Better Call Saul

Yes, I know in his Breaking Bad speech, he says he never took a half-measure again (while being a cop)

Spoiler: Mike is going to kill Werner.

I kind of wish they'd stretched out the Werner story arc further - he's the most compelling new character they've introduced outside of the main Jimmy/Kim/Chuck (RIP) storyline.

Wow, a Rob Sheffield homage for the opening scene.

Excellent ending.

Great long-shot of Mike and Werner, too, reminiscent of Fredo on the boat in Godfather II. I do hate the way that television, or at least AMC, immediately cuts to a commercial, instead of letting the shot linger for a few seconds.

OMG so heartbreaking seeing Chuck caring for Jimmy in the opener :(

i'd wager there are at least two more seasons in this; maybe both before BB, but maybe just one more, and then I do think they have to pick the story up post-BB, at least for a while

Great finale, I feel awful

i didn't realize this was the season finale though. expected more Nacho.

I think you could wrap up everything pre-BB with one season; another season of post-BB Saul/Gene, I'd be all for that. (I think Gene goes into the Witness Protection Program and reemerges years later as Anthony Scaramucci.)

That might just be the best episode yet

Kim looks so disappointed when Jimmy starts explaining his take on the hearing. Is that it for her/them?

That was such a great moment. She's thinking "That's the guy I'm in love with," and it was all a performance. It reminded me in a way of the moment in The Color of Money where Newman finds out that Cruise was laying down in their big game for money. Cruise, like Jimmy, seems to take it for granted that Newman (and Kim) knew what he was up to; they're ecstatic, and they want to share their excitement, while Newman/Kim stand there looking devastated.

bit ambiguous as to how much the 'performance' was actually fake and how much the 'haha suckers' was post-rationalising or whatever. either way it's not good for kim.

Hadn't considered that, but you might be right--Jimmy may be putting the con on himself.

Yeah, he still doesn't want to admit to himself that Chuck's absence has any effect on him: the opener this week being all about the support and mentorship that Chuck did give him, once upon a time, suggests that Gould & al are pointing towards denial at the end.

After a year of disconnectedness and (new sources of) resentment, Jimmy also wants, for self-esteem, to believe that he's smarter than anyone and that he can smarts them into thinking what he wants, at the expense of the real connection he used to have with, for example, his colleagues or his elder-care clents. Cf. last week when he ripped into Kim and refused to acknowledge the massive assistance, love and backup she has given him in his schemes and life.

Rhea Seehorn's non-verbal acting is so great. That look of confusion and near-terror at the end as Jimmy (not Saul, at this point, I guess) is gloating about the suckers in the hearing was perfect.

I meant NOW Saul, at this point. Duh.

I got the feeling straight after that that bit with the deeply disappointed Kim I was seeing a reflection of Chuck in a nearby metal surface. Wanted to go back and check there was somebody standing there to be reflected. Haven't as yet.

that metal surface in full

https://i.imgur.com/s5YqPSv.jpg

Yeah, he still doesn't want to admit to himself that Chuck's absence has any effect on him: the opener this week being all about the support and mentorship that Chuck did give him, once upon a time, suggests that Gould & al are pointing towards denial at the end.

exactly: the way he loses it in the car over a relatively minor thing is very much the way repressed grief can hit you

I love this show.

Struck me that it would be funny if somehow the rejected law student he gives a fuck-'em pep talk to somehow ends up, as an adult, recognising him and being the one who brings his post-BB life crashing down

A strong finale but this season was a little bit shapeless for me. I think the Jimmy-Chuck dynamic was my favourite aspect of the show and its missed that

I really enjoyed the Auf Wiedersehen, Pet homage of the German builders. It could easily have been the "How Jack got his Tattoo" storyline of the season, just filler to pad it out, but it ended up being genuinely interesting and sad.

incredible how much this show focuses on long set-ups and payoffs - the letter coming back into the plot, for ex. Amazing final scene, with Jimmy's transformation complete.

Gould and Gilligan are too good at storytelling to drop the rejected law student after a brief introduction, and good enough at storytelling that there's no telling whether she'll help or hurt him when she shows back up.

(It's down to one showrunner now! Gilligan didn't work day to day on this season.

― 16, 35, DCP, Go! (sic), Wednesday, August 8, 2018 7:48 AM (two months ago) )

he directed last week though

I don't think it's necessary for her to come back -- her being a vessel for Jimmy to dump his petulance and entitlement onto this week was enough. If she were to find a way to cheat into lawyerhood, she still wouldn't be qualified until well into the Breaking Bad era.

She doesn't have to become a lawyer to show up again and affect Jimmy's life.

not everything gets a callback

I'd be v surprised if we get much more of Jimmy's post-BB life or any kind of real resolution there but who knows. I think another season of this means we learn Kim's ultimate fate and Jimmy does a lot of incredibly shitty stuff.

Gould still thinks a season of Gene is a possibility once they run out of Saul, but there is no long-range plan

Wow he really said that? Weird

yeah it was in an interview this week

Well that excellent finale more than made up for the sluggishness of the season as a whole.

You would have to re-cast, but you could probably do some good stories about Slipping Jimmy back in Chicago. It would be set in the 80s, right? Prequel to the prequel.

eh I'd rather see his live after BB. I'd be shocked if they didn't do a redemption story.

I pray not (redemption, that is). I'd want a Mad Men-type ending, where Gene relocates his inner Saul by pulling a fast one on someone.

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.

yeah this was the best part of this (dreary) season -- I was rooting so hard for mike to give him a pass and wept when I knew it wouldnt happen. he took it much more stoically than I'd have guessed

https://www.amc.com/shows/better-call-saul-employee-training

Watched a few eps -- it's good, but how can anyone stand to watch this dark, depressing stuff after a long stressful day at work?

yea. it's a dreary fucking show

That's why the only things I watch now are Shark Tank, the Profit and NBA.

OTOH, I don't know how anyone gets through an entire episode of Two Broke Girls without being swallowed by an existential void from which there is no escape.

Finished this last night after starting it literally months ago, the season really dragged and I just didn't have the enthusiasm to watch the next one. Then I shotgunned the final three in one night - there was a hell of payoff and suddenly there seemed to be a reason to keep watching them. Werner in particular was a terrific character.

But the rest, good god, stop making us work so hard. Jimmy's depression was necessary but dull, Jimmy selling cellphones was dull, the Nacho/Hector Salamanca stuff was really fucking dull. The first three-quarters of Mike's arc was dull. It's difficult to think of a character who feels more wasted in this than Gus Fring.

For a fundamentally character-driven show it feels largely unconcerned with developing most of characters in interesting ways. I started to wish they'd decided to focus on Jimmy alone and given him a wider circle of friends and acquaintances rather than just Kim, Howard and Chuck.

I don't usually disagree with you re tv but I really really do on this

finally watched all of this show after giving it a wide berth after being unimpressed with the start of the first season.

i have ended up enjoying it, but with so many reservations.

the idea that this is better than breaking bad, or even worse, "more character driven" is preposterous to me. the jimmy and kim romance is one of the least believable on-screen romances ever, why are they together? jimmy is a serial liar and conman who were are supposed to root for, a sort of grifter with a heart of gold who could have gone good given the right circumstances. i don't really think this comes off. he's a shyster, kim, though she likes to dip her toes into his world once in a while, is basically a goody-two shoes and it's taken far, far too much for her to grow sick of his frequently highly criminal behaviour if people think that the female characters in breaking bad are ... bad, and they are, then that's definitely repeated here, kim is very underdeveloped as a character. mike's turn to the criminal and total respect for fring really doesn't jibe with literally everything else we know about the character.

i also don't think i've ever watched a whole season of a show where main characters have little or no involvement with each other. why is mike in this show about saul? although i honestly enjoy mike's parts more than jimmy's.

chicks dig a bad boy

yeah but he's not sexy type bad boy he's slimy

well they're already in a relationship by the time the show starts so who knows. I thought the implication was that he cleaned up his act after the Chicago Sunroof thing, only to have Slippin' Jimmy slowly come back, driven by certain events. They worked in the mailroom together and neither of them seem to have any free time whatsoever. I had gotten the impression that those smoking breaks were the only time they had to really socialize with anyone.

I agree that Mike's motivations are a bit unclear, but that was a little odd in Breaking Bad too, why does he need to leave $25 mil to his daughter when realistically she'd be taken care of for like 2% of that. I see that as Mike needing something to do in retirement (he's got no other family, apparently) + respect for a man as meticulous and careful as he is.

also, I think the Mike/Saul thing is kinda cool, its neat that this is basically two separate shows that occasionally collide. I wonder how that comes off to people who haven't watched Breaking Bad.

btw I haven't seen S4 yet - its not on Netflix or Hulu...how are y'all watching it?

well they're already in a relationship by the time the show starts so who knows.

they’re long-time friends (who’ve probably had sex once or thrice) when the show starts, they don’t become a couple until a season or two in


btw I haven't seen S4 yet - its not on Netflix or Hulu...how are y'all watching it?

it was on TV six months ago!