Better Call Saul

Joan OTM, this season is surpassing a S1 that was one of my favorite seasons of tv storytelling ever.

This season had the baseball card guy doing cobbler porn

He was more lame than funny though... He wasn't even into cobbler porn, he just had to do it because Jimmy made up that story.

That is... what is funny... about that

I liked how they used that guy as sort of a shadow Walt though, since they were both ordinary Joes who got rich by dealing with organized crime in chemicals. But he was more like Walt would be in real life: lame and stupid instead of sociopathic and dangerous, not careful at all in flaunting his newfound wealth, unable to handle violent career criminals, etc.

Yes! Overall (way before the cobbler bit) pretty funny, as written and played; hope the character comes back. He's def the stubborn type, so even now, maybe he's still in the biz (gonna need more money for more cards).

Def a pre-Walt; we see pre-Saul's affinity for goofy guys trying to be clever badasses.

The toilet bowl guy and the secessionist were funny because they were doing something ridiculous while being completely serious about it... But this was just a lame dude who was forced to do something that he knew perfectly well was ridiculous, which I don't think is quite as hilarious.

There are still tons of broad-as-fuck supporting characters - everyone in the rest home (to a groanworthy extent), camera bros, others I can't remember - and sitcommy moments, like jimmy playing the fuckin bagpipes! It's amazing how they get away with this in a show ostensibly all about subtle character study. Like I said upthread it's a real mastery of register

For sure, that's the legacy of BB, mastering that register.

jimmy deciding to ape the fashion sense of the car lot blow up doll, replete with a funky soundtrack, was the best moment of the series for me

Yes, it was very nice to see the initial, American Beauty-esque 'inflatable man = freedom, do u see' imagery turned on its ear.

Erin is such an excellent minor character, she just radiates pissy try-hard disapproval in every scene.

everyone has known an Erin

sometimes you gotta unleash your inner Erin, I think she's great

For some reason this show reminds me of Six Feet Under - a number of prominent characters who don't necessarily interact that often, kind of funny but not full on comedy, "slow" with no real driving conflict but not in a bad way, etc. Even the visual style sort of feels like that but it's been at least 10 years so I might be delusional.

There are still tons of broad-as-fuck supporting characters - everyone in the rest home (to a groanworthy extent), camera bros, others I can't remember - and sitcommy moments, like jimmy playing the fuckin bagpipes! It's amazing how they get away with this in a show ostensibly all about subtle character study. Like I said upthread it's a real mastery of register

― Rainer Weirder Faßbooker (wins), Wednesday, March 30, 2016 4:35 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah the high-wire act this show manages is pretty incredible. So much of it would fall apart in lesser hands.

Erin was so great because she was otm

The universe keeps giving Jimmy people who want to help and support and shape his talents for good & productive ends, and he pissily resists every one

Erin was there to help him conform to and be successful in his new workplace

The fuckin' system, man.

The actress who plays Erin is John Ennis' (from Mr. Show) daughter btw

I had a wee chuckle to myself when Jimmy threw Erin's can in the non-recyclables bin

hopefully she continues to appear since she's his natural nemesis

Yeah Erin is one of the best little things about this series.

She's so well done I have a hard time believing she's not that character in real life.

fwiw Six Feet Under was amazing in its day but... does not hold up well ime

Yeesh---listening to this All Things Considered coverage of a nursing home scandal, well-documented, in present-day New Mexico, I hope the Sandpiper residents don't get (prematurely) buried in the mix, having served their initial purpose for the writers and lawyers. Can be a tricky thing, on shows about lawyers, doctors, cops, etc. I'd prefer to think of the presentation of elders as wide-eyed children (like those 50s kitsch paintings)is hella ironic: "This is the way a lot of people, especially predators, tend to see old people, or prefer to."

well, very few regular meth users were recurring characters on BB

binge-watched all of this in the past couple of weeks. love it way more than I thought I would.
Thought Kim was being a bit reckless trying that scam in a favourite bar of potential new boss? Thought Jimmy was slightly reluctant to go with it, separate from the 'reluctant' spiel.

Another great episode. The opening was tremendous, just as a standalone short.

Yeah if anyone sees a making-of or behind the scenes for that opening, please post it. Loved it.

Chuck thinking he's a goddamn wolf, Jimmy's gonna clean his clock

I couldn't pick where the camera got off the crane and onto a golf cart or whatever, but you can spot when he gets off that and onto his feet. There's a Rope cut in there as well, I think.

Watched again and the crane -> cart transition is obv when you actually know you're looking for one. The Rope cut comes so far in that I thought "why even bother so close to the end," but it turned out I was just forgetting how long the entire shot is. Fantastic scene.

Oh my god, as soon as Chuck went to his closet I knew what he was up to and wanted to throw him in a bin full of cellphones. What a turd.

great "single take" and montage in one episode - we're not worthy.

most likely the best photocopying montage i've ever seen

nice callback to Kim's use of colour post-it notes, too

Given that Chuck isn't a well guy either physically or mentally that photocopier scam might end up pushing over him over the edge. What Chuck did was a colossal dick move but also perfectly justifiable by his own logic.

Something tells me Kim isn't going to exactly appreciate the gesture either.

is the exact significance of the address swap made clear?

My guess is that it plays against Chuck's pitch to Mesa Verde - safe hands, big company, don't make mistakes etc - and will attempt to show that they transposed it once then didn't do basic fact checking from then on and repeated the error; it would make a client wonder what other errors are in the documents unchecked and how diligent they will be in the future.

Yeah I figure that - but is the upshot that basically that HHM's letters to... one branch... won't arrive? I wasn't sure if I was meant to know the exact nature of the prank, or just generally pick up on it.

Unless it's a long game about HHM falsifying documents? Maybe Jimmy persuades Kim to freelance for the other side on Sandpiper (because he knows they want her) and gets her to present it to show they're capable of lying; Mesa Verde's own docs will be correct so why are these different?

But to answer your question I don't think it's supposed to be clear from that episode alone what it's for.

I didn't get it either but there was a shot of one of the addresses on a map, don't think it showed anything significant though.

yeah I wasn't sure if I'd missed a split-second reveal while glancing down at my dinner plate to ensure no rice spilled on me.

I assume, yes, important documents will be sent to the wrong address, which will lead to Mesa Verde's eventual discovery of the transposed numbers and subsequent eroding faith in HHM. And yeah, Kim is gonna be done with Jimmy when she finds out.

Mesa Verde are buying property to open [a new / their largest branch? their head offices?] - if their property-specialist law firm fuck up and buy the wrong location in the middle of nowhere, that's not going to be a great outcome.

Given that Chuck isn't a well guy either physically or mentally that photocopier scam might end up pushing over him over the edge. What Chuck did was a colossal dick move but also perfectly justifiable by his own logic.

Something tells me Kim isn't going to exactly appreciate the gesture either.

Yeah. I mean going out of your way to tank your brother's business before it starts pretty much means the gloves are not coming back on probably ever. These things have a way of escalating with families, they're basically blood enemies now

Chuck will just frame it as "we were in danger of losing an account and I took steps to retain it". We know there's a personal vendetta there, but he'll justify it by saying it's his duty to the firm in which he is a partner, within the rules of the game. Whereas doctoring documents in order to tank someone else's job is decidedly outside it.

Chuck went so far as to (in his mind) seriously risk his physical health to fuck Jimmy over. It was like the equivalent of cutting off his nose to spite Jimmy's face. So it's a pretty obvious affront however he tries to dress it up.