Well, I didn’t see a thread for this, and the first episode for the new season is due this Monday (April 10).
I was/am a huge Breaking Bad fan, and have fallen in love with this series. I do wish, however, that Gilligan and the other writers/producers would move things along at a slightly faster clip, or all the makeup artists in the world will not make the timeline believable. Plus, to be a bit morbid, some of the key characters are…getting up there in years.
That said, I’m super excited about the new season. I’m looking forward to seeing Jimmy’s further transmogrification, maybe Chuck’s irrevocable implosion, the introduction of a couple Breaking Bad baddies, and I expect to see why Kim eventually decides to let Jimmy stew in his own juices.
It’s been a very interesting ride so far. I very much enjoy the way that Jimmy’s relatively moral decisions actually push him towards a less moral overall way of life…I enjoy the way that Jimmy’s occupational successes push his brother further into neurosis, and Kim straddling the line as best she can.
Overall, however, I expect to see Jimmy evolve into primordial Saul this season. I can’t say, however, that I’m looking forward to that “last straw” that pushes him over the edge into debauchery. But I’m certainly curious to see what it is. My guess is that it will be some sort of Mexican standoff between him, Kim and Chuck, but I can’t guess what.
I’ve no idea what the inciting incident that turns “Slippin’ Jimmy” permanent is but I’ve a fair idea of the underlying logic.
Everything that he does right results in the same type of shit that we can assume he experienced as Slippin’. He is a brilliant lawyer that gets blocked at every level, owing largely to his brother. No matter what he does he can’t escape the past and can’t get the acceptance that he is working so hard for.
He will see that the law is not there to protect the innocent and punish the guilty but rather to further decorate the temple of law.
From there he will conclude that:
a) He will never grace a marquis firm
b) So long as you stay within the bounds of the law the law will be on your side regardless the morality of the action
c) He tried to be legit but wasn’t allowed to be
d) Scum need good lawyers and they have money so why not stab the law in the heart by using the law to defeat itself while still earning porterhouse steak type cash
e) Make money, prove competence and stick it to the system/people that wouldn’t allow him a place at the table
When re-watching the first two seasons, I find Mike’s story more enjoyable. He is a more focused person, more mission oriented. He drives the action.
Jimmy/Saul is almost always responding to the actions of others. Even his “acting out” moments, such as his trying to get fired from the law firm, are really just his trying to get others to act so that he can react.
I hope that Gus Fring has a very large part of Season 3, because he is another character, like Mike, who makes decisions and leads action. Gus plays the long con - sees the bigger picture. Gus knows someone, someone important.
Can anyone remind me what plotlines were going on last season? The main two things I remember:
(1) Mike wanted to kill some drug guys because they had killed an innocent good samaritan after Mike stole their money, but he is distracted by someone, we assume Gus. (Was it Uncle Tio who he was going to kill? Nacho was involved.)
(2) Chuck has entrapped Jimmy into admitting on tape that he forged the documents that screwed up that big deal. (Whether that tape will have legal weight remains to be seen.)
(3) Jimmy and Kim have agreed to set up shop in the same building, but not as actual law partners.
Anything else?
I’m sure that Vince Gilligan probably decided where he would like everything to end before he started on Season 1. He may not yet know how he’s going to actually get from point A to point B. But, I’m sure that he knows where point B is. It’s even foreshadowed in Season 1.
My guesses for this season are that 1) We learn more about Chuck’s wife. 2) We spend a reasonable amount of time watching Gus Fring set up or refine his empire and/or dealing with the cartel’s politics. 3) I doubt that Jimmy & Kim terminate their relationship completely. 4) Jimmy will need a case, especially if it can involve Mike. Otherwise, there’s not much for him to do other than fight with Chuck.
I’m guessing that BCS will last 5 seasons. After that, if there are still stories to tell, it’s more likely that they will skip ahead & tell Jesse’s story after the events of Breaking Bad. Imagine where he’ll be in 5 or 10 years… It’s hard even to imagine who his peer group might include.
I just watched it. Does anyone else think it was just a mediocre episode?
I found Mike’s activities with the tracker confusing. I think the idea was that he drained the battery so that they would come for the tracker to replace the battery and end up taking his tracker instead of theirs, thus making it possible for him to track them.
The problem I see is that the tracker was originally on the dismantled car he left at the junkyard, but the one they took was necessarily on a different car. So why would they take the gas cap from a different car?
I think the answer is that he put the original in the glove compartment, therefore leading them to that car and the other tracker. But wouldn’t they wonder why the tracker was on a different car?
Am I completely misunderstanding what was going on?
Not the series’ best episode, but a good one, and I like the implication of where things are headed for this season (Breaking Bad territory).
As for the gas cap tracker, you have things correct about Mike’s intentions, except that that was Mike’s second car at his house. To be clear, he had two cars: one for every day driving, and one for murderin’. Like a good hit man.
I understood that the second car was also Mike’s, but wouldn’t they expect to find the tracker on the car they put it on rather than his other car?
Also, wouldn’t they just drive a short distance to some secluded spot, change the battery, then come back and put it back on the car?
There were two trackers, one on each of Mike’s cars. The one on the station wagon is still there at the wrecking yard. The other Mike got the info off of and got a duplicate. He drained the battery w/o the thing changing location so they would come replace it. Mike put his transmitter in the gas cap to be taken by whoever is tracking him.
So, whatever Chuck’s plans are for that tape, it appears he wants Jimmy to find out about it by way of Ernesto. To me that smug, confident flip of the tongs after the incident with Ernesto says he was happy with the way it all went according to plan.
Is he hoping to catch Jimmy breaking in to destroy the evidence?
Huh, that hadn’t occurred to me. Interesting theory.
I loved this episode. Mike’s plan is so clever (even if it would be foiled by someone just coming in and replacing the batteries right there as opposed to swapping out the fuel cap entirely.)
Plus, to be a bit morbid, some of the key characters are…getting up there in years.