Am I missing something? I thought this episode thread would have a lot of conversation. It’s the most interesting to me so far. And also maybe the first to be disappointing. First time that I got a little bit of a soap opera feel but also the first time I’ve been totally confused.
Why would Jimmy not get permission to send that commercial tape? Did he decide to throw it all away? Last episode showed that he benefited greatly from Kim’s encouragement when Chuck showed up, but I don’t see any reason to believe that he didn’t have enough confidence without her encouragement to ask for permission to send the commercial.
My best guess is that he wasn’t willing to continue working on the case if it didn’t earn him Kim’s total acceptance and he blew it on purpose. He did what he could to further the case but stepped just enough outside to get fired without it being obvious that he meant to. So he saves face just barely with Kim. She’s disappointed that he can’t be the man she wants him to be but she calls it off with him and he doesn’t have to admit that it hurts him that she doesn’t accept him completely. He can walk away with a little bit of pride. He pretends that he never wanted to be all that she wanted anyway.
That’s all I have for now.
I believe that he thought that he would be turned down if he asked so he aired it knowing that it would get an amazing response and all would be forgiven.
I recently watched ‘Sunset Boulevard’ for the first time, so I appreciated the reference. I may need to watch the episode again, I was distracted tonight and probably missed a few things. Hell, I miss things whether I’m distracted or not.
He COULD have got permission and almost did, while Clifford was letting off steam with his guitar, but I think he was afraid of being told no and having his wings clipped, so he decided to it anyway and surprise the guy. Better to ask forgiveness than permission, I’m guessing was going through his mind.
I think this is Jimmy’s first decision that I really have no sympathy with. There’s no way he should have reasonably expected Cliff to be anything other than furious about an unauthorised ad, especially one that smacks of ambulance-chasing to the degree Jimmy’s effort does, although Cliff hasn’t seen that yet.
I was a bit confused by what was going on with Mike and his daughter-in-law. It seems pretty clear she was just making up the story about hearing gunshots, but to what end? To squeeze a better house out of him? Why did Mike go along with it?
Mike can’t call her a liar without admitting he was sitting outside watching the house all night, which is pretty creepy.
Jimmy knew from watching the other ad and hearing about how many meetings preceded it just to pick the background swirls that his own ad would never get past the conservative partners. Obviously he wasn’t meant for Serious Law Firm work.
Love Ed Begley’s character and performance on this show; he’s affable and likable precisely until you cross him.
Overall the episode felt like a transitional one, which makes it more frustrating to watch as appointment television instead of binge-watching later.
I found it frustrating because I’ve come to “know” Jimmy and think he’s a decent guy, but can see the beginning of his fall from grace. We all know it’s not going to end well.
Speaking of not ending well, are we beginning to see the seeds of Stacey’s fate too? If I’m not mistaken, she was gone and never seen on “Breaking Bad” and I don’t remember if they ever said what happened to her (I’m re-watching BB on Sundance but they haven’t come up to those episodes where we see Mike’s home life yet)
Mike realized that she is paranoid and delusional and that what she thought was gun shots was the paper being delivered. As you said, he couldn’t tell her that that’s what it really was without admitting that he was spying.
As I recall it, the character did appear in a few scenes in BB, with a couple of lines, and was played by another actress.
I enjoyed seeing the camera shot descending through the bars of the staircase for a smooth effect since the camera dudes didn’t have a dolly. I also liked the one guy’s line last season: “Dude! The dude!”
Jimmy’s greatest fault is overconfidence. He’s damn sure that if he plays the ad and it’s successful (which it was) he can easily smooth over any ruffled feathers. It may seem impetuous to those of us in the audience, but to Jimmy the risk of showing the video and having it be rejected by some stick in the mud partners is greater than the risk of him not being able to talk his way out of not getting permission first.
Ultimately, I think that’s what will drive him to become a “criminal lawyer.” He’s simply more comfortable dealing with people whose motivations he can easily comprehend and manipulate. People who simply desire wealth and status (i.e. criminals) can be easily flattered and will overlook transgressions if the results are positive and the transgressor is obsequious enough. People like his brother and perhaps his new boss who have other principles are largely beyond his ken.
I don’t see his story arc as a fall from grace, more like a realization that Slippin’ Jimmy/Saul Goodman is who he really is.
I get how the video was beyond the pale for a proper law firm who won’t lower themselves to such tactics. I don’t understand why sending a flyer isn’t solicitation but talking in person is. These people really are getting ripped off and there is strong evidence that the defendants are destroying the flyers before they get to the residents.
Yep. He’ll stop fighting his nature and go with it.
I read the the decision to not run the ad by the bosses was that he was afraid it would get rejected based on the committee and corporate nature off the firm. On one level he’d rather ask forgiveness and on a deeper level he’s self-sabotaging–he doesn’t want to be a cog in a big machine, he’d rather be a tiny machine unto himself.
One interesting thing this season is that Hamlin actually seems like a pretty decent guy–and actually all the other lawyers seem like decent people. Obviously Chuck is the exception.
I was confused about solicitation rules too, hajario. I found this to be helpful. Pretty straightforward - that’s just the rules.
Yeah, one of the best-written moments of the show is the reveal that Hamlin isn’t that bad a guy; he’s just incredibly submissive to C-dawg.
Chuck isn’t even that bad. He knew, and he was completely correct, that Jimmy would cut corners and be an embarrassment per the fancy law firm culture. He’s being kind of a dick about it and we all like Jimmy but he is right.
I think that Chuck owns a bigger piece of the law firm and started it with Hamlin Senior so Hamlin Junior is subordinate to him.