I needed Gus's tale to remind me what his motivations are. It's been a long time since the last season.
― kinder, Wednesday, 12 September 2018 20:27 (five years ago) link
Why would he pretend? Could just not say anything even if he had already been going into the chamber of law secrets prior to the lingering shot in which we see him do that.
Certainly could be the case, there's not enough in that scene to know one way or the other. But I feel like it's very much in Jimmy's character to mislead people in order to shock them with a big surprise later. I think that's part of why Chuck is so floored when he finds out Jimmy has passed the bar
― Vinnie, Thursday, 13 September 2018 02:13 (five years ago) link
The thing I love about Jimmy--probably all of us respond to this--is the go-getter side of him. Whenever he starts to lapse into self-pity, he gets over it and rouses himself to do something. It was great when he chewed out Howard last episode. I mean, he's even sending clients Howard's way--he seems incapable of holding a grudge.
― clemenza, Thursday, 13 September 2018 02:38 (five years ago) link
He's basically the exact opposite of me.
― clemenza, Thursday, 13 September 2018 02:39 (five years ago) link
Pretty good? Basically, Jimmy and Kim drifting apart. I thought the opening was a bit too obvious about that--they were trying to do it in a creative way, and "Somethin' Stupid" was part of it, but it wasn't quite Charles and Emily Kane at the dinner table. I thought the later scene where Jimmy asks Kim to take on Huell's case, ending with a Godfather-like door-close, was the better version. I liked Burl Ives. Completely stumped on what Kim's plan Huell is, other than it's an ingenious plan predicated upon large amounts of stationery supplies.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 18 September 2018 02:22 (five years ago) link
Gus' monologue was way overlong for setting up a conflict we already know the resolution of. Mitigated by Esposito's wonderful reading.
― chap, Tuesday, 18 September 2018 09:51 (five years ago) link
Was the different colour t-shirt on Kim thing during the montage deliberate? Something about them growing so far apart taht they can't agre on details. I thought the rest of that was supposed to be parallel events at the saem time.
― Stevolende, Tuesday, 18 September 2018 10:13 (five years ago) link
Caught up with last week's before watching the new one. Just thought it was kinda hilarious when I realized that the timeframe of the pre-credits scene should have featured a pre-Mr. Show-aged Odenkirk.
― I Don't Have Any Ears, I Am Positive (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 18 September 2018 10:28 (five years ago) link
Did Saul ever make oblique reference to Kim in Breaking Bad? I don't remember anything, but then you wouldn't have necessarily caught it even if there had been. I'm wondering if they'll kill her off, or if Breaking Bad allows them to finesse that some other way.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 18 September 2018 11:17 (five years ago) link
I don't recall any BB reference to Kim, oblique or otherwise. I think she and Jimmy are headed for an epic falling out, probably after some shady scheme gets her disbarred or something, and I also predict that we will see her in the present day before the show is over.
― I Don't Have Any Ears, I Am Positive (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 18 September 2018 11:47 (five years ago) link
That's close to what I was thinking of, that he may have alluded at some point to a former girlfriend, not named, whom he betrayed or let down. But again, I don't remember anything. (Kim disbarred trying to help Jimmy would be very apropos.)
― clemenza, Tuesday, 18 September 2018 12:03 (five years ago) link
He mentions an ex-wife, maybe more than one, in a sleazy Saul-esque way iirc but that could just be patter
― coetzee.cx (wins), Tuesday, 18 September 2018 17:19 (five years ago) link
― coetzee.cx (wins), Tuesday, 18 September 2018 17:25 (five years ago) link
Ha, right? Yeah, I know there were earlier scenes, chronologically. I just don't think the specific timeframe had occurred to me before. The Remains of the Day reference stopped me in my tracks, though. Like, dude...you should be Larry Sanders's hot young agent rn, not looking like Larry Sanders's much older brother.
― I Don't Have Any Ears, I Am Positive (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 18 September 2018 17:34 (five years ago) link
was thinking today about how much I love this show and also how incredibly sad it is given that we know, ultimately, how it ends.
― akm, Friday, 21 September 2018 03:06 (five years ago) link
and consequently how sad it will be when this series ends. maybe they'll do a season that takes place after BB though.
― akm, Friday, 21 September 2018 03:07 (five years ago) link
I just hope Kim gets out alive tbh
― Οὖτις, Friday, 21 September 2018 03:14 (five years ago) link
otm
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 21 September 2018 03:17 (five years ago) link
I'm not getting the chronology of the fast food place that was inserted in earlier seasons. When is that supposed to be. Saul gets locked out in the smoking space at one point etc.
― Stevolende, Friday, 21 September 2018 08:20 (five years ago) link
the Cinnabon? those are future-saul bits from after BB i think?
― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Friday, 21 September 2018 08:22 (five years ago) link
I used to get stressed towards the end of every season for Kim not getting away from Jimmy, this year it’s every minute of every episode make no effort to disguise his being played by a middle-aged manThey do put thicker wigs on him, and a bit more makeup, but yeah there’s no point pretending he’s Stevie Grant so why go over the top
― Gibing The Amethyst (sic), Friday, 21 September 2018 08:24 (five years ago) link
that’s not Saul at the Cinnabon, it’s Gene
― Gibing The Amethyst (sic), Friday, 21 September 2018 08:25 (five years ago) link
Yeah gene the thoroughly defeated, paranoid Cinnabon manager is the identity set up by Robert Forster when all the heat came down on the Heisenberg operation
― coetzee.cx (wins), Friday, 21 September 2018 08:35 (five years ago) link
The scam to get Huell off might have been the show's low point. It was so corny, and the idea that this D.A., who seemed so sharp previously, would fall for it seemed more than a little far-fetched. I don't know--maybe it's that burner-phones are so new, working such a scam would have been previously unthinkable. Jimmy's post-coital silliness almost made up for it.
One thing I've liked the whole way is the relationship between Mike and Ziegler, the rare person who seems to command Mike's respect. I laughed when Ziegler thanked someone for their "hospitility."
― clemenza, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 02:55 (five years ago) link
The judge's reaction didn't seem credible to me either. Previously, the one time we've seen him, he was coolly dismantling Kim with his Verdict bait. Suddenly he's in a panic because of these letters?
― clemenza, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 12:15 (five years ago) link
Was that Stereolab that Kim was listening to?
― naus, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 17:58 (five years ago) link
Yes! Loved that, and loved the POV shift indicated with the headphones. I also got a huge lol from the background car honk after Kim went Full Giselle. But I agree with clemenza that the con of the DA and judge seemed a bit forced.
― WmC, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 18:15 (five years ago) link
yeah, that was def Stereolab that Kim was listening to... didn't recognize the song, but it's unmistakably the 'lab.
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 00:25 (five years ago) link
cons always seem a little "really?" - this one more than most, for sure - but I think also as a show like this progresses & the lives of its characters feel more real, it becomes harder to concede some gigantic hair-brained scheme. but honestly it's no less credible than the top-secret gigantic state-of-the-art meth lab in the desert built by world-class criminal architects, engineers and detonation experts, the whole BB universe demands that you just let 'em roll with some pretty absurd shit
― she carries a torch. two torches, actually (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 01:37 (five years ago) link
the thing i liked most about the con was bob odenkirk adopting a modified version of his senator tankerbell accent
― nba jungboy (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 03:50 (five years ago) link
half-expected him to start talkin' bout the three holes in the wall
― nba jungboy (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 03:51 (five years ago) link
I honestly thought that was badger in the bar
― coetzee.cx (wins), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 08:04 (five years ago) link
I thought he looked like somebody I should recognise but couldn't quite place.
― Stevolende, Wednesday, 26 September 2018 08:48 (five years ago) link
yes I thought it was Badger too.
― cajunsunday, Wednesday, 26 September 2018 09:17 (five years ago) link
Even the voice sounded exactly like him to me
― coetzee.cx (wins), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 09:40 (five years ago) link
Stereolab song was "Tempter" (b-side to Lo Boob Oscillator, included on Refried Ectoplasm/Switched On Vol. 2)
"Midway between happiness and sadness,Boiling but not overflowingFalls to only make a better comeback,More powerful and poignant, and falls againDestructive lust for life erected,On the verge, pricked up like a picket,Fearing to respond to the tempting but malevolent call of the other side"
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 26 September 2018 14:55 (five years ago) link
I'm up for more crazy elaborate barely feasible scams in this show tbh (and it sounds like I might be in luck).
― chap, Thursday, 27 September 2018 10:22 (five years ago) link
Kim listening to stereolab, Kim looking saucy while smoking, Kim wanting to pull more cons.....I think I'm in love with Kim Wexler
― akm, Thursday, 27 September 2018 13:24 (five years ago) link
I'd say there's one main question to be answered in the last few episodes (or last few episodes plus another season): how does Jimmy get to a point where he becomes this guy, Saul, who shows no signs of being haunted by his past? Because I never got any sense of that on Breaking Bad. What allows him, or forces him, to make a clean break with the past?
(Why I never switched schools once I got in full-time; switching schools requires interviews, and I was always terrible at the sincerity test.)
― clemenza, Tuesday, 2 October 2018 03:08 (five years ago) link
Because I played catch-up with this season, didn't realize that next week is the finale. They'll need another season, right? They can't wrap up everything in one episode. This Rolling Stone piece is pretty good:
http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-recaps/better-call-saul-recap-season-4-episode-9-wiedersehen-730125/
I agree with his assessment of the lab subplot: well done but ultimately not necessary. We know the lab gets built--the details getting there don't seem all that important. The contours of Mike's character are already in place, there doesn't seem to be a lot to add there.
I knew I recognized the woman who Kim and Jimmy scam over the Mesa Verde plans: Gladys from The Leftovers, Patti's sidekick.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 3 October 2018 11:23 (five years ago) link
Ha I came here to write the opposite pretty much! Was gonna post something sarcastic and eyerolly about how at last we find out how hector gained his bell-ringing powers, but then as a counterpoint to that note how unexpectedly riveting the superlab construction plot has been despite it just being the origin story of a location we see in bbSo I guess I agree that it’s well-done but unnecessary I just don’t care about the latter point so much
― coetzee.cx (wins), Wednesday, 3 October 2018 12:54 (five years ago) link
Lalo isn’t doing much for me at the moment but otherwise I thought this was one of the best eps of the season so far
― coetzee.cx (wins), Wednesday, 3 October 2018 12:57 (five years ago) link
clemenza, they announced that they'd been renewed for an additional season almost as soon as the current one started.
― Mummenschanz in a Metal Mood (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 3 October 2018 12:59 (five years ago) link
This ep was the first time I cared about the construction subplot
― Vinnie, Wednesday, 3 October 2018 13:30 (five years ago) link
how does Jimmy get to a point where he becomes this guy, Saul, who shows no signs of being haunted by his past?
I don't think he's that far off already, based on how he is dealing with Chuck's death or what he said during the argument with Kim in the last ep. Denial of his feelings coupled with accepting his place as the bad guy
― Vinnie, Wednesday, 3 October 2018 13:36 (five years ago) link
Yeah, he's well on his way. Glad to hear they're already committed to another season.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 3 October 2018 14:44 (five years ago) link
From past pacing, it feels like they'll wrap up the past in S5, though they could stretch it out to 6. What I'd really like to see is a full season in the present day dealing with Gene.
― WmC, Wednesday, 3 October 2018 14:56 (five years ago) link
well done but ultimately not necessary
I think this applies to the entire Nacho storyline and most of Mike's as well. It's not Better Call Saul and Mike and Nacho and yet the latter take up almost 2/3rds of the show. Now that Mike's been given a backstory and given some depth, I kinda don't care what happens to him between now and when BB starts - his course is set. Jimmy and Kim's plotline is the only one with any dramatic tension and real emotional weight.
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 3 October 2018 20:42 (five years ago) link
Mike's only in this show because BB viewers were so stoked about Mike as a character imo
― she carries a torch. two torches, actually (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Wednesday, 3 October 2018 23:00 (five years ago) link
I kind of wonder if Mike is ready to take a full measure re: Werner; he seems like "half-measure Mike" still. Has he killed anyone besides the two murdering cops so far? Anyway, I'm still interested in his storyline but not nearly as much as Jimmy's
― Vinnie, Thursday, 4 October 2018 01:02 (five years ago) link