Dessert

I haven’t seen any posts about anyone other than the victims of the week dying this season. Who are you talking about? My understanding is that all of the regulars are still alive.

They could easily have named this episode “Death Wish”. Saul looking into the grave he avoided in The New Mexico desert and seeing Gene says it all. Life as Gene is a living death for Saul/Jimmy. Something about the mall scam and, finally, the phone calls to Kim and Francesca sparked an explosion of pure self-destruction on his part. He’s chewing off his foot to get out of the trap of “Gene”. His insistence on carrying out that final con made no sense. When he smashed that window he knew he would be caught. He wants it to be over.

Brett Watermen recently posted on Instagram that Restored has even renewed and new episodes will start airing soon.

My ideas for Carol Burnet: 1. She replaces Robert Forster as the vacuum repair contact. She was his partner & was working with him all along. 2. She’s related to Kim in some way. Is Kim’s mother still alive? I don’t remember.

I don’t think it’s character assassination at all. It’s an extreme example of behavior that she has displayed throughout the series and completely in character. Win is complex with some wonderful qualities, but when something goes wrong, she tends to strike out in a nasty way. She also holds bitter grudges. In this episode, when Fred told Joan that Win is quick to anger, but quick to forgive, I thought “this man doesn’t even know his wife”. When Joan left, Win blamed Fred and Morse, of all people, for not finding her. She did nothing to try to find Joan herself. Surely she she knows some of Joan’s friends. She could have enlisted their or Sam’s help. When Fred lost their retirement money - lending it to his brother without even asking her - she was rightly furious. I wouldn’t have blamed her if she divorced him. Instead she chose to react with at least a year of cold, bitter nastiness. In fairness to the writing, this is probably not an unrealistic depiction, but very ugly. Of course, she’s terrified because Sam is missing, but attacking Joan and blaming Fred was horrible. No wonder he wanted to stay at the office. Fred said, in Fugue, that his family is what kept him moored. I think he’s losing his family. Maybe Morse’s music is a more dependable anchor.

This surprised me, too. I volunteered at a battered women’s center in the 1970s and I don’t remember anyone discouraging a victim from talking to the police. Actually, it was difficult to get the police to take wife beating seriously.

Sorry. I don’t get the love for DeGuello. I found the ending overly sentimental. I find the depiction of Morse’s journey towards his ultimate destiny compelling. It’s frustrating, because I want him to be happier, but know that will not happen. For all his flaws, he’s a decent man. On the other hand, I don’t think older Morse was completely miserable or a failure as a human being. There were many things about his life that he seemed to enjoy.

Morse is deeply depressed and at the beginning of a yearlong bender. He’s not doing his job. That’s the point.

Yes. Maybe they’re not all criminals. Some might be people who need to escape from criminals. Could be fascinating stories.

Everyone except Jesse seems like small fry compared with Saul. I don’t think the writers will go against Jesse. They’ve let him start over. Saul probably had other criminal clients that weren’t mentioned in Breaking Bad. i could see a spin off series about the Disappearer. Of course, they would have to use a different, maybe younger, actor. They could show how he got started and then do some kind of anthology series about different people who need his services.

I’m hoping that someone - either Jimmy or Kim - will wind up living in Belize; not the euphemism for death Belize, but the actual tropical paradise. He might turn himself in and enjoy running scams in prison and filing lawsuits for other inmates. Maybe he could turn State’s witness and avoid prison, but I don’t think there’s anyone left for him to testify against. I could see Jimmy becoming a celebrity, advising people how to spot cons and having his own podcast. He seems born for some seedy spotlight.

I think so. I follow Brett Waterman on Instagram & he’s been working houses that are probably for the show. Plus, he went to some event for the Magnolia Network.

I could be entirely wrong, of course. If something does happen, it will depend on if and how quickly Lalo is killed. However, Mike’s operatives will know within hours that someone else is following Jimmy. They’ll have to decide what to do about it. There are many ways their finding out could come to haunt Howard. Someone could get killed. If the PI has shady drug connections, Howard could be framed. Gus and his organization could decide to threaten or use Howard in some way - giving him a glimpse of the criminal underworld that he’s completely unprepared for. I’m leaning towards someone getting killed.

I think the thing that happened in this episode that doesn’t bode well for Howard is his decision to have the PI follow Jimmy. Mike’s men are already watching them, looking for signs of Lalo. When they see this guy, they may think he’s working for Lalo and do something to him, or even to Howard.

It reminded me of the opening of the series Get Smart. (I’m very old!)

The part of the episode about rape victims’ DNA being used to cross check for other crimes is based on real cases and controversy in California. The San Francisco DA has admitted that they have doing this for years and say that it was a mistake. At least one victim is suing them. Legislation has been proposed to make it illegal. https://www.abc10.com/amp/article/news/crime/rape-kit-dna-bill/103-a391b18e-aa79-4ef5-bd01-dcfd9d0eba9c

There were definitely friends in Breaking Bad. They weren’t given their own storylines, but they were there to show that Jesse, Hank, and Marie had a social lives and we’re part of a community. Walt and, eventually Skylar, were isolated by their secrets and lying. I don’t agree that a few scenes with friends are a waste of time. I can think of many shows that depicted people with friends - the Sopranos comes to mind. It depends on the type of show. Police procedural, for instance, may not dwell on the private lives of the policemen or lawyers. I think isolation and loneliness are intentional themes in Better Call Saul.

I was thinking about the fact that Kim has no friends and realized that most of the characters in BCS have no friends (Howard may be an exception). They have employees, coworkers, henchmen, enemies, and people they may have to kill at a moment’s notice. Some have family, but none have friends. Such lonely people. This is in sharp contrast to Breaking Bad.

Kim is a fascinating character - brilliantly written and acted. The writers have laid the groundwork for the dark, self-destructive turn she’s taken.The only way Kim’s rage makes sense to me is as self-hatred projected onto Howard. First of all, she (with the possible exception of Chuck) is the least self-aware character in the BB universe. Jimmy knows who he is - flaws and all. So do Mike, Nacho, Gus, and, probably Lalo. Not Kim. The first hint that something was seriously wrong was her almost pathological blind spot for Jimmy. It’s one thing to like him and be charmed by him, or to admire the way he took care of his brother, but the degree to which she has rationalized and downplayed the terrible things he’s done is shocking. She insists on seeing him as someone who has been treated unfairly. That blind spot has turned into a chasm. It’s also odd that she has no friends besides Jimmy - only business acquaintances. I think Chuck’s suicide was the turning point in Kim’s downward spiral. The brothers’ insane battle to destroy each other, in which she played a major part, was horrifying. Once Jimmy alerted the insurance company that Chuck as a liability risk, the end was inevitable. Jimmy caused Chuck’s death and he knows it. Rather than admit that, Kim blames Howard. Some of her anger and contempt may be justified, but this is out of all proportion.

I think Kim broke bad a long time ago. As complexly as Jimmy has been written in Better Call Saul, he has done terrible things from the very beginning. She has always been attracted to the sleazy, cruel side of him. Her obsession with destroying Howard is very ugly. Part of me hopes Kim hooks up with Lalo in some way. He was very impressed with her and their interactions were electric. You could tell Lalo felt it. I like to envision Kim and Lalo running everything from some remote location. Of course, I doubt this will happen.

Fortunately, there will be a 9th season. They start filming in May.

I disagree and I have to rant, because I was genuinely shocked. He has tried to make it happen with her, awkwardly, but he has tried once or twice. I don’t really care. She has behaved horribly towards him - even as a friend - especially as a friend! This is a man she turned to in a dark hour, when she had no one else. He helped her and gave her the means to extract herself from a life-threatening relationship. He kept her secrets. He had asked her to marry him and he accepted her refusal, even though he was still in love with her. He didn’t pester her with his attentions. What did she do? She bizarrely humiliated him by setting him up with a friend, as though he was some pathetic loser who couldn’t find a woman to sleep with. He was obviously hurt. When Claudine ghosted him and Joan picked that moment - when he was drunk, hurt, and angry - to hit on him, he summoned the self-respect to politely turn her down. A few weeks later, when he (foolishly) had second thoughts and approached her, she very nastily turned him down. Later, he was nasty to her in return and had the good sense to start avoiding her. Then he writes that letter. She doesn’t even muster the interest or sympathy to find out why he was so desperate, how he had burned all of his bridges, if he was all right. Unbelievable! Forget romance, I would never, ever want a friend like Joan Thursday. Boring politician Strange deserves better and should run for his life.

At this point, I’m thrilled that they don’t wind up together. They have nothing in common. I think she has been horrible to him - even as just a friend. What finally did it for me was her response (or lack of response) to that desperate letter he wrote her before he went to Venice to confront Ludo & Violetta. He’s well rid of her.

I hope they continue with more episodes of Endeavour. I love it and I think there is more to the story. I haven’t watched Vigil, but plan to as soon as it airs in the US. I think Shaun Evans is an excellent actor and I have no problem seeing him in other roles.

I admit, I sympathize more with Cassie over the tension with her father. It seems to me that his really rather recent girlfriend is taking advantage. I could understand him leaving her something, but not everything. The honorable thing to do would be to consult the entire family about what part she (girlfriend) will play in his care and how they can all help each other. I find encouraging estrangement from his family at the end of his life despicable.