Better Call Saul, the TV series

[1001001]

Okay, so…Kim is alive! Is that all we hear, or will he track her down one last time?

I definitely think ending on the break-in was meant to show he’s gone off the rails. One thing Saul has always had is patience in his plans. Playing the long game. Robbing Stuart is sloppy, emotional.

Unfortunately I don’t remember Breaking Bad well enough to have context for those scenes. I was confused by the kidnapping part. May have to do a rewatch!

I am more convinced than ever that Saul will meet a sad ending.

 

[TedShatner10]

Slippin' Jimmy is too easy to relapse and not quit while ahead, he was already ruining his life long before Heisenberg.

And Lalo was a fucking loony, good riddance:

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[JirinPanthosa]

The purpose of the scene with Jesse seemed to me to be showing us Saul's first impression of Walter and Jesse's operation. Seeing them as like a lovable comedy routine who happened to be really good at cooking meth.

To give context to that scene. First Saul was representing Badger after he was arrested, and they went to his office to try to bribe him not to let Badger give up his suppliers. He turned down the bribe, not knowing who they were, and acted offended. So they kidnapped him and pretented to be out to kill him to coerce him not to make that deal. And when he saw the hole he yelled "It wasn't me, it was Ignacio!" Then later "You mean Lalo didn't send you?"

Then he had them each put 1 dollar in his pocket to officially hire him as an attorney to protect their communication under attorney client privilege.

I got the impression he just couldn't live without the thrill of the hunt. And I think maybe on some subconscious level, he thinks the only way he'll ever see Kim again is if he gets caught.

In all honesty, Jimmy would probably do okay in prison. He has lots of friends in there.

 

[Jayson1]

Francesca!!!!

I"m putting the Gene storyline in 2009ish (they talked as if Walt's death wasn't news) maybe early 2010. Not too much latter or we would have seen smartphones in the mall scenes.

and Kim was alive as of El Camino!

But what's with that call....mmm


Buzz from Home Alone! Even Kevin would have outsmarted him too

Yep, based on that search in the house, it's 2009 I think. The 2007 Tax Return was there to throw us off. The letter from the bank suggests a couple years after that.

I knew that guy looked familiar. Good thing the guy didn't run into his tarantula.

 

[Finn]

I knew that guy looked familiar. Good thing the guy didn't run into his tarantula.

It helped that I saw the recent Home Alone remake/sequel last winter. He was in it as a security guy as a grown up Buzz, whining about Kevin of course.

 

[StarMan]

Fantastic, but a tough watch. I have been convinced we haven't seen the last of Rhea Seehorn. I don't know how it plays out, but if it does, it likely won't be in line with whatever fanciful notions I'd dreamed up.

I'm still hedging my bets we'll get the catharsis I'm after.

ol' Carol Burnett will likely be his undoing. I'm thinking: Gene is either arrested with no forewarning, or goes on the run. If the latter, will it serve as an re-entry point for Kim?

God knows what they have in store for us. Ain't gonna be sunshine and rainbows.

 

[Galileo7]

They have new statues of Jesse & Walter in Albuquerque. I think they should add a Saul statue too.

https://www.ign.com/articles/the-breaking-bad-statues-in-albuquerque-revealed-in-photos

 

[Starkers]

That was good, but my only concern with the last few episodes is that it feels like I'm watching a brand new show rather than BCS, the B&W, the lack of Kim, minimal Mike, no Gus, no Howard or Nacho obviously, and I have to say the Walt/Jesse scene did seem a little pointless, though I appreciate they've filmed other scenes (I believe separately rather than together) which might be more important.

I'm halfway expecting that next week will be the "What Kim did next" episode, but who knows, I don't think this show is going to end up like any of us expects. What's interesting for me is that the last few episodes have tilted me towards wanting to see Jimmy get his comeuppance. As others have said he had multiple opportunities for a decent life but he doesn't want that, he's addicted to the con and he has no empathy for the people he hurts along the way.

The sad thing is that I think Kim was wrong, I don't think she was poison for Jimmy, I mean he clearly was for her, but I think he was a better man with her, albeit a man who couldn't quite escape his addition to the con.

My concept of American money is terrible, how much do we think Jimmy left for Francesca?

 

[E-DUB]

They have new statues of Jesse & Walter in Albuquerque. I think they should add a Saul statue too.

https://www.ign.com/articles/the-breaking-bad-statues-in-albuquerque-revealed-in-photos

Then, in a few years, move it to Omaha without telling anybody in advance.

 

[Jayson1]

I don't see Jimmy addicted to the Con. I see him as aimless with no purpose in his life now that he no longer has Kim. Why he has jumped back in I think has something to do with the bad news he got on that phone call with Kim or with someone talking to him about Kim. Speaking of which you can see he was also checking up on everyone was wanting to make sure they were doing okay.

I could even see Kim having been killed due to the stuff that went down with Lalo or his stuff with Walter White and now Jimmy basically wants to be caught and punished on a subconscious level for her death.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I'm not sure who could have possibly killed Kim in between calling Francesca and Jimmy calling her sprinkler store that came from two sides of a conflict that at that point had been completely eradicated. I wouldn't be surprised either if Kim told him to turn himself in, or if she's being harassed by the FBI because of him. She could have just gotten in a car wreck or something, but there's nobody left from the Salamanca or Fring crews who could have possibly killed her.

Not having Kim is certainly the biggest contributing factor to the void in his life. But it's the same as when he was with Davis & Main. He's a wolf who can't handle living as a sheep. He can't just live quietly by the rules. He needs the hustle.

And I think there's a thematic connection between Kim and Jimmy's conversation where Jimmy said "There's no point in doing this if I can't be myself, I'm going to be colorful", and the fact all these scenes are in black and white.

 

[Starkers]

Not having Kim is certainly the biggest contributing factor to the void in his life. But it's the same as when he was with Davis & Main. He's a wolf who can't handle living as a sheep. He can't just live quietly by the rules. He needs the hustle.

I think that's spot on. I do think that while he had Kim his need for the hustle was tempered at least, he could feed that urge by low level/fun stuff.

 

[Starkers]

I read some articles that use several clues including the model of Air Jordans and the references to Nebraska college football games that these episodes take place in October 2010, mere weeks after the death of Walter White.

That would make the presentation even more brilliant that what seemed like years to the audience was a much shorter time to Jimmy.

I also want to call out the brilliance of casting Garry Gurgich of the oblivious Cinnabon loving security guard.

It's like one of those comedy moments where someone spends hours/days locked in a room and when they get out are told they've been locked in for just two minutes!" See Spiderman Homecoming etc.

I definitely got the feeling that Jimmy had been Gene for years.

If Paul's cameo is sans Walt, could it be that we see Jesse post El Camino?

 

[Finn]

I don't think Kim is dead. Gene didn't react as if one would when told that a lost love had died....

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I think that's spot on. I do think that while he had Kim his need for the hustle was tempered at least, he could feed that urge by low level/fun stuff.

Kim was addicted to the hustle. But what made her feel whole was when she was representing poor people who couldn't afford lawyers.

 

[Timby]

or did he talk to her and it didn’t go well?

It's this. Anyone who's been divorced (raises hand) knows exactly how a phone call with an ex can go sideways and downhill, very quickly, particularly after a long period of not speaking to each other.

 

[StarMan]

Yeah, the yelling and gesticulating we silently observed doesn't gel with someone who just couldn't get thru to someone / finding out Kim was dead. As JirinPanthosa suggested, Kim probably told him to turn himself in. He reached out and his reaction told us all we needed to know - it went completely pear-shaped; Kim wouldn't have told him what he wanted to hear. And what happens straight after? Back to Jeff to get their little gang back up and running, with a darker, less sympathetic Gene emerging.

 

[Jayson1]

If she told him to turn himself in then that might be why he got sloppy going back to steal from the cancer guy. I think he might have a idea on how to take all the heat for his current crimes because if he just turns himself in the cabby guy and the other guy might go down with him along with leaving Carroll Burnett alone and maybe having to go into a nursing home or something. He sort of dragged them into these scams and he does look out for his people I have noticed and tries to do right by them.

 

[1001001]

It's this. Anyone who's been divorced (raises hand) knows exactly how a phone call with an ex can go sideways and downhill, very quickly, particularly after a long period of not speaking to each other.

Yeah, his slamming the receiver a dozen times looked like anger to me, not grief.

For all we know the Feds are watching/listening to her. Since they "found everything", and her connection to Saul was not a secret. She could have easily been pissed at him and told him so. Hopefully since it was a business he may get away with the contact.

 

[Timby]

Yeah, his slamming the receiver a dozen times looked like anger to me, not grief.

It can be both at the same time. I am going through a really, really bad breakup at the moment, and there are times I want to cry, and there are times I just want to call my ex-girlfriend all sorts of names. And there are times I want to do both, which is when I just scream into a pillow.

Jimmy wanted one last chance with his ex-wife, and she wanted nothing to do with it. That's the clear text of the scene.

For all we know the Feds are watching/listening to her. Since they "found everything", and her connection to Saul was not a secret. She could have easily been pissed at him and told him so. Hopefully since it was a business he may get away with the contact.

Unless a huge curveball is thrown, Kim is innocent and inoculated from the meth business that Saul got himself in. Walter White and Saul Goodman being nationwide fugitives is a thing she almost certainly saw on the news (I believe the initial "Gene" scene from the first season of BCS takes place about eight months after the end of Breaking Bad), and when "Gene" was on the phone with her, she almost certainly told him to fuck off because she was done with that part of her life.