"Better Call Saul" series finale Monday, August 15 (new Odenkirk show on AMC)

[CantStandYa]

On the off chance anyone was as excited as I was to see Gale singing Tom Lehrer, here's an extended scene for the whole song:

I peed a little when I saw Gus heading to the community college after talking to Juan Bolsa. Especially since I've been watching Billions and Wags could not be more different than Gale for David Costabile to play.

The Hummel figurine theft reminded me of a funnier version of the train heist. Not quite as funny as the precursor theft with the ski masks though.

Did anyone catch the nail-polished hand ashing a cigarette into the justice statue in the title card? Skylar perhaps?

Also, I'm no expert, but unless the twins were close by, it sure seems like Nacho would've bled out from those two wounds. Especially the gut shot.

 

[Coach O]

Man, Kim is stressed out right now. The bank deal is too big for her to handle. And her reaction to Chuck's letter?

Beginning of the end for Kim?

 

[ImTheCaptain]

yeah, kim's brain is fried. wonder if she gets killed off or just snaps and moves back to the midwest

 

[deactherunner]

I'm working on the hypothesis that Kim faked the letter to try to get a less callous reaction out of Jimmy after "your cross to bear". Jimmy noted the lack of a date, which may have been a clue.

 

[PhDeac]

I think they would have shown Kim faking it. Do we know if Kim is good at forgery? I think it was a hand written letter.

 

[ImTheCaptain]

i don't think she forged it. I honestly don't think Jimmy gives a rip

 

[CantStandYa]

I don't know that Kim would've reacted the way she did to the letter if she knew what was coming. Unless she's a complete sociopath.

 

[PhDeac]

I don't know that Kim would've reacted the way she did to the letter if she knew what was coming. Unless she's a complete sociopath.

The argument would be that she was crying about Jimmy’s callous reaction to it.

 

[BarcaDeac]

so, who do we think cooked the meth? Declan? I thought when Gale mentioned that one of the cooks got contamination in the sample he would say he detected chili powder.

 

[ImTheCaptain]

so, who do we think cooked the meth? Declan? I thought when Gale mentioned that one of the cooks got contamination in the sample he would say he detected chili powder.

i also thought it was possibly a longshot ref to Captain Cook

side note, in the BB pilot, pinkman escapes the DEA bust b/c he's banging some suburban MILF. i feel like that's def not something the character would've achieved even by the end of S1

 

[PhDeac]

So the consensus view is that taking out Arturo and setting up the Salamanca hit is part of Gus’ long game to cook his own product north of the border. He has Gale testing local product to see who he should bring in to work for him. Gale knows what Gus is up to and desperately wants in on it.

Eventually Gus will realize all the local product is dreck and will hire Gale to run his lab under the laundry.

 

[BarcaDeac]

So the consensus view is that taking out Arturo and setting up the Salamanca hit is part of Gus’ long game to cook his own product north of the border. He has Gale testing local product to see who he should bring in to work for him. Gale knows what Gus is up to and desperately wants in on it.

Eventually Gus will realize all the local product is dreck and will hire Gale to run his lab under the laundry.

pretty much but Gale does test WW's sample in the flashback opening to S4, and says that he can get close to that but not Heisenberg level. Gus says Gale's level would be fine, but in the end does hire Heisenberg.

 

[PhDeac]

pretty much but Gale does test WW's sample in the flashback opening to S4, and says that he can get close to that but not Heisenberg level. Gus says Gale's level would be fine, but in the end does hire Heisenberg.

Good call. Thanks. I remember that now.

 

[HailToTheDeacons]

I thoroughly enjoyed the judge's performance from last night - he's the same actor who played Neelix on Star Trek Voyager. His mannerisms and cadence carried his scenes successfully while also advancing Kim's plot.

 

[PhDeac]

No show does slow like Better Call Saul.

Nacho’s whole storyline is misery. At some point, someone is going to put him out of it. The only thing we know is Jimmy thinks he could have put a hit on him years from now.

Sepinwall had some good thoughts about how this cell phone job will put Jimmy into contact with the Albuquerque criminal underworld. This could be the last job Jimmy has before he becomes Saul. Could also be where he got all the burner phones.

 

[BarcaDeac]

I thoroughly enjoyed the judge's performance from last night - he's the same actor who played Neelix on Star Trek Voyager. His mannerisms and cadence carried his scenes successfully while also advancing Kim's plot.

also was the main senator asking questions in the Veep episode where they're all testifying against one another.

I thought it was deliberate that they only showed tight exterior shots of the strip mall. seemed kinda familiar...

 

[BarcaDeac]

the BB Easter eggs are amazing...saw a commentator on the AV Club recap say that the woman who met Mike at the diner (can't remember her name) had a nametag for the bank where Mike would eventually keep his safety deposit boxes for his granddaughter and crew

 

[CantStandYa]

Nice visual queue from the first scene in the drug den to allow us all to picture it when the cousins were on their rampage later on.

Sure seems like Mike is out of any fucks to give.

RE: Nacho - I was thinking something like this all along, but couldn't quite put my finger on it:

Nacho is kind of the new Jesse Pinkman now, what with the way he’s getting beaten down into dust by a ruthless meth dealer, and how I feel bad for him all the time even though he’s a criminal and a murderer.

https://uproxx.com/tv/better-call-saul-recap-mike-hooey/

 

[PhDeac]

Here's a cool article on the actors who play the cousins. Glad they got more of a chance after not being the right fit for a season long arc in BB.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/apr/24/entertainment/la-et-breakingbad-20100416

For Luis, now 32, it's one of a long string of acting gigs that began in 2002, when a director spotted his tattoos and asked if he wanted to be in a film. For Daniel, 30, it's his first acting role.

"I tell my wife all the time, ‘Wow, look at how far we've come,' " Luis Moncada says, with Daniel sitting nearby. "


The journey included a few key stops, such as Luis' prison sentence for driving a stolen vehicle. "I'm not thankful I went to prison," he says, "but after going to prison, that's when you really, really, really think, ‘Wow, what a waste of time.' I had to change."

The acting career was an accident. Luis was a security guard on the set of a small film, "El Padrino," when director Damian Chapa spotted the gang tattoo around his neck and asked if he wanted to play Jennifer Tilly's bodyguard. "I was getting off in 10 minutes so I said, ‘You know what, sir? No thank you. I don't know if I can do eight or 12 more hours."


But Manuel Jimenez stood nearby. Jimenez is an ex-con who created Suspect Entertainment, a talent agency that turns reformed gang members into actors; Hollywood often utilizes Suspect when it needs to fill the role of a bad guy.


Jimenez convinced Luis to take the role and then signed him to the agency. A slew of other parts followed — "Gangbanger," "Carjacker," "Thug," his IMDB credits read. "Would you be cool with me if you saw me in an alley?" he asks. "No, you'd probably be scared of me. So I'm the bad guy. For now."

 

[Coach O]

No show does slow like Better Call Saul.

Nacho’s whole storyline is misery. At some point, someone is going to put him out of it. The only thing we know is Jimmy thinks he could have put a hit on him years from now.

Sepinwall had some good thoughts about how this cell phone job will put Jimmy into contact with the Albuquerque criminal underworld. This could be the last job Jimmy has before he becomes Saul. Could also be where he got all the burner phones.

Yep. Can't you see some low level criminals coming in to get burner phones, Jimmy chatting them up, and then starting to offer some basic legal advice...