Better Call Saul -- Season 3 Fring-ing The Gang Back Together Again

[Cas Stark]

I don't mind the slow pace, and I love the brother's conflict, it's feel so true and realistic and it's the core driver of what turns Jimmy into Saul.

Every time there is a great Mike segment, I hate Walt all over again for killing him.  I thought that scene at the car lot was fantastic, it's what presumably people are watching a Vince G. show for....something different.

I don't expect this show will ever ramp up to BB levels....but Gus showing up will be epic.

I'm kind of over Kim, she's totally compromised and she knows it, but hasn't yet admitted it fully to herself.

[Consigliere]

I was thinking that Mike got a bit lucky that the fuel cap containing the tracking unit was replaced instead of just the dead battery. I was scratching my head wondering at what Mike's intentions were thinking that just the battery would be replaced instead of the unit. I guess it does make some sense though - much easier and quicker to replace the fuel cap than fumbling around in the dark trying to replace the battery. This was a very slow episode even by BCS standards. Hopefully this season gathers pace as it goes along.

[Martini Sigil]

If I had to guess, I would say that the the inevitable Kim break-up is what sends Jimmy past the point of no return... Jimmy can stand to lose anything, or anyone, except her... and I think Chuck will play her the tape... 

As great s Odenkirk is --and he is-- Michael McKeon is right there with him in terms of acting chops... 

[Commodore]

2 hours ago, Martini Sigil said:

If I had to guess, I would say that the the inevitable Kim break-up is what sends Jimmy past the point of no return... Jimmy can stand to lose anything, or anyone, except her... and I think Chuck will play her the tape... 

As great s Odenkirk is --and he is-- Michael McKeon is right there with him in terms of acting chops... 

Kim already knows what Jimmy did, if you recall her punching Jimmy in the car and then telling him not to ever speak of it

That was the reason for her anxiety in this first episode

[Commodore]

have to think it's Gus tracking Mike, but it would be classic Vince G to do a head fake there

[PetyrPunkinhead]

On 4/15/2017 at 11:26 AM, Cas Stark said:

I don't mind the slow pace, and I love the brother's conflict, it's feel so true and realistic and it's the core driver of what turns Jimmy into Saul.

Every time there is a great Mike segment, I hate Walt all over again for killing him.  I thought that scene at the car lot was fantastic, it's what presumably people are watching a Vince G. show for....something different.

I don't expect this show will ever ramp up to BB levels....but Gus showing up will be epic.

I'm kind of over Kim, she's totally compromised and she knows it, but hasn't yet admitted it fully to herself.

I was always rooting for Walter, mostly, in BB. SO I saw capping Mike as a necessary evil for Walter. Mike was looking out for Mike, and Walter was only looking out for Walter. BCS has indeed increased my love for the Mike character though. He's the best part of this series!

On 4/15/2017 at 3:17 PM, Consigliere said:

. . . This was a very slow episode even by BCS standards. Hopefully this season gathers pace as it goes along.

Agreed 100% on both counts.. 

On 4/15/2017 at 7:33 PM, Commodore said:

Kim already knows what Jimmy did, if you recall her punching Jimmy in the car and then telling him not to ever speak of it

That was the reason for her anxiety in this first episode

I agree, Kim already has to have an idea of what happened but like @Martini Sigil wrote, I think Chuck playing her the tape, hearing exactly what Jimmy did from his own mouth PLUS the fact he was foolish/trusting enough to let Chuck get him on tape will send her packing. Or, and this could be a longshot here, maybe Chuck playing her the tape will only push her closer to Jimmy. She has a "Bad girl" side to her and maybe seeing how much Jimmy loves Chuck and how callous Chuck is towards Jimmy will see her character kind of go over to the "Saul Side" of things. Personally, even though it's a long shot, I'm hoping Kim kinda breaks bad this season. 

[Dr. Pepper]

8 hours ago, PetyrPunkinhead said:

I was always rooting for Walter, mostly, in BB. SO I saw capping Mike as a necessary evil for Walter. Mike was looking out for Mike, and Walter was only looking out for Walter. BCS has indeed increased my love for the Mike character though. He's the best part of this series!

Walter killed Mike because Mike was looking out for a number of patsies and their families.  I suppose you could say that looking out for those patsies was also looking out for Mike, but Mike could have also easily offed them like Walter did.  

[WarGalley]

Ya'll are Mike fans now.. just wait till he offs Kim and Chuck without Jimmy knowing it..

[Cas Stark]

1 hour ago, WarGalley said:

Ya'll are Mike fans now.. just wait till he offs Kim and Chuck without Jimmy knowing it..

I don't see that happening.  Jimmy is going to alienate and lose Kim all on his own, and presumably Chuck is going to at some point demand he stop practicing law as Jimmy McGill and thus, he will become Saul....whether Chuck ends up dead, committed or still in the anti eletricity blanket, that I don't know...but Mike's not going to kill him.

I was always a Mike fan, I begged my TV to make Mike and Gus just fucking kill Walter many times.  LOL.

[Nictarion]

"This one really don't wanna talk about Cracker Barrel"

[PetyrPunkinhead]

14 hours ago, Dr. Pepper said:

Walter killed Mike because Mike was looking out for a number of patsies and their families.  I suppose you could say that looking out for those patsies was also looking out for Mike, but Mike could have also easily offed them like Walter did.  

Mike was looking out for himself in that he wanted to do crime his way and not Walter's way. He didn't give a fuck what happened to Walter or his money. In Mike's mind his share of the cash was all for his grandkid and daughter-in-law anyway. Mike had no respect for what Walter sacrificed and accomplished to earn that money--in Walter's eyes at least. And Mike's fatal flaw was that he underestimated Walter, and that's why he got murked. So I was sad to see his character go back when that BB episode aired, but I wasn't broken up about it like a lot of other fans.

14 hours ago, WarGalley said:

Ya'll are Mike fans now.. just wait till he offs Kim and Chuck without Jimmy knowing it..

Oh shit. The tone just shifted drastically. One minute Chuck is picking up a tape recorder with salad tongs and the next he's face down in a hole in the desert. Capping Kim would make me hate Mike fo' sho. 

[Dr. Pepper]

10 hours ago, PetyrPunkinhead said:

Mike was looking out for himself in that he wanted to do crime his way and not Walter's way. He didn't give a fuck what happened to Walter or his money. In Mike's mind his share of the cash was all for his grandkid and daughter-in-law anyway. Mike had no respect for what Walter sacrificed and accomplished to earn that money--in Walter's eyes at least. And Mike's fatal flaw was that he underestimated Walter, and that's why he got murked. So I was sad to see his character go back when that BB episode aired, but I wasn't broken up about it like a lot of other fans.

 

Yes, part of that is true.  But the other part is that Mike was protecting a bunch of people and their families who were in turn protecting Mike and Walt.  In Mike's book, if you say you're going to do something, you do it.  He said he'd provide financial recompense to the families of some patsies who took the fall for a meth empire, so that's what he intended to do.  I'm just pointing out that Mike was thinking of others beyond just himself.  It tends to be a reason why Mike is so much more liked than Walter was.  

[Mark Antony]

Odenkirk was top notch in last nights ep. Much better episode than the premiere. 

[Martini Sigil]

Holy cow, Chuck is a piece of shit.... But

I still don't see how Howard and the PI being there changes anything.... what they witnessed could easily be explained away just as if they tried to introduce the tape.... Jimmy was angry that Chuck taped him at all, he can still claim that he only said all that because Chuck was manic

[Martell Spy]

Yeah, great episode. That first one is probably the only BCS episode of the entire run that I did not like. I was pretty sure they'd turn it around quickly though. Any scene with Jimmy and Mike is amazing. They play off each other so well.

Spoiler

 

Witnesses to breaking and entering, perhaps? I think Jimmy's access to the house was cut off. And just being related doesn't allow you to break into someone's home. Kim could find nothing that could be done with the tape legally because Chuck never intended to use it as more than bait in the first place.

 

 

•  

[PetyrPunkinhead]

10 hours ago, Dr. Pepper said:

Yes, part of that is true.  But the other part is that Mike was protecting a bunch of people and their families who were in turn protecting Mike and Walt.  In Mike's book, if you say you're going to do something, you do it.  He said he'd provide financial recompense to the families of some patsies who took the fall for a meth empire, so that's what he intended to do.  I'm just pointing out that Mike was thinking of others beyond just himself.  It tends to be a reason why Mike is so much more liked than Walter was.  

Walter was thinking of his family and Jesse for good chunks of the series, and him looking beyond himself to take care of his family after he was dead was the inciting incident for Breaking Bad (unless you want to get overly technical and say the cancer diagnosis was the inciting incident). A lot of the vile things Walter did were also in the name of survival. And I'm not sure I could say Mike or Walter could be described as selfless individuals in the final season of BB.

And this is the second time you've mentioned Mike being liked more than Walter--I wasn't aware this was the case with the many BB fans. Like I wrote earlier, sure I really like Mike's character, but it's Walter's story in BB; he's the one I'm rooting for during the majority of the series. 

2 hours ago, Mark Antony said:

Odenkirk was top notch in last nights ep. Much better episode than the premiere. 

Agreed. It still moved at a slowpace (I kinda wish I'd waited to binge this season) but we got more results than in S3E1...and dat cameo!

1 hour ago, Martini Sigil said:

Holy cow, Chuck is a piece of shit.... But

  Hide contents

I still don't see how Howard and the PI being there changes anything.... what they witnessed could easily be explained away just as if they tried to introduce the tape.... Jimmy was angry that Chuck taped him at all, he can still claim that he only said all that because Chuck was manic

 

Yeah, a steaming pile of. I was thinking Chuck just wanted to hurt Jimmy by putting a wedge between Jimmy and Kim, but this is far, far worse. I like how Kim is sticking by Jimmy's side. I was a little worried she might abandon him (and she still may) but I'm glad she is sticking by him. And is anyone else missing the romance between these two? My guess is they're still a couple b/c Jimmy was staying late at the office waiting for Kim in S3E1, but it'd be nice to see them get romantical like they were back before the commercial fiasco in S2.

[Dr. Pepper]

32 minutes ago, PetyrPunkinhead said:

Walter was thinking of his family and Jesse for good chunks of the series, and him looking beyond himself to take care of his family after he was dead was the inciting incident for Breaking Bad (unless you want to get overly technical and say the cancer diagnosis was the inciting incident). A lot of the vile things Walter did were also in the name of survival. And I'm not sure I could say Mike or Walter could be described as selfless individuals in the final season of BB.

 

I didn't describe either character as selfless.  

Look, you said that Mike and Walter were only looking out for themselves at the moment that Walt killed Mike.  But that wasn't strictly true because the reason Walt killed Mike is because Mike was protecting a bunch of people and their families due to those people taking the fault for Mike and Walt.  

In the end this barely matters except for those who loved Mike and despised Walt (huge amount of the audience, yes). 

[dbunting]

On ‎4‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 11:58 AM, dbunting said:

Maybe Chuck knows how Jimmy handles things and expects to catch him breaking in to steal the tape back, larceny charge or something? It's a stretch I know but hey, it's another week before we get to see the next episode.

 

Have to quote myself for calling this one correctly.  Having the PI and a second witness there who can corroborate that Jimmy broke in seals it for him. I think this issue will play out for a few more episodes and Kim will get Chuck to drop the charges in exchange for Jimmy changing his name and her leaving their joint practice to appease Chuck.

Mike and the chicken gang. I am still struggling to see the link. I assume that it's the same cartel that Mike dealt with last year, but why follow Mike and track him? Why not just kill him if you are a cartel and worried about him? There is something from last year I am forgetting that ties this together.

[Ded As Ned]

8 minutes ago, dbunting said:

Mike and the chicken gang. I am still struggling to see the link. I assume that it's the same cartel that Mike dealt with last year, but why follow Mike and track him? Why not just kill him if you are a cartel and worried about him? There is something from last year I am forgetting that ties this together.

I feel like I'm missing something too.  Seems like Mike's being recruited, and ties back to the "DON'T" note left on Mike's car last season (how he figured out he was being tracked)... but beyond that I don't know why Gus settled on him.  Maybe someone will fill us in.

Otherwise, I thought this was one of the better episodes in the series.  Really enjoyed it.  Jimmy drives me nuts how every time he gets in a spot he does the one thing you pretty much shouldn't do.  Chuck played him like a fiddle, because Jimmy can't help but Jimmy.

[Cas Stark]

Gus isn't like the rest of the cartel, he's not a kill first type, the same as Mike.