Better Call Saul

[Jimmy]

It's just outstanding TV. 

Spoiler

This show thrives on details. The scene with Gus at the bar was phenomenal - a man whose lifestyle choices mean he actively denies pleasure and warmth. What an outstanding scene that was amongst everything else. 

Rhea Seehorn's performance was astonishing - her "I was having too much fun", said everything and more. 

I can't even imagine where the next four episodes will go. 

 

[LL!]

4 hours ago, Jimmy said:

It's just outstanding TV. 

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This show thrives on details. The scene with Gus at the bar was phenomenal - a man whose lifestyle choices mean he actively denies pleasure and warmth. What an outstanding scene that was amongst everything else. 

Rhea Seehorn's performance was astonishing - her "I was having too much fun", said everything and more. 

I can't even imagine where the next four episodes will go. 

 

Spoiler

You kind of touch on it with your second point, but the parallel between Gus denying pleasure because of his lifestyle and Saul wanting to receive the pleasure and the glory and the life, and Kim wanting the pleasure, but not the life is incredible.

 

[Mick]

50 minutes ago, LL! said:

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You kind of touch on it with your second point, but the parallel between Gus denying pleasure because of his lifestyle and Saul wanting to receive the pleasure and the glory and the life, and Kim wanting the pleasure, but not the life is incredible.

 

 

Spoiler

And then there's this asshole that gets neither the pleasure nor glory nor life: 

 

[Jimmy]

12 hours ago, LL! said:

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You kind of touch on it with your second point, but the parallel between Gus denying pleasure because of his lifestyle and Saul wanting to receive the pleasure and the glory and the life, and Kim wanting the pleasure, but not the life is incredible.

 

Spoiler

I think what's also amazing is we still got Kim's "breaking bad" moment, as such, it was just on a much lower scale - and when that has dire consequences, she immediately realises the weight of her actions. It's just been so beautifully paced and so carefully realised. It really has defined itself to a completely different show to Breaking Bad, but they way in which they're connecting them, to tell an overarching story is sort of blowing my mind because I didn't think it could be this good.

The overall stakes are higher in Breaking Bad, but the emotional stakes in Better Call Saul are just phenomenal and I'm finally starting to see Breaking Bad as a progression of Better Call Saul, as such. 

 

[Jimmy]

Yep, just super happy with whatever they serve me up this season, another great ep. 

[LL!]

Spoiler

Very cool how Gene has basically adapted the Walter White persona as his own in order to swindle people into believing him before doing something majorly illegal. A nice touch that was solidified when he told the old woman the "crazy" story of the chemistry teacher. 

The Cinnabon Heist was golden. Classic Slippin' Jimmy! The whole time I was watching the episode I was so scared that Jerry/Gary/Larry was going to keel over from a heart attack with all those fucking Cinnabons, but the blackmailer slipping was a beautiful unforeseen thing. I also think that Saul's empassioned speech to distract him sort of came from a real place. 

Beautiful ep. 

 

[Hellraiser]

Spoiler

Y'all think this is the last we see of Gene Takavic? I'm not sure. I don't really trust the cab driver. I also feel like Saul's whole "mutual assured destruction" strategy is a bit weak. I'm pretty sure the guy will get off easy if he can provide the current whereabouts of Saul Goodman to the police if he gets caught.

 

Edited July 27, 2022 by Hellraiser

[Moses Julep]

21 hours ago, Hellraiser said:

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Y'all think this is the last we see of Gene Takavic? I'm not sure. I don't really trust the cab driver. I also feel like Saul's whole "mutual assured destruction" is a bit week. I'm pretty sure the guy will get off easy if he can provide the current whereabouts of Saul Goodman to the police if he gets caught.

 

Spoiler

Given we previously had the teaser about the depertment store heist and this time around had the teaser with the car in a field in the middle of nowhere I get the sense the last eps might all be Gene related. 

 

[Jimmy]

39 minutes ago, Moses Julep said:

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Given we previously had the teaser about the depertment store heist and this time around had the teaser with the car in a field in the middle of nowhere I get the sense the last eps might all be Gene related. 

 

Spoiler

With Walt and Jesse confirmed in the series, I think we'll be getting some BB era Saul stuff as well. 

 

[Bobfoc]

Spoiler

I really hope we get more information about Gus' real identity as well.

 

[Bobfoc]

Spoiler

He just doesn't learn, does he?

 

[LL!]

6 hours ago, Bobfoc said:

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He just doesn't learn, does he?

 

Spoiler

Pretty much. It continues to showcase how fragile Jimmy has always been. That with everything else in his life fleeting he turns back to the thing that brought him the most success and, thus, what he equates to happiness. But I predict that as he continues down this path he will quickly realize that what ended up bringing him the most happiness while executing cons was always Kim. He lashed out cause clearly Kim rejected him in some capacity on that phone call and the show continues to draw the greed parallels between him and Walt. (The Walt and Jesse scene was perfectly done balancing what fans wanted to see with actual progression of Jimmy's story basically depicting him digging his own grave.)

It's almost a reversal of the story. Whereas Walt started with doing this for his family, we quickly realized it was him perceiving/trying to convince himself/others that that was the reason he was doing it, but it was really that he was driven by greed and a lust for the power it brought. Jimmy is trying to convince himself that this is what brings him happiness, but in the end he was always doing it for Kim. 

I get the feeling we are not done with Kim just yet. 

 

[Benjamin]

45 minutes ago, LL! said:

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Pretty much. It continues to showcase how fragile Jimmy has always been. That with everything else in his life fleeting he turns back to the thing that brought him the most success and, thus, what he equates to happiness. But I predict that as he continues down this path he will quickly realize that what ended up bringing him the most happiness while executing cons was always Kim. He lashed out cause clearly Kim rejected him in some capacity on that phone call and the show continues to draw the greed parallels between him and Walt. (The Walt and Jesse scene was perfectly done balancing what fans wanted to see with actual progression of Jimmy's story basically depicting him digging his own grave.)

It's almost a reversal of the story. Whereas Walt started with doing this for his family, we quickly realized it was him perceiving/trying to convince himself/others that that was the reason he was doing it, but it was really that he was driven by greed and a lust for the power it brought. Jimmy is trying to convince himself that this is what brings him happiness, but in the end he was always doing it for Kim. 

I get the feeling we are not done with Kim just yet. 

 

Spoiler

I just can’t see us going 3 more episodes without Kim.

That phone call with Francesca was perfect, great send off for her as well.

 

[GoGo Yubari]

Spoiler

Only ten minutes in on this one but with as many awful, tragic endings for characters as this world has, the prospect of Florida Kim as a stopping point (it obviously won't be) is one of the very bleakest.

EDIT:

Spoiler

"When I knew him, he was."

 

[Bobfoc]

Spoiler

There's some poetic justice in the fact that Saul, whose first major exploits as a lawyer involved conning old people, has been exposed by an old person.

 

[LL!]

Spoiler

Of course Jimmy would blow up his entire life over Kim. Make big emotionally-motivated decisions and you'll pay emotionally-devastating checks. The finale is gonna be brutal and I am really curious to find out if this is finally the one he can't slip out of. Not sure he'll be dead by the end because they wouldn't make his fate the exact same as Walt, but the fact that I have no idea is a great sign. 

Gotta give it to Rhea Seehorn in this one. She absolutely killed it. The trying incredibly hard not to make decisions in her Florida life, the moment where she let Jimmy know she was glad he was alive, the confession and still protecting Jimmy at the end of it, the flashback with Jesse, and especially that scene on the bus? Just fantastic work throughout by her, the writers, and Vince Gilligan. Truly just loved watching her do her thing. 

The scene with the cops in the car was so Gilligan it hurts. Loved it. 

Also loved the shot of Gene watching his commercial in color on his glasses. Beautiful. 

I love this show and will hate to see it end next week. 

 

 

[Mick]

Well.....

Spoiler

Jimmy ended up better than I figured (above ground), but still, that was pretty bittersweet. 

 

 

[GoGo Yubari]

Spoiler

Jimmy and Chuck's final scene together is incredible for how much it packs into a scene that without context would feel totally innocuous. The implication that it's from the last time they were together before the season starts, what Chuck's copy of The Time Machine means in the context of the other Jimmy/Saul flashbacks, even something as little as Chuck maintaining that even the clients that Jimmy is so embarrassed about deserve a vigorous defense. I thought I was done being heartbroken about the ways in which they both doomed each other to their respective fates but NOPE  

It's amazing how this went from a thing that was probably a bad idea to even try to one of the most richly layered, brilliantly written shows I've ever seen. I don't fully trust that this will be the actual endpoint of this universe but frankly I couldn't possibly ask for anything more than what we got.

[Bobfoc]

It's hard to get my head around the fact that we've had eleven series of high-quality continuous dramatic storytelling in this universe. This has been one of very, very few shows whose episodes I could safely assume would all be great ahead of time.

[Jimmy]

Perfect finale. One of the best shows of all time.