Better Call Saul

Good post!

I was picturing Saul in the yellow car with the mismatched door. Now I'm not sure of the timeline was that earlier in Better Call Saul?
Am I getting confused about his relative affluence by conflating 2 different eras?

Yeah you’re thinking of jimmy’s car

Saul drives a caddy with the vanity plate LWYRUP

Which it’s implied might be a kind of response to Howard’s namaste plate, as we see jimmy still bugged by in this ep (after lobbing bowling balls at it last season)

p sure at the start of the kettleman scene jimmy says something like “it’s goodman now, long story”, not that hard to believe someone would retain something he heard 10 minutes before although this thread has me wondering

― gop on ya gingrich (wins), Saturday, April 23, 2022 12:23 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

I had made a point to say when I asked about it that I probably missed him mentioning it to them. It wasn’t worth rewinding so I asked the thread.

I was more responding to the idea that it was a mistake “even if” (also def being a jerk, I just found it funny how the thread revive had a v… consistent flavour up to that point)

My biggest problem is Gus, echoing up thread, he’s acting and written too much for an audience that knows he’s a scary bad guy. He is supposed to be pleasant and hard to read, an organized businessman that is very formal but warm, someone who treats all of his businesses as equally legitimate and is overly professional. The box cutter scene was horrifying because he did it the same way a businessman does anything else. His disposition is all wrong now, all he’s got right is the posture. The two sides to Gus are supposed to be jarring. That’s part of why his character is so perfectly undercover.

Did I say even if? I mean, i suppose my point was that kettleman wouldn’t necessarily call out the new name, not without the cliche “mr mcg- uh, g-goodman!” read. Small details though.

Hector looking gus in the eye is the one that does feel like a bit of a discrepancy to me but you can explain it away, iirc gus’s thing was along the lines of “you never look me in the eye on these visits we have” ie the regular solo visits he makes to torment hector - makes sense that he wouldn’t count a diplomatic visit with Don Juan in these. But it’s as likely the writers just forgot

In general he doesn’t but he did this time, and because that’s so uncommon Gus picked up on the context immediately and determined that he is in the crosshairs and furthermore that Lalo is probably still alive.

My biggest problem is Gus, echoing up thread, he’s acting and written too much for an audience that knows he’s a scary bad guy. He is supposed to be pleasant and hard to read, an organized businessman that is very formal but warm, someone who treats all of his businesses as equally legitimate and is overly professional. The box cutter scene was horrifying because he did it the same way a businessman does anything else. His disposition is all wrong now, all he’s got right is the posture. The two sides to Gus are supposed to be jarring. That’s part of why his character is so perfectly undercover.

Yes, but that was never how he treated his criminal employees. Gus made a big point of talking about being cautious in his first meeting with Walter, where his demeanor turned frosty the moment he realized Walter knew who he was. He will protect himself and his enterprise above all costs he doesn't have to hide in plain sight with his crew - and while he does often hide his true intentions to make himself hard to predict, he is not afraid to be blunt and outright lethal when he's crossed. He tells Walter that he will kill not just him, but his wife and his infant child, if he disobeys him. He puts the laundromat employees on a bus back to Guatemala (or worse - we never know for sure) because Walter used them to clean the meth lab. They're expendable at that point even though they did nothing wrong. so when Nacho becomes a liability, even though he was doing what was asked of him, Gus has to eliminate the threat to being found out as the mastermind of the Lala assassination attempt. This is completely within Gus's nature.

that's in contrast to how he is with his Pollos Hermanos employees because he has to legitimize this business as his criminal front, and present his persona as a philanthropist, a kind business owner who does right by his employees. This is even displayed during an earlier Better Call Saul episode, where things could have easily gone sideways, where Hector Salamanca shows up at his business and intimidates his employees and customers. and he manages to get them to leave quietly and addresses the employees professionally and shows that he has their support, and they even applaud him after, AND he tells them they will be paid extra compensation for their hardships.

The thing is, on BB, a large part of the framing was that for a while, the viewing audience didn't know that Gus was the kingpin at first, so they were trying some sleight of hand. likewise, Gilligan delighted in showing how easily he fooled the rest of society into thinking he was an upstanding citizen.

that's all been done, we all know who Gus is now, so I don't have a problem with him just not wanting to go back to that well anymore. especially since Gus isn't as intrinsically linked with Saul's story. Walt and Gus were strongly linked because Walt basically begged Gus to work for him, and the two became adversaries. Gus is only tangentially involved in Saul's life at this point, because of his accidental incident with Tuco and his previous relationship with Nacho, which put him in Lalo's crosshairs. Lalo is the true heavy at this point, so Gus is taking more of a back seat in the story and as such, some of the previous nuance we saw is the collateral damage of having that shifted focus.

what I like about Lalo is that he is only passively interested in hiding in plain sight, like he tries, but his violent tendencies just spill out everywhere, right down to his smile. like he always has rage simmering right below the surface, and you can tell, but you can't tell the exact moment when the pot is going to boil over...or often how to prevent it from happening.

like the scene where he's sealioning Jimmy in his house about what happened on his arduous journey.

To be more succinct I’d say I agree with your take on Gus but at the same time I don’t think we should conflate his stiff but relatively warm demeanor towards the average person with his cold decision making as a business person. Like when he had Walt over for dinner, he’s not just brooding all the time behind a henchman. He was interesting because he was always in this to be a successful businessman and did whatever he had to do to hold on to that success. So he presented himself in this strange formal professional way that wasn’t typical for a big bad drug kingpin, and that feels a bit forgotten now unfortunately.

I ended up not being succinct sorry

All great comments but time to get on to the meat: Why the hell is this dropping weekly? Is this a Saul/Kim grift on the audience? Was Lalo behind this decision? was Nacho/Howard's sincere request for an all in one drop drowned out by Salamanca violence and beyond-the-grace Chuck scheming? This is a violent act upon the audience performance art be damned

and a mid season break as well? It's just too much for me

it is SO much better doled out in weekly episodes imo, i prefer it for this kind of show, gives you time to ruminate & let things sink in

I envy your patience

I'm with you, H.P. I think it has more to do with streaming services trying to get users to pay more -- basically, the "Apple" model, if you will. The same thing happened with Ted Lasso and people had to either pay a monthly fee a few times or wait a few months to watch all of it at once. I'm sure most people watch countless shows at the same time and we're not exactly talking high art here. Better Call Saul seems to be the main reason to get AMC (Plus) these days

people can just post anything on this app huh

But please remind me of why they're trying to destroy Howard's reputation

It's usually me who needs clarification on TV shows, but having just watched the S5 finale, I can answer this: it was to hasten a settlement/payout in the Sandpiper case (the thinking being that Cliff Main would be so embarrassed--the two firms are partnered up--he'd settle right away).

This ep (3) seemed particularly joyless and dour. And what was the point of the opening tracking shot of the desert floor?

All I can think is that it tied into the last scene somehow. I thought it was a good, tense episode. Mike's fatherly attachment to Nacho is one of BCS's best storylines.

the shard on the desert floor of opening/closing is the shard nacho uses to cut himself free & determine his own death. the shard is from the drinking glass fring broke in the prev episode. nacho found it in the trash can in the trailer while he was waiting to be taken away

;_;

test because I haven't done this before sorry for wasted post

Okay good. What an ending for Nacho. In the moment was hoping for the murder/suicide (which feels wrong to say, what this show does to a man) but as the moment passed it became obvious this was the only way for him to go out without being tortured and have his father safe. Incredible acting of pure hatred. So visceral, need more of that. Sad to see the vortex of these cartels just suck people in (Mike, Jimmy, Nacho) with no hope of ever leaving. Immediate reaction is that this stands as one of the best episodes in the BB/BCS universe. This show is at its best when it leaves behind the thrill and glory of the chase and focuses on its devastating impact.

Mike is such a master of saying so much with so few words

It was an incredible episode and Michael Mando gave a brilliant performance. My only (very very minor) complaint was the jump from methodically following Nacho every step of the way from the compound to suddenly having Mike pull him out of the hiding place. Given that it was a shorter episode than the first two, it would have been cool to see how that all got arranged.

I'm starting to think they may kill off Kim in the final episode. (Don't get mad at me--these are not real people).

1) It would be one possible explanation for why she's never mentioned in Breaking Bad; her death is so traumatic for Jimmy, he never mentions her again.

2) It would make for a memorable ending if done right--like The Sopranos, like Mad Men--that people still talk about years later.

It would, though, close off a possible spin-off (I doubt a prequel to a prequel would work).

Alternatively, the last scene is her buying some rolls at Cinnabon, and she's either also taken the route Jimmy did to disappear, or she's in witness protection

"Oh, hi Gene. I'm.. Samantha. Do you like working at Cinnabon?"
"Well, it beats the alternative"

they share a grim, knowing look, and Kim walks off

I like that!

Yeah she calls the vacuum cleaner guy before the events of Breaking Bad.

I’m starting to dislike her but I don’t want her to dies., and death seems too obvious.

I’m thinking of one of the flash-forwards where Jimmy/Saul/Gene is driving somewhere after he realizes he’s been recognized. He may even know where Kim is.

I do like the show’s trajectory of “Oh no Slippin’ Jimmy is going to drag the noble Kim down” to “Oh no Kim is going to go too far and put our put-upon nice guy Saul in danger”.

I keep thinking of the Bob Odenkirk interview above when he says this season will make you think totally differently about Breaking Bad.

What was it Kim said? The choices are either to be a rat, or to accept that Saul’s working for the cartel

Holy shit this ep

What was it Kim said? The choices are either to be a rat, or to accept that Saul’s working for the cartel

Well this sucks..

Poor Nacho. The shard of glass stabbing took me back to one of the early episodes of BB when Crazy 8 (I think?) is tied up in Walter's basement and has a go at him with a piece of broken plate

It was nice of the Salamancas to take Hector out of the home for the day and then let him shoot the body

Daft question - the Salamancas only knew Nacho was involved in the killings in Mexico because Lalo survived to tell them right?

Nose deep in the devil's dandruff!

Daft question - the Salamancas only knew Nacho was involved in the killings in Mexico because Lalo survived to tell them right?

I don’t think the Salamanca’s are done with Gus yet. It was important to keep the pretence up via Nacho for Don Eladio and all the upper management, but I wager this is just another step in the Salamanca-Fring Cold War which will go on for the whole season.

in mind of the pretence needed for upper management: Nacho’s use of Bolsa in his final showdown basically assured his fathers safety. The impact of putting a gun to Bolsa’s head is not something Bolsa will be able to shake off. I think upper management will be absolutely assured of the con because of Nacho’s antics. Cannot say it would be the same if Nacho went out the Normal/Gus-assigned way. Great that he was able to insult Gus in order to guarantee his father’s safety from Gus

But then that would have ruined the illusion that Lalo is dead for Gus, or did they give up on the pretence?
― DAMAGED by Black Flat (Boring, Maryland), Tuesday, 26 April 2022 23:09 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

I don't think so? And I don't remember the Salamancas saying to Gus that they wanted him to hand over Nacho, so I'm a bit confused as to how it all happened

Daft question - the Salamancas only knew Nacho was involved in the killings in Mexico because Lalo survived to tell them right?

Hector knows Lalo is alive, don't think Bolsa/Don Eladio are aware. But they all know Nacho was involved because he was at Lalo's place, and wasn't one of the bodies found.

Nacho may have put his dad in danger by telling Hector about the medicine switch- if he wants to get back at the dead Nacho, its better than shooting bullets into his corpse