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Better Call Saul


SeanF

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1 hour ago, SeanF said:

I think you summed it up nicely.

Agreed. He has a plan that involves an incredible amount of discipline and he doesn't allow anything to jeopardize it. He allotted himself the span of a glass of wine to actually savor life and then it's back to the grind towards power and revenge. 

And yes,

Spoiler

I think it's clear from this interaction, at least, that he is gay but doesn't allow himself a relationship. Too much distraction, too much vulnerability, too much risk.

 

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That scene with Gus ordering wine, might be the strangest scene in the entire series. I’m so use to seeing him as a business man and a gangster, that scene with him in his down time just seemed unnatural. I think the closest we ever got to this in Breaking Bad was when Gus invited Walt to dinner. 

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3 minutes ago, sifth said:

That scene with Gus ordering wine, might be the strangest scenes in the entire series. I’m so use to seeing him as a business man and a gangster, that scene with him in his down time just seemed unnatural. I think the closest we ever got to this in Breaking Bad was when Gus invited Walt to dinner. 

The reference to his children during this dinner is a little puzzling. Not that gay people can't have kids, but from what we've seen he doesn't seem to have any kids or a wife or partner of any kind.

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23 minutes ago, RumHam said:

 

The reference to his children during this dinner is a little puzzling. Not that gay people can't have kids, but from what we've seen he doesn't seem to have any kids or a wife or partner of any kind.

Edited to add, I read that as you referring to the toys. I meant to say the toys were window dressing. Same thing applies though it was all part of a manipulation against WW. If it wasn't then maybe we'll see actual kids this season. I doubt it though.

I believe that was window dressing. It was right when Gus gave the "A father provides" speech to Walter White. I thought the same thing when I was watching though. Oh, Gus has kids. It was all for the self-serving benefit of making Walter White want to cook meth.

The only partner I think ever seen was the dead man Max.

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Loved the episode, especially the way they wrapped Kim up. She didn't let herself off easy, she recognized that she was the one pushing and enjoying the games they were playing with people. It felt like a band aid got pulled off, she was there and then bam she was gone and we advanced to see just Saul, no more Jimmy.

Agree that we will see the cameos next episode and maybe the one after,  and the final couple will be Gene. I wonder if they will do a recap of sorts showing again why Saul becomes Gene.  IIRC they did something in S1 but would be surprised if they didn't remind anyone who may not have seen BB.

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2 hours ago, RumHam said:

 

The reference to his children during this dinner is a little puzzling. Not that gay people can't have kids, but from what we've seen he doesn't seem to have any kids or a wife or partner of any kind.

Nice catch. It's been so long since I saw Breaking Bad, I forgot all about Gus talking about having kids. I suppose the whole thing could be a lie, Gus does enjoy manipulating others, to get what he wants.

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It was a sad episode, the characters were empty shells of who they once were, or they once hoped they'd be.

Mike as the shell of the man that Matty looked up to, realizing there's nothing he can do to make things better for Nacho's dad, because he's one of them, the men who did the bad things.

Gus as the shell of the man who loved Max, going from remembering him dying at the pool, to glimpsing for a moment another life with the man at the bar, and knowing he can never have that now.

Jimmy as the shell of the man who seeks his value in the esteem of others (Jimmy drove an Esteem), and without it, he is determined to show everyone awesome he is (Saul drives a slick caddy).

They all went down Bad Choice Road. Nacho tried to turn himself around and failed. Can Jimmy turn himself around?

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4 hours ago, Cas Stark said:

I thought that was a little weird.  Why so OTT?  Is it Jimmy playing Saul?  Was Jimmy always this extra? For that matter, if this is Saul's house, why is his office in a tacky strip mall?  Or maybe I missed something there.

It puzzled me too. As a matter of fact, so far I assumed he was able to afford the house we were shown in one of the prologues no sooner than when Walt's money started flowing. So either I was totally wrong on this, or maybe what we saw was already in the BB timeline.

That would also make Walter and Jesse cameos much easier.

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1 hour ago, 3CityApache said:

It puzzled me too. As a matter of fact, so far I assumed he was able to afford the house we were shown in one of the prologues no sooner than when Walt's money started flowing. So either I was totally wrong on this, or maybe what we saw was already in the BB timeline.

That would also make Walter and Jesse cameos much easier.

It was probably his money from Sandpiper which I think would have been some millions, he would have the same problem as Walt and Jesse in terms of how to launder that much $$$.  But still, why is it so tacky?  And more importantly, if he's got Tony Montana's mansion, why is his office so small and low rent looking? 

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1 minute ago, Cas Stark said:

It was probably his money from Sandpiper which I think would have been some millions, he would have the same problem as Walt and Jesse in terms of how to launder that much $$$.  But still, why is it so tacky?  And more importantly, if he's got Tony Montana's mansion, why is his office so small and low rent looking? 

Just a guess. He knows his clients. His bread and butter are people who would be very comfortable seeing a lawyer in a strip mall and who would feel out of place at a fancy place with marble floors. 

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1 minute ago, dbunting said:

Just a guess. He knows his clients. His bread and butter are people who would be very comfortable seeing a lawyer in a strip mall and who would feel out of place at a fancy place with marble floors. 

That occured to me as well.  If that is correct then, he would basically be practicing law to pass the time, not because he needed the money any more...but he doesn't come off as that rich in BB, so I don't know.  Another little incongruity.

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1 hour ago, Cas Stark said:

That occured to me as well.  If that is correct then, he would basically be practicing law to pass the time, not because he needed the money any more...but he doesn't come off as that rich in BB, so I don't know.  Another little incongruity.

You hear stories about actors or musicians who make millions and blow it all shockingly fast because they still live above their means. I forget how much he was due to get from Sandpiper, and it was going down a bit as a result of their machinations. He could have spent most of it on his new house, furniture and property taxes and whatnot. I don't think he's really that rich pre-walt, he apparently is comfortable and has a ....house.

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14 minutes ago, RumHam said:

You hear stories about actors or musicians who make millions and blow it all shockingly fast because they still live above their means. I forget how much he was due to get from Sandpiper, and it was going down a bit as a result of their machinations. He could have spent most of it on his new house, furniture and property taxes and whatnot. I don't think he's really that rich pre-walt, he apparently is comfortable and has a ....house.

Yeah, I could see post Kim that he might blow his money in a few years.  He gave the impression in BB of being a sleazy, mini mall lawyer who was more than willing to break the law for a few extra thousand, but his clients were distinctly down market for a dude with a gigantic, if extremely tacky, mansion and millions in the bank. 

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6 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

Yeah, I could see post Kim that he might blow his money in a few years.  He gave the impression in BB of being a sleazy, mini mall lawyer who was more than willing to break the law for a few extra thousand, but his clients were distinctly down market for a dude with a gigantic, if extremely tacky, mansion and millions in the bank. 

I don't think he has the mansion and the millions though. I think he spent the millions on the mansion and associated costs and thus had to keep working. Maybe even work harder in order to keep up with the property taxes. Then Walt comes along and it's a chance to get back to that Sandpiper-settlement "money is not a factor" phase that the show just skipped right past.

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Some people can never have enough money.  Also, Saul’s persona of sleazy, downmarket lawyer leads people to underestimate him, which can work to his advantage.  Because he’s so obviously an ambulance chaser, people don’t suspect he’s a lawyer for the cartel.

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On 7/20/2022 at 8:45 AM, Cas Stark said:

Yeah, I could see post Kim that he might blow his money in a few years.  He gave the impression in BB of being a sleazy, mini mall lawyer who was more than willing to break the law for a few extra thousand, but his clients were distinctly down market for a dude with a gigantic, if extremely tacky, mansion and millions in the bank. 

That mansion is a fleeting thing though, no? We have seen it basically taken apart and carried away. I assume that will be re-visited towards the end, setting us up for the pauper we know from BB.

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About the speculation of when the last episode ended, one of the writers says this:

"I think we're roughly in 2007."

Then: "It could be 2005. I was guessing based on what we talked about when we broke it. It's not my ep. Things change when it comes to props, that I'm not involved with. I didn't notice the 05 tags, so it could be. He seems so deep into Saul I assumed it was later than 05 in this ep."

Then: "Somewhere between 05 and 07."

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I finally got caught up. This is the first time I have to watch this show on a weekly basis and I'm kind of curious to see how that effects my enjoyment.

Still, I just need to take a few minutes to rave about how devastatingly good all of this is. The previous two episodes really moved the plot forward and I find myself at the edge of my seat even for the more low-stakes moments. These writers really do know their stuff, being able to built tension without even having to use violence and it's just breathtaking to see how they are able to make you care about all characters.

Spoiler

The prime example for me was Howard Hamlin. Nacho leaving the show was tough, but at the end of the day he was a gangster. One with regrets sure, but I did feel like it was too be expected and the blow was softened quite a bit by being able to speak his minds to the Salamanca's before he went.

Howard on the other hand was a character that I felt little sympathy for in the beginning. In part that was because we did not have the Chuck reveal yet, but I also didn't like the yuppie-got-a-handout-from-daddy type his character clearly belonged to.

Over the course of the season though, I was outraged to see Kim and Jimmy take advantage of him. I thought he reacted with real grace and restraint and for him to then be executed without a moment's notice and then to see his body disappear next to Lalo and his memory being tainted...

That was incredibly taxing. It effected me about the same as the death of Hank & his partner (the highlight of Breaking Bad for me). The writers on both shows are really good at giving you slice of life in a heightened universe.

TLDR: This series doesn't really do happiness. I respect them for it and I am glad that this exist but I'm not sure how I would feel about all series being like this.

 

EDIT: Also, Tony Dalton is amazing. What a villain.

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