Better Call Saul ***Spoilers***

DMcL1971

Deleted User wrote: »

Who was that tied up in the van? Or do we care?

It was the truck driver from the previous episodes.

DMcL1971

DMcL1971 wrote: »

It was the truck driver from the previous episodes.

Did he do anything wrong? Or is he just another victim of Hector's bloodlust?

DMcL1971

Deleted User wrote: »

Did he do anything wrong? Or is he just another victim of Hector's bloodlust?

Well, he's probably a very bad guy but he was innocent of any wrongdoing this time. He is collateral damage in Mike's plan. I imagine Mike is not pleased about this as he told Nacho that the driver had nothing to do with it. This is now the second innocent person killed because of Mike's heist.

squonk

I wasn't crazy about that finale. Once it finished all I could think of was

1. Chuck hates Jimmy, Jimmy loved Chuck. Jimmy screws up, chuck finds out. Sticks it to Jimmy. Rinse and repeat. We've seen this before.

2. Mike decides to shoot Hector. Mike doesn't shoot Hector because of a note.

I was at least expecting Hector to develope his need for a wheelchair in that episode. The way things were panning out up til then a bungled shot definitely looked on the cards, especially with the gun trader's comment earlier about wind downfield.

Because of how things looked with Jimmy and the old folks and describing Kim as 'this young lady', I can definitely see that the theme next season may be the breakdown of Jimmy and Kim's relationship, no doubt hastened by Chuck's tape.

OK now we've got the genesis of Saul Goodman, "Gimme Jimmy" but I now find myself stuggling to figure out what, if anything, really significant happened this season. The way things are going, if the note is from Gus, it'll be a dormant point next season until episode 6 or 7 and, even then, we may just meet one of Gus's henchmen.

I don't know. I'm just a bit frustrated. Two seasons on and not all that much has happened. It's almost like they're afraid to move things on. I wish they'd progress at least one story in a meaningful way. I'm still enjoying the show but Season 3 better start to pick up pace. I have serious goodwill for the show as it's based on characters I really like, in a world I love but they're really digging deep into my goodwill well right now.

De Bhál

why does everyone assume the note is from Gus?

Did I miss something?

rob316

Very poor I thought after a great episode last week. The viewer is been short changed here, that isn't a finale, nothing really happened again. 20 episodes down and there is just so little progression. AMC are milking this for everything they can. And if the story is going to be slow at least make more than 10 episodes a season.

rubadub

De Bhál wrote: »

why does everyone assume the note is from Gus?

Did I miss something?

He has to appear at some stage, I have heard no better guesses as to who it is. Could well be someone totally new.

I am now thinking it could have been one of Nacho's own guys. I'm pretty sure he already had his own lads with him when going to get the pills from the hummer nerdy guy, so seemingly has his own crew who know he is going behind people's back. Nacho knows Mike is after Hector and so could have him watched. And again they could have rang Nacho and told him where to stand to protect Hector.

I was saying if it was Gus it's likely one of his guys fixing the car horn, which is a moot point. The car horn went off and nobody was around seconds later, can't picture Gus legging it over the hill like a kid doing a knick knock.

EDIT: this is what Nacho's guys look like.



I am waiting for some superfan to show some image of Gus's handwriting from BB which matches the note on the car!

Mousewar

Always nice to watch a show that divides opinion.
I loved the episode. The opening scene confirmed once and for all just why Chuck hates Jimmy. He's the clearly more reliable and successful brother yet everyone, his mother (and I think his father) and even his wife prefer Jimmy. Again, Jimmy is the prodigal son. Chuck is the faithful son burning with resentment.

I thought the scene where Chuck was brought into the hospital was tremendous. The sustained close up on his face communicated his sense of disorientation and his sense of being trapped brilliantly. It was excellent scene-setting.

Another nice scene as well between Mike and the most affable gun salesman in the world.

I think ultimately this show is one of the best character back stories I've ever seen. What did we really know of Saul from BB? He was a morally flexible shyster of a lawyer and a bit of a joker. Now I appreciate him as a tragic figure, his life ultimately ruined by a poisonous relationship with his brother. I feel so much more for him. The layers that have been added to him in BCS are tremendous. The road that has brought him to the stage he's at in BB and beyond is so long and twisted and believable. I think the dynamic between the brothers is just fantastic, one of the great screen relationships.

Mike's story is more fun, as there's more action, but it's a little more predictable as well so doesn't engage me quite as much. Having said that, the scene with the branch on the horn in the car and the note on the windscreen is pure Gilligan. Another nice scene even if the ultimate payoff didn't come about.
And of course it was Gus.

Penn

De Bhál wrote: »

why does everyone assume the note is from Gus?

Did I miss something?

It makes the most sense considering what we know about the BB/BCS world. Gus wants revenge on Hector. Mike killing him would take that away from him. Gus would also know that Mike killing Hector could cause the rest of the Salamancas (Salamancii?) to tear the city apart trying to find out who caused it, which could badly affect Gus' business/plans. Also, who else do we already know of who would be watching Mike like that and know what he was planning on doing (considering that guesses as to who left the note have to be characters we already know as we can't reasonably guess about characters who have never been introduced)?

Knowing what we know about how Gus operates and his connections to the Salamancas, he's by far the most likely candidate. It may not have been Gus himself who left the note, but likely someone working for him such as Victor or Tyrus.

It would also make sense in terms of Mike's story for next season. We know he doesn't kill Hector and that the Salamancas aren't after him, so seeing how he becomes involved with Gus is a logical next step in his story.

Snake Plisken

They cannot really continue with Mikes story arc without including Gus,if you remember in Brraking Bad Mike was very loyal to Gus and he was really pissed with Walt when he killed Gus and wanted to kill Walt! So my money would be on that it was Gus who left the note and this will start the Mike/Gus story arc beginning hopefully from next season!

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

Tabnabs

Regarding someone watching Mike's car; we know already that Mike is a long service police officer and knows all the tricks in the book. The car parked up like that in the sandy desert would have left footprints leading right to where Mike was, but also where the "honker" had come from and gone back to. Footprints will show size/weight of the person(s) and what kind of shoe they wear (boot, runners, brogue etc.). It just seemed that Mike was floundering when he should have been able to assess the situation quite quickly and act accordingly.

Oh, and +1 to cover up the chrome dome Mike!

jockeyboard

Well heres to wishing the rest of my life away until next season.
Nearly felt sorry for chuck but then he became an ass hat again.
Why was he wearing a watch again at the end?
I reckon gus has plans for hector but has been watching mike and respects him so wont kill him but wants him to step away....
Cant wait to see gus and his unblinking eyes....
Sooo when is next season?

Edit--the start of the episode in the hospital. Absolutly awesome.

robwen

On Talking Saul Vince Gilligan & the other show creator confirmed the letters of the episodes = frings back theory & all but confirmed Gus was behind the note & will be a big part of season 3

cowboyBuilder

robwen wrote: »

On Talking Saul Vince Gilligan & the other show creator confirmed the letters of the episodes = frings back theory & all but confirmed Gus was behind the note & will be a big part of season 3

This is true ?

If it is , then it might be all worth it .

Duggy747

I enjoyed that episode but it was a bit of a weak ending for a finale as it was very obvious that Chuck was recording with Jimmy's clunky dialogue of overly explaining of everything.

The "Don't" letter could probably have been left by Victor who will then lead Mike onto Gus:

Penn

Duggy747 wrote: »

The "Don't" letter could probably have been left by Victor who will then lead Mike onto Gus

Yeah I doubt we'll see Gus for at least the first half of next season. Given how careful he always was he'll likely keep some distance between himself and Mike and use Victor or Tyrus as a go-between.

paintitblack

How long will we have to wait for the next season?

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

robwen

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

This is true ?

If it is , then it might be all worth it .

They confirmed the frings back theory & intimated that Gus was behind the note but that he didnt necessarily put it there himself someone working for him may have & into season 3 it maybe more these people working for Gus we see than the man himself but they dont really know cause there still writing /working out what there going to do themselves

The Talking Bread

rubadub wrote: »

.



I am waiting for some superfan to show some image of Gus's handwriting from BB which matches the note on the car!

Hows your eyesight!!! Lots of post its around the key boards





And then this one is his also.








And THE note.................

I doubt Fring personally left or wrote the note if it was him responsible

Bounty Hunter

Simply put that was great.


I can understand how people want more Mike too as he is 90% of the action on the show but tbh we see 100% of the action in his life, If we got more Mike it'd probably just be him minding the grand kid or more of what people considered boring unnecessary scenes a few weeks back with him scoping out locals etc. Us seeing the amount of him that we do is why we all love Mike so much as a character.


It's also understandable that people want Jimmy to transition to Saul quicker too but I think we are near the end of the Chuck / HHM part of the show. That said I've no doubt S3 will deal with the fallout of Chucks final "I'm technically in the right even though this is a d!ck move" umm move and how as a result Jimmy will no longer be able to use the name McGill and thus will become Saul Goodman. However after that I don't see why Chuck would be involved at all.

scamalert

jockeyboard wrote: »

Well heres to wishing the rest of my life away until next season.
Nearly felt sorry for chuck but then he became an ass hat again.
Why was he wearing a watch again at the end?
I reckon gus has plans for hector but has been watching mike and respects him so wont kill him but wants him to step away....
Cant wait to see gus and his unblinking eyes....
Sooo when is next season?

Edit--the start of the episode in the hospital. Absolutly awesome.

Mike and Gus will be perfect combo,i can see how two would be great team,if you remember once Gus was introduced his manners and going about things was always keeping it simple,same way mike handled many situations,its not hard to imagine that Guss will introduce himself come next season and hire mike,since we know Guss has a lot of hatred thus scene with Hektor taking pills seems more efficient plan to render him useless eventually-since kartel is big thus as said its not an option for Gus to make any radical moves,but to pretend to be loyal.So following that id imagine mike not having issues with cash will turn to Saul as to ways to launder and take care of his family and Saul getting some cut to venture into BTC solo business.

c montgomery

Boring series
Chucks condition, hhm, who cares.
Everything is so drawn out and obvious.
If I hadn't seen BB and saw how good sauls character gets I don't think I'd bother watching any more.

cowboyBuilder

robwen wrote: »

They confirmed the frings back theory & intimated that Gus was behind the note but that he didnt necessarily put it there himself someone working for him may have & into season 3 it maybe more these people working for Gus we see than the man himself but they dont really know cause there still writing /working out what there going to do themselves

I hope so, cos I heard the actor Giancarlo Esposito was not interested in reprising his role as Gus - could be bs of course (I read it on imdb).

I would think he should be very interested in taking up the role - apart from being a great character I´m sure it will pay mucho $$$$$

Cantstandsya

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

I hope so, cos I heard the actor Giancarlo Esposito was not interested in reprising his role as Gus - could be bs of course (I read it on imdb).

I would think he should be very interested in taking up the role - apart from being a great character I´m sure it will pay mucho $$$$$

I remember before BCS came out lots of people were asking him what he thought of continuing as Gus and he was extremely enthusiastic about showing up in BCS/appearing in a Gus spin-off.

Given how enthusiastic he seemed back then I'd be very surprised if he's done a 180 and lost interest.

robwen

Warning: Storyline and character spoilers ahead for the “Klick” episode of Better Call Saul.

Better Call Saul fans who tuned in to AMC’s Talking Saul aftershow on Monday saw series creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould talk about fans’ discovery that rearranging the first letters of the Season 2 episode titles would spell out the phrase “FRING’S BACK,” a reference to Breaking Bad villain Gustavo Fring. And Yahoo TV followed up with the duo to confirm they did indeed intend to tease Giancarlo Esposito’s eventual introduction to Jimmy McGill’s universe.

Gilligan and Gould, who are already back in the writers’ room at work on Season 3, cautioned that viewers shouldn’t read too much into the hint, because even they haven’t figured out how much of a factor Gus will be yet. They also tell us it may take a lot longer than they originally anticipated for Jimmy to become Saul, share their feelings on how Chuck doesn’t deserve all the hate he’s getting, and answer the question of who definitely didn’t, and who probably — indirectly — did leave that note on Mike’s windshield.

You talked about it last night on Talking Saul, but can you confirm, definitively, that it was intentional that the first letters of the Season 2 episode titles spell out “FRING’S BACK”?
Vince Gilligan: Yes, it was, and we have to say, we are a little sheepish about how quickly it came out. This is a good reinforcement of something we already knew, which is that we should never underestimate the audience, and in particular our audience, the Better Call Saul/Breaking Bad audience. They’re super duper smart, smarter than we even thought they would be.

Peter Gould: That’s right. Yeah, we’re kind of, what’s the phrase, hoisted by our own petard?

Gilligan: Because we have control over it, and maybe after the last episode, we could say, “Hey, you might look for a clue in the episode titles,” because the fear for us when it came out before the episode aired last night, the fear was, “Oh crap, people will read this and get all excited and assume they will see Giancarlo Esposito as Gus Fring in [the season finale],” and of course, that obviously was not the case.

Gould: Having said that, we would be ashamed if, knowing this now, folks interpreted that as to think they’re gonna see an awful lot of Gus Fring coming up. We don’t really know [yet], and it’s something good to keep in mind that Gus Fring works very indirectly, that he’s not an easy guy to get to meet face to face.

Gilligan: He casts a long shadow, and he has a lot of, I don’t know, maybe that’s too much of a James Bond villain kind of allure, but he has a lot of folks who work with him. We saw that in Breaking Bad. So, he’s a wonderful spice to use in the stew, as it were, but sometimes… as we said before, we don’t quite know yet ourselves, to be honest [when he’ll show up on Saul].

A lot of viewers are betting on Gus being the author of the “DON’T” note on Mike’s windshield. Without giving that away, it’s easy to think about Gus being connected to the situation, maybe to Nacho, for instance. Nacho has a lot in common with Gus… he’s smarter than most of his cohorts, he puts an emphasis on family, he, unlike most of his associates, controls his emotions in his business transactions. Is that intentional? Is Nacho a nod to Gus Fring?
Gilligan: You know, that’s a very interesting thought. I like that theory. We’re not actually being coy when we say we’re not entirely sure yet. We really come up with this story, brick by brick and beat by beat. Hopefully that doesn’t sound kind of haphazard. Our method, we try to make our method anything but haphazard, but we truly do figure these moments and these story connections out brick by brick very often. We try very hard to plan far ahead, but very often we don’t succeed at that. We really kind of come up with the story as we go. I suppose it’s a possibility, but it’s just as likely it’s not.

Gus is, as we said before, a character with a great deal of agency, and one who uses a great number of agents, so to speak. So if indeed Gus was behind that note, which we seem to be indicating he is, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he planted it himself, personally, with his own hands, but through his agency nonetheless. As to who would be in his corner, we’ll figure that out as we go.

At the ice cream truck driver’s execution, we did see Nacho at one point look off and seem to recognize something in Mike’s direction, and then seemingly, purposely not move himself away from Tio. We saw him go into the hut with Tio, too, so it doesn’t seem like he would have had time to go write the note for Mike.
Gilligan: There’s no way, I don’t think, if you look at the geography, there’s no way Nacho… I mean, I can take that off the table right now. There’s no way Nacho could put it there, because he’s a kilometer away from Mike, and the car is two kilometers away. So there’s no way he could have gotten around [to that]. Also, we try to not nail too many things down, but I remember a few years ago on Breaking Bad where everybody thought that Jesse had not shot Gale. So having worked through that experience, I would also offer the thought, if I was Nacho, I’d be pretty nuts to put myself between Mike Ehrmantraut and Mike Ehrmantraut’s target with his rifle. I don’t think for a minute there’s much love lost between these two guys… Mike wouldn’t necessarily pull the trigger. But I would offer the thought to people not to read too much into any looks Nacho may have given, because I would not assume that Nacho knew Mike was out there with a rifle. If he were, I don’t think he would be standing anywhere near there.

You both have said you originally thought Jimmy would become Saul by the end of Better Call Saul Season 1, that it was a surprise in the storyline that he didn’t. Did you think that about Season 2 as well, that we would meet Saul by the end of Season 2?
Gould: I think by the time we got to Season 2, we kind of had fallen in love with the character of Jimmy McGill, and we started understanding that this story was going to unfold at its own pace. That, in some ways, caused a certain amount of heartache, because it makes it harder to plan and to make these big plans about what’s going to happen at what point in the season. But I have to say, I think it makes for a better, to my eye, a better show, and also it makes for a more consistent character. Because the truth is, even Jimmy McGill at the end of Season 2, the guy who is dressing up and getting in front of flags and who’s making these crazy TV commercials, this guy is still so far away from, for instance, advocating murder for profit, that I have to say, we still have quite a ways to go.

Also this season, I think aside from Kim, who emerged as just this amazing character, the best female character on TV…
Gould: Wow, and played by the best actress.

Rhea Seehorn is amazing, yes, and the rest of the cast continues to be amazing. One of the other pivotal new pieces of character development is that we got a bigger, or broader, more even picture of Chuck this season. He was kind of that surprise villain at the end of Season 1, but I think by the end of this season, even given what he did to Jimmy in that last scene, tricking him into confessing and recording it, we still have a more sympathetic picture of him. And that makes you rethink some of Jimmy’s adventures, relative to how people like Chuck are left cleaning up behind him. How important was that to you, to get the audience to be thinking about that?
Gilligan: The best way I can answer that is to say, I think it’s always important to us that characters never be one dimensional. We like characters who are all various shades of grey, instead of separate black or white. Speaking in terms of morality, even the worst of people, I assume, have some good in them. Even the best of people have some darkness. Chuck does a lot of hateful things. For me personally, he’s not necessarily a hateful character. I mean, plenty of people may read that and say, “What, are you nuts, he’s awful.” I wouldn’t argue the point too vehemently, I would just say that I personally have a fair bit of sympathy for him. I feel sorrier for him more than I dislike him. Of course, I’m talking about the character… the actor who plays him, Michael McKean, is such a wonderful person. His acting, which is stellar, stands out all the more for the fact that he’s a great guy personally and nothing like Chuck. I feel bad sometimes where we pile on all these plot points that are making the audience hate Chuck, which is not even necessarily always our intention. We just want to make him an interesting and complex character. More and more, I hear people say, “Oh my God, I hate Chuck!” That’s not necessarily our intention.

Gould: I don’t hate him, and one of the things that we often talked about in the writers’ room is, it’s really hard to be Chuck. Being Chuck McGill is a cross to bear.

Gilligan: He makes it that way for himself.

Gould: He does, but he’s also, as we meet him on Better Call Saul, he’s living by himself, with no electricity, he’s really got almost no one in his life, certainly no one who we know about. He had a marriage that seemed to work, that seemed to please him. This is a guy who’s lost everything except his career… that’s the one thing that’s sustaining him, and that’s the thing that Jimmy threatens. So I think when you threaten the one thing a man has left, he’s a little bit cornered. He doesn’t seem to be, because he’s so smart, but in a lot of ways, Jimmy has him cornered. To me, the tragedy of these two brothers that are so very different from each other, is they don’t understand each other in the least. I don’t think Jimmy understood what he was doing to Chuck when he swapped those numbers.

Gilligan: Which was a pretty s–tty thing to do. It really, truly was.

Gould: It was a s–tty thing to do. But as Jimmy says in [“Klick”], a lot of people would just shake it off. A lot of people would just move on, and say, “I made a mistake,” and Chuck can’t do that. Jimmy doesn’t understand that about Chuck. Jimmy doesn’t understand what it’s like to hold yourself to that impossible ideal, just see things in such bold black and white terms. I’m fascinated by Chuck and by the relationship between these two guys. A lot of what we did this season was exploring what is it like to be on Chuck’s side of this. Also, why did he do such crappy things to Jimmy? Why did he stab Jimmy in the back, not just logically, but emotionally? So those are great questions [to continue to explore].

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/better-call-saul-bosses-talk-frings-back-and-223821327.html

LionelNashe

Chuck can't share the recording with the cops or with the bar association because he says things on it like "It's this damn electricity, it's destroying my mind". I don't think he'd be prepared to let his clients (including Mesa Verde) and the rest of the legal profession find out about his condition, because it would destroy his career and his reputation. He can give the recording to Howard though. Howard will share it with Kim and force her to share Mesa Verde; she has already said that it's too much work for her and that she'd need to hire a couple of paralegals to cope.

I'm guessing Victor (not Viktor with a K) left the note on Mike's car, and that Gus's men will join forces with Mike to sabotage Hector's operation some more so that Gus can take over the distribution for the cartels.

cowboyBuilder

LionelNashe wrote: »

I'm guessing Victor (not Viktor with a K) left the note on Mike's car, and that Gus's men will join forces with Mike to sabotage Hector's operation some more so that Gus can take over the distribution for the cartels.

It should get cracking next season.

I really hope this series goes parallel and beyond breaking bad.

I fear it could end though with him appointed to defend Badger (1st appearence on BB)