Better Call Saul

aware yes, willing to accept no

the cynic in me wants to scream that of course it's a mental health issue, if a person can actually sense magnetic fields, send them somewhere to do a controlled, double-blind experiment and report back

his comparison of it to HIV etc. during the trial was sad

I was riding it out and seeing what the plot would do. I mean, it's a fictional show, there's nothing stopping them from creating internal logic where he's suffering from something real in the plot. But yeah, as soon as they started to question why no doctors had formally diagnosed him, all of the examples like HIV had me cringing

made you feel sad for chuck, you mean? this kind of logic is commonplace (and tbh understandable) in people with psychosomatic disease, even very smart people

yeah sad for chuck, the level of delusion

The last episode was the first one this season that's been consistently watchable and compelling. I'm still on board but I feel like this show missed something that BB had, which is the consistent onscreen chemistry between its actors - there's no pairing in this that I look forward to as much as seeing Cranston and Aaron Paul onscreen together.

I was kind of stoked for the return of Gus Fring but in hindsight it's a shift towards the show being over-reliant on the audience knowing where the story is going. I don't know if it's just my imagination but there's a lot more padding this season and maybe that's part of the reason why. Visually stunning as it is, I don't really need to watch multiple scenes of Mike grunting to himself in the desert before seeing the silhouette of a character I loved a few years ago. I certainly don't need to see a montage of Kim getting ready for work with a Todd Terje soundtrack.

this ep needed all its length to let the specific sub-climax unfold, but i totally missed endless scenes of mike grunting to himself, i think he's currently my favourite actor just to watch

the scenes showing his process definitely chew up episode time but it's essential to show that he's not Mike, the fixer who is kind of meticulous but he is The Meticulous Man

what he's trying to accomplish dissolves in the emphasis on his attention to detail and process. scripted and filmed like this, I could probably watch half an episode of him just cleaning his kitchen

couldn't disagree with mdc more. the scenes with mike are some of the best stuff in any show for a long time, other shows should follow suit.

tonight's ep was the first in a good few weeks that felt a bit padded out to me, but it was funny. i really like the perfect dickhead performance of the actor who plays howard. even the way he walks and stuff, his face.

after last week's all-jimmy show i was kind of hoping for an all-mike show, where all he did did was grunt and be meticulous, and no one else featured at all

the hector stuff was p good.

Hector's condition, jimmy's alias and gus's superlab all set up in one episode. Wonder if there'll be a bit of a time jump to the end of jimmy's suspension

i really like the perfect dickhead performance of the actor who plays howard. even the way he walks and stuff, his face.

there was an ep a good while ago where we just watch him walking through HHM from his office to the front door for about 40 seconds; the way he turns shoulders-first at any corner was a joy to watch

mark s I'm about to make you a very happy man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE-Az41wZs0

Kim's facial expression and body language having viewed the Saul Goodman ad was excellent

there was an ep a good while ago where we just watch him walking through HHM from his office to the front door for about 40 seconds; the way he turns shoulders-first at any corner was a joy to watch

yes! that was hilarious. also the way he walks to chuck's door in the most recent ep, this ludicrous businessman prance.

I liked this episode (I like all the episodes), but it felt weird. Seemed like it started out in season 3 and ended up back in season 1.

because jimmy's regressing back to his base state

this was an odd episode, felt unusual in that it covered like four different unrelated plots. Seemed like they were just kind of re-setting a bunch of the pieces.

I felt pretty sure that Chuck was going to kill himself after Howard left. Seemed like a natural way for the plot to go, since Jimmy had just refused Rebecca's demand that he go to the house. That would hang over his head, lead to further spiraling, etc. But leave it to this show not to go the obvious route. I don't think anyone expected the name Saul Goodman to reenter the plot this way, either.

Regarding the discussion upthread, I don't really mind 'unrealistic' plot contrivances as log as the characters' motivations and reactions are believable, which they almost always are in BB and SCS.

Uh, guys? LYDIA?! Clearly among the more earthshaking developments in this episode.

Eh, I've grown slightly immune to BB cameos at this point.

Suprised more fuss hasn't been made over TYRUS, mind you.

tyrus was kind of boring in BB tho

this ep was alright. thought the nacho stuff was the best part

by "this ep" i meant last week's!

I'm guessing the closing scene is the one Odenkirk was referring to as Jimmy's first sad shift toward hardcore Saul-dom.

he nearly had me going, there

i fear for kim's wellbeing. either she's going to prison or she's going to die

we've known that since the beginning i guess but it's still tough to watch knowing that it must happen

I think my favourite bit from this week's episode was [crying]it's in the transcripts![/crying]

My favourite was Kim's 'we're just talking, right?' in the bar. That scene was amazing

guarantee you Kim gets disbarred by series end

Best episode yet imo

Loved how much of this ep(/the show really) is about work/work ethic and how it can turn toxic: Mike laying concrete, Charlie Hustle busting his ass all over town with his crew, picking up more garbage than anyone else and getting nothing but shit, don't they teach you about capitalism at that school of yours (Walter White's "apply yourself")...

The scene in the bar was fucking masterful. Rhea Seehorn is mvp this episode but Odenkirk's seething was incredible too

agreed, bar scene was just top notch

this show is a masterclass in basically everything it touches, what a marvel

and to think it's a spinoff about walter white's corny-ass drug lawyer, i mean the million ways this could have been trash, and yet

imo the bar scene gets at why Jimmy is a grifter at heart, other than the fact he's compelled to do so by his personality -- he really has a deep disdain for some people and grifting them is how he feels self-worth

Good point. Jimmy's definitely got something to prove, both to himself and other people

mhm

Rhea Seehorn's performance is such a fantastic course correction from the underwritten/poorly acted female roles in BB, they should give her all the Emmys. that bar scene oof.

final scene in the insurance office was so sad, just seeing Jimmy go from self-pitying to ruthlessly vindictive in such a manipulative way.

did this take a break this week?

Yep.

damn

next ep on on Monday, June 5

Rhea Seehorn's performance is such a fantastic course correction from the underwritten/poorly acted female roles in BB

Underwritten and underdeveloped, absolutely, but I don't think any of them were poorly acted. Anna Gunn did a fine job with the material she was given, Betsy Brandt a terrific one. And I think by season 5 they were taking steps in the right direction - Lydia was both a great character and a great performance. But even in BCS to this point it's pretty much just Kim - would be wonderful if they brought out some fully realized female characters besides her and the returning Lydia.

i went to a screen of tonight's episode over the weekend + a talk with Michael McKean and Peter Gould (co-creator) with Matt zoller-seitz mediating.

This episode is pretty amazing. Only one spoiler because they discussed the post work on it: the slipping jimmy bit is a mix of CGI, odenkirk and stuntman... astonishing work!

Lots of great conversation about the show too. Gould said that the relationship between jimmy and chuck was born out of Robert and Charles Crumb... hence chuck's name!

Nacho's pill swap last night was about as close as this show has come to Breaking Bad-level tension ratcheting.

Lydia was nowhere near as interesting or developed a character as Skyler. I can't really even remember much to her other than 'jittery and suddenly in way over her head'. Kim's a good character but the show could have benefited from developing some of the characters around Mike - his daughter-in-law is barely developed beyond a sort of vague 'she who must be protected' thing.

Enjoyed this most recent one, the pill swapping scene was indeed extremely tense - the show could use more Nacho in general. It still feels like two or three different shows sitting alongside each other though.

xpost that's cool re: Crumbs!

- his daughter-in-law is barely developed beyond a sort of vague 'she who must be protected' thing.

I agree with this. For a while there I thought she was deliberately scamming him to get much nicer accommodation for her and her daughter. Would've been more interesting, I think.