I love this show for the characters and the little moments. I know I’m missing a ton of references and Breaking Bad callbacks (because my memory is terrible), but I don’t care – I’m just enjoying the ride.
Last week, one particular line tickled me: When Jimmy was on the bus talking to the Sandpiper folks, and he said, “Now, I’m not saying they’re sticking a gun in your face and stealing your money, so just get that image out of your mind.”
This week, it was a very subtle bit of physical acting, when Howard and Kim were getting ready to meet the bank folks. Howard very carefully walks to a spot in the lobby, and ever-so-slightly turns and strikes a pose just before the bankers come in.
That one little sequence spoke volumes about the type of law firm HHM is, and how Howard wants to be perceived. I think it also bodes ill for Kim’s future there, because regardless of what sort of business she brings in, it’s plain that she’s always going to be guilty by association with Jimmy.
To use an old-money phrase, Jimmy is NOKD: “Not our kind, dear.” And now Kim is too.
No way to know, but I figured he probably googled (if it was around then) or otherwise asked around to find out about the passbook savings book with the cowboy on the cover. Nostalgia is always a nice hook when sucking up.
Yeah. Also good in that respect was Kim’s acting with Jimmy’s brother. She kicks ass bringing in business and digs up the stones asks Chuck if she has a future (after having the honor of getting him coffee), and has to just sit there politely as the name partner rambles on, before tossing her a bone.
God, I’m glad I fled big firm private practice as quickly as I did! So much bullshit posturing involved, hiding the primary goal of separating their clients from their money…
All you BB fans - just want to add that Saul works great for someone who was not a fan of BB. I watched 1 - maybe 2 seasons, before stopping. I have a vague recollection of the wheelchair/bell ep, but drew no connection until I read this thread. I hope the makers keep an eye on making this show stand alone, rather than as a supplement to BB. I hope the BCS storyline doesn’t suffer, because thery feel a need to follow some BB line. Would be a neat trick if they can pull off continuing the show in a manner that appeals to BB fans and newcomers.
Also, until I got here, I had no idea why the ep was called Rebecca. Must have missed the ref to her name. Last night I dreamt I was in Manderlay again…
Is it just me, or is there something else going on (like jealousy) here? Is Howard punishing Kim for having something beyond a work relationship with Jimmy?
Also, despite Chuck’s comment to Kim during their coffee moment that it was Howard’s decision, did anyone else think that afterwards Kim was starting to see Jimmy’s side, that the whole ordeal begins and ends with Chuck?
I don’t think it’s romantic jealousy or having a non-work relationship with Jimmy - I think he really feels like whatever they get up to ‘off hours’ is between them. I think he’s pissed off that she has put her relationship with Jimmy above her relationship with the firm, and that she’s showing bad judgement. I think he’s also feeling dumb for helping Jimmy get the cushy job (even if it was by staying neutral) and blames Kim for that. I don’t think he has a serious interest in her sexually or romantically, he’s just pissed that she’s making him and his firm look stupid. I think that he’s going to drop punishing her at Chuck’s urging, but they’ll both make it clear that she can’t get mixed up with Slippin’ Jimmy’s law shenanigans anymore if she wants to progress at the firm, and her setting that boundary will likely push her and Jimmy apart.
Some things that have been sussed out by those more obsessed than I…
The music Chuck attempted to play on the piano in this season’s second episode was “Sicilienne”, labeled on the sheet music as a duet for violin/flute and piano. Rebecca plays violin. The BCS StorySync says it “tells the story of a man who discovers that his wife is in love with his brother”.
I totally agree. I think anyone talking like Jimmy becoming Saul is a bad thing is missing the point. It’s bad for lots of other people, but not for him.
This is the story of a guy who tries to do it the way everyone else tells him to do it, but slowly realizes he’d be happier doing what he wants to do. Although the ending of Breaking Bad was clearly bad for Saul, the beginning of Better Call Saul with him watching his own commercial clearly shows that his times as Saul Goodman, Esq. was one of the best parts of his life and that he is nostalgic for it.
It’s not a fall from grace, it’s Jimmy becoming the person he wants to be instead of the person everyone else wants him to be. Up until he got involved with Walter White, he was happier as Saul than as Jimmy. Representing petty criminals and other ne’er-do-wells while habitually line-stepping ethics rules was as close as “Slippin’ Jimmy” was going to get to legitimacy, and Saul was happy with that compared to being forced into a little box by a mainstream law firm as Jimmy.
One thing I appreciate is the slightly lighter tone. In fact (I may be wrong here) although there has been plenty of menacing and waving of guns, I think the only character fatality in the entire series so far has been Jimmie’s buddy from Cicero.
Not a chance. That leaves Mike with a criminal record for the gun charge, and it’s not something he’s going to accept. Plus, in Breaking Bad there’s no mention of a criminal record in his interrogations, he has multiple concealed carry permits… none of this fits with his story or his character.
I see this instead as an opening for Gustavo Fring’s employment to begin. Gustavo wants to punish Hector and his family. If Mike shows that he can stand up to Hector, and maybe take him down a peg or two like he did Tuco, that’s going to catch Gustavo’s eye.
And, on top of that, it would be partially reneging on his deal with Nacho, which would put him in the crosshairs on that side. Nacho paid him money to get Tuco locked up. Helping to reduce that sentence would not look good.
The point in bringing in a lawyer is to avoid having anything (or anything major) stick, and Jimmy is great at that kind of thing. Open carry and concealed carry in a vehicle are both legal in NM without a permit and none of the cops saw the gun on Mike so there’s a lot of room for Jimmy to say ‘it was his gun but not in an illegal way’ before he even adds a signature unethical trick, and Mike is a former LEO who prosecutors aren’t likely to go after hard on a minor charge anyway. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Mike was using the idea of a gun charge as leverage but actually has a permit, since a retired cop can get one in NM without paying a fee or taking a training course.
Also, in NM a charge for carrying a concealed firearm is only a minor misdemeanor, it doesn’t bar someone from legally owning a firearm or getting a permit later.
The thing is, it’s Nacho’s family wanting Mike to help Tuco get off easy. He has to be really careful doing anything against Mike, because it could make him look suspicious to the family, he can’t really use family influence to press Mike into anything, and Mike could easily set up an ‘in the event of my death’ letter to tell the family what Nacho did. I think Mike’s expression at the end is because he realizes he needs to sort out this whole mess. (And his sorting may not go well for Nacho).
The gun isn’t his. so that’s an issue. Mike can’t claim open carry (your holster is where, exactly?) nor claim it was in a vehicle (he wasn’t in one). And an agency can certainly refuse to issue a permit based on a criminal record of illegally carrying a firearm, and possessing a firearm that ain’t his as at the very least it’s showing you aren’t someone of good character.
Moreover, we go from Mike Ehrmantraut, class A bad-ass, to a little bitch who when the going gets tough, folds like a wet kleenex. He had a deal with Nacho, and a big thing about how your word is what matters. He’s made that clear a number of times. He folds on Tuco because Hector wags his finger in his face, Mike’s a nobody. It is not who he is.
Much was made by both Kim and Chuck about the possibility that Jimmy was soliciting clients on his trip to Texas (which he was). I’m wondering why what Kim was doing didn’t also constitute soliciting clients. Anyone with some legal knowledge care to comment on whether what she was doing was ethical?
So much bullshit posturing involved, hiding the primary goal of separating their clients from their money…