Same here–I find JB to appear older and frailer than his actual years, while BO’s appearance never bothers me, show-chronology-wise.
If enough production money were available, the adult actors could all be made to look the ‘correct’ age. (Viewers of The Americans saw several examples of what’s possible with today’s CGI tech.)
Of course that doesn’t explain the weirdness of Mike’s granddaughter’s age shifts. (Has that ever been addressed on one of the podcasts?)
Season 5 prediction: When Mike kills Werner, he mentions that there will be “an accident” and lawyers to investigate and provide an explanation to his family. In BB, Saul is already an expert at concocting phony corporate records and inheritances and such; I suspect Mike will hire Saul to provide the cover story and supporting documents to Werner’s family.
If I had to guess about Caylee she’s so unimportant as a distinct “character”, that they felt justified fudging. They wanted a very one dimensional little kid, young enough for Mike to bond with but not a baby. Since they needed that in both BCS and BB they basically had to fudge her age.
Jimmy’s conversion to Saul is very interesting. Especially with his reaction to the girl previously convicted of shoplifting who did not get the scholarship.
He realizes now that no matter what he does or how he acts, he will never get the respect of the big shots. So he is going to play a different game.
It clearly is not the right or moral thing to do, but it is a real life reminder of how, say, convicted felons are treated when they are back in society. If they cannot ever get a job that can support their family, then what else can they do but go back to a life of crime? It is an interesting social commentary.
Most likely, unless as somebody else suggested this becomes the renewed connection between Mike and Saul. Maybe they haven’t decided yet (I wonder how far in advance they do decide major themes)
I agree not realistic in a number of ways.
Lots of people could do, and yeah they have silver mines in Mexico that have been worked for 100’s of years and still being worked with new techniques. But back to realism, probably nobody could do it without anyone noticing. Noting that a) this is lot more digging than a tunnel to free somebody from prison or smuggle drugs, and b) those aren’t ‘noticed’ because done where you can pay a small number of people not to notice, not the idea of a crew not knowing where they were in the US (which BTW was blown by the ‘R&R’ right?) and nobody around noticing because of synchronized sounds by trucks etc.
I wondered whether some building project where they dug a foundation, then the project got ‘cancelled’ and they could cover up that they never filled it back in, might have been a more plausible idea to work with than a totally secret project.
Can somebody help me figure out how/ when Werner made plans with his wife to meet on that date/ this hotel/ OK honey I’ll be on that flight?
If they did it on the long phone call from the compound, does it mean the guys listening in where lying to Mike/ incompetent/ paid off by Werner? 
It’s easy enough to cover Werner’s death. His work involves blasting. Just rig a fake blasting accident that takes his head off. Or, a crane tipped and crushed his head. They may have to buy a property and fake up a job site, but that would be good cover anyway for the reason Werner was in the U.S.
I don’t know the ins and outs of these things, but it strikes me as unfair to expect something like that to not be rehearsed. My expectation would be that just as in a job interview, being well rehearsed is a sign of respect, that you are taking it seriously.
I didn’t think the board actually believed Jimmy forged the documents—otherwise they would have disbarred him rather than suspending him (which was ultimately a punishment for breaking in and taking the tape). Wasn’t that the point of the whole scheme with Huell and getting Chuck to go all Captain Bligh on the witness stand?
Well done! You do indeed deserve credit. 
You are right about every bit of that. I still don’t understand why they had the woman (a secretary of some kind, I guess?) say “Mr. McGill, there’s some good news” and then had Jimmy cut her off with “believe me, I already know” and then never have her actually say he’s reinstated. That’s a weird way to write the scene if there’s nothing more to it. I predict there is some kind of catch. It wouldn’t be good news if he was simply denied. So maybe he is reinstated with some kind of condition attached that he will find onerous next season.
I love Kuby too, and “Breaking Bad” was what introduced me to Burr (his Netflix comedy specials are highly recommended). I would flip it around the other way, though: to me, the stuff at Beneke’s house is peak Kuby (that whole episode is so great, with really intense drama but also other funny parts, like Walt asking if they really had to smuggle him into the lab in hampers full of dirty—as opposed to clean—laundry, and getting the simple answer “no”).
And I’m sure Ted had cable. Kuby was just saying it would suck if he didn’t, and instead of responding one way or the other, Ted made his ill-fated run for it.
And then of course Gus subsequently forces Walt to take Gale back as an assistant, with an eye toward having Gale learn all Walt’s secrets and replacing him.
Funny that you cite “The Americans”. It’s one of my very favorite shows of recent years, just like BB and BCS, but I’m fairly certain their budget was smaller than BCS’s. And I recall finding their depictions of the lead characters from twenty years earlier fairly risible in the first couple seasons, although I do think they got better later on.
I’m not sure what you meant by “ghensystem”, but I think your overall argument is sound.
I always prefer it, although I still like the Mike/Gus/Nacho side pretty well. I’m thinking about watching just the Saul portion of the show with my wife. I wonder how much time that would cut? Is it maybe about two-thirds of the overall running time of the series, you think?
That was really interesting—thanks!
His age is all over the place, fifty-five, up to seventy-two… what an asshole!
I think “realizes” should be in quotes though, because the statement is not actually true. Davis and Main were big shots, and were willing to hire him in to a full position despite his lack of experience or good schools, work with him, and after he made a major ‘we’d usually fire someone for this’ decision they kept him on and assigned a junior lawyer to work with him to help him do the work right. He chose not to listen to what they told him and even repeatedly went against what they said, and started acting badly in an attempt to get fired (which succeeded). The speech he gave “The shoplifter” was based on a lie that he tells himself, the reality is that his lack of respect from the big shots is precisely because of what he did and how he acts.
Yeah, no one but Jimmy and Kim believe that Jimmy forged any documents, if they did then he wouldn’t be suspended but instead straight up disbarred. Chuck of course did believe it, but he’s no longer alive. I think Howard did believe Chuck until the court scene shattered his opinion of Chuck, but I’m pretty sure he thinks Chuck was mistaken now.
I think it’s written that way for dramatic emphasis. The switch in mood that Jimmy was faking all of the emotion he showed in his testimony, that the catharsis really was a mask he put on. In the speech he’s contrite and trembling, a broken man who is deeply sad about the death of his brother and, while he isn’t sure if he’ll be reinstated, is going to live his life living up to his brother’s ideals. When the secretary comes up for him to sign documents, all of that is just switched off. He fooled the suckers, he’s so cocky about the reinstatement that he doesn’t even wait to hear it, or keep on the mask until the ink is dry on the paperwork. Addressing the secretary with “Oh and sweetheart” and giving Kim “It’s all good, man” with finger guns is Kim’s (and, chronologically, our) first view of the Saul Goodman that will be in Breaking Bad, and it leaves her looking like a lost little girl at the end.
Realistically he’d be smart enough not to shout out how stupid he thinks the board is within earshot of other people and to keep the contrite mask on until the paperwork was all filed and proper, but that would require adding a lot of ‘finding a parking space’ time to the episode and would drag out the discovery time for Kim, which would not provide as intense of a dramatic realization.
I agree that D&M (and Howard) have opened the door for Jimmy. But he’s not really thinking of them. The only approval he’s ever really looked for is Chuck’s. And he’s known for a long time that Chuck would not - ever - give Jimmy McGill Esquire approval and respect. This was symbolised by the partners in Chuck’s old law firm not giving the shoplifter a second chance.
In the hearing, he faked catharsis by saying he would dedicate himself to living up to his brother’s standards. And most of that speech was sincere: Chuck had high standards; if he felt you lived up to them then he was wonderful to be around; if he didn’t, he could be a real son of a bitch. Jimmy knew now he could never be Chuck. All of that was true. What was fake was the conclusion he claimed he drew from it.
Jimmy broke down in the car because he realised, sitting in his shitty Esteem, that he’s been chasing a mirage. And of course the upshot of that breakdown was that he’s not going to chase it any more. He’s going to do the law his way, and to hell with Chuck and the stick up his arse. That was his true moment of catharsis.
Kim’s sudden collision with this reality was heartbreaking.
Something my wife caught in the opening when the partners were sponsoring their proteges:
PArtner 1: "It is my pleasure…
PArtner 2: "I am very pleased to…
Partner 3: "It is my pleasure to…
Chuck: "I stand before you to…
He wasn’t pleased, and he wasn’t going to say so. A small detail, but dead true to the character.
He isn’t thinking of them, but he was TALKING about them in his speech to The Shoplifter. That’s why I say that it’s not true (and avoided calling it a lie) - Jimmy has huge unresolved issues related to Chuck and projects the Jimmy-Chuck conflict out onto the world. His advice to her would be great for his younger self about relating to Chuck, but is divorced from reality when it’s to her about dealing with the lawyering world. If Jimmy was willing to go into therapy and face harsh truths he might untangle it, but as it is he’s going to destroy himself trying to win a struggle against a dead man.
(Also, don’t think it got mentioned here, but I like the touch that the panel’s question for her was about working with elders. Makes another connection that Jimmy can see with her.)
As we’ve seen more of the excavation project, it’s become more and more implausible. As I and others have said, there’s a problem in the inconsistency. The point of having the lab under the laundry is to make it unlikely to be discovered. However, making a huge excavation under a working laundry with a crew of seven foreigners over a course of at least six months (as originally planned, actually more than a year) enormously increases the chance of the project being discovered. So the trade off hardly seems worth it.
They could have also purchased an existing building with a basement, then converted it into a laundry while concealing it. (Of course that involves avoiding building inspectors from checking it, but that doesn’t seem as much of a problem as excavating a new one secretly.)
The Superlab in BB was an element that was included because of its coolness factor. Then in BCS the writers were faced with the task of explaining how it came to be. They decided to have fun with it, rather than take a more prosaic approach.
We’re still a good five years away from Gale actually setting up the Superlab, so it will be interesting to see what additional setbacks that delay it further.
I agree that Lalo is a worth adversary for Gus and Mike. Since he’s apparently still around at least initially in BB (Saul refers to him), it will be interesting to see how he is thrown off the scent without being killed.
So, any idea how long the wait will be for the next 10 eps?
Guarantee that with my pretty superficial interest, I’ll have forgotten any number of subtle points by then! 
Apologies if I appear pushy but I am terrified that my question might get buried now the thread is on a new page and I will die unenlightened. So I’m just re-posting it here in the hope that anybody has some insight or if I missed something really obvious.
I assumed he just managed to find a phone somewhere after his escape and called her collect.
Since we are not shown how he did it, your guess is as good as anyone else’s.
Interesting speculation that Werner could have paid off one of the minders, but there’s no evidence he has access to them directly. In any case, if he did it that way I think Mike would figure it out very quickly.
He most likely somehow called his wife after escaping. The fact that he had to wait around for several hours at the TravelWire office for the money to arrive suggests that she didn’t have much notice in advance. If he had called her earlier the money would have been there before he got there. And I think it’s implied that he decided on the hotel to meet her at based on the brochures next to the phone in the TravelWire office. He called her to coordinate from there.
There’s the possibility that he called her from the bar while Mike was out dealing with Kai during the R&R. Possibly setting up some code they could use in the next, longer phone call that Mike’s crew listened in on. So “we’ll have to go to Baden Baden when you get back” could have meant “Let’s go to a hot springs resort when I meet you in New Mexico”. Exact details could have been worked out after he escaped.