All right, now this makes sense. Good analysis.
The writers of this show like parallels that equate Saul’s actions to that of other characters. In this Gene is using the same leverage with Jeffie that Gus used on Nacho.
I see it in the same way as Saul’s BB reference to Ignacio and Lalo, when he first meets Walt and Jesse. These are lines that were used at the time with no conception of a future life, but once a sequel was planned, the showrunners built out the throwaway lines (the existence of a Nacho and a Lalo, literally managing a Cinnabon in Omaha) just because it was fun to do so.
But yeah, I forgot who Saul was talking to way back when, when he said he’ll be managing a Cinnabon? That might have been a problem when the quip came true.
It certainly would be more valuable. It’d be a LOT more valuable than the $300k the extraction service cost. And the recipient of such a service would likely be a lot more comfortable in the relocation, instead of living in a completely unfinished house with zero furniture, who constantly checks and rechecks the few meager possessions he owns, ready to bolt at a moment’s notice.
Well, all that’s true. And we saw Walt didn’t get a job when he was hiding out. But he came with millions of dollars of his own. He didn’t need a job, he needed to not be seen by anyone, basically forever.
Saul’s situation is quite different, I think. I thought his spartan home life was more a reflection of his despair and feelings of boredom and isolation, than a necessary consequence of his disappearance. And also it could be part of his fake identity. If he’s pretending not to own the Cinnabon, he couldn’t live like a rich man, and living too large in general would be bad for keeping a low profile.
The way I imagined it, Ed has these spots ready to go, with some sap already there keeping the seat warm, and the clients pay a big fee to basically step into an existing, already created life. Any extra fees, like the franchise fee, would have to be paid for separately.
Ultimately, though, I think the details are vague on purpose, and we’re thinking far more deeply about this issue than the writers did. Gene clearly needed money after Francesca told him his laundering businesses were gone, and he did all those scams with Jeff for that reason.
So if he does have several months of Cinnabon profits somewhere, they must not be easily accessible. Or they just aren’t enough. It’s not clear what he wanted the identity theft money for, or if it was just an old addict trying to get high again for old times sake.
Absolutely. I think the writers portrayed Gene as a simple wage slave, and did so pretty clearly. If Gene was set for a comfortable life, he wouldn’t be looking to head back to ABQ 6 months after landing in Omaha.
More simply, the story gets far too muddled when we try to force a “maybe there’s quarterly earnings to figure into Gene’s escape plan” when we’ve been directly shown Gene with a trunk full of scam cash.
In the post show after the latest episode, Vince Gilligan said he argued hard with everyone else against introducing a character named Lalo. He thought it was stupid to build on that one throwaway line. He admitted he was really glad he gave in.
I like to think that Ed was listening in on Saul and Walter, heard the Cinnabon line, and said to himself, “Well, if that’s all it takes to meet his best-case scenario that’s just what I’ll do.” Gotta get your kicks somehow…
And right, that was where we first heard the line, in Vacuum Cleaner Guy’s basement with Walt awaiting transport. I’d thought he’d said it years earlier, in his office, in front of who knows who.
On the bolded (by me) bit: yes, of course the reason Jimmy had the urn in his hand was that he wanted to knock out the homeowner. But after said homeowner passed out again, Jimmy didn’t walk back up the stairs to put the urn in its place*–he kept going down. Hence my speculation that he might have been simulating ‘kids doing a robbery and discarding stuff they realize to be less valuable on their way out.’ (Which would be a way of misleading both cops and homeowner, and making it less likely that either would consider the possibility that the break-in was related to identity theft.)
*I need to watch again, but: did Jimmy handle that liquor decanter and glass bare-handed??? I’ve been bothered by that since it happened.
It would fit with the self-destructiveness many have noted in his conduct during recent episodes, certainly.
No.
Who’s stupid fucking idea is it that a post has to be at least 5 characters?
So much wrong with that scene. Slippin’ Jimmy would have tossed the urn off the balcony to distract Stu, raced down the stairs and skedaddled. But Gene considered bashing his brains in instead. Similarly, he looked awfully close to murdering Marion with that phone cord. He’s definitely in a dark place. (Many of us would be, after recently escaping a long, bloody cartel war.)
Despite the evil intent, I’m heartened by the fact that Saul did not resort to murder, despite his seeming readiness to do so. He’s still got a way to go before he sinks to Walt’s level.
I also wonder why he couldn’t just casually walk out to the cab as if he had called it to begin with, cops or no. And Jeffy intentionally distracted the police, I think, but I wonder if the wreck itself was intentional. Maybe he simulated reckless driving a little too well, and the crash was a legitimate accident?
The last few episodes have me legitimately confused. Gene is making obvious mistakes Jimmy or even Saul never would. But he’s also taking things way further than I think he would if he wanted to get caught. Also, his behavior sure makes it seem like he doesn’t want to get caught. And I still don’t know what it’s all for. Just to make up for his lost vending machines and laser tag places? To go on the lam, yet again? To get one last taste of the con life?
Really looking forward to the finale, and soon after, I plan to watch the whole show again from the beginning. I watched each season multiple times as they came out, and occasionally in prep for a new season, but I haven’t watched seasons 1-3 in years. I expect to see a lot more details, symbolism and foreshadowing I missed before.
That’s what I was thinking as well. Then when he headed towards the stairs, all I could think was ‘he black out drunk, give him 30 seconds to play with his phone and he’ll probably fall right back asleep’, which he did. In fact, with how drunk he was, Jimmy probably could have said ‘excuse me’ walked past him and out the door (that’s a stretch, I know).
Again, same thought. Sure, if he could have given it a few seconds to see if they drive off, but I assumed he was just going to walk out the door, hop in the cab and they’d drive away.
I am curious, however, why they stopped right there. If they were just pulling over to eat their sandwiches, they could have stopped anywhere, why 3 feet behind a parked cab?
I believe that’s exactly what he’s doing. He’s basically forcing himself to hit rock bottom. Like an addict who wants to get clean but knows they won’t unless forced so they get more and more reckless until they leave their family or the police with no choice but to put them in rehab.
Whether he feels he needs to be punished (after talking to Kim) or he’s just sick of this life, I don’t know. I could see it being the latter. If he were to turn himself in he could revert back to James McGill. Even if he’s in jail, he would at least have his loud personality back and that might be better than living like this. Kim seems to be doing okay, but Gene is going stir crazy.
Well, he had no idea what the cops were doing. Maybe they got a call about a mustachioed man sneaking around and were waiting to see if he popped up.
That’s not wrong. Plus, Gene couldn’t have possibly guessed that Jeffie would react like that. We know the cops probably would have driven away as soon as they finished eating. Gene was probably smart and calm enough to just sweat it out for a few minutes and then make a judgement call on what to do. I would hazard a guess that, if after a few minutes, the cops never approached the cab, not only is it probably safe to hop in and drive away, the longer it sits the cab sits there, the more likely it is to get their attention.
Gene gets busted. Elects to defend himself. Walks into court wearing the garish shirt and tie combination he looked at wistfully while casing the department store. Slow fade from black-and-white to color as he walks towards the jury for his opening arguments - Saul Goodman’s last ride! End credits.
I think you might be overthinking it a little.
Why not? That was, in fact, anywhere.
At least in the suburbs, cops don’t seem to like activity at night on a residential street. One time I mentioned to my suburban city’s police chief that I liked driving in the city at night because the stop lights on the main road are turned to blinking lights. He said “only cops and crooks are out at night. Which one are you?” (he’s a bit of an ass) It doesn’t seem weird to me at all that they stopped behind a running vehicle in the dead of night. Yes it happened to be a cab which is expected to be a running vehicle, but if your job is to ride around for 8 hours and be vigilant, it would not be odd at all to sit there and wait to see that this cab has reason to be idling outside of someone’s house in the middle of the night.
Also, don’t forget, this is the BCS/BB universe. Everything is Chekov’s Gun (or Soprano’s Bear)! Everything has to be there for a reason or five future plot points don’t work!
Officer MacGuffin likes to eat on quiet suburban streets