Better call Saul

[inkman]

Hector!

 

Ding, ding!

 

Just another great episode all the way around.

Yes! Seeing Hector pre-stroke was pretty cool. Can't wait to see how it all ties in with Gustavo and the like.

[Stoner]

Is the source of Chuck's sibling rivalry with Jimmy all that interesting? We already knew he bailed Jimmy out one time and thinks Jimmy is a scumbag who isn't worthy of the bar. So Jimmy made Chuck's wife/girlfriend laugh and Chuck's joke struck out. And Slippin' Jimmy stole some money from pops. Not that intriguing a backstory there.

[sabills]

Is the source of Chuck's sibling rivalry with Jimmy all that interesting? We already knew he bailed Jimmy out one time and thinks Jimmy is a scumbag who isn't worthy of the bar. So Jimmy made Chuck's wife/girlfriend laugh and Chuck's joke struck out. And Slippin' Jimmy stole some money from pops. Not that intriguing a backstory there.

 

I think there could be a bigger reveal coming Re: Jimmy being awful to Chuck. Maybe something with the wife, or something worse with the Dad. Chuck really, really, doesn't like Jimmy.

[qwksndmonster]

The last 2 episodes have been awesome.  There's so many characters bouncing off one another: Chuck, Jimmy, Howard, Kim.  And then Mike, Nacho, Tuco, Hector, Stacy.  We had a brief moment of crossing the streams when Jimmy hummed the rocky theme to Mike.  Hehehehe.

 

There was a lot of payoff in this episode from the teaser of episode 2.  That's the scene where Chuck starts the metronome and then tries to play piano, but keeps getting angry at himself when he screws up.  I don't want to take screenshots right now, so here's a quick version:

 

The first shot is of the metronome, and both sides are equally shown.  Chuck brings out some piano sheet music and fondly thumbs over a name on the corner: Rebecca.  (We know he was married from season 1 when he helped Jimmy with the Chicago Sunroof situation. He had a wedding ring on.) As Chuck messes up the first time, the camera move shows mostly only one side of the pendulum's arc.  Then, as he screws up a second time the pendulum's arc is now totally obscured on one side.

 

[Then Hamlin shows up, and tells him that Jimmy has a sweet gig with Davis & Main] It specifically comes up that the clients loved Jimmy.  Chuck finished Hamlin's sentence when he was reporting how the Sandpiper residents responded.

 

When Chuck sits back down the Metronome is looming out of focus in the foreground, and as Chuck stares at it the focus shifts from him to the metronome.  Only one side of the arc is once again being shown.  The final shot of the scene is this one:

The massive unlit fireplace makes another appearance.  When Jimmy was piecing together the shreds of paper from Sandpiper, he fell asleep next to the fireplace.  When he woke up, Chuck had pieced the shreds together, and although Jimmy didn't know it, already stole the case. In Season 2 Episode 4 when Jimmy is taking care of Chuck, he lights the firelamp.  Once Chuck falls asleep Jimmy turns it back off.  Even that little fake distant flame doesn't stay lit for long.

 

Anyways, the button of this scene: Chuck's personal struggles are resulting in his perception becoming warped and unbalanced.  

 

During season 1 and before when Jimmy was trying his best and struggling badly to become a legitimate lawyer, instead of guiding and helping along the way, Chuck operated from a distance and held on to his deep jealousy.  It's kind of absurd how neither brother realizes how jealous Chuck is of Jimmy.  In the season 1 episode 9 blow up, Chuck's attacks were all very personal.  "You're not a real Lawyer!"  "Slippin' Jimmy I can handle, but Slippin' Jimmy with a law degree is like a money with a machine gun."  I don't think Chuck can handle Slippin' Jimmy, at all.

 

Jimmy broke some rules, but he really was trying so damn hard to be a lawyer like his big brother.  Chuck wasn't proud of him for getting his degree while working in the mail room, and he wasn't proud of him for busting his ass doing public defender work for little to no reward. All Chuck could ever see was his charming little brother slipping into the career that is at the very heart of his pride and prestige.  Chuck's electricity issue is intrinsically tied to the mistrust of his little brother.  Chucks lack of self awareness when it comes to his jealousy and duplicity.

 

Is the source of Chuck's sibling rivalry with Jimmy all that interesting? We already knew he bailed Jimmy out one time and thinks Jimmy is a scumbag who isn't worthy of the bar. So Jimmy made Chuck's wife/girlfriend laugh and Chuck's joke struck out. And Slippin' Jimmy stole some money from pops. Not that intriguing a backstory there.

I think it's just another small piece of Chuck's sibling rivalry.  His tone with Jimmy is very similar to the parent of a long time addict.  Jesse's parents were pretty universally hated by the Breaking Bad fandom, but they were acting on years and years of being let down by Jesse after giving him all the trust and love in the world. Chuck tries to be fatherly toward Jimmy not because he loves him, but because their father had a blind spot.  Chuck very much made it his duty to take Jimmy to task.

 

I think what's a lot more interesting about Chuck's story of Jimmy stealing money is when he tells it.  Kim asks him about her job and Chuck tells a story to throw a shade on Jimmy. Kim tolerates it because her job is so important to her, but the looks she gives Chuck are ice.  Jimmy appears to be absolutely correct that Chuck's conduct at work it very personally driven.  Chuck doesn't even conceal it here, just tries to save a little face with "I'm on your side Howard's a dick" at the end.  I don't think Kim takes the story unsalted, but she knows that it could be true.

 

I think that all this does is give Kim a little more perspective into how much Chuck has with Jimmy over the years.  She was great in this episode: still cares about Jimmy, but she's digging herself out.

 

As an aside, what exactly is the relationship between Hamlin and Chuck?  Chuck definitely seems to have the power, but Hamlin isn't above asserting his own power over his subordinates.  Hamlin was almost glad to tell Chuck about Jimmy working for Davis and Main in the metronome scene.  Hamlin kept saying "Wish you could come back! But really no pressure no pressure." I think it's pretty clear from this exchange that Hamlin prefers not having Chuck around.  There's definitely something we don't know going on between these two.

 

A couple more things about the Metronome scene: I love the piece that Chuck plays.  It's a beautiful minor melody that gets interrupted by these almost offensively major chord pairs.  I take the song as an expression of all the emotions and pain inside and the annoyance and frustration of having to put on airs to hide it.  That definitely rings true when Hamlin shows up and pretends to like Chuck and Chuck pretends to fondly think about how everyone loves his brother.

 

Chuck is the kind of guy that gets angry at himself when attempting to express his emotions through music.  You can see from his scene with Rebecca that their life was sophisticated and exquisite, but Chuck was unable to handle the emotions of playing her piece himself.  I think the music sounded bad in Chuck's ears, despite how well he played. Even his beloved wife was much more charmed by his brother than him.  I think the thing going through Chuck's head when he's staring at the metronome in the last shot of the teaser is:

 

I'm just the beat.  Jimmy's the melody.

 

I also like Clifford Main's musicality contrasting so starkly with Chuck's.  Cliff plays the blues to unwind. Chuck plays classical and gets mad.

[K-9]

Leonel and Marco on a rooftop as intimidating as ever.

 

Mike refusing to be intimidated.

 

Kim in transition.

 

Jimmy still trying to force the fit.

 

What a great phucking show!

[Stoner]

When Jimmy had to go back to the salon to get some sleep, I thought of the scene from The Shawshank Redemption when Brooks carved his name in the woodwork at that ratty apartment before he hanged himself. Jimmy also can't make it on the outside.

[sabills]

Lets place our bets. Here are the main characters  in BCS but that don't show up in BB. What are their fates? Options are "Dead" "Alive, but not in Jimmy's life" and "Alive, in Jimmy's life, just don't appear in BB."

 

Kim: I think she lives, but leaves Jimmy, eventually leaving town entirely. Maybe, just maybe, Jimmy sees her again at the end of the show.

 

Chuck: I bet he's still alive, and maybe is still in Jimmy's life as much as he is now. He's around, he's a mentor and a critic, but his electrophobia or whatever is even worse, and he's completely bedridden or something. I think he'll die before the end of the series, but not before the BB timeline.

 

Howard Hamlin: Alive, but I think we could see the end of the HH story by the end of this season even. Something is going to come to a head between Kim and the Hammer soon.

 

Nacho: I think he's dead. If not at the beginning of the BB time period then very shortly into that timeline. Jimmy mentions Ignacio to Walt and Jessie when they threaten him, so my bet is Tuco gets out of jail, finds out what Nacho did, and eventually kills him.

 

 

 

Side note: at the beginning of this show I had trouble calling "Saul" by "Jimmy". (har har, "Calling Saul"). Now he's Jimmy in my head. I think a rewatch of BB with him as Jimmy will be very interesting.

Edited March 23, 2016 by sabills

[Norcal]

Lets place our bets. Here are the main characters in BCS but that don't show up in BB. What are their fates? Options are "Dead" "Alive, but not in Jimmy's life" and "Alive, in Jimmy's life, just don't appear in BB."

 

Kim: I think she lives, but leaves Jimmy, eventually leaving town entirely. Maybe, just maybe, Jimmy sees her again at the end of the show.

 

Chuck: I bet he's still alive, and maybe is still in Jimmy's life as much as he is now. He's around, he's a mentor and a critic, but his electrophobia or whatever is even worse, and he's completely bedridden or something. I think he'll die before the end of the series, but not before the BB timeline.

 

Howard Hamlin: Alive, but I think we could see the end of the HH story by the end of this season even. Something is going to come to a head between Kim and the Hammer soon.

 

Nacho: I think he's dead. If not at the beginning of the BB time period then very shortly into that timeline. Jimmy mentions Ignacio to Walt and Jessie when they threaten him, so my bet is Tuco gets out of jail, finds out what Nacho did, and eventually kills him.

 

 

 

Side note: at the beginning of this show I had trouble calling "Saul" by "Jimmy". (har har, "Calling Saul"). Now he's Jimmy in my head. I think a rewatch of BB with him as Jimmy will be very interesting.

Didn't Nacho cook with Jesse in BB at the beginning. They had the chili p I think.

[Stoner]

Why do I keep recognizing Jimmy's male assistant as someone from BB?

[Norcal]

What is the significance of Jimmy seeing the Sandpiper commercial playing in the middle of the night? I'm betting there is more to come on that.

[Thwomp!]

I took it as another indication for him that he's not cut out to be this type of lawyer. He seemed disgusted that they made his idea so boring. I think he also knew his way was/would be more successful in attracting clients. Everyone is pushing him in the boring direction, but the signs are there that he's ready to go his own way soon.

 

I think Kim is all that's holding him back. If she does take the new job, that may be enough for Jimmy to also change things up.

[K-9]

What is the significance of Jimmy seeing the Sandpiper commercial playing in the middle of the night? I'm betting there is more to come on that.

Interesting question. He was raked over the coals and reprimanded for running the commercial one time in one market and now it's running in other markets, including Albuquerque? Hmm.

[Drunkard]

Interesting question. He was raked over the coals and reprimanded for running the commercial one time in one market and now it's running in other markets, including Albuquerque? Hmm.

 

It's not his version of the commercial there are airing though. It's the boring monotone one of some guy reading off a script with the blue and black swirling type background.

[K-9]

It's not his version of the commercial there are airing though. It's the boring monotone one of some guy reading off a script with the blue and black swirling type background.

I didn't notice that at first. That makes it an even tougher pill to swallow for Jimmy, I would think. 

[Norcal]

Who's seeing it at that time of day anyways? Certainly not the target audience I would suspect.

[inkman]

Who's seeing it at that time of day anyways? Certainly not the target audience I would suspect.

Depends. Was it 3 am or 5am? Big difference.

[Norcal]

Depends. Was it 3 am or 5am? Big difference.

True

[qwksndmonster]

Why do I keep recognizing Jimmy's male assistant as someone from BB?

He looks a little like Krazy 8.

 

Finally watched episode 6.  I loved it. Mike is the best. Just try to with him.

[Norcal]

Wolf

[WildCard]

Mike's daughter-in-law is taking Mike for money. Don't trust her one bit

[Stoner]

Wolf

How's that working out for Jimmy? (We know how it works out eventually.) Maybe Kim has a little wolf in her too (teehee), given how much she enjoys the con artistry in bars and given her answer in the interview as to why she left her small town. She said she wanted "more" but it didn't sound like that "more" was just a more successful husband and more money than she might have had back home. It sounded like something... more. Maybe in the end Kim is a sheep in wolf's clothing too.

[sabills]

That guy wasn't a wolf. Tuco is a wolf. Wolves don't go up to sheep and ask if they can have five dollars. That guy was just an sheep. Maybe a coyote.

[cdexchange]

Mike's daughter-in-law is taking Mike for money. Don't trust her one bit

 

 

...and Mike clearly knows this, since he was camped out in front of her house the entire night that she claims the "shooting" happened that knicked the corner of the house.  So why is he still helping her?  Just for the kids I guess.  But it clearly pains him to know she's taking him for a ride. 

[sabills]

Mike's daughter-in-law is taking Mike for money. Don't trust her one bit

 

 

...and Mike clearly knows this, since he was camped out in front of her house the entire night that she claims the "shooting" happened that knicked the corner of the house.  So why is he still helping her?  Just for the kids I guess.  But it clearly pains him to know she's taking him for a ride. 

 

 

I don't think she's scamming him, at least not knowlingly. I think Mike is just willing to do literally anything for his granddaughter.

 

And I don't think she was lying about the gunshots either. Her husband was shot to death, she's just super paranoid.

[Stoner]

I don't think she's scamming him, at least not knowlingly. I think Mike is just willing to do literally anything for his granddaughter.

 

And I don't think she was lying about the gunshots either. Her husband was shot to death, she's just super paranoid.

Exactly. She's a very sympathetic character. I don't see the scamming angle. Man, there was something very unsettling about that scene in the driveway where they decide to take separate cars to the realtor's office. A real sense of foreboding. I can't put my finger on it. qwk might have something to say about the lighting or camera angles or whatever...