Better call Saul

[PerreaultForever]

I didn't care for the ending. Disappointing imo but I won't say any more right now in case people recorded it and/or haven't seen it quite yet. 

[K-9]

Perfecto! Gilligan, Gould and company nailed it on multiple levels. Gonna miss BCS, but I can’t wait to see what this creative team does next. 

[shrader]

45 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Perfecto! Gilligan, Gould and company nailed it on multiple levels. Gonna miss BCS, but I can’t wait to see what this creative team does next. 

 

So the regrets scene with Chuck.  Was that Jimmy's regret or Chuck's?

[PromoTheRobot]

37 minutes ago, shrader said:

 

So the regrets scene with Chuck.  Was that Jimmy's regret or Chuck's?

Maybe it was just the tie in to "The Time Machine."  Jimmy went "back in time" to right all the wrongs he committed, as best he could.

[nfreeman]

1 hour ago, shrader said:

 

So the regrets scene with Chuck.  Was that Jimmy's regret or Chuck's?

I thought it was Jimmy, thinking back on a reasonably friendly moment with his brother and regretting what he did to Chuck afterward.

Separately, I thought it was a pretty good finale.  There was never going to be an exciting escape scene or anything like that IMHO -- it was always going to be a reckoning for Jimmy with his past sins, which were plentiful and profound.  I thought the scene at the sentencing was maybe a bit contrived, because once Kim was there he didn't need to torpedo his plea deal, but it didn't ruin the episode for me, and I thought the last scene with Kim at the prison and the scenes with WW and Mike E. were all really good.

[K-9]

1 hour ago, shrader said:

 

So the regrets scene with Chuck.  Was that Jimmy's regret or Chuck's?

I think it was Jimmy’s because I never got the impression Chuck regretted anything and Jimmy alluded to that when he told Chuck that he (Chuck) never changed the path he was on after telling Jimmy that he (Jimmy) still could. 

[Cascade Youth]

3 hours ago, nfreeman said:

I thought it was Jimmy, thinking back on a reasonably friendly moment with his brother and regretting what he did to Chuck afterward.

Separately, I thought it was a pretty good finale.  There was never going to be an exciting escape scene or anything like that IMHO -- it was always going to be a reckoning for Jimmy with his past sins, which were plentiful and profound.  I thought the scene at the sentencing was maybe a bit contrived, because once Kim was there he didn't need to torpedo his plea deal, but it didn't ruin the episode for me, and I thought the last scene with Kim at the prison and the scenes with WW and Mike E. were all really good.

He had to torpedo his plea deal in order for Slippin’ Jimmy to defeat Saul.  

[bunomatic]

Anyone know much about Odenkirks new gig ‘ The Straight man ‘?

[shrader]

3 hours ago, K-9 said:

I think it was Jimmy’s because I never got the impression Chuck regretted anything and Jimmy alluded to that when he told Chuck that he (Chuck) never changed the path he was on after telling Jimmy that he (Jimmy) still could. 

It seemed so mutual to me.  Even with the different path, those brothers have the same amount of stubbornness.

[nfreeman]

8 minutes ago, Cascade Youth said:

He had to torpedo his plea deal in order for Slippin’ Jimmy to defeat Saul.  

Well, I agree that it was written that way, but I guess I don't think it was really necessary.  He was already going to prison for 7 years.  He wanted more than anything to redeem himself in Kim's eyes.  Did he need to die in prison to achieve that?  I thought he could've told the court that he had lied about Kim, and probably said other redemptive words, without going full hara-kiri and torpedoing the plea deal.

[K-9]

1 hour ago, Cascade Youth said:

He had to torpedo his plea deal in order for Slippin’ Jimmy to defeat Saul.  

Agreed. Saving Kim was paramount the moment he found out she was in deep trouble and he had to kill Saul and go full disclosure on everything in order to do so. Insisting his name was Jimmy McGill to the judge really underscored that. I also thought that idea came thru in their final scene together at the prison which was masterfully done imo. Very reminiscent of the prison scene with Tom Hagen and Frankie Pentangeli. 

[Zamboni]

Just watched the last episode… Damn that was a good series. 

[PickaPecaPickles]

Not the big climactic ending I was expecting, but enjoyable and satisfying all the same.

In the end, Saul was admired by his peers, and Jimmy regained Kim's love.  So many great characters I will miss.

 

 

 

[PickaPecaPickles]

2 hours ago, PickaPecaPickles said:

Not the big climactic ending I was expecting, but enjoyable and satisfying all the same.

In the end, Saul was admired by his peers, and Jimmy regained Kim's love.  So many great characters I will miss.

Edit added: I would've ended it on the scene where they share a smoke, reminiscent of their earliest scenes together in the parking garage. 

Finally, I won't be surprised if they eventually do a series based on Kim and her re-found life as a lawyer for the indigent.

 

 

 

[Eleven]

On 8/11/2022 at 4:40 PM, shrader said:

It seems like the practice of commenting on a thread about a show you don't watch is alive and well around here.

Not sure if this is @ me, but I did watch the first season.  Great atmosphere and great cast, but it moved too slowly for me.  Lots of streaming services' "signature series" are doing that lately, too (but I think BCS was AMC or something).

[PerreaultForever]

21 hours ago, bunomatic said:

Anyone know much about Odenkirks new gig ‘ The Straight man ‘?

https://screenrant.com/bob-odenkirk-new-show-straight-man-explained/

Sounds like it'll be a midlife crisis dramedy. 

[PerreaultForever]

I guess I'm in the minority. 

I didn't hate the ending, but I thought the "regrets" theme was a weak attempt at a cliche redemption arc. Okay, Jimmy pays the price to win back Kim's favour/love. Not very original imo. Disappointing for a show that had better twists and turns along the way. 

I guess it's the sort of "happy" ending. I personally would have preferred something darker or even a full on return to the comedic aspect as Saul, originally, was pretty much a comic relief character in Breaking Bad. 

The B&W  also lost it's point in the end as, if Jimmy is back and redeemed,  the final scene with Kim should have gone back to colour. but whatever. It was decent tv. 

[Zamboni]

What a great show and solid ending. Well done. Makes me want to binge watch BB again. Looking forward to the new shows the creators do. Wow.

[Zamboni]

“Better Call Saul” ended Monday night with an ending very different than the way that “Breaking Bad” concluded. No shootout, just Jimmy McGill behind bars. But as Jimmy and ex-wife Kim Wexler reconnect, in many ways it’s also a much more hopeful conclusion. But can we go as far as to call it a “happy ending?”

“I think it is,” star Bob Odenkirk tells Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast, in a bonus edition recorded Tuesday morning — just hours after the finale aired. “It’s crazy, because he’s going to jail for the rest of his life. But I absolutely consider it the best end he could have had. Because he’s at peace with himself. And he’s got her. He’s earned her love. And he knows that even though they can’t be together. He proved himself to the one person who he cared about.”

Rhea Seehorn, who joined Odenkirk for the podcast, agrees: “I mean, happy is hard to wrap your head around. But I find it hopeful and I do find it to be a positive. I do think it’s like, there is light there. And I agree with Bob, it’s about living without the burden that they both have had hanging over them their whole lives, trying to outrun what people think of them. Certainly Jimmy more than Kim, but we know Kim didn’t come from a safe, positive upbringing either. I found it to be a positive ending. And the happiest that you could be for those people.”

Odenkirk and Seehorn break down the finale, including Odenkirk’s courtroom scene (which took three days to shoot), the return of “Breaking Bad” stars Betsy Brandt and Bryan Cranston, Saul’s decision to turn back into Jimmy for Kim’s benefit, and the final scene between Jimmy and Kim. Listen below!

https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=PMC5911583018

[shrader]

He's essentially right back in the mail room, where the show started.

[erickompositör72]

On 8/17/2022 at 2:11 PM, PerreaultForever said:

I guess I'm in the minority. 

I didn't hate the ending, but I thought the "regrets" theme was a weak attempt at a cliche redemption arc. Okay, Jimmy pays the price to win back Kim's favour/love. Not very original imo. Disappointing for a show that had better twists and turns along the way. 

I guess it's the sort of "happy" ending. I personally would have preferred something darker or even a full on return to the comedic aspect as Saul, originally, was pretty much a comic relief character in Breaking Bad. 

The B&W  also lost it's point in the end as, if Jimmy is back and redeemed,  the final scene with Kim should have gone back to colour. but whatever. It was decent tv. 

To the bolded: didn't you catch the cigarette glow they shared at the end? I was waiting for a return to color, as well, and I thought the cigarette in color was pretty exquisite. The very first scene Kim ever appeared in, they shared a cigarette...

On an unrelated note, I was always so nostalgic for that early episode (S2E1) where Jimmy & Kim were up to the shenanigans of scamming the stock broker. When things got real (dark), I would think about that scene, and say, "why couldn't they just go back to that?" Still makes me sad to think about... they could have had a wonderful life. 

Edited August 19, 2022 by erickompositör72

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, erickompositör72 said:

To the bolded: didn't you catch the cigarette glow they shared at the end? I was waiting for a return to color, as well, and I thought the cigarette in color was pretty exquisite. The very first scene Kim ever appeared in, they shared a cigarette...

On an unrelated note, I was always so nostalgic for that early episode (S2E1) where Jimmy & Kim were up to the shenanigans of scamming the stock broker. When things got real (dark), I would think about that scene, and say, "why couldn't they just go back to that?" Still makes me sad to think about... they could have had a wonderful life. 

Okay fair enough. No, I've long forgotten the first scene she ever appeared in so that's fair. Rhyming sequence as they call it in the biz. That makes it a little better. 

[triumph_communes]

Lukewarm about the ending. Kim in the end just disturbed me all around.  She was just so pathetic before Jimmy comes back to give her meaning again and this goes against how strong she was to leave him in the first place.  Turned into an object for Jimmy and I thought she was built as a character much more than that. Great series though.

Edited August 20, 2022 by triumph_communes