# Better Call Saul season 6 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [April 19, 2022, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063 "2022-04-19T17:04:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 67
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1321 "2022-08-11T16:02:41Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > …or maybe she just cares more about punishing herself and goes back to Florida. Yup. Yup. Yup. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1322 "2022-08-11T16:04:14Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Looking online…it does not. It seems a Cinnabon manager is makes about 50k per year. A franchise owner (which he isn’t) might make closer to 100k. How do we know he isn’t an owner? Seems to me that it would be the safest route, for a guy with money who wants to stay under the radar, to own the place himself so he doesn’t have to work under the scrutiny of another boss. Have they addressed this at all? I kind of just assumed any wealthy fugitive with a false identity would own the business he is trying to use for cover. Rather than work solely for wages, with a boss looking over his shoulder. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1323 "2022-08-11T16:10:11Z")
He is not an owner. A background check is required. It’s a $300,000, 20-year agreement, and while these things are pushed on people who don’t really understand what they are getting into, Saul wouldn’t even dare to be an owner. And the process of buying a franchise takes longer than the timeline discussed here. Hell, he has to attend a management training program in Atlanta. He’s not doing that undercover, with a fake ID. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1324 "2022-08-11T16:16:33Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > How do we know he isn’t an owner? > **[Jimmy McGill](https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Jimmy_McGill)** > > James Morgan "Jimmy" McGill, better known by his professional alias and business moniker Saul Goodman and later Gene Takavic, is an American criminal defense lawyer, scam artist, and convicted criminal who is serving an 86-year sentence at ADX... > Saul retired from his law career in 2010, going into hiding in Omaha for several months, working as both a manager of [a Cinnabon](https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Cinnabon,_Omaha) and a con artist under the alias “Gene Takavic” ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1325 "2022-08-11T16:24:39Z")
The fee for the vacuum service has been $125k. Between the diamonds, the cash from the scams and whatever he might have saved from his real job, he should easily have that. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1326 "2022-08-11T16:29:20Z")
I guess I assumed that having all that already set up and ready to go is one of the services Mr. Ed the vaccum man provides. You’re not paying $125k for a fake ID and a ride. You’re paying for a whole new life, and all the prep work that goes into it. Gene certainly had enough money to cover the $300k franchise fee. The courses and background checks aren’t a big hurdle. I’m reminded of that Chinese kid who took the stock broker exam for Chrissy Moltisanti in The Sopranos. For sufficiently advanced criminals (and Ed is implied to be as advanced as Gus or anyone else in navigating that world), these are not deal breakers. And being the manager doesn’t preclude _also_ being an owner. We know he’s the manager, I just always assumed he was also the owner. Maybe that wasn’t a safe assumption. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1327 "2022-08-11T16:30:49Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > One issue about his call to Vacuum Cleaner Guy: they’ve established that the Feds got all of Saul’s money, so how would he pay for it? No doubt, VCG is on retainer. The money is already on deposit so the pickup can be made at a moment’s notice without having to arrange payment first. ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1328 "2022-08-11T16:33:11Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > The fee for the vacuum service has been $125k. When Gene called Best Quality Vacuum at the start of the Season 5 premiere, Ed told him that a second extraction would cost double what the first one did. So the fee for this would likely be $250K, at a minimum. Something that hasn’t been discussed yet is the fact that, sadly, Robert Forster is no longer with us. I am getting a suspicion that Gene is going to call BQV only to discover that it is under new management; the new manager will probably have no idea what the code phrase is for and will legitimately try to sell him a dust filter. Then ol’ Gene is truly going to be up that creek without a paddle. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1329 "2022-08-11T16:33:31Z")
While IANAL, I do run a business analyzing franchise business models for potential owners and “Jimmy is not an owner” is based on how the process works. Of course, this is a TV show (see above re: Kim’s confession), but even then they didn’t specify if he owned it or managed it. > **[FranchiseSkeptic.com](https://franchiseskeptics.com/)** > > Don't Buy a Job!™ ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1330 "2022-08-11T16:34:56Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > Skinny Pete and Badger: Lower Decks Done as a sequel to BB, and every episode is them trying some scam based on their poorly-understood versions of similar things Walter White did in BB. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1331 "2022-08-11T16:40:40Z")
Ooh! Kinda like “Young Sheldon”! ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1332 "2022-08-11T16:44:18Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > Skinny Pete and Badger: Lower Decks I think this would work best as a series of 15 minute YouTube shorts, with no real through-line. Just brief adventures and conversations. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1333 "2022-08-11T16:53:04Z")
> [@SwissMan](#): > > Something that hasn’t been discussed yet is the fact that, sadly, Robert Forster is no longer with us. I am getting a suspicion that Gene is going to call BQV only to discover that it is under new management; the new manager will probably have no idea what the code phrase is for and will legitimately try to sell him a dust filter. Then ol’ Gene is truly going to be up that creek without a paddle. They could portray it as only one side of the conversation but I suspect that you are correct as far as the plot goes. I am pretty sure that Gene is just the manager based on that line from BB. Sure he could be the owner but I doubt it. Owning a Cinnabon seems like a lot of damn work for what you earn. Definitely another franchise scam. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1334 "2022-08-11T16:57:34Z")
Cinnabon is one of those “if you’re gonna buy one, you’d better buy ten” franchises. A single unit isn’t going to support a remote owner… you almost have to be an owner/manager if you want to _live_ off the thing… but having ten of them spinning off $55-70k a year each, not the worst thing you can have. Just don’t buy one. To their credit, Cinnabon mostly sells to larger corporations like Pilot. There are _some_, but not many, single-unit owners. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1335 "2022-08-11T17:05:04Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I am pretty sure that Gene is just the manager based on that line from BB. Sure he could be the owner but I doubt it. Owning a Cinnabon seems like a lot of damn work for what you earn. Definitely another franchise scam. The thing that bothers me is, “Managing a Cinnabon in Omaha” is an awfully specific prediction. And then it turns out that’s what he’s actually doing? This feels to me like a fake identity that someone (maybe Saul, maybe vacuum cleaner guy, maybe someone Saul hired to do this?) set up years before. Someone created the Gene identity, bought the franchise, went through the training courses required, and then ran the business in a hands-off manner for years, using a hired manager. Maybe he claimed to be working in another country, and was just looking for someplace to invest his money other than the stock market. Then “Gene” shows up, and announces they’re ready to run things personally, as their retirement plan. If the set up was old enough, none of the current employees would have ever met the “Original” Gene, and so wouldn’t question it when the “New Gene” shows up and looks a bit different. So long as he had the proper paperwork, they’d all accept him as the owner, finally come home. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1337 "2022-08-11T17:11:05Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > The thing that bothers me is, “Managing a Cinnabon in Omaha” is an awfully specific prediction. And then it turns out that’s what he’s actually doing? You are reading WAY too much into it. It was a throwaway line in BB written before they had any idea that there would be a BCS. Making it a reality was an in joke for the fans. It didn’t have to be totally internally consistent because it was worth it for the joke. I mean if he really knew it to be true, there is no way he would have told Walt. On a different subject, it looks like Kim being from Nebraska was a tease and isn’t going to be part of the end plot at all. It’s interesting that a lot of the fandom wanted Jimmy and Kim to end up having a happy ending together and now, based on the last two episodes, want him to burn. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1338 "2022-08-11T17:12:37Z")
> [@grahamsnumber](#): > > Why did Gene need to get Marion involved at all? If the plan was to show Jeffie how to do a robbery, then turn the tables on him after it’s done why the Nippy pretence, and getting close to Marion. I’m not sure what reason he had to approach her all, as this plan works fine approaching Jeffie directly. It was a way to scare Jeffie into compliance in case Jeffie didn’t want to take part in a scam. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1340 "2022-08-11T17:18:31Z")
Gene clearly thought that a threat was needed and I agree. It’s an extra layer of protection. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1341 "2022-08-11T17:21:53Z")
> [@grahamsnumber](#): > > But Gene recognised the hunger in Jeffie to do exactly that Yes, but did Jeffie recognize that Gene was the one who could pull off a criminal caper? Sure, he knows about Saul Goodman, but to people who only know about Saul as the criminal lawyer from those silly ads, they may not know about Saul the _criminal_ lawyer. But now, Saul shows up at Jeffie’s house, proving that Saul can find him, has ingratiated himself with Jeffie’s mom, which proves he can talk a good con game, and then exudes a sense of menace, as he subtly suggests that things could go badly for Mom if Jeffie doesn’t play ball, which proves that Saul can be a badass when needed. Now Jeffie knows in his hear that Saul is for real, and not just a fast-talking bullshit artist. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063/1342 "2022-08-11T17:22:35Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > The thing that bothers me is, “Managing a Cinnabon in Omaha” is an awfully specific prediction. And then it turns out that’s what he’s actually doing? > > This feels to me like a fake identity that someone (maybe Saul, maybe vacuum cleaner guy, maybe someone Saul hired to do this?) set up years before I was just thinking that Gene might be the de facto owner, but his ownership is hidden behind fake identities or shell corporations originally set up by Ed. So he appears to be just a manager to anyone in Omaha who looks into it, but he still gets the profits and has no oversight because he’s the actual owner even though nobody knows it. It’s a stretch, but I still think Ed was selling something more than a fake ID and a ride to your shitty new McJob. So in my mind, setting up a legit business for your customers to own would be more valuable than pointing your clients to mall job and saying “looks like they’re hiring, see ya”. And the real explanation for the Cinabon line is that it was a throwaway joke in Breaking Bad. My head canon is that Ed gave Saul a choice of several options before Walt showed up, and he picked Omaha as his first choice, so he already knew his likely destination when he was talking to Walt in Ed’s basement. Of course, this whole time I’ve been thinking that choice was due to Saul knowing Kim is from Nebraska. I’m not sure if Saul knew Kim was in Florida the whole time, or if he only recently got that information during the Gene timeline. If he knew she was in Florida all along, choosing Omaha from a list of other options makes a lot less sense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063.md?page=66) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-call-saul-season-6/963063.md?page=68)