Better Call Saul ***Spoilers***

De Bhál

Thammer wrote: »

The Mexicans despise the Chilean and likewise

Brawn v brains but Gus wins the war

The new mexican guy is good but he's hamming it up a little

ah i think he's a breath of fresh air...things were getting stale for me the last few weeks

fxotoole

jack presley wrote: »

It’s probably only 2006 or something. Was our planning system fully online then?

There was a montage in either episode 8 or 9 which dated the episode around 2003 if I remember correctly

EDIT: it’s actually the montage at the start of episode 7. Jimmy was printing off and singing a document dated Oct 2003 at about 3:53 mark

So episode 9 would probably be around late 2003 to early 2004

Jerichoholic

Superb episode this week. Glad things are moving forward now.

scamalert

the escape was a bit unrealistic - now i get the motive as guy went for explosives and given previous speech of mike about seeing his wife and how its only one chance he has, i can see the rationale that he might think or in fact once job is done they wont see daylight never mind getting back to their homeland. Thou with that said dont see mike being the killer type either, but Gus prob will make them disappear, then again given twists and plots in the show its hard to know how things will go down, Vesa Merde id imagine kim friend the banker will realize she went behind her back and done dodgy job just to prove smth. But at this point i think her story is coming to an end as theres little action between her and saul, the last favor could backfire on her maybe ? just to separate the two for good.

take everything

Hunky Monster wrote: »

You're spot on with this. He was going perfect until the panel asked their last question. You rarely see TV shows do this, Jimmy is convinced he did nothing wrong until Kim points out what he may have done. To the viewer, we know Jimmy is a spoofer, we could see through the act BUT fully thought the panel fell for his shtick.

The thing is the insincere thing is a subjective interpretation by the panel.
Was Jimmy being insincere.
Was Chuck really an influence.
Did he really look up to Chuck.
Or is he in some kind of denial following Chuck's death that he means nothing to him.

It's an interesting depiction of people around someone noting insincerity when maybe all he is is conflicted or maybe completely sincere (in the guise of Saul Goodman being true to himself).

wylo

I took from it that even though he was ridiculously insincere for the whole interview, the only part where he wasn’t able to be was the very part where they felt he was being insincere.

It’s like he had this easy pass off the back of his brother but it was the one pass he wasn’t gonna take and that ironically cost him it. Jimmy has no red lines when it comes to his integrity. Except for when it’s caring about people, including his brother.

Bigus

scamalert wrote: »

the escape was a bit unrealistic - now i get the motive as guy went for explosives and given previous speech of mike about seeing his wife and how its only one chance he has, i can see the rationale that he might think or in fact once job is done they wont see daylight never mind getting back to their homeland. Thou with that said dont see mike being the killer type either, but Gus prob will make them disappear, then again given twists and plots in the show its hard to know how things will go down, Vesa Merde id imagine kim friend the banker will realize she went behind her back and done dodgy job just to prove smth. But at this point i think her story is coming to an end as theres little action between her and saul, the last favor could backfire on her maybe ? just to separate the two for good.

I don't put much credence in the bunker workers being exterminated , but Maybe Ze German has copped on that he might never get home if he finished out the job , after all Mike did say he'd never have to work another day after this job is completed.

It's also a way of him ensuring his other lads don't get disappeared as well.

NickNickleby

Bigus wrote: »

I don't put much credence in the bunker workers being exterminated , but Maybe Ze German has copped on that he might never get home if he finished out the job , after all Mike did say he'd never have to work another day after this job is completed.

It's also a way of him ensuring his other lads don't get disappeared as well.

That's an excellent angle. We know Gus' imperative is to protect himself with whatever it takes, so your idea allows that to remain, while getting the lads out. But as per my previous post on this, I see precedent for letting people walk away.

to compare, remember the time in BB he dispatched his right hand man? But... this man had been seen at the murder scene of Gale and there was a police artist's impression of him. So that holds from the self preservation point of view. Plus the horrific message it sent to WW et al. On the other hand, the Honduran women actually broke the rules and went down in the now working lab, a real risk to Gus, but they were just put on a bus.

Anyway, I'm labouring the point

(and yes, there's and irony to saying that, when I could have just deleted that paragraph :pac::pac::pac:).

Thammer

I don't buy into the notion that Gus is some criminal mastermind

He's a businessman or a white collar criminal type but he's careless too.

leggo

Thammer wrote: »

I don't buy into the notion that Gus is some criminal mastermind

He's a businessman or a white collar criminal type but he's careless too.

I dunno, I think he’s as good as it gets. When you’re trying to operate on the fringes of society, outside of the law while still maintaining a public persona for your own end, it’s impossible to dot every i and cross every t because your very existence is predictated on the fact that you don’t wish to work within the boundaries society has set up. But he’s meticulous and clinical where others are driven by emotion. His one weakness is his inability to let his grudge with Hector go, and it obviously proved to be his undoing.

Thammer

leggo wrote: »

I dunno, I think he’s as good as it gets. When you’re trying to operate on the fringes of society, outside of the law while still maintaining a public persona for your own end, it’s impossible to dot every i and cross every t because your very existence is predictated on the fact that you don’t wish to work within the boundaries society has set up. But he’s meticulous and clinical where others are driven by emotion. His one weakness is his inability to let his grudge with Hector go, and it obviously proved to be his undoing.

I saw his undoing again last nite and was shocked , although how he walked away is another matter.

He was careless in his dealings with Jesse and walt at the least

gormdubhgorm

Thammer wrote: »

I saw his undoing again last nite and was shocked ,althout how he walked away is another matter.

He was careless in his dealings with Jesse and walt at the least

That's even before you get to Hector.....

leggo

Thammer wrote: »

I saw his undoing again last nite and was shocked , although how he walked away is another matter.

He was careless in his dealings with Jesse and walt at the least

I may agree upon a rewatch, but from memory his biggest mistake with Walt was assuming he was just a chemistry teacher looking to make a ****load of money before cancer got him, motivated by love of the science. He underestimated him, but then again so did everyone else, including us in the audience.

And, even then, when **** hit the fan between the two of them he gave him the proper respect in thwarting his assassination attempts, until he had to have one last, fateful gloat to Hector...

Mousewar

Finally caught up with this so I can come back in here.

What's the story, is there anyone who gives a flying f*ck about how they built that underground lab? Not once during BB did I think "Huh, I wonder how they built that".

I defended BCS a lot in previous seasons but this one is very poor. Mostly pointless filler. It badly misses Chuck.

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

Mousewar wrote: »

Finally caught up with this so I can come back in here.

What's the story, is there anyone who gives a flying f*ck about how they built that underground lab? Not once during BB did I think "Huh, I wonder how they built that".

I defended BCS a lot in previous seasons but this one is very poor. Mostly pointless filler. It badly misses Chuck.

You’re missing the point. It’s NOT about HOW they built this underground lab. It’s how characters get developed. We don’t know Mike is a stone cold killer at this point. I genuinely care about the German crew. It’s about setting up how the Salamanca’s get their business taken over by gus. It’s a trip.

If you’re looking at it that way we’ll then what’s the point of any of this. We all know where it ends. It’s about the trip not the destination.

Hannibal_Smith

I'm delighted Chuck is gone. I actually hated him

The meth lab was a superb construction. I've no difficulties in seeing how it was built.

sightband

Mousewar wrote: »

Finally caught up with this so I can come back in here.

What's the story, is there anyone who gives a flying f*ck about how they built that underground lab? Not once during BB did I think "Huh, I wonder how they built that".

I defended BCS a lot in previous seasons but this one is very poor. Mostly pointless filler. It badly misses Chuck.

Exactly, all these irrelevant tangents which viewers are calling genius. Not to mention a good 15-20 minutes of an episode is given to them vetting engineers and taking extreme lengths to bring them to a distant location in secrecy, where the viewer hasn’t a scooby what’s happening so it’s a complete bore...and then after all this effort they say, ‘fu*k it, we’ll let them go out on the piss after all to some local knocking shop’ which they’ll all be able to find out where they are in an instant. It’s just made up as it is going along, it’s entertaining, but it’s complete nonsense to class it as some genius writing.

Dyr

Maybe I'm just too busy to really pay attention at the moment but for someone who never watched Breaking Bad this season has been mostly pointless regardless of how cleverly made it is

Someone said its the trip not the destination but this is not a trip it's just a circuit, over and over. The Jimmy/Kim thing is just a cycle as is ze Germans und Mike vs ze big hole. Only thing of interest is Nacho and Ricos arc, at least that has some antagonists

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

sightband wrote: »

Exactly, all these irrelevant tangents which viewers are calling genius. Not to mention a good 15-20 minutes of an episode is given to them vetting engineers and taking extreme lengths to bring them to a distant location in secrecy, where the viewer hasn’t a scooby what’s happening so it’s a complete bore...and then after all this effort they say, ‘fu*k it, we’ll let them go out on the piss after all to some local knocking shop’ which they’ll all be able to find out where they are in an instant. It’s just made up as it is going along, it’s entertaining, but it’s complete nonsense to class it as some genius writing.

If you like to be spoon fed every bit of information you should watch the walking dead.

gormdubhgorm

sightband wrote: »

Exactly, all these irrelevant tangents which viewers are calling genius. Not to mention a good 15-20 minutes of an episode is given to them vetting engineers and taking extreme lengths to bring them to a distant location in secrecy, where the viewer hasn’t a scooby what’s happening so it’s a complete bore...and then after all this effort they say, ‘fu*k it, we’ll let them go out on the piss after all to some local knocking shop’ which they’ll all be able to find out where they are in an instant. It’s just made up as it is going along, it’s entertaining, but it’s complete nonsense to class it as some genius writing.

Hunky Monster wrote: »

If you like to be spoon fed every bit of information you should watch the walking dead.

I love when people don't like any negative criticism of the show, it is implied that the show is maybe beyond the person because it is 'too intellectual' for you.

As if you are supposed to be looking at some abstract art, and not capable of appreciating it properly!

It's only a telly programme.

sightband

Hunky Monster wrote: »

If you like to be spoon fed every bit of information you should watch the walking dead.

I watched the walking dead for a while. It was also entertaining, then I grew tired of it. My point is the ridiculous adulation for the writers piecing together some kind of masterpiece which was conceived from the outset. BCS is clearly not and these tangents they head off in trying to keep closely connected to breaking bad in some way are not always working. As originally posted, who gives a sh*t how the meth lab was built? It’s now a core part of the story and has absolutely nothing to do with much from what I can see.

Mousewar

Hunky Monster wrote: »

You’re missing the point. It’s NOT about HOW they built this underground lab. It’s how characters get developed. We don’t know Mike is a stone cold killer at this point. I genuinely care about the German crew. It’s about setting up how the Salamanca’s get their business taken over by gus. It’s a trip.

If you’re looking at it that way we’ll then what’s the point of any of this. We all know where it ends. It’s about the trip not the destination.

Yeah I used the "it's about the trip, not the destination" line in a previous season. Watching Jimmy's interactions with his brother was fascinating I thought. Wonderfully complex relationship and you could see how it would affect him.

But this season is just pure filler, pure box ticking. Here's how that lab got built, here's how hector got his bell (seriously?!). You don't build characters by answering questions but by posing questions, questions that get in the viewer's head and cause him/her to think about the character and how he became who he is. Now, giving us some of that background is fine but spoon feeding us every morsel is not. I don't want to know every last thing. Next thing Hank will show up and be saved from a bullet by a well placed can of home brewed beer, thus igniting his passion for the craft and giving us the answer to another question no one ever cared about.

Oh and they're absolutely sucking all the mystery out of Gus.

gormdubhgorm

Mousewar wrote: »

Oh and they're absolutely sucking all the mystery out of Gus.

They still have not really given us his early background.

As regards the actor that plays Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) he has really aged since BB.
Those two big wrinkles around his mouth can't be edited out in production?
Can even see them when he is not smiling now.


Breaking Bad Gus:





Better Call Saul Gus:

sightband

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

They still have not really given us his early background.

As regards the actor that plays Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) he has really aged since BB.
Those two big wrinkles around his mouth can't be edited out in production?
Can even see them when he is not smiling now.


Breaking Bad Gus:





Better Call Saul Gus:

Looked at both and had to double take at which was which. One photo is darker but wtf

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

They still have not really given us his early background.

As regards the actor that plays Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) he has really aged since BB.
Those two big wrinkles around his mouth can't be edited out in production?
Can even see them when he is not smiling now.


Breaking Bad Gus:





Better Call Saul Gus:

My god. Is this the level of pettyness now.

gormdubhgorm

Hunky Monster wrote: »

My god. Is this the level of pettyness now.

It's not petty it just stands out to me like a sore thumb.
Hard to suspend the disbelief when he obviously more wrinkled in the past then in the future?

Watch for it the next time Gus does the creepy smile looks really noticeable.

It is off putting.

Agent Coulson

The wig Bob wears is 1 billion times more distracting for me.

gormdubhgorm

Agent Coulson wrote: »

The wig Bob wears is 1 billion times more distracting for me.

I have learned to ignore that, just pretend he got a better wig in the future.

astrofool

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

It's not petty it just stands out to me like a sore thumb.
Hard to suspend the disbelief when he obviously more wrinkled in the past then in the future?

Watch for it the next time Gus does the creepy smile looks really noticeable.

It is off putting.

To be fair, it is on the very petty end of the not very petty to very petty scale.

gormdubhgorm

astrofool wrote: »

To be fair, it is on the very petty end of the not very petty to very petty scale.

As long as it's not the full Tom Petty....