Originally Posted By Dabob2 This week's episode was my favorite yet. I'm loving the Jimmy/Kim dynamic. I'm not familiar with this actress, but she's great; you can tell these two have a history, and it's simultaneously comfortable/familiar and "it's never going to be 'the one' for either of us." You almost feel like they could make a go of it if either was willing to diverge from the respective paths they're on; she to corporate lawyer partnerhood, and he to being Saul Goodman... but they're NOT willing (or able?) to. Loved the opening con, which I didn't see coming. The tension was great, as you didn't know if there was someone else coming to retrieve the drunk guy's wallet or not (I assumed there was, and I kept thinking "get out of there!"), and then that satisfying "aaaaah..." moment when the guy stood up and clapped Jimmy on the shoulder. Also loved the subtle unspoken reaction from Chuck when he saw the headline in the paper Jimmy tried to keep from him. He knew instantly it must have been a con, Jimmy knew he'd know that, and Jimmy still wants his big brother's approval. And, of course, the line from Mrs. Kettleman "You look like the kind of lawyer guilty people hire" not only hit Jimmy hard - it's also prophetic. This whole series is going to be about Jimmy slowly accepting that "yeah, that's who I am." But he's not there yet - he's still trying to mix the con and the legit - and the process is fascinating.
Originally Posted By familyguy I'm liking it. Although this episode was slower in regards to suspense and drama, it was cool to get more story in this one. How about the nod to name change. "Saul.....Saul good, man." lol I'm still interested to see how the name change pans out.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Wow - that was a great episode. Can we just go ahead and give Jonathan Banks the Emmy now?
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Oh, and major, major props for using Credence's "It Came Out of the Sky" - a brilliant and criminally under-known Fogerty masterpiece.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Can we just go ahead and give Jonathan Banks the Emmy now?<< Exactly! Best episode yet. This show keeps getting better and better.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Another heartbreaking episode, though in an entirely different way than last week. Every time Jimmy tries to do the right thing, it costs him. Eventually he's going to say "screw it!" and become Saul; we get to watch the process. But at the end, you could just see him thinking "I'm the guy who never gets the breaks, who never gets the girl, who never has his dream come true." His aching for Kim was more obvious in this episode than before. He sacrificed for her and while she appreciated it, it still didn't get him what he really wanted. And how bad did you want to slap Mrs. Kettleman?
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I think eventually they will reveal that Mrs. Kettleman and Lydia from Breaking Bad are actually sisters. LOL
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Damn. Another great episode. The final scene was so powerful, it actually "changed" the preceding scenes (where Howard talks to Kim, and where Kim talks to Jimmy) in retrospect. I had to go back and watch them again, and it makes you view Howard completely differently (maybe he's not simply a slimebag - he's actually taken on the role of "bad cop" at Chuck's behest), and feel soooooo bad for Kim - she obviously must have lost a lot of respect for someone she admired (Chuck), and moreover, she now knows what Jimmy doesn't know, and she has to try desperately to keep him from finding out about his brother's betrayal, knowing how much it would devastate him - yet she can't. You get the feeling that Jimmy COULD have been put on the path to respectability and might have had a long career at HHM and never have met Walter White - if only his brother hadn't sabotaged him. And he did so out of Walter-like ego; he couldn't bear the thought of his little screw-up brother being regarded as even near his level. He had to turn a blind eye to all of Jimmy's demonstrations of working hard to do the right thing and NOT be that screw-up brother, because that was the view he had of him. (Nicely dove-tailed with the jerk in the parking garage saying that "certain ethnics" were hot-blooded, because... well, that's just the way they are.) And the irony, of course, is that the sabotage means Jimmy won't be at HHM, and is now set on the path to be exactly what Chuck what he sees Jimmy as: "a chimp with a machine gun." Another irony - Chuck has been using deceit all along to block Jimmy because he thinks Jimmy is morally challenged and prone to deceit (!) Along with that, we got the delicious scene of Mike deadpan bad-assery that you just KNEW was coming in that parking garage. I'm sure I was grinning like a demented chimp myself waiting to see how it played out. But now it may be Banks vs. McKean for the supporting actor Emmy. I still vote Banks, but McKean at least made it a tough call.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Great recap, Dabob! I am amazed at the direction this series has taken. I think I was expecting mostly a comedy, perhaps with various odd clients for the wisecracking Saul, week after week. But this show is every bit as dark as Breaking Bad, from Mike's betrayal of his son to Chuck's betrayal of Jimmy. And it's like two shows in one -- watching Mike and Jimmy's descent. Breaking Bad was a tough act to follow. But Vince Gilligan & Co. have done it again.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>I still vote Banks, but McKean at least made it a tough call.<< Yep!
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Hmmm… the last episode was kind of a clunker. Oh well, overall some great episodes, I'll be ready for season 2, which following AMC tradition will probably start around 2019!
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I was left vaguely unsatisfied with the finale too, but I think it was mostly the ending. Too neat and on the nose. Before that there was some great stuff - especially the bingo game and the 60's-cool-jazz scam montage. Also liked the scene with Jimmy and Howard. I'd have liked the ending more if it were more ambiguous. Picture Jimmy walking through the garage towards his meeting... then slowing down... then pausing... then practicing his opening lines to his potential new employers, like he's going to meet them... then rubbing Marco's ring on his finger... then singing "Smoke on the Water" quietly to himself... cut to black. Then we'd be left wondering if he ever went to that meeting or not - and have to wait till next season (2019??) to find out. Like you, I expected this show to present us with Saul more or less fully formed as the comic-esque character we knew from BB, and show a series of odd small time crooks as clients, perhaps working up to more serious crooks as the show progressed. Instead they gave us something much richer, and even if next season has Jimmy/Saul "committed" to being a criminal lawyer, I expect that depth to still be there. I expect Jimmy and Mike to start working together more next season too, which should be a treat.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 It's baaaack! Last night's episode was not among their best, but they had to do a lot of exposition and ease us back into it. And it did have that satisfying scam of the sleazeball broker (that really only cost him too many shots of overpriced tequila) and Saul finally hooking up with Kim. I love their relationship, and you just know there's heartbreak ahead, because by the Breaking Bad years, you know (at least I think you do) that she's no longer with him. And admirably, you know it's not going to be a straight line from Jimmy to Saul, as he DID eventually take that law firm job, so the journey to Saul is going to be a meandering one, which both makes sense and will be more interesting to watch. The previews promise more Mike and Chuck to come as well. Loved Mike's brief scene in the parking garage with Mr. Clueless.
Originally Posted By dagobert I'm still uncertain about watching Better Call Saul. I loved Breaking Bad, it's one of the best tv shows I've seen and I don't want it to be ruined by a spin off. However after reading some comments here, I think I will give it a try.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Nobody loved Breaking Bad more than me, and BCS doesn't ruin it at all. At times it has a similar feel (which is a very good thing), but it's an excellent show in its own right. Much better and richer than I thought it would be, in fact.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Same with me. I really enjoyed the first season and it did have that Breaking Bad feel many times. I missed the first 15 minutes of last night's episode, will have to catch up with that, but otherwise, it was pretty good. Did anyone watch Talking Saul afterwards? Interesting that one of the ideas for the show was to have him dealing with a new client in every episode. I really like that idea, might have offered a little more flexibility over having to connect the dots towards the timeframe when Breaking Bad begins.
Originally Posted By dagobert Thanks for the input. I think we might give it a try, since I always wanted to, but I was just hesitant. We are currently watching Broadchurch (UK version) and maybe after Jessica Jones we will give it a try.
Originally Posted By familyguy To me, even if BCS is a total failure, it could never ruin Breaking Bad for me. They are different shows. If you don't like BCS, then you don't like BCS. First episode wasn't bad. I'm interested to see what this season holds.
