Better Call Saul

i fear for kim's wellbeing. either she's going to prison or she's going to die

we've known that since the beginning i guess but it's still tough to watch knowing that it must happen

I think my favourite bit from this week's episode was [crying]it's in the transcripts![/crying]

My favourite was Kim's 'we're just talking, right?' in the bar. That scene was amazing

guarantee you Kim gets disbarred by series end

Best episode yet imo

Loved how much of this ep(/the show really) is about work/work ethic and how it can turn toxic: Mike laying concrete, Charlie Hustle busting his ass all over town with his crew, picking up more garbage than anyone else and getting nothing but shit, don't they teach you about capitalism at that school of yours (Walter White's "apply yourself")...

The scene in the bar was fucking masterful. Rhea Seehorn is mvp this episode but Odenkirk's seething was incredible too

agreed, bar scene was just top notch

this show is a masterclass in basically everything it touches, what a marvel

and to think it's a spinoff about walter white's corny-ass drug lawyer, i mean the million ways this could have been trash, and yet

imo the bar scene gets at why Jimmy is a grifter at heart, other than the fact he's compelled to do so by his personality -- he really has a deep disdain for some people and grifting them is how he feels self-worth

Good point. Jimmy's definitely got something to prove, both to himself and other people

mhm

Rhea Seehorn's performance is such a fantastic course correction from the underwritten/poorly acted female roles in BB, they should give her all the Emmys. that bar scene oof.

final scene in the insurance office was so sad, just seeing Jimmy go from self-pitying to ruthlessly vindictive in such a manipulative way.

did this take a break this week?

Yep.

damn

next ep on on Monday, June 5

Rhea Seehorn's performance is such a fantastic course correction from the underwritten/poorly acted female roles in BB

Underwritten and underdeveloped, absolutely, but I don't think any of them were poorly acted. Anna Gunn did a fine job with the material she was given, Betsy Brandt a terrific one. And I think by season 5 they were taking steps in the right direction - Lydia was both a great character and a great performance. But even in BCS to this point it's pretty much just Kim - would be wonderful if they brought out some fully realized female characters besides her and the returning Lydia.

i went to a screen of tonight's episode over the weekend + a talk with Michael McKean and Peter Gould (co-creator) with Matt zoller-seitz mediating.

This episode is pretty amazing. Only one spoiler because they discussed the post work on it: the slipping jimmy bit is a mix of CGI, odenkirk and stuntman... astonishing work!

Lots of great conversation about the show too. Gould said that the relationship between jimmy and chuck was born out of Robert and Charles Crumb... hence chuck's name!

Nacho's pill swap last night was about as close as this show has come to Breaking Bad-level tension ratcheting.

Lydia was nowhere near as interesting or developed a character as Skyler. I can't really even remember much to her other than 'jittery and suddenly in way over her head'. Kim's a good character but the show could have benefited from developing some of the characters around Mike - his daughter-in-law is barely developed beyond a sort of vague 'she who must be protected' thing.

Enjoyed this most recent one, the pill swapping scene was indeed extremely tense - the show could use more Nacho in general. It still feels like two or three different shows sitting alongside each other though.

xpost that's cool re: Crumbs!

- his daughter-in-law is barely developed beyond a sort of vague 'she who must be protected' thing.

I agree with this. For a while there I thought she was deliberately scamming him to get much nicer accommodation for her and her daughter. Would've been more interesting, I think.

I still think she was doing that.

We're so cynical.

I do think there's at least a degree of that going on. Keep in mind that we still haven't seen what leads to their eventual estrangement.

To clarify, I don't think it's a capital-s, Slippin' Jimmy-esque 'scam'. Just your garden variety instance of someone seeing an opening and taking a little more advantage than is necessary.

okay, now that we're past the episode airing: the pratfall with odenkirk is NOT him taking the fall even though you see his face turn to the camera and walk away and then hit the ground. really seamless digital fx imo

I like how like half the people in this world are actual geniuses

Like walt's incredible problem-solving skills are only a match for... mike gus jimmy kim nacho & chuck

(oh and hank)

Nacho's pill swap last night was about as close as this show has come to Breaking Bad-level tension ratcheting.

― Trockasturm Hoar The Ramming Battle Ceraton (Old Lunch), Tuesday, June 6, 2017 6:22 AM (seventeen hours ago)

i was literally hiding inside my shirt!

otm about hank. btw i watched this episode with, for the first time, my roommate, and we discovered we're the only 2 people in the world who like hank howard

hank AND howard

no way, because i like them both! as characters, at least. the guy who plays howard does a fantastic job in bcs

we both agreed that howard was a decent guy, in the show's world

he's definitely not a bad guy according to the standards of behavior of his firm. almost all of the main bcs characters have some sort of family issue driving them or influencing them, or at least a friendship. but howard is just this elite law firm guy. that's his entire world. it's sad that it sort of seems like chuck might be his only "friend", and even that is on a very professional level. he's surrounded by elite cutthroats, and within that context he often seems to act more humanely than he's expected to.

yeah he's a snob and a douchebag but he has integrity

the jacket scene was amazing - sort of goes to the heart of the show, and their willingness to make great scenes above all else. i mean it prob would have been a lot easier to just wait until don hector goes to the bathroom or something, but fuck that.

I thought Don Hector was gonna notice something about Nacho dropping the pills in his jacket as a sort of reference to when he noticed out of the corner of his eye Walt poisoning Tuco's burrito in BB.

nacho also could have changed the pills in the bathroom.

they should have showed an "out of order" sign on the bathroom at the beginning of the scene to explain why he didn't use either of my ideas

spend a few episodes building up don hector's disgust towards anyone so weak as to take bathroom breaks while working

we both agreed that howard was a decent guy, in the show's world

I still can't forgive Howard for sending Kim to work in the basement (I know HHM paid her tuition fees but still)

loved both "no sit, please" exchanges in the restaurant. he treated her like a dog and she threw it back at him.

Howard definitely has his own douchey tendencies (see exchange in previous post), but it's important to keep in mind that his douchiest actions have been at Chuck's behest.

this does feel like 4 or 5 different shows at the moment, and while I enjoy each plotline to varying degrees I hope at least a few of them get tied together by season's end

Chuck's rehabilitation is probably the most interesting development

like what if he turns over a new leaf, gets better, tries to make amends w Jimmy and Jimmy just crucifies him out of spite

Kinda feel like Chuck is only interesting in how he relates to Jimmy, I don't really care about his rehabilitation as a plotline but I am interested in more career fratricide or petty revenge.

It would be totally credible for Hank to turn up in this next season though, right?