I think that the personal and the practical reasons will go hand in hand, which will go a long way to nicely explaining what once seemed as if it would be difficult to explain so neatly.
He mentioned an episode or two ago that his trucks were already at capacity so there was no room for him to run Hector’s stuff too. Given how meticulous Gus is, it’s possible he’s worked out he can’t funnel any more of his drug money through El Pollo Loco without it becoming suspicious - so he needs a new legitimate business to launder his money (heh) AND perhaps act as a distribution centre or something like that - somewhere no-one is going to notice lots of trucks coming and going and a lot of people who don’t speak English working there.
Agreed.
I’m continually surprised by how many people feel this way. I always found him lovable, from his first appearance on BB. I had previously assumed everyone else felt the same, which is why he was getting the spinoff. But your take is amazingly common.
I’ll be interesting to see if/how the ad-biz itself changes him. Will he end up shilling for some sort of scammy company, one that maybe preys on elders? Maybe Los Pollos Hermanos needs a new commercial? Or maybe by the end of his stint in advertising, it’s just the ad-man/lawyer combo that naturally leads him to become the kind of lawyer that makes the kind of advertisments that the likes of HHM and Davis & Main find distasteful.
I saw admiration from Howard in that encounter, that he thought she was making a good point even if he didn’t really want her to make it. I doubt that he would take that personally, it’s her job to represent her client and she’s doing a good job at it. Remember, this is a guy who responded to being called a ‘pig fucker’ with a smile when he had to refuse to hire Jimmy after Sandpiper, even though he actually thought he should hire Jimmy and was forced to lie to cover for Chuck. I really doubt he’s going to hold a grudge because opposing council asked a question that called him out on a position that he knows is BS but has to take. And I don’t see Kim holding a grudge for the document review thing, she knows that she did screw up pretty badly to get there and it wasn’t some career ending bad mark.
Even if they don’t really go hand in hand, I’m sure Jimmy will ‘argue’ that the practical reasons like how good the Saul Goodman brand ends up working are the real reason he does it, and not just that he starts to like being Saul Goodman.
I don’t see him trying to prey on elders, even in BB when he wanted to get people shanked he didn’t seem keen on hurting bystanders. I think he’s going to have a decent amount of success as Saul, and discover that he really likes that persona, so when his year suspension is up he keeps being Saul for his legal profession even though Saul isn’t suited for Elder law. And it fits with how he started in the law, remember he sort of stumbled onto Elder law, his first job was working as a public defender - he’s not averse to defending scummy clients.
Also, I am sure that if Pollo Hermanos is going to do a commercial they aren’t hiring a low rent guy like Saul Goodman to do it.
It is an interesting question how Jimmy is going to make his money for the next year. He might go full on ad guy but that doesn’t sound super entertaining. He is likely to keep it as a front so he can explain where any more dodgy money comes from. If he does off-the-books lawyering, I assume it will be along the lines of pre-arrest advice not court advice. Like “If you are going to do that make sure you don’t do [blank] because it opens you up to extra charges”.
WRT the plant Gus was looking at: yes, Walt is the one who set up the lab there in BB but there was already a big secret room waiting for him. Also, Gus was giving the place a pretty thorough inspection. So my guess is this isn’t going to just be a front to run more trucks. Maybe it will start as a distribution hub for Gus’ future domestic drug production.
And he really liked trying on the loud flashy shirts too. He is evolving.
Just a couple more thoughts / observations :
-
Wondering if the park that Mike volunteered to help is the same park that we saw in BB when the lawyer flipped and Walt called him about it?
-
I recall Vince Gilligan saying that this show will take place before, during and after BB. We’ve already seen flash forwards of “Gene” managing the Cinnabon. If we do see anything that takes place during BB, I’d love to see the scene where Saul/Francesca/Huell actually deliver the poison to Brock.
It should be remembered that in Breaking Bad Saul is not directly in touch with Gus Fring. When Walt needs a distributor, he tells him he “knows a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy.” While this is an exaggeration since Mike is the connection, it seems Saul is not a confidant of Gus in any way at the time of Breaking Bad.
The lab was actually set up by Gale Boetticher and was in full working order when Walt was introduced to it. My recollection was that it was still very new at that point, and it had been only a few months since it was completed, the equipment being supplied by Madrigal presumably through Lydia.
IIRC, setting up the Superlab was Gus’s effort to set up his own production and bypass the cartel. Previously he had just been distributing, not making drugs. So the laundry would have to be a front for something else for several years.
Yeah I was going to post this as well. To keep it consistent they have to limit how much Jimmy and Gus work together, if at all.
As far as the show reaching the Breaking Bad years, the way I envisioned it is if they show that time frame at all it would be condensed into a single episode or maybe two showing events from Saul’s point of view. It’s more likely the series ends with Walter walking into the office and then a scene from the “present” of Cinnabon Gene (or possibly an entire episode set in the Cinnabon era).
Here’s my guess as to what’s going to happen: Jimmy gets increasingly backed i to a corner for money in his attempt to keep the building, secretary, etc. He could easily become a legal advisor/consigliere type figure for people like Nacho or even Gus, through Mike. You don’t need to have a law license to help criminals navigate the legal system. He can help explain things like how to smuggle goods without leaving a legal trail, how to launder money, etc.
The Mike and Jimmy storylines are still pretty separated. I would expect those to start intertwining more at some point. When we first met Mike in BB, he was already Saul’s ‘go-to’ guy. So I think there’s a lot more of that relationship yet to be developed.
Anyway, if Jimmy gets involved with the underworld, that could explain Kim’s departure. Either she is killed in some Jimmy deal gone wrong, or she sees what he’s up to and leaves. Inthink the latter is more likely.
Chuck is a wildcard. He is clearly now accepting that his illness may be mental. It seemed to me that he is trying to cure himself through acclimatization or sheer willpower, or at least tried and is now reaching out to a doctor.
The more interesting question is whether or not he is going to let Jimmy go, or if he’s going to continue seeking some kind of retribution. If he does, I could see that ending up very badly.
Part of his plea deal is that he is supposed to stay away from nefarious characters.
Yeahhhh…because Jimmy/Saul is so very good at that ;). Financial pressures trumps all in this situation. However much he wants to stay clean, he’s impulsive and stubborn enough to try and eel around the obstacles when he feels it is necessary. As Chuck correctly pointed out, Jimmy doesn’t really respect the rule of law. Not really - he much prefers right outcomes over right processes.
Everyoneone is supposed to stay away from nefarious people. So he meets in back rooms and takes payment in cash.
Jimmy is just as smart as his brothet - maybe smarter. Think about how long he ran shady deals with underworld characters as Saul. And he never got caught. Even at the end, when there was a maelstrom of violence and police everywhere, Saul knew when to get out. As of the flashforwards in this show, he still hasn’t been caught. He’s just in self-imposed purgatory.
I don’t really think Saul will be acting as legal advisor to cartel members (especially to Gus, Saul is way too impulsive for Gus), but being around these guys isn’t a problem. Nacho works with his father at an upholstery store, Mike’s a night watchman and former cop, Gus is a well-liked local businessman who routinely does police fundraisers. None of them have a criminal record of any sort, Nacho’s one arrest didn’t result in any charges filed. Mike probably will go to him for some legal stuff since he isn’t going to care about the suspension.
Also, from BB I think it’s pretty clear that Saul doesn’t work directly with Gus, he knows that Mike knows a drug distributor but it’s not even clear that Saul knows who he is until later events force him to. Like I said, I don’t think Gus would trust Saul with his secrets. Similarly with Nacho, we don’t know that they worked closely, Saul may just have been on the periphery of whatever someone might want to kill Ignacio for. And Mike and Saul weren’t close partners in BB, Saul had his pet private eyes that he used for most things, and only brought in Mike for high-stakes stuff. Mike seemed to relate to Saul in BB like he does in BCS, he doesn’t mind using a sleazy lawyer from time to time, and doesn’t mind doing jobs for Saul, but they’re not close and it’s not a routine thing.
A reasonable analysis, as Huell would say. Mike and Jimmy/Saul are more related by circumstance than by friendship. I think Mike has a grudging respect for some of the things Jimmy knows, but he is far more streetwise.
Did anyone notice that when Chuck was making his way downtown to place the call to Dr Cruz, he passed a building with a huge sign reading KIMO. Kimo is James in Hawaiian.
The whole “video production” story isn’t working for me. Makes no sense with regard to a realistic time-line/logistics. Whatever.
Liked the smirk at the end of tonight’s episode.
I think the video production makes sense as a transition to Saul, the lawyer from TV. Also, I think we’re starting to see the mean and malicious side of Jimmy, a side that Kim is having difficulty relating to. Great to see Yo-Yo Man back again! In case you didn’t know, he was quite a sensation on local news channels some time ago as Kenny Strasser, aka K-Strass, YoYo Master.
