People always cite this as their rebuttal whenever I argue about this, and I think that’s telling. It’s a well-known idea in television that you shouldn’t go back and look too closely at the way a character acts in a series pilot, because there is almost always significant evolution in characterization by the time you really get into the series. And that was the “pilot” episode for Saul (the episode is titled “Better Call Saul”, in fact). As we get further into the series, we see that he is very upset when he realizes he unknowingly helped Walt poison a kid, and he tries to protect Jesse from being killed and comes across as a doe-eyed innocent when he attempts to keep Jesse’s location secret from Mike, who at that point is the cold-eyed killer.
It’s one thing to say that Saul is not super ethical in BB. Stipulated. But IMO he’s not evil, and in fact has a “heart of gold” all the way through. You know who’s actually pretty evil on that show? Mike. So is Jesse (who murdered a dude in cold blood, and infiltrated a rehab group so he could sell the members small amounts of meth, just for kicks as he didn’t need the money). Yet people like Alan Sepinwall, who lament that it’s so “heartbreaking” to watch Jimmy become Saul, seem to love Jesse and Mike. :dubious:
IMO it’s not heartbreaking at all to watch Jimmy become Saul. It’s awesome. What’s heartbreaking is to see him become Gene.
They hit the same themes, but Jimmy is SO much more sympathetic than Walt. The root of Walt’s motive is basically ‘he’s an egotistical asshole’ - fundamentally, there’s not a lot of depth to him. Jimmy on the other hand has a complex mix of emotions stemming from his tragic relationship with his brother and a lifetime of seeing ‘the right way’ just get taken advantage of. Watching BB I find myself just enjoying the spectacle and occasionally rolling my eyes at Walt, watching BCS I find myself feeling sorry for most of the characters and wanting to go ‘no, Jimmy, don’t do it’.
Mike take a shot with his scope rifle, and an SUV flies up in the air and rolls around. Is that really possible?
If he had a tank or a rocket launcher, I might believe it. But a single bullet from a rifle, no matter how high-powered, and it doesn’t rip off his shoulder when he fires it - someone explain please.
Assuming he shot the tire, yeah. Old SUVs like that are crazy top-heavy and he was going fast. Spinning out on a flat like that can definitely roll you. It doesn’t mean it’s likely, but it’s possible.
I’m wondering who the guys are who tried to rob Saul. They knew he was there and that he had money; it wasn’t an opportunistic grab. They obviously weren’t Gus’s guys, since Mike works for Gus. The Salamancas presumably want Lalo to get his bail. So is this some third cartel faction? Corrupt cops? Mercenaries hired by Frau Ziegler?
ETA: Perhaps Nacho trying to pull strings from afar?
Kim is forced to launder cartel cash through Mesa Verde. She resists, ultimately is forced to do so, then gets caught & imprisoned.
If Mike keeps the cartel $$, that would be a big win for Gus - repaying him for the fire & chicken slaughtering line & the costs involved with the Zeigler Operation. It would also keep Lalo in prison.
I don’t know how Saul walks away from that with his life, however.
Remember the guy in the money-counting place who saw the twins leave with bags o’ loot, and made a phone call? I assume that has something to do with it.
It might well come up later, but in a certain sense I think it really doesn’t matter. It’s obvious the cartel as pictured on this show is quasi-feudal. Autonomous warlords kicking up to the boss, but free to prey on each other as long as it doesn’t seriously impinge on that kick-up. It could be just about any cartel faction looking for a quick, fat score.
An almost empty gas tank might blow up, but probably not with that much force. And, one guy with a rifle taking on the whole gang? But, it was super Mike so it’s OK.
However, why was Mike driving up the road following the bad guys. If he had the road under surveillance he would have been in a key position to stop anyone on the road, And why didn’t the Salamanca twins see the gang of cars on their way out. And how did the bad guys get cars on both sides of Jimmie. And why was Mike driving an untraceable truck if he did not plan to abandon it. And why was the truck suddenly leaking fuel or water or whatever. I don’t believe it was in the battle. And why didn’t they search the wrecked cars for water. Everybody carries enough water for themselves, an emergency and the car. I carry eight gallons. And why didn’t they stash the cash and set up an ambush for the missing bad guy. They had enough guns and ammo to fight a war. Mike knew he’d be back. And, oh yeah, by morning there would have been scores of vultures circling such a tasty site drawing cadres of police vehicles up the road.
Lalo must have set it up through Nacho and Nacho told Gus and Mike may have been sent to intercept the cash, but Nacho sent his guys to steal it first, or something like that. But, who cares, it was BCS and I love it!
Is there any reason that Kim has to be dead/gone/in prison when we get to the Breaking Bad years? I don’t remember the show going into a lot of detail about Saul’s home life. Is there any reason that Kim couldn’t have been doing pretty much what she is now throughout Breaking Bad, but the show never mentions her?
I kept thinking that Saul / Mike would lure the last guy out of his truck / kill the guy / use the truck to get out of Dodge. Then, it seemed for a moment like Saul got the idea… but Mike didn’t let the guy stop the truck… and they were just as stuck as before.
I thought that as well. But even after the wreck, I thought they might find a cooler full of ice cold bottled water in the wrecked vehicle, 3 minutes after Saul had to drink his own urine.
