Better Call Saul, the TV series

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Temis the Vorta, Apr 9, 2013.

  1. UssGlenn

    UssGlenn Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The use of University of American Samoa comes from the Diploma on Saul's wall in Breaking Bad. However it's also a Master of Arts degree from 1984.
     
  2. Turd Ferguson

    Turd Ferguson Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Yep, sounds like a con is in order! :D A little old age makeup and Jimmy will be good to go!
     
  3. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    Does anyone else think that Mike's speech to Walt about half measures was actually a made up story designed to give the same gist as the incident in season 2 with the truck driver and the good samaritan?
     
  4. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    Yup, Werner is toast. :(

    Ah, thanks for that. I figured that might've been the case.

    Yup, definitely. Con on!

    Hm, don't know, mostly because I don't remember that speech all that well.
     
  5. StarMan

    StarMan Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Maybe.

    Half measure: Mike leaves driver alive. Consequence of half measure: Good samaritan who finds driver is shot in the face for his troubles.

    Fast forward to now: Mike has allowed himself to form a bit of a friendship with Werner, perhaps against his usual instincts. Werner has done a runner, betraying Mike's trust and left him in a precarious position with Gus. I think Mike will go full measure in response, which will perhaps be critical turning point for his character going forward.
     
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2018
  6. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    Poor Werner. We hardly knew ya. :(

    As expected, he was a goner by the end, by Mike's own voluntary hand. I truly believe Werner meant no harm and only suffered from crippling loneliness. My heart broke when Werner, knowing there was no way out, he forcibly drove his wife away back to Germany as the only means to protect her, knowing he would never see her again. My heart broke further when, after being assured by Mike that his wife would get answers and no harm would come to her, he quietly made up a reason why he wandered into the desert so Mike could shoot him. :wah:

    Going back to the beginning, I loved the method of quiet ease Mike displayed in tracking down Werner and catching up to him before he caused any potential harm. I also loved how Mike's methods contrasted from Lalo's own more forceful and directs methods of tracking Mike and then Werner after Mike blew him off. Hell, I especially loved the innovative method Mike used to get away from Lalo in the parking lot, using just some chewing gum (and the camera fooling us into thinking Mike would go with the cruder method with his gun).

    I loved the cold opening, but I was filled trepidation the whole time, waiting for the bottom to drop out and either Jimmy would push Chuck too far and embarrass Chuck in public or Chuck would say something terribly hurtful (like "Your name will never be part of HHM") or Jimmy would let something slip during his drunken rambling about his level of commitment as a lawyer or something. And I'm so very glad the episode didn't go that way. Instead, we got to glimpse a rare moment of true happiness between the McGill brothers, delighting in celebration and karaoke and ABBA alike.

    But then fast forward to the present and just as Jimmy and Kim pull off yet another great long con to help Jimmy get his license back, Jimmy turns the tables on the last step and drops the pretense of the heart-tugging letter (and effectively created a black box for the panel to wonder about its contents). Instead, he goes full-on hustle and, as Jimmy boasts to Kim afterwards, pulled all the strings in just the right way. However, Jimmy's blasé glee in properly conning the panel with emotions about Chuck was Jimmy's one big mistake. He completely missed it but she was blindsided by how Jimmy's celebration, but was even more shocked by what we all knew was coming: He's going to practice under a different name.

    You better call Saul.

    ----------
    Edit to add a couple of thoughts that almost slipped my mind:

    Strange how we didn't see Nacho in the finale. I've come quite invested with the character and it seems odd that his character's arc just kind of stopped after the last episode with no real conclusion.

    I didn't expect to see Gale to pop up again so soon, but it's always a joy to see him and his earnestness, even if Gus was in absolutely no mood for it. Truly, the looks Gus give people could kill hundreds.
     
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2018
  7. Push The Button

    Push The Button Commodore Commodore

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    So, how long now until we catch up with the BB timeline? The superlab is almost complete, Gale is ready to start cooking, Jimmy is ready to start his new practice as Saul, Hector is in the wheelchair. All of the pieces are in place.
     
  8. ALF

    ALF Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Jimmy: "Didja see that one asshole with tears in his eyes?"
    Kim also had teared up, too. Her realization that Jimmy wasn't sincere afterwards was gut-wrenching to watch.

    Before the timeline shot ahead six months a few episodes ago, I thought we were in 2003. Breaking Bad season 1 came out in 2008.
     
  9. StarMan

    StarMan Vice Admiral Admiral

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    At long last ...

    [​IMG]

    S’all good, man!
     
  10. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    I loved that scene with Mike and Werner where Mike realized the only way to prevent two cold blooded murders was to commit one.

    Yeah, Jimmy gives the perfect speech that's exactly what the bar wants to hear and does such a good job even Kim believes it, then he flaunts it to her and she's just standing there stunned.

    We know we're four years in the timeline before Breaking Bad. I don't know if season 5 is going to fast forward any and we're ever going to get close. I haven't heard whether it's going to be the last season or if it's going to keep going and going. But it seems Jimmy has become Saul and Mike has become a criminal capable of murder should Gus give him the order. The transformation is complete, all we have left is how things shake out with the other characters.
     
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2018
  11. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    Also, now good a writer is Vince Gilligan that a character chewing two sticks of gum is gripping?
     
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  12. Admiral2

    Admiral2 Admiral Admiral

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    That was the best scene of the whole episode, I think, because of the contrast. Jimmy is absolutely euphoric over the way he conned the board and Kim distraught as she realizes he conned her too.
     
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  13. Push The Button

    Push The Button Commodore Commodore

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    Last scene of the series?

    Kim finds “Gene” at the Cinnabon: “Jimmy, the feds don’t have enough evidence to indict you, and everyone else that was involved is dead. You can come home.”
     
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  14. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    I’m not sure that’s realistic. Kim might offer to represent him, but the Feds will not pass any chance to indict someone for what happened. The body count and scope is too big and they have all of RICO to work with.

    One other thing to note is that everything Jimmy said was what he really believed in season 1 before he found how much Chuck hated him. When he believed if he worked hard enough people will ever look at him and not see Slippin Jimmy.
     
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  15. Admiral2

    Admiral2 Admiral Admiral

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    That reminds me of my other favorite scene of the ep, when he pretty much projected his entire revenge fantasy onto the scholarship candidate. Everything he said she would do is pretty much the mission of Saul Goodman.
     
  16. Push The Button

    Push The Button Commodore Commodore

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    Makes me wonder what happened to Jesse Pinkman. And Huell. Is he still in that safehouse, waiting for Hank to return?
     
  17. Skellington

    Skellington Part-time poltergeist Rear Admiral

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    “It’s not gonna happen.” Great line delivery by Jonathan Banks, with just the right touch of pathos. Poor Mike (and poor Werner, of course).

    Hopefully the show will call it a day in the not too distant future. A season, two at most, and it should be able to quit with honour and without outstaying its welcome.
     
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  18. Turd Ferguson

    Turd Ferguson Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Holy shit! What a finale! I almost believed Jimmy's speech to the appeals committee and apparently Kim did too! I'd wondered what kind of con Jimmy would pull to get to be Saul Goodman, and all it took was the information that most of the lawyers in Albuquerque went through Chuck McGill and Jimmy making them remember how big of a hardass he was to get through and a simple DBA form to get there!

    Great Mike scenes this week too, and you had to feel bad for the dude working at the Cash Advance place, just trying to follow company policy and continually getting played upon by Mike and Lalo.

    Hopefully we won't have to wait as long next year for season five to premiere!
     
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  19. StarMan

    StarMan Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Oh yes...

    And it came to pass that even after the last stars in the sky burned out - as the fabric of reality itself decayed into nothingness... Huell waited.
     
  20. Push The Button

    Push The Button Commodore Commodore

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    Oh, that Muzak! Sounds like every old department store and supermarket that my mother ever brought me to.