Better Call Saul

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

haha yeah.

these last few eps have been Pinter-paced, even by Gilligan's usually slow standards. I started playing on my phone until Lalo showed up - that scene was more of the masterful "will this innocent civilian survive" touches I've come to love with this franchise.

but good lord, last eps were suuuuuuch filler. coulda made them 30 min episodes.

Yeah, although the old man fite (shades of Battlescar Galactica) was fairly entertaining filler, and why did Jimmy fall for the "H.O. Ward" lure and why did he end up getting into the ring after starting to walk away? Welp, we've already seen him and Kim sitting up sleepless, and him indicating some tangle of feelings about "him," meaning big brother, so apparently that and the way he associates Howard with all that, was the lure. Also, somewhat pleasing to see Howard beat him: Jimmy and Kim have broken bad and I have 0 sympathy--- run over 'em, Namast3!

But yeah pace x all those fucking commercials, and of course this "last" season will be split, as with BB and MM.

lol I came here to talk about how much I loved the pace of this one, I’ve been waiting for them to really push it this season

This would be a horrible show to watch with ads tho, don’t think I knew it had them in the us

well when I watch it on DVR, I can skip them. last night was the first time all year I watched live.

fwiw I don't require BCS to be breakneck in pace, either, as BB wasn't always either. it's probably one of the best shows that can make interesting shit out of the minutiae of criminal enterprise.

I think it just rubs me differently when we're watching Saul's daily Youtube prank series vs watching Lalo stake out info from the widow of lab maker guy.

actually "the minutiae of criminal enterprise" would probably be my favorite genre, any movie or tv show that reflects on the mundane shit these guys have to do to avoid getting whacked.

Last night's prologue seemed a little too clever. All that to (I guess--I certainly didn't clue in) foreshadow the reemergence of the Werner subplot.

I think the last three prologues have all had a figure-out-how-this-fits-in angle to them. Those kinds of prologues have always been part of BCS and BB, but that seems to be the default now.

I don't want it to be breakneck pace, prob more slow show constanly interrupted by spew of commericals, and about the content, incl dgaf about Gus's fear factor, although good that he finally decides that Lalo not coming back for awhile (however he divines this, same way he just knew Lalo still alive), so what the hell let's go out for a while-- but basically dgaf about Gus at this point, great as he was and will be in BB---also Howard just rushing through the same shit he's told his oldsters for so many years, and it works (maybe they don't remember how many times they've heard it) I like the widow, and can see how she might tell all this to a sympathetic, attractive stranger, also like her concerned dog. She *told* Lalo the lawyers took all the relevant shit, but of course he can't resist---did apparently see the sympathy cards she mentioned, from husband's co-workers, and maybe he had time to notice a return address.

Ha, every time Howard has shown up in this series I have the Ben Folds Five song "Boxing" in my head for days - "Boxing's been good to me, Howard..." - and now it's literally been played out on screen!

What was Gus doing in the labcave? Just absorbing the atmosphere?

Can't imagine this show with ads - my sympathies.

I'm going back to tape delay watching

What was Gus doing in the labcave? Just absorbing the atmosphere?

He stashed the handgun from his ankle holster down there, though I'm not sure if he had the idea to do that while he was cleaning bathroom grout or after he went down there and scoped it out as a place for defense.

Pretty sure this was an anomaly: Gus referring to their curls as "signature." That phrase is overused to death now, but isn't is something that became common in the last 5-10 years?

(And we're still in 2007 or so.)

oh right thanks, WmC

I've forgotten the business relationship between Gus and the Cartel---the labcave is in prep for his secret side hustle/possible tunnel to financial independence, right? Prospects for that take a leap when he's approached by meth wizard Walt, right? ( remember some of BB's backstory for Gus, how he and hiw partner came from Chile and approached the Druglord with---an idea for chicken places as cover for drug network, right? The other guy was shot to death in front of Gus, big joek, and he got his chicken places, named Hermanos Pollos in honor of the lost partnership---later he got revenge, possibly some satisfaction)

Nice symmetry in this episode with the very first and final shots (sliding panel/window) although I had to watch a recap video to notice.

maybe he had time to notice a return address

The bottom of the memorial thing we saw being made at the beginning of the episode had a sticker from the shop that made it

Presumably step two is rifling through the records at the shop to see who ordered it

So how did Lalo know about Werner and his wife? And what's he up to with that anyway? Trying to prove to the cartel that Gus has gone rogue so they'll take him out?

He wants to know what Werner was hired for. He followed Mike, overheard 'Werner Ziegler' and killed that guy at the Travel Wire, phones Werner at the hotel and tries to get info out of him on what he's doing before Mike stops him. He's just as sneaky as Saul/Kim, a fellow master of scams.

Oh yeah, so he did

I guess he found out about the wife from obituaries etc. They kind of handwaved how he got into Germany, I guess it's easy if you're sneaky