What Jimmy did to Irene was one of the meanest things I can remember in all of the BCS/BB world. Yeah BB had tons of violence and death but Jimmy making a pariah out of the sweetest elderly woman around who is now despised by everyone she knows was just nasty and cruel. The Bingo scene was so uncomfortable to watch.
I see where they’re having a season ending episode of “Talking Saul” after the finale. I’ll be curious to hear what Vince and everyone else has to say about what Jimmy did to Irene. I’m sure it’ll come up.
Agreed. I was actually wondering if the episode was building up to Jimmy realizing he did a terrible thing (turning her friends against her, hoping they would push her to settle, but instead they just shunned her) but not so. Could still come up later of course.
Good explanation, Captain Pantastic.
Ironically, a little meth could have fixed Kim’s sleepytime problem.
The blue meth isn’t around yet, but I hear Hamlindigo Blue™ meth is pretty close.
I think Jimmy was prepared for it to go either way, if they handled it maturely and confronted her then they would likely convince her to settle since she’s really only holding out because the lawyers told her to. Since they started shunning her, he rigged the big bingo meltdown and became her only person to talk to. I also don’t think it’s likely that they’ll figure out that Jimmy played them even if they do go back to hanging out; Jimmy was careful to act innocent when he was planting seeds of discontent, he always phrased things so that he wasn’t actually saying anything bad or untrue himself.
I think the fact that Jimmy saw her friends turning against her and jumped into the bingo meltdown with both feet says that he’s OK with what he did. That’s why I think this is a big turning point for him, he’s always been protective to his elder clients and focused his scam side on people he thinks deserve it, but he seemed to have no qualms about what he did here.
So the idea is that Chuck turns Howard off to the law so much that he switches to the drug trade, but being Howard he keeps it classy and tries to make meth a rich person’s drug with his Hamlindigo Blue brand. Since he’s bypassing Walt’s market entirely, he might even still be around in the BB era watching the explosion unfold. Sounds like a likely plot path!
And in a way, he’s right. Irene holding out for more money was not in the best interest of everyone. She was being played by the lawyers anyway, and some of them might be dead before they see a payout. It was a clever strategy, if a little unethical.
“A little unethical”? More like absolutely unethical and a really nasty thing to do to Irene.
Depends on your view. If the lawyers had convinced Irene that holding out for a better deal was in her and everyone else’s best interests, even if it wasn’t, and some of them might die before ever teaching a settlement, then yes, what Jimmy did was actually going to help both Irene and her friends, ultimately. He’ll get his share; that won’t change. So for the greater good, what he did could be considered ethical. He just had to take advantage of Irene’s social standing to accomplish it.
The confounding factor of course being that however Jimmy justifies things to himself, he was motivated first, last and overwhelmingly by his own needs. So, unethical as hell no matter how correct he might be. And mean as hell no matter however much small amount of good might come of it. Some of those friendships might never mend entirely and it is possible Irene might die alone. Prosperous(ish) depending on how many people are part of the case, but sad and unhappy.
You would be surprised how many friends and family “appear” when you come into a butt-load of money.
Lots of chickens being counted before they hatch. Howard setting up Chuck’s retirement party before he reads Chuck’s letter. Jimmy celebrating the Sandpiper settlement very prematurely.
When Lydia tells Mike “then you don’t know Gustavo Fring” is she just alluding to the fact that Gus has plans to manufacture, or does she know something about Gus’ background? Are we finally going to find out what’s Gus’ identity was back in Chile?
In the Q&A with Patrick Fabian (Howard) he indicates that until the reveal at the trial, Howard was still buying Chuck’s claim of a real medical condition:
I also get the feeling that things won’t end well for Irene. In the previews there is a shot of Jimmy looking dejected in his mall-walking getup while something is wheeled in from of the camera. Maybe Irene on a stretcher? Perhaps the closing scene in the finale will be Chuck, Hector, and Irene in adjacent beds in the ICU?
I don’t think the individuals in the class each come into a butt-load of money. Jimmy mentions to Howard that with the current settlement offer they get the money they were scammed out of plus a bit extra. The butt-load of money goes to the lawyers (remember Jimmy explaining with the peanuts?).
I believe, though, that as lead plaintiff Irene gets more than everyone else.
I think they mentioned in the show that she gets the same amount as they all do.
And several failed attempts at convincing people of something. Jimmy tries to convince Howard that it’s in the client’s best interest to settle Sandpiper and Howard doesn’t buy it for a second. Chuck tries to bluff the insurance company and Howard with a lawsuit threat, and they think it’s both think it’s hot air. (Howard waits to see if Chuck actually has a better idea than ‘lets threaten a lawsuit, then figure out if there’s any grounds to sue’, but it’s clear he’s not happy even before he knew it was bunk). Nacho tries to convince his father to let Hector use his shop and gets kicked out of the house, probably leaving his father unconvinced.
From my memory of what they said, the residents are getting 80% of a $17 million settlement spread X ways, while the lawyers are splitting 20% of the settlement three ways (Jimmy, HHM, F&M). So each firm gets something over a million dollars, while the residents get something in the low tens of thousands each (if there are 1000 residents across all locations splitting the pot evenly, it’s $13,600 each). So the residents are getting enough money that it’s a real settlement (it’s not going to be ‘here’s a can of tuna’), but waiting a long time for an extra $1360 is really different than waiting that same time for an extra $100k, especially when the $1360 people are old enough that they might not live to see the extra.
Yeah, Howard has grown on me too. It’s interesting that he and Kim have such a fraught relationship; I think they’re very much alike – or at least more alike than they are with any other characters. (Temperamentally alike, though she’s had to scramble and fight more than he has, from what we’ve seen. Maybe that’s it.)
Good points. The idea that hubris leads to unhappy outcomes has been a recurring theme in Gilligan’s writing.
Jimmy said that – I think to soften the resentment toward Irene that he was cultivating. (He did his best to make her sound thoughtless, not selfish. That didn’t work out as smoothly as planned. That’s good writing: Jimmy’s pulling a con, but trying to do it “the right way.” Trying to minimize collateral damage. Keeps us on his side.)
In real life, I’ve been a member of several class action suits, and I certainly remember there being notice that the class representatives got extra compensation. A glance at the Wiki for “lead plaintiff” confirms that.
So Jimmy was probably shining the other old ladies on, too.