Better Call Saul

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

I'm getting the timeline a bit confused cos i keep thinking things are in Breaking Bad that are only in BCS. So not sure where we were in the timeline in this last episode. It is still prior to any events in BB isn't it. Had me wondering if the dovetailing was a bit more complex for a bit. Like can't remember how early in BB Saul first appears. Actually were events depicted in the trailer for next week overlapping the timeline?

I don't think we can be sure either way. It's possible this season is overlapping with the start of BB. Saul appears in season two of BB iirc

Tuco Salamanca has to be out of prison for BB timeline to start

So, the scene in BB where Saul says “it wasn’t me it was Ignacio” has to happen like ... almost now to make timeline sense right? At this point Jimmy doesn’t know he’s dead but presumably will find out?

guiltily laughed at Hector rage-shooting Nacho’s already dead body a zillion times

Hector is my favorite character. That winking, dead-lip slobbering bell-ringing routine gets me every time.

tbh the machinations of the plot have kind of lost me as well but I don't really mind.

Line still makes sense if he knows nacho is dead

Yeah I’m getting kind of tired of all the subtle-clue-laying that you miss the first time you watch it. Just hit me over the head with entertainment.

After this I’m done with “Prestige TV” and will just watch Bob’s Burgers and I Think You Should Leave for the rest of my life

Wendy! Spooge! (A name that's impossible to forget--I hear it in Jesse's voice.)

Really liked the conversation between Kim and Mike, partly because you suddenly realize "Oh yeah, they've never actually met."

They should have had Spooge pop outside for a minute to use an ATM.

Directed by Rhea Seehorn.

Is that the first one she's done?

Survey--IMDB, actually--says yes, that's her first directorial credit.

Gus seems terrified of Lalo--he's got what, 20-25 guys out on the street (including his substandard fry cook at Los Pollos; I'm sure accomplished fry cooks/hit men are very easy to find)? I don't remember him showing this kind of fear in either BCS or BB.

it's more than one fear in the case w/ Lalo - the obvious "he'll murder me out of revenge", but also, what he knows and might tell Eladio and Bolsa when he turns up again. after all, he's third on the totem pole, with Bolsa and Eladio above him.

Lalo knows who set him up, and if it gets out that it was Gus, he's done and executed, as are probably most of his colleagues. whereas by the time BB starts, Lalo is presumably dealt with and out of the way, no longer a going problem, Hector can't talk, and Tuco is in jail and not entirely aware of what was going on while he was in.

well until the huge intra-cartel war where he killed all of his bosses

Everyone's saying Kim never met Mike but she knew he was the courthouse carpark guard, so they must have at least exchanged eye contact before?

it was a "I've seen you before but I don't know where, yet you're talking to me like we're old acquaintances." moment

Every now and then I kick myself for not remembering certain details from the first or second season, but then I remember it has now been a full seven years since the season 1 finale and don't feel quite as bad since I've never done a rewatch in the years since.

I've forgotten huge amounts of the first few seasons.

thinking about doing a rewatch.

I usually just watch the previous season's finale right before a new season starts.

so they must have at least exchanged eye contact before?

Yes; Kim said as much when she said, "I do know you--you were the parking attendant." It's possible they'd even exchanged a few words if she'd ever used the lot ("Five dollars," "Thanks," etc.). I just meant they'd never actually met beyond that.

One thing she didn't allude to--she realized it was Mike who was in the desert with Jimmy--was that it was Mike on the phone when Lalo showed up at their place. She probably figured that out at some point.

Disappointing filler compared to last week. Started out this show wanting nothing but slippin' Jimmy episodes, but was disappointed to see the Howard scam take up half of this episode. Can't always be guns blazing and a lot of things were set-up this episode (Cliff finally leaving Howard, Jimmy becoming the criminals lawyer, Kim's eyes opening to the underworld swimming beneath).

Yea this was a very intermediate ep

I miss Nacho. The Howard scam is really falling flat for me. I have no reason to egg them on and it’s not watchably self-destructive enough to hold my attention for that reason either. I just want it over with. A bit like the way I felt with NcNulty’s serial killer scam in the last season of The Wire.

I'm still not bored of watching Saul and Kim get up to their scams. I don't really care all that much about whether they take Howard down or not though, it's watching the elaborate plans come together that I find interesting. I liked the car key duplication scene in the previous episode too which was overshadowed by other events.

Yeah, I guess it’s partly just that my dramatic tastes veer away from the procedural, scam procedurals included.

What kind of asshole moves a cone

BMW driver

the "they moved the cone" bit was hilarious

still find it funny that Howard didn't notice he was no longer parked in an actual space, which kind of speaks to how on auto-pilot most busy people are throughout the day. even without the sign in front of his space, he might not have noticed.

I got fished in the way I think they wanted me to get fished in: when Howard started describing his dream, and we see Jimmy walking along, I thought Jimmy was part of it.

Kim's reactions and general manner at the end of the episode, post-Mike encounter, made me feel both on edge and sad.

Between her conversation with Mike and the reaction Jimmy got at the courthouse, I think both of them now realize that everything has irrevocably changed

Yeah her demeanor when she realized Lalo isn't dead was subtle but recognizable. being a 'friend' of the cartel means constantly having people tail you and meeting shady people in coffee shops.

I got fished in the way I think they wanted me to get fished in: when Howard started describing his dream, and we see Jimmy walking along, I thought Jimmy was part of it.

Loved the camera mounted on the door to show us Saul jumping out of the car to set up the cone then getting back in.

Something else I didn't pick up on right away: when Wendy complimented Saul on his hair, I hadn't, to that point, figured out that he was trying to look like Howard.

What did you think they were doing at that point? Not trying to be mean!

I knew what they were up to in broad outline, but I didn't give much thought to the hair/tan.

"petty with a prior" guy's "there's proving, and there's knowing" was a good moment

xp I saw it right away but that’s why I thought the cut from the therapy was so cool, for a second I thought we were seeing Howard’s dream in which he had jimmy’s face

lol

the suit was also a Howard special

Oh yeah, I was definitely thinking it was Howard's dream at first. It was nicely directed, I thought.

Yeah, and the flashy opening sequence + its followup, it’s like what else can rhea seehorn do

(btw when this is all over I want a supercut of kim saying “ok”)

I re-watched all of s5 before the new ones, and have finally caught up (good thing too, as I had hardly any recollection of Mr Acker, and Kim and Jimmy getting married).
Poor old Nacho. I'm not sure I entirely understand the logic of Gus basically letting him dangle in the wind until the Salamancas got to him, then realising the Salamancas might make him talk so rushing to get him out, but I guess he didn't really have many options?

Kim saying "do you want to be a friend to the cartel, or do you want to be a rat?" has been seemingly taken as her making a negative judgement on the 'rat' option, but only a few episodes ago she was aghast that Jimmy was "a friend of the cartel" so I think maybe she was genuinely being fairly neutral there, as to which is more beneficial (or less dangerous) as she's seen how far into it he/Lalo was. I may be wrong, maybe she thinks they can get involved and just talk themselves out of any trouble.

They've kind of reached the Walter White point where they are successful on their own terms, so the HH scam seems pretty unnecessary. Like other people upthread, I don't like them doing this any more (even though it's hilarious) - it's clearly their blind spot. Jimmy has happily dumped any guilt re Chuck onto Howard so I guess thinks/pretends he thinks he deserves it for that reason. Kim just delights in being cruel against the Elite.

They brought Lalo back just in time--I was starting to think, "This is so dumb: they're keeping maybe their most interesting character out of the show."

My timeline's gone all to hell. Werner's wife? I can't remember at all at what point Werner and his crew were working on the underground lab. I wasn't even sure if that was Breaking Bad.

lol at that reaction to the toilet in the middle of the room