When I asked re: kosher, I meant between Mike and the badguy. Would think the baddie would conclude Mike welched on the deal.
I enjoyed the episode, especially the suit montage, but I noticed that Jimmy is taking his first steps to being a less sympathetic character. We’re all fine with him grifting stuffed shirts like the stockbroker, but I’m a little less comfortable with him pilfering $8 from his father’s cash register. We like the way he fast-talks his clients like Mike through police interviews, but have to acknowledge that Clifford was right about Jimmy being an asshole to D&M when they had been entirely fair (even generous) to him.
I wonder if we’re starting to see Gilligan do a slow-motion transformation of Jimmy like he did with Walt – from a good guy we all identify with and cheer for, to an antihero who really is not a very good person.
Ever read the Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz? Perhaps it’s that kind of an evolution. Even at the end of the story, Duddy still believes he’s doing things for the right reasons, while we as the reader know he has crossed a line from which he can never return. Great dramatic irony there. He feels the ends justify the means.
As the wife of a police officer who died in the line of duty, wouldn’t Mike’s d-i-l be fairly well provided for through insurance and pensions? Not rich, but at least enough she wouldn’t have to grift her dead husband’s dad anyway?
The most interesting part of that storyline is that he knows she’s milking him, but is letting her not only do it but think that he isn’t wise. I don’t doubt he loves his granddaughter, but I wonder what his true feelings are for her mother.
That’s pretty much what I think now, it’s just that the multiple mentions of the loans made me think that they were going to be a more significant plot point. I was thinking they might be enough to keep her from being able to operate solo, or for Jimmy to help with. But Jimmy wrote a check for half of her student loan amount from his bonus check just to buy the desk from Cliff, so they’re not going to derail anything.
I think she has a better idea than she’s letting on, the comment about his car looking fine now sounded to me like she knows he didn’t get his face beaten up in a wreck. OTOH this show likes to play with expectations like Howard playing the heavy in S1 when he’s really Jimmy’s biggest ally other than Kim.
IMO Saul didn’t seem that bad in Breaking Bad because Walt was already so over the top by the time he came in, but if you step back to compare Saul Goodman to Jimmy McGill, you can see that there is a lot of transformation in store. Saul was perfectly willing to arrange a prison hit on Badger, and though Jessie/Walt were being pretty stupid by not killing him off. I can’t see the guy who decided to risk his life to confront Tuco and talk him down to two broken legs instead of two murders being that casual about killing a guy, or not understanding Jessie’s bond with his friend. Jimmy is willing to be a dick to Cliff or solicit clients illegally, but it seems more misguided than evil, and I can’t see him ordering a prison shanking as easily as he buys a gaudy suit.
That’s what I thought you meant; that’s what I meant by there might be trouble coming from this. He got 50k to claim ownership of the gun not refuse to testify. The prosecution could theoretically keep the gun charge and just rely on the fingerprints even without expecting Mike’s testimony. But if Mike claimed the gun then that would have to be shared with the defense and they could get the gun charge tossed before the trial really begins. IMHO, though IANAL.
That was my favorite exchange of the ep, especially because both were being sincere. Jimmy was screwing with D&M, because that is what he needed to do to get what he wanted. At the end, he might have felt a little bad about it because Cliff was a nice guy, or he might have had an element of insincerity as in “no hard feelings, that’s how the game is played.” Maybe in the future we’ll see a Jimmy/Saul who wouldn’t even say that. But Cliff was beyond keeping up pretenses.
I stopped watching BB because after the first 2 seasons I didn’t care if a single character lived or died. I hope they don’t hurry to make Jimmy as unlikeable…
No kidding. This series has more filler than a carnival hot-dog.
I’m wondering when David Cross will show up.
I agree with you.
I think that the spirit of the deal is to get the gun charge dropped. If that is what’s accomplished, Hector will be fine with it. It was almost like the attempt was for Mike to be “honest” about the gun not being Tuco’s but taking the 5th so he wouldn’t get charged.
If you stopped watching after two seasons, you missed out on some riveting stories and some damn good character development. It’s a great story of the post modern world because none of the heroes are totally heroic and none for the villains are totally evil. Vince Gilligan and friends capture the complexities of the modern world like no one else can.
I’ve wondered about that too.
I believe there was a statement made last season (possibly by the Philly cops who traveled to Albuquerque) that Mike’s son was new on the job. Maybe he was too new to qualify for the full benefits due a cop’s widow? I don’t know whether it’s typical to have such a time-served threshold for cops killed in the line of duty.
Also last season, when she was asking Mike whether it was OK for her to spend the (apparent payoff) money she’d found that her late husband had hidden in a suitcase lining, did she refer to some kind of a “settlement”? Possibly, the department made a lesser, single sum payoff in lieu of a full pension.
No way. Mike was paid money to accept responsibility for the gun. Even if the gun charges are dropped, Hector will know he didn’t get what he paid for. He might let it slide for now but he will not be “fine with it”.
Even if he doesn’t let it slide, we know it doesn’t have much to do with Mike’s fate. Though I wonder how much of this leads to ties with Gus Fring. If anything, it’s proving what a badass Mike is and how much he dislikes the Salamanca Cartel.
Why would Hector give a shit so long as Tuco gets the lighter sentence?
The magazines were obviously sitting in someone’s collection or attic or somewhere, they didn’t look new like they would have back when the scene took place. The covers looked slightly worn and lost the shiny luster they would have had new. I know it’s a silly complaint, but it’s more of an observation, I don’t know what else they could have done besides fake magazines which would have been much worse.
Because he’s a ruthless gangster who expects people to obide by their agreements? As I said above, Mike’s little changeup could be trouble.
Well said.
And anyone who didn’t love the dancing noodle montage in this ep is dead to me.
It’s already been suggested on these BCS threads that we may see Gus Fring before this series ends. We know we’ve already seen Tuco, Crazy Eight and Salamanca. I just re-watched the Breaking Bad episode “Dead Freight” last night (one hell of an ending!) and before Jesse & Walt began their cooking in fumigated houses set up, Saul said that he’d known that crew, who were really casing the houses for future robberies, for five years. If that’s the case, we may get a Todd cameo before this series ends.
I don’t understand the concerns about Jimmy transforming into Saul and becoming “unlikable.” The whole point of shows like this, and Breaking Bad, is to watch the evolution of people going from being mediocre good people to fantastic bad people. Hell, with Breaking Bad that entire premise is right there in the title.
This show is about the devolution of Jimmy into Saul. And even Saul at his worst as seen in BB, was one hell of a fun character to watch. Let alone Mike.