube as revenge (?) against the Salmancas, but it seems like we'll be seeing Hector get his stroke this season after all.

 

The scene where Kim resigns with Howard Hamlin was perfectly actor by the both of them.  I absolutely loved Hamlin especially, we finally saw a side of him we've never seen before as he kind of reminisced about only joining HHM (er, I guess HM at the time) to please his father.  Not much really was said about any details, but so much was inferred by his fantastic acting.  The absolutely perfect button to this scene was Hamlin immediately getting on the phone about keeping Mesa Verde and Kim's frantic run as a result.

 

Another fantastic acting moment was Kim's extreme elation when she tells Jimmy she got Mesa Verde.  It's by far the most emotion we've seen from her and the happiest we've ever seen her.  I am SO GLAD we got this scene, because it was of course inevitable that she didn't get to keep Mesa Verde after all.  About that, Howard and Chuck's double teaming of Kevin and Page was brilliant.  I actually wasn't sure if Chuck was going to be able to pull it all off until the end.  That scene was nicely done.

 

I liked that when Kim had to tell Jimmy she lost them, he kept a smiling face, but we saw a worried look at the end after he let her insight.  I hope whatever he's working on (his commercial) leads to some clients real quick or Kim is going to get pretty worried about her future, I'd reckon.

 

Jimmy sabotaging the Mesa Verde docs... well, despite everything, there's no way Kim is going to approve of this.  I didn't understand exactly what he was doing either, though I'm sure it will pay off in the next episode (looks like he just changed an address so when they go to file something it will come back and lead to delays and stuff).  I don't know if he has any kind of grand master plan beyond a small annoyance, since its not like they'd ever dump HHM to go to Kim at this point.

 

The Jimmy/Chuck scene was good, as always.  I do wonder if Jimmy was planning on sabotage before he went there (hoping Ernesto would agree to leave), or only decided it once he happened to see the documents there (therefore telling Ernesto to leave purely because he deserved to).  Chuck's line about if the situation was reversed, he'd do the same.... I'd really like to believe Chuck, I think.  It's hard to get a guage on how far his dislike of Jimmy goes beyond disliking him entering the law world.  I'm sure there's a much bigger confrontation coming  - and soon, with only 2 episodes left!

 

Stray thoughts

 

It's kind of dark to have Mike have Kaylee help him build his... weapon I assume.  isn't the mom gonna wonder why the rhododendrons don't employ that thing?

 

Ernesto, like Erin and Omar, are great little supporting characters from the law world.  Little things like how well these kinds of characters are written and acted help elevate the show along with so many other things.

 

Great fake-out with the air force guy returning with a team of other people.  I really thought Jimmy was in trouble!

[Glóin the Dark 1,222]

Best episode so far!

 

6 hours ago, Jay said:

...there's no way Kim is going to approve of this.

 

How bad will Kim break?  seems to me to be one of the big questions. I don't imagine that she'll be going full Saul, but I'd also be surprised if her commitment to propriety weren't challenged even more than it has been so far.

 

[Jay 37,373]

I dunno.  I can't see her approving of any part of this at all.  I think she was more likely to being OK with Jimmy's not-straight-and-narrow tactics when he was just trying to help get more Sandpiper clients (ie, help finding more people who got ripped off to help out) than here, which is basically only helping Kim get a client over someone else.  She's gonna be quite unhappy with Jimmy when she finds out I think.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

On one hand she doesn't have to answer to anyone, but then if/when Hamlin finds out what Jimmy's done, some serious shit is going to fly. I'd guess that she's going to leave the shared practice because Jimmy's ruining everything, albeit with good intentions.

 

I'm less riveted by Mike's storyline at the moment. I find plots involving drugs/gangs, and those mysterious guys who just stand and 'watch', somewhat unbelievable.

[Jay 37,373]

I loved the appearance of the twins the other week, that was great!

 

But yes, I will be happy if the show never gets heavily into drug stuff at all

[Thor 7,519]

On 6.4.2016 at 11:08 PM, Jay said:

I dunno what Mike is planning to do with his spikey tube as revenge (?) against the Salmancas, but it seems like we'll be seeing Hector get his stroke this season after all.

 

My guess is he's making a 'nail mat' (is that the English word?) for one of the drug trucks in transit, and then do something with that.

 

I haven't chimed in here before, but I obviously love the show like most others here.

[Wojo 2,453]

Having Mike in the show necessitates a heavy presence of the drug business. BCS starts with Mike not working for Gus. By the second or third season of BB when Mike shows up, he's integral to Gus' organization. Prequel math. 

[Jay 37,373]

The character of Mike was quickly invented for the Season 2 finale of Breaking Bad.  Originally, it was supposed to be Saul himself who came into Jane's apartment and cleaned up after she ODed to make sure there was no evidence that could link her to Jesse and Walter.  But Bob Odenkirk was unavailable, so Mike was invented to do that scene.

 

Then from Season 3 onward he became an integral part of the show, when they decided that he worked for Gus, too.

[Wojo 2,453]

Thank you. 

[Jay 37,373]

Anyways, yes to respond to Thor it does appear he's trying to sabotage Hector's import business by laying down a tube with nails sticking up on a street he knows the truck from Mexico will cross.  However, the bigger picture of Mike's plan in unclear.

 

Let's go back and look at Mike's current life situation: His only son is dead, murdered by crooked cops.  He avenged his death, and fled to New Mexico, and now is supporting his daughter-in-law and his granddaughter, by "underground" jobs (since the parking lot attendant salary isn't enough to cover the new house she wants).  So he was asking that pet vet guy for jobs, but he refused to kill anyone, even when Nacho offered good money to kill Tuco.  His plan to still put Tuco away without killing hiim backfired and now Hector's organization knows where Mike and his family lives.  Is he simply planning on trying to murder Hector?  I can't imagine that is the case, when he wouldn't get any money from it like he would have if he killed Tuco.  Or did he learn his lesson from that experience, and is now planning on killing Hector to keep his family safe, and he'll start taking assassination jobs afterwards?

Can't wait to find out!

[Wojo 2,453]

Nail mat is a decent translation of spike strip, when is a modern descendant of caltrops. 

[crumbs 14,318]

If you take the first letter of each episode title this season you'll discover it's an anagram for...

FRINGS BACK

 

 

Credit to Reddit for the discovery. That sneaky Gilligan!

[Jay 37,373]

Lol, that's hilarious. Could be a coincidence and not a plan, of course.

[Alex 2,835]

It is the sort of cameo that would kinda make sense and wouldn't feel forced.

[Jay 37,373]

Oh he'll be a part of the story at some point for sure (assuming the actor wants to do it), I just didn't think it'd be this soon. But I guess if we see Hector's stroke this season, Gus will show up to rub it in his face.

[crumbs 14,318]

Yeah the natural progression of the series means Mike has to end up with Gus at some point, would be an exciting finish to this season if it eventuates.

 

I'm confident Saul and Mike's storylines will eventually collide, probably next season.

[nightscape94 965]

At some point Mike transitions more over to Gus, right?  Although he still works for Saul, in Breaking Bad I always had the impression that he was more of a Gus lacky.

[Jay 37,373]

Yea, I just wrote about that a few posts up.  He was invented as a guy who works for Saul when Odenkirk was unavailable to film the "cleaning up after Jane's Death" scene for teh Season 2 finale.  In Season 3, they decided that he worked for Gus, too.  I am sure Better Call Saul will show us how he started to work for Gus, I just didn't think it would be this early.

[Alex 2,835]

Did he ever technically "work" for Saul? He always seemed very much in charge haha. I think Saul was just a useful person to have on his side.

[Jay 37,373]

Well, I dunno.  Depends on if you think Saul asked him to cleanup in Jane's apartment, or if Gus asked him to, I guess.

[Alex 2,835]

Did Saul and Gus ever meet? It's been a while since I watch BB

[Jay 37,373]

I cannot recall off the top of my head