wendyg

She's squeezing the ball to regab her arm after getting the cast off, Ithought.

Classical tragedy is what Gilligan does - BB is very much about a man with a tragic flaw. One thing that's interesting about Gus is that he isn't really driven by money the way the others are. Mike wants it for Kaylee; Jimmy first to live the easy life, then to feel good about himself. But what really drives Gus is the desire for revenge and power. They all struggle to spend the money they make - but Gus doesn't even really have anything to spend it on other than his security posse.

Yes. Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

Another bit of synchronicity: BB began with Walt's 50th birthday. Jimmy will be 50 on the date he told Francesca to wait for a call.

Right, and they've also been shown to be intensely homophobic, which is also part of why they took such pleasure in torturing Gus by killing Max in front of him. Varga will, sadly, never know the lengths Nacho went to in order to ensure he'd remain safe. And of course Kim doesn't know Cheryl had consigned Howard to the guest house or how fiercely her words twisted the knife as a result.

Minor musical note: in the earliest BCS episodes, we saw Jimmy revving himself for courtroom appearances accompanied by the music Bob Fosse uses for the same purpose in ALL THAT JAZZ. The music playing when the Saul Goodman & Associates sign is being hoisted into place was also used in that movie - it's the music playing when the not-fully-up-to-standard dancer Fosse's character has hired because he's attracted to her comes to his home for sex and and they get caught by his longtime girlfriend (Ann Reinking). In a show with this much attention to detail, it can't be an accident. (Different recording, though.)

Max was *definitely* not his brother!

A peek at IMDB says that Carol Burnett will be appearing in two episodes. First one is 6x09!

We haven't seen Gus need a lawyer, have we?

It occurs to me that "several states away" is a really wide area - others have mentioned the Gulf coast and California, but could easily include Oregon and Washington (not that I know for sure what the coastline looks like there).

Gus and Max were clearly devoted to each other, and that has extended past Max's death, which Gus has clearly never gotten over. I think with the others we can see the flaws that likely drove their former partners away. Chuck's egotism, pride, and unforgiving nature likely alienated Rebecca. Mike is too filled with self-hatred and guilt from his son's death (and the risks of his current job) to be comfortable letting anyone too close. If Lalo has female companions he'd be keeping them well away from the crap he's doing, so it's not unreasonable we wouldn't see anyone. He certainly had little trouble befriending Werner's widow..

Not sure that's illogical. It's covering the bases just in case, I think. Better that Jimmy is schooled to think this is the real plot. I believe Gilligan and co have far too much respect for Robert Forster to cast anyone else as the - or even *a* - Disappearer.

Rawstory is reporting that Carol Burnett is joining the cast in some of the final episodes. I am definitely intrigued.

I feel Julia Roberts was miscast.

Ah.

Lydia can't fly to ABQ?

Per podcast it is all cgi. The film crew never left ABQ.

I thought of that, but I'm not satisfied with it.

Does anyone have thoughts about the title of this episode? Because if you translate BLACK AND BLU E into Spanish you get NEGRO Y AZUL, which it-can't-be-coincidentally is the title of Season 2, episode 7 of BREAKING BAD.

She did, for the New York Times. It's here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/opinion/i-have-a-character-issue.html It's interesting how many of the worst male BB/BCS characters are made more human by giving them vulnerable people to love. In Walt's case, his 40yo pregnant wife, disabled son, and new baby daughter; in Mike's his granddaughter; Jessie shows enormous liking and compassion for the children he encounters; in Nacho's case, his father; even Jimmy spends time genuinely caring for Chuck. Kim doesn't have that element of softening; she does love Jimmy but we don't see him as vulnerable.

The sight of the Saul Goodman bench in the opening credits made me very happy.

They sure do if they bike in a city. Though these cyclists were very much choreographed.

Agree.

I feel it is very important to note that the bagels in this episode were entirely anachronistic. Bagels at that time in NYC were smaller, denser, and altogether more like BAGELS.

I have learned over the years: Never try to make sense of the finances on an ASP show.