Lurker > SovietOmega

Just saw this news. Damn. This one sucks a lot. Loved the show, and loved his love of things robotic.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

I can almost relate. The PS1 and PS2 era were where I was big on used games which could almost go that low in price, and it was always a bit of a hunt for who had the specific games I'd want between the few bigname stores and the roughly 20 pawnshops in my area.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

What a dick move for David and Main to run an ad after chastising Saul for doing so. Adding insult to injury it is styled like their prior work. They clearly liked the idea of the ad and saw it worked, they just hated that it had production values apparently.

Mike metaphorically and physically rolls out the welcome mat.

Hey, Schweikart dude, never getting that name right, likes a Moscow Mule. Clear proof that he's not such a bad fellow despite being on the opposition.

You know, I bet some people look at Mike snooping around his own house as evidence of slow pacing, but I'd argue this speaks volumes about Mike modus operandi. Not that I'm unwise to Mike's deal, but it certainly fits the plot beats that have been tossed out. And as an added bonus, we get a scenic tour of Mike's house. Which, like Chucks house kinda looks like it is just a set piece because wowza there's some weirdly strong lighting going on for the viewer's benefit. I'm just saying, I don't normally see moonlight pouring in from nowhere when it's the dead of night and I'm slowly moving down a hallway.

Also, special shout out to Billy Mays who is still alive in this time period. Also, special shout out to Mike who takes the slap chop to heart as he slaps and chops these goons down like nothing. Could have probably offed them justifiably in self defense too, but that's unwanted attention and Mike's not quite there yet. This pressure keeps up, hard to say though.

Dudes just standing on that wall, waiting for Mike to notice them...pretty clear message, surely this will make him go John Wick on these people. You don't threaten someone's kid unless you are prepared to face consequences.

I see Kim's taken a shine to the Moscow Mule and lying about who they are.

Oh hello there Saul, good to see you. Almost forgot you were in this episode. Still dragging Erin around I see. And then Kim calls him looking for a con job. Naturally he'd take any excuse to cut away given how Orwellian Davis and Main have become. They couldn't be more anti-Saul if they tried.

I could chat about how Kim and Saul are buttering this guy up to a scam, but I'm more interested in Mike's meeting with Hector. The facial movements Hector is able to pull off here in the past is just blowing my mind, he's so expressive and it's like...the same guy. And this was shot in the future but this Hector looks younger. None of this makes any sense!

Episode ends with Saul finally 'fixing' that damn cupholder. It was funny the first time or two, but what sane person would keep trying it expecting it to one day magically work? You either buy a cup that fits, or install a different model. That said, the fact that it makes no sense signals to me that it is probably one of those metaphor things like how Saul is a 'bad fit' for the firm, but here we see him forcing himself to fit even if it means breaking the firm a bit to do it. Fuck, that has to be it. Vince does seem to love his visual metaphors.


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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Deus Ex: Invisible War was what my brain spat out. I think views on it have mellowed some over time, but it was definitely not as stellar as the first.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Love that the Hector guy did the lip thing that gave his identity away instantly to anyone who had seen Breaking Bad first. Not that it was strictly necessary as he gave his relation away right after so even viewers of just this show would understand he's the uncle stepping in to try and resolve the issue.

I'd say I'm definitely liking the show a lot. It helps a lot that two of the characters I liked most from Breaking Bad were Saul and Mike who both take on leading roles in Better Call Saul. So even when things get a bit slow, I'm enjoying the opportunity to view them through various lenses while they're at work/home/illegal work. I know what they become, and I'm eager to see the transitional moments that lead them to develop along those lines. Like, I know it is only a matter of time before something happens with Saul's gig at David and Main. That it happened at all has already surprised me. So even with future knowledge, no, especially with future knowledge, the show is able to subvert expectations, and that's no small feat.

This second season is moving a little slowly, and it lacks the freshness that the first season had, but then Breaking Bad was not immune to this either. I've confidence things will pick up though, partly from comments here on how the show ramps up, and partly because that just seems to be how Vince Gilligan rolls....get a world firmly established, then fuck things up majestically.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Amusingly Chuck's place with electricity looks astonishing like his place without electricity. Actual lighting would probably show something we the audience should not see. Or maybe Chuck is just super into mood lighting.

Given the time it takes to get a law degree and that Saul is just starting at HHM, we can sorta place this some years prior to the beginning of BCS. So still some years to go before Chuck develops complicated relations with electricity. Probably a lot of subtext going on here like Chuck and his wife preferring wine glasses, while Saul opts for a beer bottle. And that bed meeting where Chuck pitched a joke, perhaps he has some resentment at how personable his brother is to just about everyone?

"You don't save me, I save me" Kim's definitely not a fan of Saul's style, and if she were in reality I'd agree with her viewpoint, but alas, she is talking to a Main Character who can bend reality to his will with just enough discount plot armor to survive.

Erin's being quite the thorn in Saul's side, cramping his style with annoying things like 'rules' and 'procedures'.

Cute reunion with this Bill guy, who was always a thorn in Saul's side too, but now Saul entered the big leagues after training in 10x earth's gravity and can now beat this guy with one finger.

Got a Kim montage here, pretty standard stuff her trying to dig herself out of a hole that Saul helped put her in, but man, even the bathrooms get a lovely window view!

Even still, not enough for Howard, leading Kim and Chuck to collide in an impromptu coffee chat at work with Chuck talking about him and Saul's dad. Quite the tale of actions having unforeseen consequences.

Damn...this Hector? Damn. This show XD

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

It was also a notable inclusion in the itchio bundle, and I remember seeing at least one topic recently about someone beating some stage of it. So there were definitely avenues for it to be in mind.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Subverse. I mean, sure, the game isn't technically out yet, but that shouldn't be more than a technicality.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Mike got all beat up for Nacho's work. I wasn't expecting knowing future events to be a boon, but it lets me know with confidence that he bounces back.

Big blowback at David and Main regarding the commercial. Strikes one and two. Saul seemed ok from our limited perspective on this one case, but the bigwigs at the firm do make a valid point that there are other cases and potential damage to their reputation. I still say it's a bit overblown, but it works well for Saul's character.

"It's him or me" - Nacho, talking about killing a character we see alive years later yet curiously not also Nacho. Hopefully he just ends up leaving peacefully/is exiled rather than eating bullets, I like this guy. He's like Jesse if Jesse were cool.

Ah gun salesman, nice to see you here. Quite a different scene when the potential buyer knows what the heck he's doing. So much so that Mike knows the whole ordeal's a bad move.

Back at Dracula's Castle, Saul stays the night, worried about Chuck and also wants confirmation regarding Kim. They have a bit of a heated chat. Due to this, Saul will be unavoidably late, which definitely isn't gonna play well at David and Main.

Watching Mike play dumb in front of Tuco is amazing. I could watch Mike hide his true power level only to reveal he was secretly badass all day. So THIS is where he gets the injuries from the episode opening. Not by killing, but by staging an assault. Says a lot about Mike's character too.


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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Saul even going as far as Texas to meet with elderly on a bus. Makes me kind of homesick, even if the Texan elements consisted entirely of the song that was playing and the flag and state on the side of a building.

Chuck seems to wanna pick on Saul's excellent work, but Saul's got the charm to bat him away.

Mailer responses are down, but Saul's got an idea. Targeted advertising. Love his enthusiasm for this pitch, and knowing the kind of ads he'll run in the future, this might just be the groundwork for that. It's gotta be better than the snoozefest of a commercial the law firm previously used. "Teamwork makes the dream work"

Apparently newspapers can sound like gunshots heard a block or two away. It's cute but...I don't buy it. Does accomplish the goal of painting Mike's grandaughter's mother as overly jumpy at least.

Damn, that's a nice commercial he ran. Without a dolly, I love the fact that he improvised with the stair assist thing.

Show teases us a bit with the will it/won't it work drama, but the calls start rolling in.

Cliff seems pissed though, I get it but...surely when he sees the commercial it will all be made right? Or is he too old to change his ways and still things gramophones are the hippest things?

Our episode seems like it is ending with a mystery client who asked specifically for Mike. It's Nacho. Needs a guy to go away. Should be fun times.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Brayze_II posted...

Well, if we obey piss physics, the answer is actually no. Piss doesn't exist as a liquid under conditions in space. In addition to the heat generated as the piss travels at escape velocity through the atmosphere, as pressure decreases so does boiling point. It's probably possible to calculate at exactly which point his super-piss vaporizes in the atmosphere but I suspect it's long before it hits vacuum.

Perhaps if we were to chill Superman's dick to absolute zero, his piss would exhibit superfluidity and thus travel with zero kinetic loss, which would surely be capable of then reaching the vacuum of space.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Getting old is one of the best things you can do with your life.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Okay, eff it, I gotta know what the damn switch does, don't disappoint me BCS!

Chuck plays the piano. You know who else practiced in the arts? Hitler, that's who. He couldn't seem to get it right either. Really, it's weird watching Chuck and Howard interact now that the show's done flipped the script on us.

Been waiting for Mike and this doofus to get together about the robbery. Since Mike's got ties to doofus, he decides it is in his best interests to help him locate his cards. Considering the timing of the robbery, he's almost certainly figured it all out.

Yup...tracks Nacho to his work and provides a carrot and stick. Classic Mike. All seems to flow relatively smoothly.

Ahahah, Count Dracula's coming into the office for a visit, his herald Kim making the rounds with the sacrificial electronics bucket. Curious that Saul just happens to be there too. Will Chuck see Saul in a new light, or will his presence intimidate and shut Saul down?

Doesn't seem to have much of an effect, at least not one Kim's confidence couldn't ease.

On the Mike side of the story....'Art'. Hah. "Squat Cobbler" Saul seems to have a fetish for rumps.

"There is, however, one tiny hanging chad" Very topical for the time period this is set in. "You're gonna have to make a video." Lawl.

And he does, as he tells the tale over a pie with Kim. Such disapproval from her.

And I looked the damn switch thing up from last episode, apparently, at least through the end of this season, there is no explanation. It was probably just the show being metaphorical and juxtaposing it with the emergency exit door in the beginning shot.


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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

scarletspeed7 posted...

Just want to comment that this thread finally got me to pick up Breaking Bad. I had stopped watching it after Season 3 years ago because the pacing and style sort of lagged for me, but I'm glad that your excitement for the show got me back in the mood to give it another shot, because I'm enjoying Season 4 more than I ever did the earlier seasons.

Honestly, I was starting to get a little burnt out around that point too. But then everything the show set up from the beginning started to pay dividends and I couldn't stop. I still get some chills thinking of that box cutter scene XD

Glad I could be of some service!

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Snrkiko posted...

can aquaman control those parasites that can swim up pee streams

Seems like something he could do. Then he can hook up with Batman to get them laced with kryptonite.

...of all the ways to deal with superman, this has to rank pretty highly on the inane scale.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Yes. His sneeze can destroy galaxies. His pee would devastate the cosmos. No, Batman would not be able to save Mars because Mars would not be a target really. He would surely hop into his BatTime Machine and go back in time to when Superman had an extra large big gulp and secretly replace it with a smaller size, thus saving the universe.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

S2 opening scene, Cinnabon Saul's feeling mighty trapped and rather than take the easy way out, chooses to wait for opportunity to strike. SG was here, but is SG still here? I feel like SG would have taken the easy solution when offered, consequences be damned. I'd love to complain about that door able to close like that being counter to any sane reality, but the whole scene's pretty metaphorical so I gotta give it a pass, unless I'm over-analyzing this and it really is just a shitty mall setup.

Seems like he did, in fact, enter the building, but ultimately altering nothing as he'd already made up his mind and just needed to reassure himself that Kim and him were separate from the decision.

So glad they're showing this nerd meeting with Nacho after breaking up with Mike. It works because we know at some point Nacho's gonna be involved with Saul given his outcry to Walter White at that kidnapping. Mostly, it just works because literally every viewer wants to see what happens to people who don't listen to Mike.

...yeah, fun part is that it's gonna be delayed. Dude's probably gonna get his house robbed or something. I can practically see the threads that will connect him to Nacho, then Saul, and reconnect by proxy, Mike.

As Kim takes notice of Marco's ring, I'm wondering...was this in Breaking Bad and I just didn't pay it any mind? Or is this something that will come and go in its own time.

Oh hey, it's the dude that had a car blown up by Walt. Little easter egg, or mayhaps he'll actually end up with Saul connections as I once thought might happen.

I like how Saul's plan is to be open to the universe, the exact thing that Jesse learned not to be in El Camino.

Ahaha, that's the tequila Gus brought Don Eladio! Ah, I see, this guy's just a Slippin' Jimmy target to try out that tequila without paying. Also a chance to show Kim that side of him.

The license of that yellow-red flame'd monstrosity is 'PLAYUH', what a tryhard this guy is. Cops are understandably suspicious. Meanwhile, dude's oblivious and rattling off about his baseball cards. I was never big on the trading aspect of trading card games like Magic or Pokemon, but I can relate a tiny bit to this guy, except for the stealing drugs from where he works bit.

Aaand just like that Saul's double backed on not taking the job offer. Has his own fancy office area and a guy willing to accommodate him in any way, even saying that a cocobolo desk is no problem. I looked those things up, it is a rare wood and super expensive. Oh right, there's also a switch with explicit instructions to always leave it on. Perhaps a test of sorts, as it had no immediate impact. I'd imagine if it controlled anything especially important like a life support system or whatnot, that it would be encased in a metal or glass enclosure and be impossible to accidentally switch instead of just a little warning and people acting on good faith.

If this is what ousts Saul, I call foul. No human alive could possibly resist a switch that said not to use it.


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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

And so it goes, Saul hands the case over. Has a pretty gloom-and-doom game of bingo with a lot of B numbers popping up. "I did not know that his children were in the backseat" and now we know what really lead to Saul being in Albuquerque, but man those are some patient people in that room. The old people are understandable, but that attendant would realistically have spoken up by now. We the audience needed to hear this tale though, for better or worse.

Solid chunk of time spent on this kennedy coin con. Everything goes just according to keikaku*. *Translator's note: keikaku means plan. Fun times all around, sure hope that dude's not associated with any cops.

Probably safe as he seems to go on a con montage, plus he's definitely secretly Kevin Costner so should be able to buy off any legal trouble.

Reality check also kicks in, and there's a lot of old people who suddenly and desperately need Saul back in Albuquerque. Minor note, thanks to this show and BB and writing up my experiences, I'm now proficient in spelling Albuquerque.

Marco's quite the little devil whispering in Saul's ear. Just live in the past Jimmy, it will all work out Jimmy, you don't need your fancy lawyer job Jimmy. The allure of his sweet siren song is strong, and Saul is unable to resist.

Bit worried about that cough Marco's developed, feel like this run might end a little differently because of it because drama. Little detail that escaped me the first time around is that the wolf call absolutely served as a signal to Marco that Saul was about to turn into that alley.

Yuuup, had a feeling. "This was the greatest week of my life" And just like that, he's gone. Poor Saul can't catch a break.

...and like a minute later with a phone call from Kim, he catches a break. A firm in Santa Fe wants him and he can then work on his case. Sounds a bit too good to be true, so I'm wondering how Saul's gonna squeeze out of this one.

He does it by realizing that law as a means to money is basically nothing like what his life has been, so why let it start now? THIS is the capstone moment then, when he fully embraces what is to be his new identity, which is really the same as his old identity but merged with the veneer of lawyerism. From an outsider standpoint it does seem kinda dumb when he very clearly had gotten what he wanted, even as far as to impress Hamlin with how he took care of Chuck every day, which clearly influenced Hamlin in pushing for this other firm to take in Saul. Through hard work and perseverance, Saul's efforts were just about to pay off, but then he turned around and left.

And this is where we end the season. A bit of a meandering journey to get to a known destination, but I enjoyed the vast majority of it. It lingered in a few weird places, but nothing I'd knock it too hard for. I'm excited to see where the later seasons go since they've been plenty hyped up as helping this show catch up and even exceed BB.


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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

None, but not because I don't believe in the science on why wearing one is a good idea, I just don't get in situations where I'd need one. Get stuff delivered by amazon and do grocery pickups such that I don't need to leave the vehicle.

I do have some handkerchiefs and hair ties that I can make into masks if needed, though.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

tyder21 posted...

Maybe you guys know how to wire-up all your generators and solar panels successfully to a nuclear launch facility. I certainly don't. I'm also assuming that these facilities are setup in ways where it would be impossible for a sole infiltrator to actually do anything even WITH power.

I'm just not feeling good about this plan.

Good thing you have time to get a ph.d in engineering and jury rig any system to make it think there are people (Simple articulating robots can be installed in any necessary terminal keyed to your commands, and you can do this because you are a master engineer).

Or take time to become a master thief and break into every secret government facility to learn all the needed secrets to facilitate this plan. Most places assume some level of human presence to deter thieves and don't generally have countermeasures against an infinte amount of C4 applied to the entrance of choice.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

tyder21 posted...

I don't see how the power will still be running by the time I successfully break into anywhere that has nuclear weapons to launch,

Just use a bike and a biiiiig battery. Move acres of solar panels to your desired location. Exploit backup generators from everywhere, hospitals are probably an easy target there. You've got time. All the time. Enough time for water to make a grand canyon. Nothing is blocked off from you with enough poking.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

I start an exhaustive task of breeding wasps for intelligence, slowly but surely guiding them along the way as they develop the right tools and logic necessary to become the next supreme beings on the planet. Then I wait until they either destroy themselves or Wasp God poofs them out of existence to task one immortal one to eliminate all x. If the former happens, mission accomplished! If the latter happens, I have a new friend for eternity.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

One detail that's been sinking in over the course of this season is the opening. As opposed to BB's intro which, while iconic, never changed...BCS's has a different backing every time. Some elements like the title are the same, as is the little ditty that plays, but it makes me wanna watch it every time. Probably also helps that it's like...5 seconds long.

So...Chuck seems to be 'cured'? With 2 episodes to go before the end of the season, including this one, that's...probably not a good sign. This show is not called 'Better Call Chuck' after all.

On the Mike side of things, he's packin' a pimento sandwich. Events unfold beautifully. Mike is the best <3

That's adorable...HHM is collecting phones and shutting down computers for Chuck's arrival. Clapping when Chuck enters even.

Damn...Saul's pulling a Walter White here. Gets offered free money for canc...erm, finder's fee + 20% of the end result, and he gives a big 'Fuck You' since Hamlin doesnt wanna hire him.

Naturally, Mike planned ahead and knew he didn't need a gun due to the situation Nacho was operating under. Nice seeing Nacho again too, for that matter.

Oof...drama bombshells dropping at the end of this episode like someone just declared war. Turns out Chuck was the reason Saul didn't get in because he's 'not a real lawyer' which, is not a completely inaccurate assessment, but it also reeks of classism. Saul acts pretty much as I'd expect he would given the circumstances. No external lashing out, just bottling it inside as he walks away.

In fairness, we all knew Saul wouldn't be getting the cushy career job, but the devil is in the details, and Chuck is apparently that devil.


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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Oh if only I could read lips to hear Hamlin's conversation with Saul. Context makes it fairly clear, but still.

In his Elder Law antics, Saul might just have stumbled upon a real case. Elderly abuse is quite a real thing. But he's gonna have to be smart about this. Or let's be real...get Mike involved somehow because the back of a notepad and toilet paper ain't gonna cut it.

Climbing into an old folks home dumpster on the slim chance he might find something incriminating. Then two goons dump trash bags that spill out on him unknowingly. This is kinda painful to watch XD

Bwahaha...and it was in the recyclables. Now he just needs to reconstitute some documents from a massive pile of shredded paper. Easy, right? Oh, and they also have to be supportive of his case.

Huh, didn't expect Chuck helping out, much less becoming a partner on this case. Saul's probably got this in the bag with Chuck's knowledge on his side.

Seems to go ok, though Chuck has me a smidge worried. Saul was doing an awful lot of the talking in the meeting with the opposition, and went big with the settlement price. Maybe his reasoning is valid, but he also thinks electromagnetism has it out for him...which he seems to be able to 'beat' by being super focused on a case.

Dunno how this is all gonna shake down, but I'm rootin' for our pal Saul.


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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

I see ol' Saul's trying to woo Kim to his side with his fancy office space and fancy corner office. Guess elder law really does pay the big bucks, or at least it will until he runs out of bribe money.

Meanwhile, she's still working with HHM on that Kettleman case and they're stubbornly still insisting they're innocent, as if just saying it enough will make it true. They could probably be modern politicians with that kind of mentality.

They really are adorkable though, who could want them to get a guilty verdict? Certainly not Saul, who takes forever to realize that if they were to take a deal involving the money, it would have to all be present, some of which having had been slid his way.

It also amuses me that the Kettlemans happen to have a house that's seemingly more window than wall so that we can see them react when discovering some money outside.

All worth it to get to watch Mike doing Mike things. Bit of a jazzy little tune playing all the while, which was a little distracting.

Which gets the Kettlemans to ultimately go back to Kim, saving her reputation and putting Saul back at square one.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

First quarter of this episode all about Mike and a peek into his past...it's pretty much what I expected it to be like.

Back in the show's present, we're still on Mike who summons Saul by chanting 'lawyer' three times in front of some cops. Never figured Mike for a magician, but he is a man of many talents and few words.

This is kinda like the first episode, there is a LOT to absorb here regarding Mike's background, and frankly I'm only barely keeping afloat with my general knowledge of who and what Mike is from BB.

I like how when we go back to the past, presumably to Philly, the universal sign of 'we're not in Albuquerque' is that there is snow on the ground. Happened in New Hampshire too. Man, it is so weird seeing Mike operate in anything other than peak condition. Except given what he did (with the aim he had) and some of the actions before the goons were on him, he must have been expertly acting drunk to guide their actions. Mike never fails to amaze.

"I broke my boy" Welp. Now I can say it is weird seeing him operate in less than peak condition. Here Mike is having emotions and stuff. :'(

Very little Saul this episode, he was more like a guest star. This one was all about Mike and now a lot of my confusion earlier in the episode is gone, I'm left walking away thinking I know Mike that much better. On that front, quite the excellent episode!

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Cops disturb Chuck over a news journal. Door opens, their tasers out. Perhaps soon we shall see how deep in his head his condition runs.

And then this Ricky character has to deflate any pretense of drama this episode had by claiming he wants to succeed from the US. Had a feeling it was gonna be fake money when he offered a million. If there's one lesson to be learned from these shows, people often think way too highly of themselves.

Next dude has a chair. Mentions fisher-price and playsckool. Before the chair reveal, I kept thinking 'please don't be a sex thing, please don't be a sex thing, please don't be a sex thing'. Then it just barely managed to straddle the line. After sex toilet guy, I get the feeling that all of Saul's important meetings are gonna be these cranks.

Next one is a sweet old lady, I was kinda thinking 'cannibal' would be another easy target, but 'old people' is fine too. Yet against all odds, this one is a win of sorts? Bit small on the fee, but money is money.

Now back to Chuck, who is in a hospital where we learn that he and Saul are brothers and that his condition is definitely more on the 'all in his head' side of things and that Saul through helping him is mostly just enabling him.

Saul thinks he gonna break into elderly law after a few lucky strikes. Mike, meanwhile, gets a lot of camera focus for...no apparent reason.

I guess I have to take that back, as after the diner sitting and eating following his job of sitting and waiting, we see him sit and wait in his car watching someone before returning home where he can finally relax and sit and wait for the cops to arrive and presumably take him downtown for him to sit and wait for Saul to represent him.

Mike takes life at a measured pace, and I think that's part of his charm. Guy's like a rock. It was great seeing more than a few seconds of him too.


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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

"I never did catch your name" "Saul...'s all good, man, get it?" How...how did I not see that before? I'm going to chalk that up to extreme differences in culture between Saul presenting himself as an attorney and wouldn't go for such street talk and Saul the small time criminal who would.

Speaking of small time crime, opening conned me hard, if Past Saul crime is gonna be a recurring thing, I'm down.

The Kettlemans are such adorable criminals. Pretty much the perfect opening act for this kind of show. I'm sure things will develop into something deeper and darker as BCS worldbuilds more, but for now this is a fun family for Saul to play off of. Can Saul take a bribe? Is he really the kind of lawyer guilty people hire? One day, we shall know the answer to these questions and more.

Love how completely unflappable Nacho is when confronted by Saul's speeching at him about how many mistakes were made that night.

Ah, so he CAN take bribe money, sorry, 'retainer fees'. "Upon this rock, I will build my church" Feels like this is the moment that Saul irrevocably transforms.

Lawl, so THAT was what the suit and look were for? Not money excess, but a little jab at this Hamlin guy? I'm with Kim on this one. What is his angle?

"Hamlindigo blue" lol

Saul really does seem to be trying here. He's not an idiot, so why is his brain so badly broken here?

At first I was shocked the guy fell from the sign, hanging by a strap. Then as Saul sprang into action it clicked. He didn't want the sign to keep the sign, it was a long con to make sure a great many eyes were on it. As a bonus, if HMM were to further pursue the takedown of the sign, it would be bad optics that Saul could use as leverage. It's basically win-win for Saul either way, and all it took was a little personal risk on his part.

Chuck-o-vision as Chuck dares to venture outside wrapped in his space blanket was a humorous touch. Saul was perhaps a bit too obvious in his skirting of the truth in their conversation. Alas, Chuck now knows Saul's up to some old habits. Pretty calm way to end the episode, but slow and steady wins the race.


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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Mega Mana posted...

You finally meet Nacho. Enjoy!

Ah. Guess that's one minor mystery solved!

So...not only the future, but the past as well with this opening prison scene between Chuck and Jiimmy.

Saul calling a gal, apparently a lawyer lady friend of his, trying to get details on a case. Says family might be in danger. Reminds me of concerns some characters had on BB.

Phone trick with the paper towel roll and rubber banded paper was a curious little trick that semi-undercut his emotional wavering back and forth. No sense in showing him going through the steps in making it if it wasn't gonna see use, after all.

Also, as he's calling Nacho, it is at this point I realize Saul's singlehandedly keeping the pay phone business afloat. Part of his extreme down-on-his-luck-can't-catch-a-break charm, and also a fun counterpoint to BB Saul who has a few dozen highly snappable phones on tap. I guess when Chuck chucked his phone the other episode, he really did a number on it.

Ah...Nacho thinks Saul set him up.

Ooh, now this is a nice scene. If this were Psych or some other lighthearted show, Saul's 'where's the doll' thing would be worked up as the smoking gun to turnaround the case. But this isn't those shows, and the detectives aren't idiots at their job, and had made the doll connection. The most they grant is that it is possible, but also possible the baddie let the girl take it.

And then Mike happens in a more-than-a-montage way and I'm happy. Finally, the two have something like a conversation together!

Cute how the show primes us for Saul's discovery with the back of the van decal of a family camping. Or maybe that primed him, hard to say.

Whole family in that small of a tent space? They'd murder each other before the week was out! Or maybe murder Saul after discovering them and helping rip open their secret money bag.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Ah how I have missed you Tuco, you and your crazy unhinged antics. Sweet little grandma too, Saul's would-be goons never stood a chance. I appreciate how you can even hear Saul's car pull up while we're viewing events from the interior.

Man...bad guys really do love their wide open areas in the middle of nowhere. Anything could happen to these chuckleheads, anything at all.

Lovin' Saul having to talk Tuco down from murder to a singular broken leg. On the one hand, Saul has a direct involvement with their pain, which ironically mirrors their attempted scam, but on the other hand...he also kinda saved their lives. He's probably still gonna agonize over it regardless.

Huh, Tuco really did a number on Saul with the mental scarring. Cute touch with the breadsticks, very symbolic. I guess that was Tuco in future black-and-whiteville too, telling me that Saul never truly gets over this.

Speaking of not getting over things, Chuck continues to have a mysterious illness, seems to be related to electronics or metal or something as I'm realizing him asking 'did you ground yourself' is part of it. Which...explains the lack of lighting last episode too, but plot was covering so much ground I thought it was some kind of blackout Saul accidentally caused. Nope, just Chuck being crazy or something.

Oh right, seeing him again reminds me, completely forgot to mention seeing Mike last episode. Parking lot ticket guy...now that's rich!

Bit of a long cut of Saul's day-to-day life, but while perhaps a touch lengthy, it paints a suitably dreary picture of the conditions he's working in.

Naturally, as he goes through the effort of relaxing in his office space, a customer appears.

It's one of Tuco's goons. Was this one alive in BB? I don't remember seeing him there, he's looking too sharp looking and capable. So much so it makes me wonder why he's running in Tuco's circle.


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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Debated on if I should make a new topic for BCS, but everyone's already following this one and BCS is the logical extension of BB so it should work out alright.

I watched the first episode last night, and gotta say, it starts out running compared to BB. Well, it literally starts in a confusing slow-paced black and white void that is pretty certainly the future given there's a 'Better Call Saul' ad playing on TV and also a Cinnabon featured which was Saul's offhand remark about where he'd like to poof to if he had a choice.

The actual meat of the episode moves along at a brisk pace though with Saul 'Slippin Jimmy' Goodman encountering some skateboarding hipsters looking to pull the ol' hit-by-a-car con. Saul gives them some good advice, helps them up their game until plans go south both in how events shake out, and the skater boys' 'ditch Saul' response.

Right as Saul's about to resolve this situation, a random Tuco appearing right at the end....did NOT see that coming. Had a good laugh, I did!

And then there's the whole Chuck situation with the big fancy law firm with Saul trying to fight for what's best for the guy who keeps saying he'll beat whatever his illness is. Clearly a mentor type to ol' Saul.

It all gets introduced so quickly, but a lot of it is also steeped in tropes so while the exact beats remain a mystery, it still felt fairly well worn. Yadda yadda lawyers being lawyers, down on his luck hero needs a lucky break. Tried and true though, and it will be particularly interesting how Saul as a character is shaped given what we already know of how he is in the other show.

Also amuses me how Saul's dump of an office in BB was quite a step up from his current office location in the backroom of a hair parlor.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Whatever form our future robot overlords choose to take will be just fine with me.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

This isn't a new one. This is an old eleven.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

It was definitely more bonus content than I was expecting, but then the show was fairly well wrapped up with a bow, there wasn't too much left of a story to tell, so in that respect El Camino did an astounding job working with what it had. It neither self-indulged in the source material nor broke the general vibe the series promoted. It had to add in elements, but they weren't that unnatural.

I just am getting a bit hung up on how unneeded the movie was, and it probably doesn't help that I was never much on the Jesse bandwagon to begin with.

Still, it was not an unfun watch, and had a number of fine moments. Now I am finally free from this series, free to pursue other things but will invariably probably be Better Call Saul because I rather do want to see more of how Saul came to be.

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El Camino time.

Opening scene...Mike chat about Alaska. Makes sense that this is where Jesse'd get the idea.

Right where show left off, Jesse's on the run. Flees to his stoner pals. Cute touch in showing the former locations of Saul and Gus' buildings.

Jesse's got a bad case of the ptsditis, I bet this is gonna lead to more fun as the movie develops.

Goes for the Walt look, nice.

Nice to see junkyard guy again, but he's no help as it turns out cops will be swarming that car sooner rather than later, as the LoJack was activated.

Huh...think this is the first time we see Skinny without his hat. "Dude, you're my hero and shit"

So this is a story with a past/present kind of framing then, I guess that's neat, although there's precious little new information learned about these characters. Todd's doing Todd things while Jesse's busy being quiet in either time period. There's no particular tension beyond Jesse needing to watch out for cops and all we're getting in the past so far is a glimpse of his horrible working conditions under Todd's management which is going every bit as much as we could have presumed. Don't get me wrong, it's still fun viewing, but it's just lacking the bite the show tended to have.

I say right before Jesse lucks into some hidden money riiiight as some police show up and discover a Todd/Lydia snowglobe.

Man, we're like, halfway through here, a whole episode's worth and really a whole lot of not much has happened.

I need to stop saying things right before they become the opposite. In fairness, there were probably a vast numbers of tells these weren't cops thinking back at their actions, but even still I was fooled. The ol' fridge logic strikes again.

Honor among thieves, Jesse wrangles away a third and then realizes he's seen that welder before.

Now the scope of the movie becomes apparent. Jesse needs $1800 to let vacuum guy poof him, likely to Alaska. Vacuum guy makes absolutely no compromise on his principles, and I quite admire that.

Jesse does what any good son would do and calls his parents. Honestly, this series should have been called Breaking Phones, he does that here that's how sure his plan's gonna work. Made extra funny because this movie came out recently in these times where virtually nobody has a phone like that anymore.

Pretty solid action with the Kandy boys, somehow against all odds Jesse manages to be badass in ways that even Walt would be impressed with. Went perhaps a bit too Michael Bay at the end, but that's a movie budget for you.

Feels pretty weird seeing Walt and Jesse in a diner together even knowing this is deep in the past where they're not known to be druglords. Heck, they barely know it at this point too. Seems a pretty inconsequential scene to add too. Really, most of this movie's been one big why cobbled together from fairly shoestring thin plot. If the show had ended on a 30 second scene of Jesse setting foot into Alaska, rather than a zoom out on Walt's corpse, it would have accomplished most of what this movie did.

Still, the deed is done and Mr. Driscoll's now got a new life ahead of him.

But before we go, apparently Jane's actor was paid to be in this movie to for all of a hot minute. I guess the big takeaway from all of this is make your own decisions in life and don't let the universe be your guide? I guess that jives with a lot of the decisions Jesse made over the course of the movie.

All in all, pretty meh experience. It does serve as a reasonable capstone to the series, certainly worth a watch if one's already invested 5 seasons of time. It just felt a bit...tacked on, serving to elaborate on things that needed no elaboration. That said, it also strikes me that of like, the entire cast, Jesse is the only one that seems to be walking away with a happy ending, so that's neat. Maybe Saul too, but that's probably other show territory. Everyone else though? Tragedies all around, don't do drugs kids!


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I've been making use of pick-up options, no need to go in the store and while there's an occasional substitution, it generally has worked in my favor a lot of the time.

Actual delivery is not an option for my specific location, but picking up is the next best thing.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

The episodes with the fly and the RV not starting kind of stand out to me looking at the volume of episodes. They stood out in the moment too, but the show was always careful not to overly dwell on any one particular point, often juggling half a dozen things at once, but here's some singular moments where the characters are forced to settle down and breathe a bit, small pauses in the generally steady march of progress the show beats out. They're not my favorite episodes, but they're highly notable and I'd certainly regard them favorably. The rest of the series all kinda blends together into various arcs that, while all distinct, are all interesting in their own manners.

As for characters, I'm not sure how I'd definitively rank them. Heck, I'm trying to think of a character I would even put in a lower tier. Maybe Marie, as she was a grab bag of issues I didn't particularly care for, but even still she had her moments and gets some boost by being married to Hank, who is absolutely a Hank tier character if ever there was one. I never cared much for Jr. or Skyler, so they'd be middling tier at best, but neither of them are bad characters and they both have some pretty awesome moments here and there.

Walt and Jesse I am not even going to pretend I can rank right now....they have such badass moments that are countered by equally boneheaded moments. Walt and Jesse are both good and bad characters that exist outside of conventional character-space and I want to hate and love them both so much but they make it so gosh darn hard at times and whine at each other and hurt each other and try to kill each other and sometimes hug each other, all for no particular gain. They are the yin and yang of the series through which everything pivots around for good and bad, less characters and more agents of plot momentum.

Anyway, Mike and Hank rule, Saul's solid too. Also Gus. Also Hector. Also John de Lancie. Also Walt when he's being a badass. Also Todd. Most of the rest of the cast are floating in a neutral zone. At the bottom are people like Marie or honestly...Lydia. Upon reflection...never really cared for Lydia's antics much. Still can't think of any character I'd truly call bad though.

edit: and special shoutout to Badger and Skinny Pete who were far far superior characters than what I expected them to be despite them being what I expected. Stoner losers but...also sci-fi nerds, and I absolutely love that.

edit: extra special mention to Gale because he's absolutely Hank tier but I forgot about him because he's been dead for a while. Such a lovable little scamp <3

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

I was cutting some carrots earlier and I was pretty insulted my hand was taking on an orangish hue.

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MysticBrohan posted...

wild youre calling him Lambert

That's clearly his name. He's got an ID card and everything to prove it. Or at least he did, until he died of bullet cancer.

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I'm quite happy I checked the show out. I can see why people gush fondly about it, the writing was pretty on point throughout the entire run, and the acting was there to back it up. Scenes flowed naturally as a consequence of what came before, and while not every action made perfect sense there was always at least some thread of logic one could point to as some justification.

While I definitely liked some characters more than others, they were all pretty uniformly great, adding a ton of depth to the story as they bounced around interacting among themselves. It's a shame that some characters like Walt I stopped rooting for partway through the series, and it became less about wanting to see him succeed and more about wanting to see how he fell. I'm not sure how I feel about Jesse after all this either, he's a stupidly curvy rollercoaster with how often I've flipped my views of him. I think he's currently rising up at the end here though, he's been put through the wringer yet clung to some basic sense of decency. More than a few good characters are dead now too...Gus, Hank, Mike, Todd, and Lydia to name a few. All elevating this show that would otherwise just be the sad tale of a guy who wanted to make some money selling meth.

Yeah, good stuff all around, and I can't see much more ground it could hope to cover with this movie, let alone there being a whole other show with some connection to this one.

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Oh boy, here we go, I'm all hyped for this final episode.

Yeah...Lambert's definitely going after the Schwartzes. I guess he was a little twigged about them scrubbing his legacy some after all.

...or I could be wrong and he's reverse-robbing them to get them to give his son some of the money he's achieved. Alright, that's fair...demented and unhinged as Lambert is, family's always been his sticking point.

Alright, absolutely beautiful moment with the finger gesture and red dots appearing, but I find it a little unrealistic that all it takes to get a billionaire potentially assassinated is $200k. I feel like a lot of rich people would be a lot more dead if this was truly the case. But I'm down with letting Lambert have his moment here, this is his story after all. Heck, knowing Lambert, he paid like $10 to have some kids shine some laser pointers on his signal for a minute.

...holy fuck, it really was just some laser pointers. And it was Badger and Skinny Pete. At least he paid better than I thought XD

Damn...Todd meeting with Lydia and I'm sucked into their conversation that Lambert walking over and setting a chair at the table goes unnoticed by me. Well shot, I dig it. He asks for 2 minutes of their time, that's all. He's got a new method you see, no methylamine required! I love how in pretty much every one of his talks to people it always makes so much sense in the moment, but any critical examination given starts chipping away at it. He basically operates 100% on Fridge Logic, and I'd have it no other way.

The show places a curious emphasis on that stevia going into Lydia's drink, just scenes after the show reminded us that Lambert sneaked into the White house to retrieve the ricin from behind the outlet. He's also keenly aware of Lydia's schedule habits and there was just the singular packet of stevia there. Gee, I wonder what's gonna happen soon to her. Or is that just what the show wants us to think?

Ahahah, the framing of the conversation with Skyler with that support beam specifically blocking Lambert. Thought that was a bit of an awkward shot. They're having a very artsy day with this last episode.

"I did it for me. I liked it" Plain and simple and might actually be true.

Watching him watch Jr. come home from school and then turning and walking away...this might very well be as much closure as we get on this side of the plot. They seem like they're getting by, and there's just one final issue to contend with before Lambert goes away for good.

This showdown shakes out about how I figured it might, although quite a few details had to work out juuust right for it to work as it did. Car placement, verticallity of the persons involved, everyone being present, etc. Amusing how the boss always dies last in these kind of situations.

Jesse is now a free man...I like the bearded look he's got going on, not that he had much choice in that. In a pretty important scene, when given a clear chance to kill Lambert, he declined, despite all he's been through. Even in a moment such as this, he's able to turn the other cheek. One wonders what sort of person he'd be if it were not for Walt's corrupting influence on him. It might also be that spying the wound taken, he knew it would be unnecessary. Little room for interpretation here, but I'm feeling optimistic.

Final scene of the show has him fawning over the lab, memories undoubtedly going through his head as the gunshot wound becomes too much to bear and he bites the big one. Police show up for whatever reason, cue camera zoom out and song.

Gotta say, I like how what gets him in the end is not the cancer, but getting shot as a direct result of his actions. Looked like a lung shot too, for added irony. So ends the story of a would be drug emperor.

Now I just gotta track down the movie and then I can consider moving on to this Saul show people have been talking up all over the internet.


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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Final episode's gonna be delayed as I'm gonna sleep...if I weren't trying to collect some thoughts while I watched I'd have plowed through, but I think this will turn out better on a fresher mind.

Still, it is always a pleasure to hear someone's gotten some enjoyment out of my barely coherent ramblings.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Heh, Saul took the buyout option too...sneaky way to fake us out a bit. Finally we get to see this guy and his vacuum shop. And Walt's there too because this is the future and not the past. He's going a little crazy in his isolation.

Saul makes well reasoned arguments...not even Mike could get money to his granddaughter. I also didn't even consider the phone call might have been a ploy, although at this point I'm not sure if that's just Saul's read on the matter or if that truly was part of Walt's larger plan. Leaning towards the former as Walt's world is just one big hot mess right now.

Although at least this answers who the guns were for in the opening tease this season. All to kill Jack and his crew to get Walt's illegal drug money back so he can give it to his kids because Walt's imagination lives in a reality where this will be possible.

"It's not over until cough cough cough-cough cough" Gee Walt, I don't remember you saying it like that. Also, kinda neat how this cough has slowly started to make its way back this final season, a firm reminder of how this whole shebang got started.

Somehow, despite the mask, I was able to recognize that as Todd...possibly the stance or his eyes. What are you doing at Walt's place, Todd? Oh, he's trying to make sure his waifu is safe. Alright, carry on.

Mr. Lambert has officially arrived in New Hampshire and is annoyed at the lack of things like phones to contact people. This guy's got business to do, you see. But he's also part of a nation-wide manhunt so he's lucky to be as hidden as he is.

96% batch and Jesse's reward is...a bit of ice cream. The vital nutrition of Ben and Jerry's Americone Dream fuels Jesse's muscles, giving him the strength and stamina to push beyond his limits and somehow make it out of that pit. Unsurprisingly, he doesn't get much further than that because Todd is presumably not an idiot and also there was a camera.

Aaaand there goes Andrea. She lasted far longer than Jane, although Jane still had a cooler dad. "There's still the kid" scene cuts to black before we can hear any confirming resolution. Jesse is really having a very not fun time in his own personal hell.

Meanwhile, Lambert's in a seeming eternal purgatory, slowly working up the courage to break free. Nothing is stopping him but himself.

Eventually he goes the distance though, but learns through a conversation with Jr. and then through a TV interview, that nobody really wants Walter White around anymore, and his contribution was essentially nil.

So he was ready to call it quits I guess, until something sparked him into action. Was it hearing that blue meth was still going strong? There's only so much plot that can happen with one more episode to go.


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Huh...I've gotten so very used to seeing Walt bald that this flashback to the first cook with him having hair is unsettling. Early Walt was such a Ned Flanders it boggles my mind how much he's changed and yet there is no singular moment where I could pinpoint a transition, it was all so gradual.

But come on show...you left us hanging. Let's get back to that. Ok, cool, a fading out of Walt and the RV. I get it We're in a different era now. Let's get back to the important shooty bits please.

Gomey seems to be dead, a fatal case of offscreenitis. Hank's about to be dead, but Walt's brand of insanity really does put family first, and he offers his $80 million in barrel bux.

No dice. Hank's looking particularly well framed these last few shots of his, then he gets shot and it is done. Not quite the way I thought his death would go, but it goes about as well as I could have hoped given these circumstances. Walt's predictably beaten up about it.

I guess these goons are gonna be the final hurdle for Walt to overcome? Or are they really gonna make out with his dough unimpeded?

What a joke of a last minute save by Todd. Not that he's truly saving Jesse, he thinks he's being all rational about what Jesse might know. Unless he's secretly working to aid Jesse here, I never paid too close attention to his allegiances really. Regardless, Jesse gets a stay of execution while Todd and his band of merry men get a lot richer and Walt a lot poorer.

Jesus Christ Walt..."I watched her die" "I could have saved her, but I didn't" There's no low this sociopath could sink to that wouldn't be higher than what he deserves. Although, we're watching things sink before our eyes here with the money mostly taken, Hank dying, and Jesse now forever beyond reconciliation. Ozymandias...shaping up to be a pretty apt title name.

Even now the show's got a sense of humor as a cheerful old tune starts playing and Walt rolls his money barrel to the abode of one of the reservations' residents. Offers money for their truck, perhaps as a metacommentary on the injustice of America towards the original inhabitants, but more likely because Walt just needs a plausible way to get home.

Oh wow...is Todd really doing what I think he's doing? Is Jesse going to live for a while because he can cook good meth? With a picture of Andrea and Brock right there to give Jesse motivation. Not that I expect anyone to be good on a show called Breaking Bad, but that's just twisted XD

And the twisted humor continues with the family stumbling upon Walt who is packing like his life depends on it.

...and he just drives off with the baby. Wtf XD

Even the baby abandons Walt, with cries of 'mama'.

As Walt rips apart his phone after ripping apart the hearts of his family, it strikes me that quite a few phones over the series have been casually ripped in twain. Wouldn't be the case nowadays with 99% of phones being of rectangular design rather than flip phones. But yes, idle phone musings aside, this was a very passionate moment, among the highest the series has dared do...the few remaining pieces of Walt's world are now out of his reach and he knows it. There is no path to salvation he has remaining, it is all just a matter of time for him.

What a way to be right. Start of the season I reasoned Walt made the call to the guy that could make people poof, but never could I have imagined these circumstances that lead to it happening. Still plenty of fallout to process and not much time left to process them in.


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Lydia made it clear she wanted it blue for branding reasons, no worries there. I just wish there had been a firmer basis for the blue happening beyond the incidental nature of the process Walt used. It's as good an answer as I'm gonna get though, and frankly not gonna matter going forward as everything's currently going to heck.

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xp1337 posted...

Honestly that might be my favorite episode in the series.

It did though, IIRC. Way back in Season 1 when they first started. It was a side-effect of the method Walt was using. I forget the details.

His first batch was clear. It was using the stolen barrel stuff that made it blue, but his secret power was never the blue, it was always the purity he could bring to the meth. There was absolutely nothing special about it being blue other than as a result of adjustments he had to make to make use of the stuff he stole. There was never a satisfying explanation why it was blue, and you would think Walt being a chemistry guy could have explained the interactions that would cause it to be so. The only reason he couldn't is because blue meth doesn't actually exist.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Good ol' Todd keeping the meth business afloat. Batch isn't blue enough for Lydia, but it's amusing to watch them all look down and profess the levels of blueness they think they see in this not-blue meth. This does kinda throw some shade on the whole blue thing though, as that was more of an accident than anything, the purity was always Walt being a good chemist and the show never really told us why the blue happened, just that it did.

Oh the power a real fake image can have...Hank pitches the scenario perfectly too. Poor Huell's suckered in.

Hah, killers don't want money, they just need Walt to tutor Todd some more, work on that purity and color. This would almost be a normal high school chemistry teacher scenario if you took away the killing and the meth making.

And Walt agrees...one cook, after Jesse dies. Just one more cook until retirement...something tells me events will conspire to foil Walt's plans. Jesse is too much of a main character to just die unceremoniously.

"You see, the thing is, is that Jesse and I had this argument recently. And I won't bore you with the details..." Friggin lost it right here for a few minutes laughing. Walt, who poisoned Brock, the central point of Jesse's argument with Walt, is here talking to Andrea while Brock casually sits nearby eating Fruit Loops. The sheer calmness with which Walt speaks in this scenario...my poor sides!

Quite a nice little ambush by Walt, and quite a nice ambush noticing by Hank.

Oh that's lovely...Jesse sending a photo of a barrel full of money. They really seem to be on a real fake picture kick tricking badguys. Good thing Hank's not on the clock because this sure doesn't sound like official police procedures. Amusingly, this is only made possible because Huell was highly descriptive of the money and barrel situation.

Everything about Walt's frantic race to his cash is gold.

Inevitably, Walt figures it out, but it very well might be too late. As he calls his hit squad, finally the name of this damn episode makes sense...it is the name of the Indian reservation where Walt hid his money, the thing which he cares more about than life itself it would seem.

Really, quite a beautiful little area this is too. Love the little mesa with its bands of rock layers. I bet Hank would love it too if he wasn't busy trying to catch Walt.

Walt strolls on out...how the devil is he gonna squeeze his way out if this one? We know he makes it to 52 and isn't locked away, so something's gotta happen here, plus there are episodes left to go.

Woah...according to Jesse, this was the place they first cooked. It all comes full circle, hah.

"It may be a while before I get home" Fuck, this situation is sounding too perfect for Hank, why do I get the feeling something bad's about to happen to him?

...and the cavalry seems to be arriving. welp.

Oh come on....that is NOT a proper way to end the episode! There is no way I can wait to see the result of this shootout! Although...it hilariously seemed like nobody was injured here at the episode's end. So many bullets, so much car damage, but no screams of death.


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foolm0r0n posted...

you ever heard of this guy called Vince Gilligan?

I see the name on the theme, but I have 0 knowledge of him as a person. This show is the only place I've ever seen that name.

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Quite a lively discussion y'all are happening about Walt whistling, lol.

Although here's a little hilarious tidbit the internet has provided me: The tune Walt is whistling in that scene is "Lily of the Valley" by Johnny Cash. I went and looked it up, and I don't quite hear it myself, but boy a lot of people seem to think this is the case.

Anyway, this episode opens with Walt sneaking into his own place, something he's surprisingly well practiced at given how many times he's done so over the course of this show. His gun seems to have thawed on the ride over.

Ah...guess we're spared a house in flames for now. It's pretty impressive how Walt can spin a plausible-ish story from nothing but a gas soaked rug. He's had quite some practice to be fair. Although not enough that his family can't tell he's covering something up, though Jr. completely misreads the situation.

"For 3 hours straight all he talked about was something called Babylon 5" I'm pretty sure with all the stoner sci-fi talk that's happened, there's gotta be at least one geek on the show's writing staff, or else are otherwise in tune with nerd culture...either way that makes me quite happy. But yeah, Babylon 5...definitely an underrated classic.

They actually go ahead and do the hotel thing, looks like a classier room than I've had the pleasure of staying in. It's weird how because there's 5 seasons of drama that have happened to mold every character's view, and our views of them, that every conversation is now like a little puzzle as you have to think of not only the surface discussion, but also how much each party knows about events, what their stances on the matter are, what they'd like things to be, and all manner of things that add layers and layers of nuance to just about every word said.

Like, just something as simple as Skyler asking Walt if Jesse has ever hurt anyone, to which Walt simply replies 'no', even though we the viewer know good and well what Jesse did to Major Tom Wannabe. Is this merely what Walt thinks Skyler wants to hear or perhaps what he needs her to hear as part of his machinations, or maybe he is so far gone as to genuinely believe Jesse is legitimately innocent and merely a victim of circumstance and not truly responsible for their actions.

...huh. Even knowing not to trust interpretations of events that happen when the camera isn't rolling, I gotta say I wasn't expecting the rewind to Jesse's gasoline adventures to suddenly have a wild Hank appear.

I love that Hank is so far outside the system with his actions, and Jesse is so far removed from Walt's sphere with his actions, that the two can somehow manage to form some kind of unholy alliance. There's probably some kind of perfect chemistry analogy to be made here, but Walt hasn't been a chemistry teacher for a few seasons now.

Jesse's word vs Walt's word...but presumably he's told the whole story to Hank and Gomey. No actual evidence sadly, but Hank's never without a new course of action. "Your plan is to do his plan?" I'm kinda with Jesse here, a good plan this is not, but it is all they really have at the moment.

I'm not sure what Jesse is playing at with skipping this meeting, but he seems to have thought of a new plan. Walt seems to be stirred into action too. Stuff is surely about to go down.


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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Six episodes to go...hard to stop here at the end, the plot's done got me suckered in. Like, we know Walt survives at least to 52, but so many hows and whys are blank. Jesse's fate is still anyone's guess, and everyone else is some mixture of unimportant, dead, or Hank. I hope Saul makes it through all of this ok too, because it would sure be a bummer if the spinoff show starred two people fated to die in the near future. It's bad enough that I now know that Mike's a big deal on that show. I was all pleased with that knowledge, but then Walt and the list had to go and happen. I'm sure he's still fantastic on Saul's show, but knowing his future is probably gonna be a sore spot when I get around to viewing that show. Frankly, I find it amusing that it is both still on the air and by a number of accounts has exceeded Breaking Bad in goodness.

You know, I like Todd. He's like some kind of mirror universe Jesse. He's also kind of an idiot, but in a lovable way. Here he is dropping the names of his associates to some nobodies in this diner, and it's just so gosh darn precious I almost want him to live.

Interesting...Walt decides to make a confession video.

More importantly, the show has impeccable comedic timing, for as this serious meeting between Walt/Skyler and Hank/Marie starts to kick off, the waiter pops by to do everything you'd expect a waiter to do.

Frankly, I never tire of hearing Walt give his speeches. It doesn't matter if he's wrong or right in what he's saying, I just love how he says it. I almost want to believe in him, but it's far too late for that.

Quite the tense little chat this is too, with Marie suggesting Walt kills himself. Heck, that's probably what ends up happening too, him 'dying' and running off to some new life with a new identity.

Oh wow...that's not a confession video, but a 'confession' video. The difference is subtle, but I feel bad for Hank now. It is such a glorious mixture of truth and lie, I love it.

I'm growing tired of these dad talks Walt has with Jesse, but thankfully Jesse's tired of them too. Not long after, he seems like he's giving the matter consideration regardless. I guess he's getting a new ID too? Or maybe he'll be sneaky and make it for Walt.

Or maybe the show will pull some batshit crazy logic out of nowhere and Jesse will be pointing a gun at Saul because something something cigarette.

Oh. Jesse is the apocalypse. Alright, future house checks out now. And Walt is presumably gonna try and do a murder on Jesse too...loved the hurried pullup into casual strolling into the store and chatting like nothing is wrong bit he did there. Such a frozen gun too, hope it still works right XD

Well, things are certainly going to be heating up soon, har har.


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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out