ETA, I’ve been listening to that music in the background for a few minutes now and all of a sudden it clicked that it was the theme from The Third Man.
I want a Tony the Toilet™. For guests.
Not the best episode so far, but still well written, acted, etc. Interesting too but felt like a bridge between the first half of this season the the second half. Are we done with the Kettlemans? Because it looks like the story will now delve into Mike’s past catching up with him, and asking Saul to help.
I don’t recall exactly all the details of Mike’s past from BB. Anybody care to lay all that out again?
They kept it pretty vague: former cop, now working for Gus Fring, had a granddaughter he couldn’t see, to whom he kept trying to pass his ill gotten gains.
I’m guessing there will be a Tony Toilet project on Instructables within the month. Raspberry Pi, audio samples from the show, and a clever sensor.
Thanks, SuperNelson. He was a beat cop from Philly, IIRC. Just couldn’t remember if they mentioned exactly what it was he’d done.
I didn’t catch it during the show, but one of the commenters at AV Club said one of the cops saw all of the coolers and assorted disarray and said he’s probably a tweaker. Could their reasonable cause be it looked as if he was ‘cooking’?
Even if the cops thought that was the case, could they just barge in and incarcerate him like that?
I’m willing to bet that Vince & Crew did their homework and probably did it right, but IRL I’m guessing they wouldn’t have smashed in the door just based on what they saw. They probably would have either called in one of their officers that handles meth labs and if he felt that house had the makings of one he could have requested a warrant OR those two officers probably could have managed to get a warrant to do a welfare check just based on there being no electricity going to the house, all the Coleman lanterns (CO2), what the neighbor saw, and him running around the house in a space blanket and and yelling at them in (what they heard as) a bunch of non sense (even though it was probably perfectly good legalese).
So I’m guessing they probably could have been in the house within an hour legally.
The smashing and tasers were for the drama, but Vince doesn’t cut corners so maybe there’s going to be more to it. Maybe suing the ABQPD is what’s going to get him out of his funk.
I personally think his taking money from the Kettlemans will come back to bite him and doubt that line is done.
The toilet project he is smart enough to have taken suggesting of course that the audio be user customizable.
Mike told … Walt I think … some story about taking the law into his own hands on a bad guy. But who knows why he really left. I do not think they will focus on what happened in his past, only how he “breaks” to working for the bad guys.
Great episode. Jimmy’s meeting with his first client felt like a dream, but then waking up abruptly when the money was fake. I loved seeing him find his niche with the elderly, and studying Matlock to get the suit and talk correct. And him giving his card to Mike, “give me a call if you, uh, if you happen to know any elders.”
And it was interesting to see more of Chuck’s condition and how Jimmy deals with it. He knows that it’s not a real medical thing, but he can’t commit Chuck. I’m sure things will have to get worse. I’m guessing that Chuck will either die or move away, because I can’t see Jimmy becoming full “Criminal” Lawyer with Chuck still being around making him feel guilty.
Yeah, I wondered about that. Chuck was no immediate danger to himself or anyone else. I didn’t know if seeing the pulled wires and the lanterns were enough probable cause for them to think that he was a tweaker and that they could bust his door down or not.
The wires being pulled probably made it looked like he was squatting in an abandoned house. The white gas was, according to them, a meth precursor. Of course, they could have just kept it secured and called for a warrant.
The most interesting thing about this ep, to me, is seeing how Saul feels personally responsible for Chuck’s “condition”. It’s probably not 100% on the nose, but it was borne out when, after just getting home and shivering in the space blanket, Chuck springs up to make coffee once Jimmy convinces him that he’s on the up-and-up.
Oddly enough, tweakers do weird OCD stuff like pulling out the wiring, often in the paranoid belief that someone is using them to spy on them, or something similar.
Could also be that they thought he was stealing the wiring to sell for the copper.
This has been hinted at in previous episodes also. When Chuck saw the hospital bill for the skateboarders broken legs he wrapped himself in the space blanket and Jimmy tried to get him to remove it by insisting that he wasn’t backsliding and becoming “Slippin’ Jimmy” again. Jimmy obviously feels at least partly responsible for Chuck’s condition.
Unfortunately, he can’t’ bring himself to sign commitment papers, so he’s stuck in an ongoing situation of supporting a disturbed brother with no end in sight.
Trying to make enough to support himself and his brother, while tending to his brothers needs (getting him groceries, fuel, etc.) must be like being on a treadmill and not knowing how to get off.
One thing that struck me is how good some of the camera angles are. 35 minutes into the episode, we enter a seniors’ home with the camera placed on the juice cart. Striking & novel, mood-setting.
I thought the doctor was a great (small) character. Compassionate and understanding but also skeptical and totally level-headed. Playing her little trick was fantastic, and cleared up any lingering doubt that we as the audience might have as to whether the condition is purely mental.
A slow episode but entertaining nonetheless.
Have you seen Breaking Bad? Unique camera angles were common. It’s one of the many things that made it stand out.
The sovereign citizen complaining about onerous government reminded me of this old Onion vid summarizing BB.
I think I recognised the woman Mike stared at towards the end there (presumably his granddaughter). Pretty sure she was the pretty young thing in Rome, got married off to Marc Anthony at one point…?
I believe her character is supposed to be his daughter-in-law who eventually gives birth to his granddaughter whom he dearly loved and breaks bad to make a ton of money for her when she was old enough.
I’ve been watching with a friend who’s never seen ‘Breaking Bad’. We both loved episode before this one, and we both hated this one. It was too slow. I have no idea what the end was about, and my friend sure as hell doesn’t know. I had to explain to him that the dude was Mike from ‘Breaking Bad’ and this is part of his back-story as well. The next episode looks like it’s almost all about Mike… I just hope the pacing’s a little faster.
Yes, I understand the show is beautifully filmed, but there were parts that just dragged on… I know it was intended as a joke, but waiting for the little old lady was painful.
Speaking of the comedic elements, I hope the talking toilet is the extent of how far they take it. It’s absurd to think that the guy didn’t realize how suggestive his little invention was. I hope ‘Better Call Saul’ doesn’t end up like what ‘The Lone Gunmen’ was to ‘The X-Files’. Not to say that ‘The Lone Gunmen’ was THAT bad, but it did get into some absurd humor that would’ve never flew on ‘The X-Files’.
His granddaughter, Kaylee, is probably already born at this point. It could well be the reason Mike moved to Albuquerque.
Wasn’t she 10 in BB?
That would make her around 2 in this timeline.