Better Call Saul

wishlist:
• 1 more pre-BB
• 1 set during BB, filling in some stuff, with the Walt/Jesse cameos
• 3 with Gene and hopefully Giselle

Giselle, Kim's initial nom de scam, "Victor's sister"? How else does it apply?
(now I get the stevia thing, thanks)

its gonna be weird that Jimmy is gonna be getting over a major trauma here and in a few episodes he'll be even more shook up and getting over something else entirely. I'm curious how they'll handle the time jump, if they want to rehash the events of BB or if they just flash forward like "well, Jimmy's on the run now". the fact that Gus winds up getting suicide-bombed via the wheelchair he put Hector in - the ultimate "sangre por sangre" - is what half this show has been leading to

Also, Jimmy still isn't really Saul yet. And Kim's going to most likely die so that's going to take some time to set up.

Oh yeah, guess we're not concerned with xpost interseries spoilers here, so I'll say that those who haven't seen BB yet, or all of it, will be rewarded for hanging in with this show first: in no small part, with theBB blossoming of Gus, as written and performed. If you dug the crucial way Gus xpost Gus said that about Jimmy getting Lalo to change his mind, there's all sorts of minimalist eloquence in BB Gus's ever-receptive soldier stance---also his crucial trauma-in-the-making reaction to what otherwise seems like cartoon villainy, when his fellow Chicken Brother is suddenly beeg joek popped--and, writing-wise, that time he actually takes one of his associates home to dinner with Mrs. Fring and the kiddie Frings---in a very nice, homey home---and it seems like an extension of the way he is with the young employees at Pollos Hermanos, his home away from home. And when he's bringing food and monetary contributions to civic occasions, maybe especially involving law enforcement.

Other plot points that need resolving: when dies saul get his giant Statue of Liberty from the kettlemans

i enjoyed Lalo a lot, but getting rid of him this soon into the last run of episodes bodes well for how quick things are going to move. Won't be surprised if we don't hear a peep from Cliff flipping Main

he goes back in time and becomes the drummer for Spinal Tap

Yeah, but before that, the authoritahs are gonna interview him, at least after somebody, prob the judge-mediator, tells them how Howard was acting at the mediation. Also, we may see Howard's wife being interviewed as well.

Cliff Main's the only other character who knows what Jimmy's capable of. I mean maybe he just goes "huh guess he was messed up after all" but I can see him getting suspicious

The law is probably going to take an interest in Jimmy but it can't be too suspicious or else he'd never be hired as a cartel lawyer.

Probably enough to scare Kim off from the life. I feel like she will leave him through mortality or fear and that will leave him feeling like he has nothing left to lose

That sounds likely as hell!

But---I still think she won't be done with him quite yet. Hope not, anyway.

What if: next ep starts with them living happily ever after, Little House On The Prairie, in Nebraska, maybe, and then we go back to how they got there, and then, something else happens on the prairie---and/or in real/"real" life

Hell attacks

*Huell

I think cliff will ask some awkward questions (it already looked like he was coming around when Howard convincingly laid out the details of the plot, plus there’s Kim’s no-show at the meeting for her pro bono dream which will get back to him) and so might Howard’s wife (guest house or not, she lived with the guy). Obv they get away with it, they’ll hold the line & mike’s coverup is airtight* and also Howard was acting erratically (the boxing match ffs)

Still interesting how they’ll deal with it, they’re about to get $2m after doing the worst thing and experiencing the worst thing as a result (Hell attacks indeed!); jimmy already had ptsd before this and I guess we can suss his trajectory from here - the fearful cringing that is always just underneath the bluff Saul persona; gene is nothing BUT fear - tbh tho idk why everyone’s so sure this is a wake up call for Kim. Her actions in the last couple of seasons have been believable but always slightly opaque to me & I could see her going either way: she was all in on destroying Howard while grimly acknowledging how unpleasant it would be (“you know what’s coming next”). Obv the situation got a lot more drastic & even if it hadn’t there may have been *jordan peterson voice* post coital regret from the Kim who said “all we did was tear down a sick man”

buuuut I can still see her going all in on the Saul project - can also see her getting killed tho I’d like it if they could find a non-corny way to get her into the gene timeline

Oh asterisk, *mike was being very pointed with his “isn’t this the story you were setting up?” - kinda judgy for a psychopath’s button man lol, think that was a counter-reproach to Kim’s reproach “where were you!” which clearly hit home

Hell attacks

― We were clothed, except for Caan, who was naked. Don't know why. (Neanderthal), Thursday, July 14, 2022 10:50 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

*Huell

― We were clothed, except for Caan, who was naked. Don't know why. (Neanderthal), Thursday, July 14, 2022 10:51 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

lol

Please refresh my memory of details about recent request for Kim to help/spill to prosecutor's staff about Lalo, who jumped bail and so on; think they didn't realize who he was when bail was granted or something---? Seemed a bit potentially sticky for them if this came to light locally, prob the DEA etc. is already unhappy. I'm wondering how this might affect Gus's evaluation of her. Was thinking he might pay her to go away (Mike: "You will tell Jimmy to fuck off, that he's a crazy-making influence"). Or that, as with the head engineer, Gus might want to have her killed, Mike tries to persuade her to stay gone, maybe with whatever funds he can tap---although reminder of the xpost share of coming settlement makes financial incentive less powerful---still, Mike, at least, should be able to read her state of mind, know she's prob ready to go/traumatized anyway, more money could just be a "sensible" tip of the scales, excuse, really. "Yeah, I'll go--I'll go somewhere and do something good with the money." The legit money from the settlement, anyway, nothing suspicious.

And then live modestly on whatever other money she gets.

(In a prairie shack, for inst.)

So the prosecutor wanted kim to have a word with Jimmy because if he didn’t know de Guzman was actually lalo then confidentiality wouldn’t apply, Kim’s response was just “fyi he goes by Saul now” - and I think it was after that that Saul accidentally referred to his client as lalo giving the game away. So everyone at the courthouse kind of knows they’re compromised but I never really thought about what that does for Kim’s rep in either the corporate or public realm, that’s interesting

Failing to see why any of that means gus would want her (and not Saul) dead or out of the picture tho, unless it’s just that she came to his house to shoot him

Hopefully it doesn't mean that! But if Mike studies the situation enough/questions Jimmy closely enough, he might suspect she's more of a wild card than J., bad influence, though how he would present this to Gus, knowing it might mean a death sentence? Also if they become aware of the prosecuter's office keeping an eye on her, hoping to squeeze her to get to Jimmy, for inst---that could be part of the incentive to do something with her(although her disappearance would add to interest of law)(but what could they do about any of this, or be actively interested in doing, in the long run)

I’m guessing we might get another glimpse at the Saul Goodman Mansion

Seems to me that a possible dangling thread with Mike's plan is Clifford Main, who certainly seemed like he was coming around to Howard's explanation of Jimmy's scam and is likely to ask some uncomfortable questions in the wake of these most recent events.

― When the Pain That You Feel is the Bite of an Eel, That's a Moray (Old Lunch), Tuesday, July 12, 2022 11:10 AM (three days ago) bookmarkflaglink

huh, seemed to me he was buying it?

Great flash forward

Is that actually it--the Kim explanation/resolution everyone's been waiting two or three seasons for? I realize understatement is preferable to some gimmicky, over-the-top resolution, but talk about anti-climactic.

I thought it was great. it's all in the performance. might not be the absolute last we see of her, but I'd rather this than some "oh holy shit Badger accidentally ran Kim over while he was stoned" type dispatch

the "I'm no longer an attorney" was some great delivery too

Great episode. Very excited to see where they take it from here

Not sure that was a flash forward xps

Feels like this is where the timeline of the show is now

lmao

They just used his Instagram photos I’m dying 😂 #BetterCallSaul @PatrickFabian pic.twitter.com/QhIvaJ76Du

— Danielle 🍅 (@Mindswideasleep) July 19, 2022

Yeah I’m wondering if it will all be in the 2005 “Breaking Bad” era from now on. We still have to fit in the Walt and Jesse fan service.

Also this half season we haven’t seen “Gene” at all. So at least one more time jump may happen,

I STILL DEMAND TO KNOW HOW SAUL GOT THE STATUE OF LIBERTY FROM THE KETTLEMANS!

its gotta be, there's nothing left to wrap up. other than the statue

implication seemed to be the episode ends right before he meets Jesse and Walt for the first time. I wonder how exactly he was able to afford that mansion - I assumed Saul only became that rich after working with Walt. I suppose he knows what Gus is up to by this point, right?

He got Sandpiper money, which was 7 figures I believe. And it's clear that when Kim left he aggressively committed to Saul's persona and work, was king of that hustle in ABQ. After a few years of that with almost zero expenses (Francesca, Huell), it's not hard to believe he'd be very well off.

I'm going to try to withhold any more comment until the final episodes finish, but as it stands now, they still have at least one very important thing that requires a lot more explanation than was given last night (which was essentially none).

Hector angrily dinging his way all the way into the distance was cracking me up

lol ok I forgot about the Sandpiper thing. I guess housing prices hadn't spiraled out of control yet :)

So basically, this was my assumption early on in the Howard thing: that it would go rong, that she would freak out and run away---given that, very well done, and her speech--which she had ready, knowing she's gonna see Mrs. Howard at this thing, which I guess they have to attend to be normal members of the legal profession, per Mike's orders, also maybe the guilt, sense of duty, self-punishment? is in there---the speech, right after Jimmy spoke the truth as far as he thought he could without actually confessing, but going so far, in front of witnesses, that a civil suit might find a good place to start peeling the layers---she saves him, by breaking the widow, so sympathetically, insuring self-reproach, "You were married so long, you must have known somehow, seen something," whatever the exact words, the tall widow pratically keels over, how could she not have seen he needed help (and she may have put such thoughts aside indeed, but not re signs of drug use, because there fucking weren't any, that we ever saw). Kim at her most accomplished, and most odious, uggghhh get outta here, exact right time for exit, even w poignant confession to Jimmy, peeling her own layers. So now I'll miss the actress, but not the character. Well-PLAYED!
(And now they gotta have Burnett and WaltnJessie, having flushed most of the major characters who can be flushed, who will not be in BB.

(Although---Kim is still a person of some interest to some on both sides of the law, so we may see her dealing with them while on the lam---?)(though I assume she's got her cut of the Sandpiper money, but even so)

agreed that Kim just hit the absolute lowest there

Jimmy's ability to prevaricate is almost always based in ambiguity or hypotheticals and Kim can just... lie

that entire conversation with Howard's widow was insanely cruel gaslighting, just a top tier performance she knew she'd never come back from

yeah that whole thing was brilliant b/c she knows something that nobody else there does - that Howard and her were on bad terms, and had been for a long time, essentially blaming her. definitely the low point of her character

guessing this is not the end of Kim's story - I would imagine Carol Burnett is cast as her mom, but what she winds up doing I have no clue. if nothing else she would appear to survive the series, given the fate of everyone else

that scene with Gus talking to the employee at the restaurant -- the sommelier? -- was kind of heartbreaking

dude gave up the entire possibility of having a relationship or life that includes anything other than chicken restaurants, drugs, and revenge

giancarlo esposito is so incredible in this role

agreed. his body language and expression in that scene was amazing, he just flipped the switch and looked like he was on the most romantic date for five minutes until he flipped it back off and left

Was thinking about how long they let that scene go on, too, and I think it really drove home just how little space Gus has given himself to mess up. 10 minutes at a restaurant talking wine with a cute guy. Then it's back to the meth and the death.

at least the guy got a big tip out of it

that Howard and her were on bad terms, and had been for a long time, essentially blaming her. Yes, and his last speech, he said, in effect, Jimmy's one thing, always gonna be Slippin' Jimmy---Jimmy's ability to prevaricate is almost always based in ambiguity or hypotheticals and Kim can just--lie---she knows just when and how, with the deeper insight than Jimmy, the greater sense of other people, and of right and wrong: and Howard can't get over, how, with all she has going for her, and fighting for the little guy, that she can choose the bad side too, eyes wide open.
Limits of choice, we see how her mother messed her up early, but also scamming turns her on, the way she says "fun" at the end of her confession: with such despair, such commitment, and the way she kisses him after coup de gras to the widow, the way she comes out with "Giselle," oooweee in the fateful first playtime adventure.

Xpost Yea the closeup where his face suddenly drops and becomes sullen and heavy is remarkable.

Practically saw 10 years add to his face in a moment

Yeah, like he suddenly thought of something he had to take care of, like when Mike's kicking back with a beer, fuckin finally, and then calls Nachos' father.
(xpost Kim's craving for revenge on Howard is maybe even greater than Jimmy's, or going deeper, more creatively motivating, because she knows, on some level, that Howard's read her so well.)