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Better Call Saul


Rogue 3
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Ooh - that’s a decent amount of time to focus on “Gene”. Nice.

Looking forward to watching the latest episode tonight - we get them on Tuesdays to download on Netflix in the UK, so just had to get through the working day, and get our 3 year old up to bed, and then can relax and enjoy it!

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I basically have no predictions whatsoever for what will happen to who. Outside of, of course, y’know, obvious stuff that’s demanded by the constraints of this being a prequel to already established events we’ve seen for ourselves. The show’s had such a consistent capacity to successfully and satisfyingly surprise both in terms of able execution of storytelling gambits which I would’ve assumed before the fact to be absolutely totally no go areas things like a secret origin story for Mike, or bringing Gus Fring into things in a substantial fashion, or offing Chuck and also just the standard meat’n’potatoes kind of stuff that it does so well.

BUT

If forced to actively and futilely speculate as to where they’re going to go I’m going with the obvious and guessing full tragedy. Kim dead at Lalo’s hand probably after painfully breaking off the relationship (to protect Jimmy?), (oh wait!? what if Mike kills her! I’m putting my chips into death by Mike on Gus’s orders!), Lalo alive to deal with Jimmy/Saul/Gene in the present day, Howard Hamlin better off than ever. I mean, whatever happens, it’s going to look great!!!1!

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Having just rewatched the whole run, it really does shift once Chuck dies tonally. I remember the first season feeling like WAIT THIS ISN'T SAUL WHAT IS HAPPENING, and then realized it was a slow burn. When he first started wearing the colorful suits to get himself fired from Davis and Main it locked in how slow of a burn it would be.

I've honestly never seen a prequel manage to do so well as giving us really in depth and new stuff for characters we know the fate of. Saul and Mike's histories are now so complex and interesting. I do recall one plot point in BB, that Saul only then realized Mike worked for Fring. 

What's been cool is that the two shows kind of mirror each other now. BCS had Mike and the Salamancas from the start, but it didn't start getting big until Gus was re-introduced. And that happened as Chuck was leaving the story. So you have the show making a big shift into the bigger world halfway through.

Interestingly, in BB, they had to contend with Tuco, and a bit of Hector, and low level Salamanca guys early on-- but once a again, the big shifts happen once Walt met Gus... which was facilitated by Saul. Once Saul comes into BB, all the bigger shifts occur and he's the one that helps Walt level up to kingpin. So in BOTH shows, Saul is the lynchpin to the bigger world of cartel crime.

 

 

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Yeah, spot on Tank. It was a slowish start in the initial watch way back when, but being able to binge it recently - so much fun!

There were so many points where I was willing Jimmy to “go left instead of right”, but we all know what’s coming and that transformation to BB Saul we all know.

Kim - yes, she could be in trouble from Lalo, or even Tuco who must be due out of prison soonish to start his prep for building his network he has in place in BB. Saul doesn’t come in to BB until after Tuco is dead, so maybe that’s an option for that time period and have Lalo in the Gene era.

But the way that last episode went, you feel Gus won’t be the “relaxed” person we see in BB if Lalo is not dealt with. He was very paranoid hey.

And what’s going to come of Sandpiper? That’s come back into it - Saul gives Kim his payout maybe to get her somewhere safe?

Lots of questions!

 

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I think the Sandpiper money is coming and it’s Saul’s nest egg that lets him be as established as he is in BB, have that mansion, and be able to afford Robert Forster’s vacuum service.

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Also, was reading some recaps and was reminded that in BB s4 Gus said “All the Salamancas are dead.” (Save for Hector of course). That doesn’t bode well for Lalo showing up in the Gene years.

Also, Lalo And Jimmy seem to be at an end, most of Lalo’s story is now centered on him and Gus.

That makes me think the Gene years will be focused on Kim and Jimmy/Saul/Gene.

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I know he did a lot of bad shit, and the whole point of Better Call Saul is Jimmy is getting sucked into the criminal life, but somehow I hope he has a happy ending with Kim.   It doesn't need to be a Greek Tragedy. 

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Thats right on that scene in s4 with Hector, but interestingly when Walt & Jessie kidnap Saul in his first appearance in BB (s2’s “Better Call Saul” titled episode), he said “did Lalo send them” and saying “it wasn’t me, it was Ignacio” (Nacho).

Obvs not mapped out at that point as Saul wasn’t going to be a long term character, but they do like to tie things up, so I think he will at least think he is still alive at this point, whether he is or not…

I also hope Saul/Gene/Jimmy gets a happy ending - he has had to deal with a lot of stuff with his brother and so his actions are sort of understandable, and seem to impress Kim to a degree.

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4 hours ago, Rogue 3 said:

Thats right on that scene in s4 with Hector, but interestingly when Walt & Jessie kidnap Saul in his first appearance in BB (s2’s “Better Call Saul” titled episode), he said “did Lalo send them” and saying “it wasn’t me, it was Ignacio” (Nacho).

Obvs not mapped out at that point as Saul wasn’t going to be a long term character, but they do like to tie things up, so I think he will at least think he is still alive at this point, whether he is or not…

This is amazing! I had no idea!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Neither did I.  I binged through this season over the past few days.  I was not expecting that to be the way it all came together.

It really is amazing how well they manage to put in swerves and unexpected events in this despite us knowing where most of the main characters (and even a lot of the side characters) have to end up by the end of the series.

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Just caught up on the final episode due to some unfortunate timing of going on holiday to Spain where the final series hasn’t started airing on Netflix - first world probs hey!

Immense. All through this current series I was trying to work out what their goal was - obvs for early settlement, but I just couldn’t piece their plan together, so I enjoyed that reveal! 
The ending… wow! Poor old Howard - he was a swine to Jimmy & Kim at various points, but he didn’t deserve the humiliation before the obviously dramatic ending for him.

Where do we go from here? Can’t wait to find out!

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Howard was definitely a tool— but everything he said about them was spot on. It’s a sign of a great show when they can give you characters like Howard who are there to hate, but then you feel sympathy for them. Since Chuck’s death Howard was becoming more sympathetic even between his tool moments.

Similarly, Lalo is pure evil, but has such a big personality that he comes off as charismatic as hell.

Given that we know the fates of Saul/Jimmy/Gene, Mike, and Gus, it’s really coming down to how things will unfold with Lalo and Kim.

My only complain is that Nacho was taken off the table a little too quick and easy for me, because I really liked his character. He was like the reverse of Walt and Jimmy, he was breaking good.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Holy moly - that was superb! I love a show where I just can’t guess how the episode will end! So many ways that could have played out and now we just have 5 episodes left to see where Jimmy/Saul/Gene ends up!

Love this show!

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  • 2 weeks later...

On the face of it, this weeks episode (“Fun & Games”), cleared up a lot of loose ends. But how it did it… Very sad seeing how the Saul we know was created - yep, we have time jumped and are now in the BB era with 4 episodes to go and no sign of Gene as yet.

What a brilliant series this has been.

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“Nippy” was this weeks episode. A very different pace for this one after some big drama in the preceding episodes.

We see Gene throughout and his dealing with some issues that we have seen in prior episodes set in this time frame.  Very cleverly done and a few nice teasers in there. 
Couldn’t decide if he was scared off of doing it again, or got a buzz for it. I think the former which could potentially lead to a happier ending maybe, but so hard to predict this show!

Only 3 episodes to go!

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So… I have no idea how this show will end! I have hopes for certain things, but honestly just love being in the dark!

A fine episode with elements of BB in there, starting off with a scene I mentioned a while back on this thread from Saul’s first episode in BB - Nacho / Lalo elements reshot.
More cons in the Gene timeline as well - does he want to get caught at this a point? I’m couldn’t help but think so the way the last con was going.

But… what was said on that phone call to Florida?  Was he actually speaking to her or being blocked from getting through? Or even a device for the cops to narrow down the search for Saul? A real mystery! This show…

Loved the phone call with Francesca also in the Gene timeline - she’s fantastic! And good to see him checking in on the “heat” levels and him finding out Jessie got across the border (although they all think it’s Mexico due to Badger leaving the car there).

2 episodes to go!  

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12 hours ago, Rogue 3 said:

But… what was said on that phone call to Florida?  Was he actually speaking to her or being blocked from getting through?

 

The first time I saw that scene it seemed absolutely obvious to me that they were having a quick clean short sharp non-conversation; something that we’re not privy to but are assumed to be able to have a good guess at the rough details without hearing the actual words themselves. I mean, it’s presumably Kim just telling him to turn himself in or eff off, right?

It couldn’t be anything else in my mind until you raised that possibility and now I’m honestly wondering. Was the conversation with someone other than Kim? Kim dead? Kim have cancer? Looking up the timeline on the nerd wikis reveals that Jimmy has been Gene for ... hah! ... Jimmy has been Gene for only a few months. It’s still 2010! I don’t know. I wonder if the show is going to go a certain way with this, I wonder if we’re not going to get any reconciliation of any sort on any level between the two, I wonder if we may only see Rhea Seehorn again in flashbacks.

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