Better Call Saul

Great episode overall, especially the Kim parts, but that Kim/Jesse scene was one of the worst 5 minutes in the entire BB/BCS run. Embarrassing.

My take is that the entire episode is intended to draw the distinction between Saul, who is completely remorseless, and Kim, who is absolutely remorseful and has attempted to redeem herself by leading a "good life". The (terrible) scene with Jesse highlights this - at that point in her journey, she is not yet able to realize how bad it was what she and Saul did. The phone call from Saul makes her realize that her "good life" is not enough - it hasn't tipped the scales for her or assuaged her feelings of guilt. She realizes the only way forward for her, the only way she can live with herself, is to come clean (at least as to her part in everything - the fact that she doesn't turn Saul in shows she still loves him on some level). The next step on her journey would be for her to realize that Saul is still out there hurting people and to turn him in.

Also, the two ends we see of the Kim-Gene phone call are interesting - last episode we see Gene reacting in anger because Kim doesn't buy Saul's act. This is crucial, because it highlights that Kim never bought Jimmy/Saul/Gene's act - she wasn't another mark who got roped into their scams - she was a willing participant the entire time, bears just as much culpability as Saul, and her realization of this spurs her to confess.

If Kim hadn’t had the cautionary upbringing and conflicted view of her mother and hasd been the Jimmy character in this series, it would have been so much crazier and worse. He’s the natural con, she is the natural liar plus so much else

I thought I might like the Jesse scene better on rewatch but if anything it struck even more of a bum note (almost worth it for the last line/shot tho). It’s all down to Paul who is excruciating, his movement & delivery is so forced I felt like I was watching a beautifully shot Kevin smith film or something. I was just remembering how funny he was in that classic bb scene where he has dinner with mr & Mrs white which I think is kind of the vibe they’re going for here, Jesse running his mouth trying to fill the silence, but for whatever reason Gilligan just couldn’t get the performance out of him

(Speaking of, with all the cameos we’ve had it might have been nice to see Anna Gunn in the breaking bad episode — Skyler did know Saul, & their dynamic was pretty fun)

Paul is in his early 40s, it just wasn’t going to work no matter how many big hats you put on him.

Part of it boils down to the motivation for why he's talking.

Gilligan's known for legendary one-liners, but the best ones were generally earned.

Here, you could have had anybody ask Kim if Saul was a good lawyer and got the same quality response.

But because they decided to make it Jesse, then they tried too hard to legitimize why he'd talk to her AND why he'd ask the question he did, especially since she's the type of person he'd have just glanced at and shrugged. Felt entirely exposition, not a character moment or a good hybrid

It'd be almost as if the say my name scene went like this

Declan : Who the hell are you?

Walter White : You know. You all know exactly who I am. Say my name.

Declan : Do what? I don't... I don't have a damn clue who the hell you are.

Walter White : Yeah, you do. I'm the cook. I'm the man who killed Gus Fring.

Declan : Bullshit. Cartel got Fring.

Walter White : Are you sure?

Mike: That's a common misconception. Lots of people think the cartel got Fring, but as much as it begrudges me to say it, Walt did. See he outsmarted me and threw me a curveball. And I'll always be wondering how I let him why I killed him when I got the chance.

Declan: are you done?

Mike: really it was a betrayal of my police training in Philly. There was a time I let an abusive spouse kill his wife. Walt remembers that story. I took a half-measure. And now all that's left of Gus is eyes without a face

Walter White : That's right. Now, say my name.

Declan: I forgot what we were talking about

idk maybe I'm the only one who got this impression but that Jesse/Kim scene still felt significant because Kim, in theory, could have talked Jesse out of hiring Saul

obviously you're right in that it didn't have to be Jesse there but this series has earned a bit of fanservice here and there. I did think it was very cool when Hank & Gomez popped up for a quick scene in BCS

xp

"Ok, ok, I'll say it. You're the one who knocks."

Literally all they had to do was have Paul turn to Kim and say - "ey. This Saul...he any good?"

Xpost lol

The scene between Walt, Jesse and Saul worked because they focused on the stepdad/stepson vibe Paul and Cranston had during that period of BB, and recaptured it nicely.

I really think it’s just that Aaron Paul is remarkably bad in the scene (& not because he doesn’t look 20, they always do that shit and it’s usually classic)

I saw some Q&A thing with one of the show's creators (can't remember which one) where someone asks what they would've done had Odenkirk died from his heart attack, since they hadn't actually finished filming at that point. and the response was "well we'd have no choice but to cancel the season". amazing how close this whole season was to not happening at all

Literally all they had to do was have Paul turn to Kim and say - "ey. This Saul...he any good?"

Xpost lol

― We were clothed, except for Caan, who was naked. Don't know why. (Neanderthal), Monday, 15 August 2022 17:42 (one hour ago) link

Yeah it was ruined by being too long; trying too hard to callback to Jesse's origins with Emilio.

I would totally go with your rewrite but maybe have it start with Kim pausing due to the rain, glancing over at Jesse who is already looking at her leaning against the wall. As she pulls out a cigarette to wait, she breaks the tension with the stranger looking at her with a small talk comment like the one Jesse actually used.

Kim: (gesturing) "can you believe this rain? In a desert?"

Jesse: (shrugs, then takes a few steps towards her staring into the parking lot. Stops, looks towards Sauls office and then to her) "ey let me ask you somethin. This Saul...he any good?"

Then basically Kim's last line and the jog into the rain exactly as it was done.

Just occurred to me Elaine Benes dated both Walter White and Saul Goodman. pic.twitter.com/3GkFThliUc

— Justin McGuire (@JMcGuireMLB) August 15, 2022

Great catch, Justin McGuire. Bob Odenkirk's already warming up for Saul: "I always knew that after I became a doctor, I would dump whoever I was with and find someone better. That's the dream of becoming a doctor." (Or else he's just reprising Stevie Grant from The Larry Sanders Show.)

And I think her father was more or less Mike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkqngcYwJnU

LOL I literally watched the Dr Tongue ep of Seinefeld yesterday, no way I would have noted him as the broken arm mediator guy.

very excited for the next BB/BCS meta-spinoff "Rhea Seehorn Deserves an Emmy"

Elaine's father was played by the notorious Lawrence Tierney, prodigious noir heavy whose career was not helped by scaring the crap outta those who initially wanted to continue working with him, on The Simpsons and Seinfeld, for inst. Also, some off-set behavior, for instance

In July 1991, during the filming of Reservoir Dogs, Tierney shot at his nephew in a drunken rage at his Hollywood apartment, and was arrested and bailed. He was released for a day from the jail to continue filming, as recounted by the film's director Quentin Tarantino in an interview. As a result, Tarantino never again worked with or hired Tierney to act in his films.[37]

Won't add any spoilers for those who haven't seen it yet, but---don't expect too much, esp. from the last few minutes.

So bizarre that Kim moved a half hour from where I live. Hearing "Central Florida Legal Aid" was jarring

Worked for me. The show was never going to go for the explosive ending that BB did.

Yeah, but what he did in courtroom was soooooo out-of-character, I mean what we were recently saying about him ffs, and so well-established over so many years, with the redundant guest star scenes supposed to justify/soften us up for the last minute thing.

One guest star def not not not redundant, however.

Seeing Kim's leaving (and Lalo's death) as the climax of the series and the last 4 eps as denouement, I'm happy with how it all played out. I had a feeling Saul would be caught quickly in this one. They had a lot of ground to cover in this episode -- great editing job to get it all in without seeming too rushed.

It was out of character because he found out Kim confessed and she's the only living person whose opinion of him he gives a fuck about. I mean her cold demeanor got him upset enough to shatter a phone booth in a previous episode.

Her confession shocks him because unlike him, she had no threat of law enforcement and multiple felonies and RICO charges looming over her. Just pure conscience.

He wants be seen as a decent human being in her eyes and that means squaring up to what he did and not weaseling his way out for maybe the first time in his life. His life is already shit, he has no real friends, he'd rather go to prison for life with the one person he loves respecting him again than emerge from jail in 7 years with nothing.

And of course that's a parallel to Walt in Breaking Bad confessing to Skyler.

Marie had zero effect on him at all. If Kim never confessed, dude is on his way to negotiating for a two year sentence and rack of lamb every night.

I like happy endings--happy in context, happy compared to all the other ways it could have ended--so I liked this. Not Mad Men's finale, or The Sopranos', but for me, very satisfactory. Saul finds Jimmy--I don't find that beyond the realm of dramatic plausibility.

If I'd made a list of who might turn up in the final episode, Marie would have been 37th. So I loved the surprise of that.

I expected Lalo to walk into the courtroom carrying the St Elsewhere kid's snowglobe

the point of all the flashbacks for the ep was to drive home his final courtroom appearance.

Honestly, I was kind of worn down by the Jimmy-Kim relationship over time. For me, the Jimmy-Chuck relationship was the highlight of the entire run, and that came through beautifully in the flashback here.

I do find it hilarious that prosecutors we're happy to finally have someone from the cartel to charge, after finding mostly dead bodies and AWOL people along the way

They set up Jimmy's about-face with the two conversations about time-machines/regrets. Not really a big deal, but if I had to point to one thing that stretched credulity a bit, it was that one of these conversations was with Mike. Through both series, Mike never seemed especially big on reflective, heart-to-heart conversations (his family excepted). In fact, his greatest moment ever for me was when Walter tried to have one just before Mike checked out. "Shut up, Walter"--death was preferable to a heart-to-heart with Walter.

I said that to my mother before Mike gave his. "He doesn't like small talk"

Walter's reaction, of course, was vintage: berate Saul about how scientifically illiterate he was.

mike had the "move to alaska" conversation with jesse - yr treading

the worst part of this episode was some acting by someone that seemed like they'd seen a 30-sec emmy highlight reels of that character and decided to amp by a 10 factor.

They set up Jimmy's about-face with the two conversations about time-machines/regrets

i liked walter's appearances in these last few eps because it showed him from an outside perspective. namely it showed him as a pompous, high-strung ass who must've been incredibly tedious to be around

I think Mike’s sharp character radar makes him actually care about Jimmy and Jesse though, and it translates into a weary but sincere level of interest in their thoughts. Whereas Walt he read accurately right from the start, so when he can finally tell him to just stuff it, he does.

He definitely adopts a parental concern with both Jesse and Ignacio (and a little bit with Kim, when he warns her about Lalo)--I'd extend the family exception to those two. And Walter, yeah, he has no use for him at all.

I'd put Jimmy/Saul maybe halfway on that spectrum?

NOW HIRING: General Manager in Omaha, Nebraska https://t.co/3OnH52qsly

— Cinnabon (@Cinnabon) August 16, 2022

Part of me was looking for a final heel turn at the end - throwing Kim under the bus for a couple less years in jail - but this ending was a bit less nihilistic. This half of the season felt a little like a rollercoaster. After setting up Jimmy/Saul as a complex character for the whole series, with understandable reactions to situations, they seemed to want to remind us is capital letters: JIMMY IS A POS. But then that was just used to set up the last-minute change of heart by Jimmy in the finale. It's ok, but speaks to the writers' seat-of-the-pants plotting.

It was a roller coaster, and a little hard for me to follow, especially the stuff connecting to BB, which I haven't seen in years. But there was a lot to wrap up, in multiple timelines, plus the opportunity to bring in popular characters again, so they forced themselves into this situation. Personally I was pretty satisfied with how it unfolded, but I think the Walter and Jesse cameos this season kinda distracted more than helped. Marie's was good

Would have liked it better if he went off to do his reduced time (but I think it would have been at least a decade: Feds seem less likely to cave quite so far, although I've read about it happening on State and lower levels pretty often), and we last see him as a jailhouse lawyer, cocky but keeping an eye about, always wondering if he's gonna get shanked or shived, since, as he mentions to prosecutors, some of those guys he was afraid of are still out there). That seems a lot more realistic/in character than---what they did, ugghhh

Was waiting for Bill to plead with Jimmy one more time and Jimmy responding "you're one of the smartest guys I ever met, but you're too stupid to see I made up my mind ten minutes ago"

Xpost Jimmy is way safer on the inside than he is on the outside now that everyone knows he's alive and where he lives. 7 years, 86....tomato

I did think the Walt bit was perfectly written and delivered. Disappointed that Odenkirk and Esposito are getting their own shows next year, but not Seehorn. Maybe she'll turn up on those, along with other BCS and/or BB actors. Maybe she'll get a one-of; maybe lifer jailhouse lawyer will! They could be in one one-off together, of course.

So is he now going off to prison in the Southwest? Everybody in that bus seems to know who Saul is.

yeah it was the particularly unpleasant prison he mentioned during his negotiation. a bunch of his abq-based clients end up there