# Better Call Saul: 1.09 Pimento **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 31, 2015, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395 "2015-03-31T03:59:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/81 "2015-04-01T17:59:08Z")
> [@Jack\_of\_Words](#): > > That’ll do, then just at the last moment Nacho’s employer that Mike mentioned shows up…Gustavo Fring. I can’t imagine Gustavo would ever meet with him in public. He wouldn’t want to lose face.😉 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/82 "2015-04-01T18:16:28Z")
Does Saul have money made from Breaking Bad stashed somewhere to hide on? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/83 "2015-04-01T18:19:11Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Believe me, I’m always keeping an eye on the opening credits for “Special Guest Star Giancarlo Esposito”. > > I feel like we’ll definitely have some scene set at a Pollo Hermanos at some point just to tease the Breaking Bad fans. When Tuco was on they had to get not only his permission but his union’s permission to keep his name out of the opening credits. It wouldn’t surprise me if they did the same thing for Gus. From what I understand, with an actor even as big as Tuco, SAG (or whomever would take care of these matters) requires his name to be at the beginning of the show. Vince & Crew managed to get it changed to keep his appearance a surprise. You’ll notice the name Tuco didn’t even show up. Nacho said that he didn’t even know that he was going to be working with Tuco until the day before he showed up to work. In all the scripts he had to memorize, it just said Mijo. On the other hand, knowing Gus was going to be on the show, and running it in the teasers and commercials, would bring in a ton of extra viewers. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/84 "2015-04-01T19:09:18Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > On the other hand, knowing Gus was going to be on the show, and running it in the teasers and commercials, would bring in a ton of extra viewers. Would it? Are there really people who are Breaking Bad fans, but who just aren’t interested in a show with Saul Goodman and Mike, but who WOULD watch a particular episode because of Gus being in it? I gotta say I’m skeptical. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/85 "2015-04-01T19:19:43Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Would it? Are there really people who are Breaking Bad fans, but who just aren’t interested in a show with Saul Goodman and Mike, but who WOULD watch a particular episode because of Gus being in it? > > I gotta say I’m skeptical. Agreed. By the way, they are dropping the entire season on Netflix streaming as soon as the last episode airs. Tons of people who missed this the first time around are going to get to watch the whole thing soon. There are going to be a ton of new viewers when Season 2 of this great season starts. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/86 "2015-04-01T19:20:23Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > That’s exactly what he did; but it’s the gun-grabbing that I was curious about. How do you just reach out and take a gun from someone who is expecting you to do just that? Looked like he did something akin to [this](https://youtu.be/cmQk3DnTcSs). ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/87 "2015-04-01T19:20:47Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Would it? Are there really people who are Breaking Bad fans, but who just aren’t interested in a show with Saul Goodman and Mike, but who WOULD watch a particular episode because of Gus being in it? > > I gotta say I’m skeptical. I don’t know, maybe. At the very least it might make some people say 'Ohhh, Gus is on this episode, I can’t wait to see it" and watch it when it’s on instead of sometime in the next few days. From what I’ve heard (both from Vince and other celebrities over the years), it makes a difference if you watch it live vs if you watch it at a different time. I remember some other celeb saying something like ‘please watch [some show] live, not the next day’. She might have even said ‘within two hours’, but I could be making that up. A few weeks ago Vince half jokingly asked his viewers to not only watch the show live, but to watch the commercials twice. Anyways, what about viewers who watched Breaking Bad but not BCS, maybe knowing that Gus (or Jesse if/when that happens) is going to be on is the final straw that’s going to get them to start watching. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/88 "2015-04-01T19:26:14Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Does Saul have money made from Breaking Bad stashed somewhere to hide on? I think that was implied. It’s been awhile since I saw the last season of Breaking Bad, though, so I could be misremembering. Speaking of Gus, did the meeting spot for Nacho and Mike look an awful lot like the chicken farm in BB or is it just me? I’m not sure it was exactly the same, but maybe this is before Gus buys it and turns it into a cartel conference space? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/89 "2015-04-01T19:32:22Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > From what I’ve heard (both from Vince and other celebrities over the years), it makes a difference if you watch it live vs if you watch it at a different time. How so? ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/90 "2015-04-01T20:06:07Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Just to be clear, though, Chuck screwed him long before he [Check] has a mental issue as well. Check kept him in the mail room when he first got his degree. That’s not really screwing him. It was honestly ridiculous for Jimmy to think Chuck would just give him a job at this giant lawfirm with his mailorder law degree. It was cowardly not to tell him that directly though. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/91 "2015-04-01T20:06:11Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Would it? Are there really people who are Breaking Bad fans, but who just aren’t interested in a show with Saul Goodman and Mike, but who WOULD watch a particular episode because of Gus being in it? > > I gotta say I’m skeptical. I was a huge BB fan and almost didn’t even bother checking out BCS. After a couple episodes has piled up on my DVR I _almost_ just deleted them, but decided to give the first episode 20 minutes. I was hooked within about 3. I can easily imagine a ton of BB fans not watching. It’s easy to be skeptical. And if I had gone the other way and deleted BCS without watching, it’s very likely I would have tuned in to see Gus. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/92 "2015-04-01T20:10:26Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > It was honestly ridiculous for Jimmy to think Chuck would just give him a job at this giant lawfirm with his mailorder law degree. After he brought them a 20 million dollar case? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/93 "2015-04-01T20:32:14Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > After he brought them a 20 million dollar case? > :dubious: He means the flashback, when Jimmy first told Chuck he passed the bar, a few years before the show’s “present”. I do think it is reasonable he’s not hired as a lawyer at a big shot firm when he has a mail order degree from the University of American Samoa. But Chuck should have told him that, not Hamlin. On the other hand, I expect partners at big firms to give their family preferential treatment from time to time. I mean, it was reasonable not to hire him, but it wasn’t ridiculous to think he would from Jimmy’s point of view. It probably happens all the time. Come to think of it, that’s probably what happened to Hamlin the Younger. Except he got preferential treatment from undergrad all the way to partner, while Jimmy tried to do it on his own until he was faced with an unfavorable job search. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/94 "2015-04-01T20:39:34Z")
And I’m still wondering when we’ll see the mysterious second Hamlin. I’m just assuming he’s Howard’s father, but it might be a similar older brother thing. I highly doubt Chuck and Howard started out as partners though. I’m almost certain Howard is the beneficiary of the older Hamlin’s nepotism. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/95 "2015-04-01T21:02:05Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I only watched it the one time, but it looked like he punched the dude in the throat (which is pretty incapacitating if done correctly) after grabbing his gun. > > I like to assume the confrontation went down the way it did was because the younger guy was really just a wanna-be blow-hard rather than Mike being some kind of Uber BadAss. Makes it a little more believable to me. Mike should have asked him what color the boathouse is at Hereford. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/96 "2015-04-01T21:09:32Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Just to be clear, though, Chuck screwed him long before he [Check] has a mental issue as well. Check kept him in the mail room when he first got his degree. What is the time frame anyway (not so much order; more years and time passing in between)? Jimmy in Chicago… Chuck healthy and gets him out of trouble… Jimmy in the mailroom… Jimmy gets his degree and passes the bar… Jimmy still in the mailroom… Jimmy leaves HHM… Chuck goes crazy and leaves HHM… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/97 "2015-04-01T21:13:53Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > How so? TiVo (and other DVRs I assume) get reports about your activity and send them back to the networks (or whoever buys them I guess). Every DVR is basically a Nielson box unless you tell it not to anonymously collect data. If you watch a show ‘live’ you can’t skip commercials (any more than you could without a DVR), if you watch a show Time shifted you can skip commercials, and probably are. If you watch a show live, it’s more important and that’s worth more to the advertisers. It’s all factored in to how much a network can sell ad space for. Everything you do (at least on a TiVo) is collected and reported back. Every button you press, every show you record, they know, always know, to a certain extend, if you’re in front of the TV or not. > [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > That’s not really screwing him. It was honestly ridiculous for Jimmy to think Chuck would just give him a job at this giant lawfirm with his mailorder law degree. It was cowardly not to tell him that directly though. Chuck absolutely screwed him. Jimmy got a law degree and Chuck got Howard to agree not to hire him. Maybe Howard would have moved him up out of the mail room to see what he could do. Maybe Howard and the other partners would have been happy to have another paralegal working up there, maybe after a while Jimmy could have shown himself to be a good lawyer on his own and they could have tossed him some easy cases. Maybe after a few years Jimmy would have then had the time and money to go to a ‘real’ school (or wouldn’t need to at that point. Maybe Jimmy would have made a terrible HHM lawyer. But we’ll never know because Chuck made sure he never got that chance. Chuck made sure he never got any chance. IMO Chuck screwed Jimmy. The question is, did he do it because he was a coward and was trying to protect Jimmy? Did he do it for the reasons he stated (you’re not a real lawyer)? Or did he do it to keep Jimmy down? To keep Jimmy to himself? To keep Jimmy from rising up? To make sure that Jimmy would always be slippin’ Jimmy and he would always be the guy getting him out of trouble? Some people like to be needed. We’ve seen Chuck get better and worse depending on Jimmy’s behavior. Maybe it’s all fake just to keep Jimmy at his side. Maybe he ‘got sick’ when Jimmy left HHM to form his own practice just to make sure Jimmy stayed in the house. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/98 "2015-04-01T21:37:54Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > TiVo (and other DVRs I assume) get reports about your activity and send them back to the networks (or whoever buys them I guess). Every DVR is basically a Nielson box unless you tell it not to anonymously collect data. If you watch a show ‘live’ you can’t skip commercials (any more than you could without a DVR), if you watch a show Time shifted you can skip commercials, and probably are. If you watch a show live, it’s more important and that’s worth more to the advertisers. It’s all factored in to how much a network can sell ad space for. > Everything you do (at least on a TiVo) is collected and reported back. Every button you press, every show you record, they know, always know, to a certain extend, if you’re in front of the TV or not. > Chuck absolutely screwed him. Jimmy got a law degree and Chuck got Howard to agree not to hire him. Maybe Howard would have moved him up out of the mail room to see what he could do. Maybe Howard and the other partners would have been happy to have another paralegal working up there, maybe after a while Jimmy could have shown himself to be a good lawyer on his own and they could have tossed him some easy cases. Maybe after a few years Jimmy would have then had the time and money to go to a ‘real’ school (or wouldn’t need to at that point. > Maybe Jimmy would have made a terrible HHM lawyer. But we’ll never know because Chuck made sure he never got that chance. Chuck made sure he never got any chance. > > IMO Chuck screwed Jimmy. The question is, did he do it because he was a coward and was trying to protect Jimmy? Did he do it for the reasons he stated (you’re not a real lawyer)? Or did he do it to keep Jimmy down? To keep Jimmy to himself? To keep Jimmy from rising up? To make sure that Jimmy would always be slippin’ Jimmy and he would always be the guy getting him out of trouble? Some people like to be needed. > > We’ve seen Chuck get better and worse depending on Jimmy’s behavior. Maybe it’s all fake just to keep Jimmy at his side. Maybe he ‘got sick’ when Jimmy left HHM to form his own practice just to make sure Jimmy stayed in the house. I’m guessing Chuck’s motivations all along have been to manipulate Jimmy into a mutually co-dependent relationship with Chuck. That includes rescuing Jimmy from the consequences of his own criminality, but also sabotaging Jimmy whenever Jimmy shows any signs of individual initative, and even this “illness” of his - that keeps Jimmy caring for him. Chuck exhibits many of these characteristics in his relationship with Jimmy: > [@](#): > > Characteristics of Co-dependent People Are: > > … > > A tendency to confuse love and pity, with the tendency to “love” people they can pity and rescue Chuck loves Jimmy - by keeping him pitiful, and rescuing him. > [@](#): > > An unhealthy dependence on relationships. The co-dependent will do anything to hold on to a relationship; to avoid the feeling of abandonment We have seen that Chuck will do anything to keep Jimmy around. > [@](#): > > A compelling need to control others This is Chuck. He seems to need to control Jimmy. > [@](#): > > Lack of trust in self and/or others Chuck certainly doesn’t trust Jimmy … even when he should. Jimmy has conned it is true, and lied, but he’s never demonstrated anything but loyalty to his brother. > [@](#): > > Rigidity/difficulty adjusting to change Chuck’s illness is all about establishing a routine and forcing others (particularly Jimmy) to conform to it. > [@](#): > > Problems with intimacy/boundaries > Chronic anger > Lying/dishonesty > Poor communications These all describe Chuck - he has a lot of anger bottled up; he can’t see that his screwing of his brother is over the line; his lying (rather than honest communication) has now been exposed. > **[Co-Dependency](https://mhanational.org/co-dependency)** > > Co-dependency is a learned behavior that can be passed down from one generation to another. The irony here is that Jimmy is, superficially, the con man, and Chuck the honest and hard-working (but unfortunate) one - yet Chuck has conned Jimmy far worse than any con Jimmy has ever pulled off. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/99 "2015-04-01T21:44:30Z")
Two nits to pick with this episode… 1. When I here the term “document dump” I think of responding to a request with much more than is requested at an inopportune time. In this case the attorneys for the retirement home went on the offensive with lots of requests. Maybe the term applies to both. 2. The pill seller did not have time to count that much money and determine there was $20 missing. I suppose one pack of $20s could have been broken open and he could have determined that one pack was missing one…but I doubt it. I don’t know how much was supposed to be there but if he was paying his muscle $1500 there must have been a good deal more. Besides, he was peaking in a bag and fingering thru it…hardly an accurate way to count money. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395/100 "2015-04-01T21:47:47Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > 1. The pill seller did not have time to count that much money and determine there was $20 missing. I suppose one pack of $20s could have been broken open and he could have determined that one pack was missing one…but I doubt it. I don’t know how much was supposed to be there but if he was paying his muscle $1500 there must have been a good deal more. Besides, he was peaking in a bag and fingering thru it…hardly an accurate way to count money. Dramatic license. We don’t want to watch the guy counting money for fifteen minutes. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-1-09-pimento/716395.md?page=6)