Better Call Saul

[Royal Nakamura]

Yeah, I've only seen real intensity between Nacho and Jimmy. Considering that Nacho and co. have not been imprisoned, I doubt they'd even touch Jimmy.

 

And like Chips said, they're still building characters; at this moment, I doubt they would have Mike outright kill somebody at this point anyway.

[Chips.]

Dead at Rubbersoul calling it.

[Aqfitz]

Solid episode. I loved the Cinematography in this episode

 

Great analysis of this episode from reddit

 

If people found it underwhelming, you're not digging deep enough.

This was the breaking point of Jimmy turning to the darkside. Throughout this entire season, we saw him start as Slippin' Jimmy and work his way to becoming Jimmy McGill. To pay Chuck back for taking a chance on him. To make Chuck proud. To prove Hamlin wrong. To catch Kim's eye. To not become Marco on that barstool. To make something of himself.

But after finding out the reveal about Chuck...feeling lower than low...losing his case and worse, his own brother...it broke him down. He loses it with his amazing "Kitty Cat Notebooks for Everybody" monologue and goes back to his roots.

Here he revisits his Slippin' Jimmy and not 10 minutes in falls perfectly back in step with Marco. Skirting the law again. Hasn't missed a beat. Just as good as he always was....if not better. Marco and Jimmy in perfect harmony, making suckers out of 'em all. And then he loses Marco.

Chuck is gone. Marco is gone. Both sides of that coin...both of his brothers...for both there's now this emptiness.

But here comes Kim to save the day! There's hope! Everything might just turn out ok. In yet another brilliant piece of cinematography...we see a shot of Jimmy outside the courthouse...he stops dead in his tracks "Looking East." A perfect profile of what he'd look like on that Kennedy coin. A new dawn. JUST THEN....he feels Marco's pinky ring. A reminder that....ya know what?

He just had the best week of his life too.

Why fight this anymore? For who? Chuck? Kim? Hamlin? Maybe. But that rush...that feeling he had with Marco...

Why not both?

And thus, the seeds for Saul have been planted. It's not an ambiguous ending. It's the beginning of Saul Goodman.

I may be reading way too in to their cinematography (but to be fair...they're pretty deliberate with it.) The final shot is of Jimmy driving "west" if you will ...away from the promise of a new path at the courthouse. And we pan down to the exact middle of the road....

He may be straddling the line between Jimmy and Saul...but he's now on his way.

tl;dr - If you dig deeper, it's not an ambiguous / underwhelming ending. It's an emotionally powerful ballad on a Shakespearean level...and now I can't tell up from down because I think I may be starting to like Better Call Saul better than Breaking Bad.

 

 

 

[Generations]

The bingo scene...lmao.

[Mr. Moyd]

I really like that analysis of the episode from Reddit. It's what I was thinking, explained a lot better. Here he has two sides of the coin that he loves and begins to marry the two together. Love it.

 

Holy crap, that was Trevor? Thinking about it now, goddammit can't believe I didn't notice. Nice cameo, the whole scene was like a heist cutscene. Loved Mike's monologue on being a criminal.

 

I feel like this show and BB should be shown to film students to demonstrate how to make fully fleshed characters that interweave and connect. Vince Gilligan does it again.

 

I can't wait to see how Saul gets his connections. They need to introduce Gus Fring, the cleaner in "Granite Slate", Huell, etc as Jimmy slips into Saul

[Lyriqz ✪]

That analysis shouldn't even be needed. It was very obviously done, honestly. But nevertheless, it was great. Probably my second or third favorite from the season. Sad it's going to take forever for it to continue now.

[Mustacio]

I wish people on reddit wrote with less obvious fedora-on-their-head style.

[Rubbersoul]

Dead at Rubbersoul calling it.

#factsonly

[Generations]

 

Dead at Rubbersoul calling it.

#factsonly

 

 

To be fair, though...that death was pointless and didn't really impact the show in the slightest.

 

 

We had only seen that guy in what, one episode? Felt like they brought him back just so they could kill someone off. Also, it was just a heart attack. Not like anyone was offed.

 

[Lyriqz ✪]

 

 

Dead at Rubbersoul calling it.

#factsonly

 

 

To be fair, though...that death was pointless and didn't really impact the show in the slightest.

 

 

We had only seen that guy in what, one episode? Felt like they brought him back just so they could kill someone off. Also, it was just a heart attack. Not like anyone was offed.

 

 

 

But it was quite important for Jimmy's development. Plus, by now, I think we can safely say that the whole team or wheoever else apart from Gilligan influences the story, they didn't just spontanously bring him back, they probably planned this from the start.

 

[Generations]

Well, obviously they planned it from the start...that's how you write a show. I'm just saying, the character was essentially a nobody in the show. Yeah, it helped develop Saul's character, but that was more about him returning to his roots, and less (almost nothing) to do with the character himself. And the character dying doesn't really change Jimmy in any way. It was the reunion with the character that shows who Jimmy is now. The guy dying just takes him out of the show (because there's no use for him anymore). The death itself didn't impact anything, IMO.

[Aqfitz]

Favorite part of the episode was was the montage of

 

Slippin Jimmy and Marco doing their thing. So well shot

 

[Lyriqz ✪]

Well, obviously they planned it from the start...that's how you write a show. I'm just saying, the character was essentially a nobody in the show. Yeah, it helped develop Saul's character, but that was more about him returning to his roots, and less (almost nothing) to do with the character himself. And the character dying doesn't really change Jimmy in any way. It was the reunion with the character that shows who Jimmy is now. The guy dying just takes him out of the show (because there's no use for him anymore). The death itself didn't impact anything, IMO.

 

There's a good few shows that are pretty much being written on the fly, just saying. I get what you mean but you can't say it didn't impact anything because without it, the show wouldn't go where it will go now and (even though that's backwards and all, but you get the point.) Saul Goodman would seemingly never have happened if it wasn't for this specific combination of events. I get what you mean though.

 

Fun fact: That guy is also Todd from Last Man On Earth. Never heard of the actor before but he's been on two sweeeeeeet as *Censored* shows at the same time, nice.

[PaperThinWalls]

Marco was anything but a nobody. The guy was Jimmy's best buddy, partner in crime, and the inverse of Chuck. Like Lyriqz, I think him dying plays an essential role in what Jimmy will become.

 

And yeah, the montage sequence was great!

[Mustacio]

It's on my bucket list to have a night that plays out like one of those Las Vegas-type montages, when I think back on it.

[Royal Nakamura]

Marco wasn't a nobody, the person was Jimmy's best friend. No matter how you look at him, whether he was underutilised on the show or not, that does not change how important of a character he was in Slippin' Jimmy's era; prior to when he wanted to become an ethical lawyer.

 

Also, if he was a nobody, I doubt Jimmy would have returned to Cicero to see him. Yeah, his death wasn't exactly a gunshot to the head but look at how Jimmy's actions and mannerisms began changing afterwards. I did say before that I doubt Chuck's betrayal would have been the only motivator of this transformation.

 

Then again, though, I think that is up for personal interpretation. You may think differently.

[PaperThinWalls]

Better Call Saul returns Monday! Woo!

[Creepy Bro]

Better Call Saul returns Monday! Woo!

 

Good to hear, I had no idea.

 

Thanks for the heads up!

[Gamevolt]

Hopefully it will be on Netflix Tuesday morning in the UK then.

[Kush™]

Hopefully it will be on Netflix Tuesday morning in the UK then.

Pretty sure it will be on Netflix on Monday

[Royal Nakamura]

Lovely, I have the whole week off too.

[ThreeG]

Enjoyed the episode, its weirdly one of those shows that doesn't need a huge storyline going and yet I can still enjoy it 100%

[Generations]

Enjoyed the episode, its weirdly one of those shows that doesn't need a huge storyline going and yet I can still enjoy it 100%

 

For me, this is because there's so much detail in every shot.

 

Like...I was watching the first season over again, and I noticed that the Kettleman's mailbox had a little Kettle on it. Not sure why I never noticed that in the first watching...but it made me laugh. I feel like there are always little things like that in this show.

 

Also, I still feel like the series will end with Breaking Bad returning. I don't think that story is over yet...and I think Vince Gilligan can be trusted to continue that story without ruining it. I know people are skeptical about that. But I'm still 100% for it. The end of BB was just too perfectly set up for a continuation...especially after Saul. The more of Saul that I watch, the more positive I am that BB will return after.

 

I mean, ask yourself this...what would be the purpose of showing Saul in the Cinnabon at the start of every season if we weren't going to ultimately end up back in the present day? And that present day = continuation of Breaking Bad. Sure...they want to show how much he's fallen...but it feels like more than that. It feels like something being intentionally put out there to tie back around at the end...at least to me.

[AlterNation]

As much as I loved Breaking Bad it wouldn't be the same

 

 

without Walter, who I'm convinced is dead. And on his own I'm not sure that Jesse would be a strong enough character to carry the show like Walter did unless he goes through a massive change.

 

[Generations]

As much as I loved Breaking Bad it wouldn't be the same

 

 

without Walter, who I'm convinced is dead. And on his own I'm not sure that Jesse would be a strong enough character to carry the show like Walter did unless he goes through a massive change.

 

 

I have no reason to believe that the bold is true.

 

 

He didn't even expose that he had been shot until he took care of all the business he needed to take care of. That suggests that it was a slow bleed and he merely slipped out of consciousness at the end. He didn't have his head blown off...or get shot right through the heart or something. He had a slow bleeding bullet wound...which he could recover just fine from...especially since cops were right on the scene. He wasn't just left there to die. Cops come...he gets medical attention...he goes to prison. That's honestly more logical to me than him just dying there. Also, the directing was very careful about not showing him fall down or anything. It shows him bleeding...then it shows him on the ground, blankly starring up. He could have lied down under his own power and just kinda gone "well, this is it"...which I think is the case, especially with the lyrics "guess I got what I deserved", etc.

 

 

 

Anyway, I think BCS is going to do a lot to explain how BB could be brought back. Obviously the end of BB wanted to make people think the show was over for good...but I think BCS is going to turn that around.