Better Call Saul

Pretty sure the thing she said about not being able to trust his own people struck a nerve and is not going to play out well for Nacho.

One or both of those guys (my two favourite characters this season) is not surviving this border run.

Please don’t hurt Nacho ;_;

I found it touching when Mike went to Gus about cutting Nacho loose--that's the Mike I like!

same

Nacho presuuuumably doesn't die any time soon, since Saul is still referencing him four years later - the amount of dodgy characters he deals with between now (then) and then (a later, earlier then) should mean that Ignacio doesn't leap first to his mind in a threatening situation, if Nacho'd been dead for years. Gould oughtn't be overly bound by Breaking Bad details, but considering they did a "Frasier's dead dad"-level continuity patch two weeks ago, he certainly seems to be.

Fuck that was the most tense the show has felt in a long time. Almost wanted Lalo to smile and wave at Michael as he left, harking back to the end of last season when he realised he was now on the phone to Michael not Werner (hugely enjoyable scene)

His Girl Friday interpretation--I knew someone would get to work on that--from Rolling Stone:

If you listen carefully to the movie Jimmy attempts to watch with Kim, it’s the Cary Grant/Rosalind Russell/Howard Hawks classic His Girl Friday, which is about a woman who keeps returning to a relationship she knows is deeply unhealthy for her, with a man whose charm and wild professional lifestyle she ultimately can’t resist. And now I would very much enjoy seeing a version starring Odenkirk and Seehorn as Walter and Hildy. Or, I would if we weren’t already getting it.

"A woman who keeps returning to a relationship she knows is deeply unhealthy for her" makes perfect sense.

http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-recaps/better-call-saul-recap-season-5-episode-9-bad-choice-road-980678/

Fantasy scenario: Jimmy offers to fund Kim's pro-bono work forever, in return for her getting out of the line of fire, moving somewhere safer with a new ID. It'll never happen, but it's a nice fantasy.

That courthouse DA guy! He's so good/terrible

I was into the new episode because I also started playing Death Stranding this week.

Jimmy offers to fund Kim's pro-bono work forever, in return for her getting out of the line of fire, moving somewhere safer with a new ID.

Ooh, this could explain away why he never talks about her - shes effectively in WP.

I'm starting to conclude she won't be killed off. She's too liked by viewers, and even if you put that aside as it applies to BCS, I think they will want to leave open the possibility of a spin-off, including the possibility that it's set post-Jimmy and not limited to a prequel.

B-but I want her show to be pre-Jimmy! Perhaps as I described above, but not necessarily---needs to be some kind of pre-J, though, so that (as with early, apparently honestly striving Jimmy) we start thinking, "Awww, that's a nice break, things are comin' along"---only to remember the nasty future.

Having him offer to finance her pro bono is a good idea, because she would have to face the fact that she wants desperately to do that, and to throw bottles across the courtyard---at least, or at most---she and we don't yet know how far she'll go (quitting her firm, telling off Lalo---pretty far for now).

it is actually criminal that Rhea Seehorn isn't getting nominated for awards or being cast in more things.

https://www.looper.com/201243/better-call-sauls-rhea-seehorn-on-bringing-kim-wexler-to-life-exclusive-interview/

had NO idea this existed

Michael McKean and I actually did a pilot together that Christopher Guest directed from a Mitch Hurwitz script, which was called The Thick of It. It was years and years and years before Veep. It was sort of the first attempt at adapting Armando Iannucci and In the Loop.

It was based on the British shows, but it was done with a Congressman. We had a great time doing it. It just went through other iterations and stuff and became the brilliant show [Veep]. It wasn't a one-to-one ratio. It was totally different people by the time it went down.

I liked seeing Jimmy being the sensible one and trying to talk Kim out of a crazy scheme

the scene with the DA was hilarious. I liked the implication that Saul really was shook, usually this show's protagonists (besides Jesse) are utterly unflappable

why does he try to talk her out of quitting her job? you'd think they had enough cash at this point.

Because his chosen conception of bottle-throwing rebellion favours becoming Saul goodman (making lots of money, winner) to giving your big client back to the squares and doing pro bono work (making no money, loser). It’s sad.

I liked how he kept putting his hand to his heart when he was having ptsd symptoms, calling forward to gene and his anxiety attack

rewatching that final scene, Kim only steps in once Saul offers the money back b/c she knows the shot-up coffee cup is in there right? or is that just a coincidence?

good catch!

Oh! didn't think of that.

oooh maybe!

Kim is super smart and seehorn plays that so well. You could see her putting things together well before she found the cup

I feel like she is going to survive the series. given we know how vindictive and motivated by revenge we know Saul is it would be pretty odd if all the BB stuff happens without any mention of the cartel having murdered his wife. also, I can't imagine they'd take care of her without offing Saul as well. of course she could die in a different way but I don't think they'll do it.

still I think Lalo is my favorite character, maybe one of the best TV villains I've ever seen. he's got Gus's intellect and intuition, Tuco's impulsiveness & ruthlessness, and Saul's charm, plus a supernatural ability to jump long spaces (??). you really never know what he's going to do at any point in time and he's way more fun to watch than Gus is.

Possible Gene/Kim encounter in final series?

idk if he’s more fun to watch than gus. it’s definitely a more outward-facing performance but gus’s rectitude and fastidiousness can be fascinating, like in the climactic scene from the “salud” breaking bad ep or just a couple weeks ago when he was comforting the german executive.

Maybe Gus is killed in BCS and Kim becomes him in a mask and voice lessons

Yeah, Lalo has turned out to be a fantastic character--I say turned out because at first, maybe only for an episode, he seemed to me to be a little too show-offy or something. His control throughout the whole last scene--great acting often involves watching someone think--was scary.

yeah, at first Lalo drove me nuts as I thought he was going to be a temporary heavy that wound up getting smacked down by Eladio and his underboss for his recklessness, but his calculated menace, the absence of limits in his code makes him a great foil for Fring. Fring isn't above killing wives and children, but even he generally only crosses that bridge where necessary. he showed too much mercy to Walt.

Lalo will kill a random travel agency guy, no matter how unlikely that this guy would go to the feds, because fuck it, why not, I have nothing to do this afternoon, and it eliminates a loose end.

do have one question - was he grilling Jimmy about his inconsistent story because he wanted to be aware of a possible threat to him when he went back to Mexico? is he purely angry that Jimmy lied to him and couldn't be trusted, even though that lie means he actually went through much more to protect Lalo's money? i assumed he wants to make sure he isn't about to get whacked.

kinda glad Fring isn't the most interesting baddie this time around. he was wonderful in BB because he came out of nowhere and you only gradually learned of what a truly ruthless boss he was. you already knew that coming in with BCS so it's nice to see him still have a role but not quite as central.

also jfc did we have to see Jimmy drinking pee

🤮

I have some of those same questions about his interrogation of Jimmy, but didn't ask them because...I had even more basic questions at one point and was a little embarrassed. At first I was even wondering why Jimmy didn't simply say he was ambushed, and then it occurred to me, duh, that that raises the question of how he escaped, which leads to Mike, etc., etc. But what exactly Lalo was after, I'm not 100% sure; best guess is that he knows something's going on and is trying to piece together what exactly that is, but getting his $7 million was enough that he'll postpone any immediate action.

it felt something like game recognize game, but not that exactly ; Lalo’s like, ok if your gambit is like THIS & you’re this committed to faking me out then i’ll just tap out & see where this goes

like jimmy & kim may now have sent him on a whole new path

Hasnt lalo been the one asking who Mike is for some time? Was he trying to root out Mikes involvement?

He can't let it lie when something feels off. C.f. trying to find out what "completing the south wall" was, driving him mad

Anyone would be asking those questions in lalo’s position. He may not even suspect mike’s (& therefore fring’s) involvement, though he probably does, but he can see that a) armed criminals made a play for his money b) jimmy somehow survived c) he is lying about it. That’s all suspicious as hell, why wouldn’t he go back for the real story? It doesn’t take a chessmaster

I loved the jump onto the car

I really thought Lalo was going to punch the fish tank.

The fish tank! Even that was tense.

if I recall correctly the creators mentioned something about Season 6 featuring episodes that would be set during the events of Breaking Bad. that clearly seems to me like they're gonna fill in what happened to Kim. I can't imagine what else they'd do.

She's in the hotel with Huell

If Lalo just wanted the story, and indeed suspected Saul of something fishy (!), then he could have just made Saul show him his cell phone call history

Wasn't his phone dead out in the desert? Maybe you mean earlier calls, but I thought Jimmy uses burners by this point.

I dunno, where would he get them from?

lol

Tonight's the closer. There's gotta be somebody who doesn't make it to S6.

I started binge-watching BCS for the second time around before *gesticulates listlessly* all this happened and it's been sort of keeping me going, something I really enjoy. I know how pathetic that sounds. But after tomorrow I won't have it any more!

Season 6 probably won’t be filmed for a while and if I’d have to guess it’ll probably be like two mini seasons