They don’t want Lalo in prison. They want him out, presumably, so they can kill him.
Mike had a tracker on Saul. That’s why he took the gas cap. When he puts it in his bag you can see the receiver stowed away. How he found out about the exchange? Don’t know yet, but my guess is he found out through Nacho. I don’t know if he called Nacho to arrange the cash, or he made the call direct from his cell.
They each went out the way they came in. The twins went back to Mexico, Jimmy went back to Albuquerque. The intercept was on the road back to Albuquerque.
And Mike was in a key position. He was able to set up an ambush on the ambushers because he was watching the road.
Group A sets up a roadblock. Group B drives down the road and conceals the car. When Jimmy passes Group B, they pull out from cover and follow so Jimmy can’t flip the car around and flee when he reaches the roadblock.
Mike thought it was possible that he would be in a gunfight. If he is, and something happens to his truck, his traceable property is now at the scene of a crime. Why not bring an untraceable vehicle?
Why would they? It’s less than 30 miles in off the highway. Wouldn’t be surprised if they only brought beer. It is not that hard to find people not prepared for shit happening in their cars.
I missed that part, but when Mike pulls up the survivor bad guy opens up with his rifle before fleeing. I think that’s when his truck gets hit.
Because there’s a concern he comes back with friends? Friends who know they’re up against a sniper, and will be better prepared?
Doesn’t matter what guns Mike lifts from the dead – there’s only him shooting. That’s not a war.
Why would a cadre of police go out to see vultures? Animals die all the time. It’s not like they only circle for people.
I don’t think Nacho would try to steal it, as if he found out about it through Lalo he’s #1 on the shit list. Lalo does mention there are factions that want him in jail, and I think it driven by that angle.
I was wondering this too. I think it has to be an internal cartel struggle. With Hector out of the business though, who would have done so? I hope it’s not Deus Ex robbery.
I thought about that, but I don’t believe the point of this episode is to play for humor, but to show a turning point. Like the reasons Mike explained, Jimmy’s discovered why he’s out there, and has found the strength to overcome his weaknesses to get out. If Mike had handed him a bottle of water afterwards it would have been just another shit moment in Jimmy’s life. Instead, I think this is a turning point in his character, and more of the “Nice Jimmy” is going away. He’s not leaving the desert the same man that went in.
Patch - interesting comments.
I didn’t pick up on the gas cap. Noticed it but let it slide.
In New Mexico we carry water even on I25 or I10.
The twins and Jimmie left by the same road. They both had to get back to I25.
I’ll watch it again tonight. The wife was asleep and wants to see it.
That last guy they killed was carrying water. Mike pulls out the jug, but it has been ruptured and only a few drops spill out.
I think all of you guys are making it too complicated. IMO Mike was aiming at the driver, not the tires or anything else. On the Insider podcast, they said that stuntman is the best in the business at making vehicles go into those kinds of rolls. They didn’t mention anything about explosives or anything like that: it sounds to me like he just makes the vehicle do that purely by something he does with the steering wheel. Thus, logically, someone driving at high speed could do it accidentally upon being hit by a bullet.
The writers have not spoken on the subject, but Rhea Seehorn, who plays Kim, has advanced exactly this hypothesis in interviews.
Speaking of Seehorn, there’s a great interview with her by the Ringer’s Chris Ryan in a recent (maybe the latest?) episode of The Watch podcast. She is such a great actor, it was no surprise to hear that her method involves a very specific paradigm I hadn’t heard of (I guess the only one I’ve heard of is “The Method”) called “practical aesthetics” (I haven’t Googled it yet, but it’s got to be a good approach if someone as stellar as she is uses it). A charming little detail that made me like her even more: for all her clear intelligence, she thinks singing without instrumental accompaniment is called “a capello”. I rewound it three times to make sure! Aww.
It’s a good interview. The guys at the Ringer love her.
For those interested in Seehorn, I suggest checking out Alan Sepinwall’s recent profile of her for Rolling Stone. I find it interesting just how many talented actors Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul have pulled out of obscurity. Good writing is of course immensely important, but their casting directors also seem to have the Midas touch.
That whole shootout–actually what remained in the aftermath–reminded me of the scene that Josh Brolin stumbled upon in No Country For Old Men.
How big do you think vultures are? No matter how many vultures there were, they wouldn’t be visible from 30 miles away (or even 10 miles away). And even if cops did see it, they would assume it was a couple of dead livestock, not a massacre.
Excellent episode in true Gilligan style.
The guy on the phone, who works for (but isn’t loyal to) the Salamancas, said “I’ve got something for him if he’s still interested.” So he’s the one who tipped off the ambushers about the money. It remains to be seen who “he” is, but it doesn’t seem to be Salamanca management or Gus.
Yep. And that spot under the trees where Mike and Jimmy rested was reminiscent of the spot where Josh found the dead guy with the money.
I guarantee Saul’s not absconding with the money. And it wouldn’t keep Lalo in prison anyway, since that money room had apparently hundreds of millions left after the cousins finished filling their bags (those were kind of neat, how they unfolded, BTW).
In the sneak peak
we see Saul delivering the money to the courthouse. So Lalo is definitely getting out. Whether he makes it back to Mexico is anyone’s guess.
Saul was deeply insulted by this offer of charity. Howard basically says he wants Jimmy as a salesman, not as a lawyer.
Saul wants to make Howard pay through the arse for underestimating him.
Remember “Because I’m not done with Hector Salamanca.”?
Murphy Brown, ER, The X-Files, Monk, Law and Order, CSI (three versions of it), House, The Good Wife, Elementary
You’ve seriously never seen any of these?!? He’s in EVerything.
No, I still have the same question. Your video shows a pot of oil above an open flame. Commercial deep fryer flames are necessarily quite well housed from the oil. I understand that the oil would splash impressively, but I’m not so sure about the ignition.
Also, even if it works, this is a method that a chicken restaurant owner would think of. Its not what some mob dufus sent to create chaos would come up with. They don’t know from hot oil and frozen chicken.
I don’t think she was hoping any such thing. I think she finally realized that he was not going to change and then that she didn’t want to give him up anyway. So she did what would protect her in the seemingly inevitable event that he goes to prison.
So if the man on the phone tipped of someone unknown that set up the ambush then who sent Mike? He could only be sent by Gus unless he was tailing Jimmy.
Also, Gus would obviously be checking into Mike’s background. The unsolved murder of Matt Ehrmantraut, and then the also-unsolved murders of two Philly cops who happened to know him would be matters of public record. Gus is smart and could easily put 2+2 together to figure that out. (Just like the Philly detectives did, but couldn’t prove.)
Good point. Maybe there was a gas-fired grill near the fryer or something.
One of the things that I really love about this show (and also Breaking Bad) is that it doesn’t usually insult the characters’ intelligence. The professional criminals in the show may not be geniuses, but they tend to be pretty savvy (except Tuco). Same with the cops and federal agents.
I view the whole arson episode as akin to the horse head in The Godfather. The Salamancas wanted to send Gus a very specific message. What better way to fuck with “the chicken man” than to blow up his restaurant using a chicken? Remember, the arson has to appear as if it came from the Salamancas, not some random methed-up 50% off knuckleheads.
All of this assumed the chicken actually survives the fire, of course. I’m curious to see what the arson investigators think.
Gus definitely sent Mike to follow Jimmy. Gus has people following everyone.
The arson method is perhaps a little too cute.
Even if you discount the opening episode, the rest of Saul’s career on BB can be summed up as “facilitating the murders and crimes of murderous criminals”. This goes beyond “not super ethical”. Over the course of the show gets more and more mired in criminal conspiracy to the point in season 5 where he recommends to Walt that Jesse be killed like a rabid dog. Jimmy becoming Saul is not awesome, it’s tragic. Jimmy has been given several opportunities to have jobs where he can use his unique talents legally and successfully,and thus build a life together with Kim. He rejects all of these, and ends up as Saul in BB
BB ends for Saul with his one-way trip with the vacuum repair guy. You say it’s heart-breaking to see him become Gene: Jimmy became Gene because and only because he first became Saul. And Gene was the best possible ending Saul could have had.