Conan Troutman

I think season 5 started out strong, with "Cooperative Polygraphy" being one of the best the show has ever done. But then Harmon somehow totally forgot about the potentially interesting "Jeff as teacher" storyline and couldn't deal with the loss of Troy (and never was able to completely replace Pierce's influence on the group). There were also too many gimmick episodes after that, while the show would've needed more study room / character work and I don't think it ever recoverd from that mistake. If they can pick up where they started early in the season and correct those mistakes, maybe this can be good again. But at least we shall see soon.

That's why I can't believe that it would take that long a time to figure it out. Especially if we're talking about rather smart people who should be quite familiar with deductive logic. The hard version, I can see why it would take some time, but Holt should've figured that one out in five minutes.

Sabotage? I'll be terribly disappointed if they don't do the credits Beastie Boys stylez.

I wouldn't be surprised by this. Maybe he'll also be in some way responsible for Chuck's death (assuming he dies). I can just picture the scene where Jimmy/Saul wants to kill HH, only to be "stopped" by Mike, who'll take care of that himself.

If you're still looking for a thread title, I'd throw "Better Talk Saul" in the mix.

I don't think Mike would be able to carry the show. Jonathan Banks surely could, but the character is, well, "a wee bit taciturn" - and while that's perfectly fine for a supporting character, it wouldn't work for the lead. The episode was so strong because we got to see a side of Mike we haven't really seen before, but you can't have a story like that every week. Mike's great as the stoic, sardonic second fiddle, but he needs someone to carry the emotional load as well as plenty of dialogue and Jimmy/Saul, with his extroverted personality, is way better suited for that (and Odenkirk is absolutely capable of it). Going forward, I think Mike will be a bit more involved, now that they've taken the first steps toward the relation they have on BB, and I think as far as screen time goes, this will be an ideal balance.

I like my coffee black. I also like my Parks with sugar, thank you very much.

Three situations when a man is allowed to cry: - You're seven and hit by a school bus. - Li'l Sebastian has passed. - Parks & Rec just ended. Thank you for an amazing ride.

I want more Gale! I could live without Walt and Jesse, other than maybe a random background appearance from Walt or getting some news of Jesse's fate once the show switches to sequel mode (if that happens at all), but I definitly want to see more of Gale. Guy was just too funny and likeable too not bring back. He also had no connection to Saul. Only question is how could he possibly get in legal trouble? He seems to be like someone who doesn't even have unpaid parking tickets, let alone anything serious. Well, other than cooking meth on an industrial scale of course.

That would explain it, but 17 minutes of commercials? That seems like a lot for pay TV. Just thought about it: Why the hell is Saul managing/working at a Cinnabon? At an airport, no less, which pretty much maximizes the chances of any random traveling cop or thug recognizing him. You'd think he'd avoid public exposure and airports like the plague... I know they wanted to make that brick joke about the Cinnabon, but it makes little sense. Hopefully they'll give some sort of explanation.

Thought about that, too. I tend to agree, even if BB was highly serialized, the lawyer theme lends itself well to a more episodic structure. My best guess is that a lot of the episodes are split thematically, with one storyline focusing on the case (and this could be a great source of comedy, like the necrophilia stuff from the pilot) and the other plot(s) being about the greater scheme of things. It would be a good cover, but I'm having trouble finding out what for. What's he trying to do that requires him to stand in a toll booth all day long and couldn't be accomplished in a less time consuming fashion? Maybe he's a PI now? He could be trying to find out if a judge is cheating on his wife or something like that, where knowing when somebody leaves would indeed be helpful. And he might get payed by the hour, so standing/sitting there all day won't bother him.

No, I've seen that scene. Maybe I did see the uncut version, it had pretty much the same runtime as the second episode (~53 minutes). I just wondered because someone said something about an hour and ten minutes - in that case, I would've unterstood the complaints about being much too slow.

The creators, acutally. Jimmy's brother is also named McGill, as in "Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill" and there's no reason to assume that both brothers operate under the same fake name. I can see a couple of different aliases however, until he eventually settles for Saul Goodman. But I doubt they'd last long and would probably be played for comedic effect. I agree that this episode was much better already. Not that the pilot was bad, but it was a pilot and while accomplishing it's goal, it was mostly setup with very little payoff. Good to see we already got some of that payoff just in the very next episode. Tuco and Nacho and the rest of the gang seem to be regulars, which is definitly a good thing. Tuco's always been highly entertaining, and a toned down, slightly less batshit crazy version of himself can also shoulder more screen time than the flat out donkey-balls insane version from BB could, so I hope that wasn't just a one-off cameo. I, too, really enjoyed Michael Mando on Orphan Black, and the more serious, but also decidedly more dangerous and hopefully bigger role suits him well. Looking forward to his arc as well. Agree about the brother, so far it's the one part of the show that doesn't work for me. But I trust the creators enough that I don't think they'd include some pointless character just for the sake of it, so we'll see where that goes. Seems like the "scheme for the rich fraud's money" will be the door that opens the way for Saul becoming a really criminal lawyer. Wonder how long it takes until he takes the offer. End of season or next episode? I'm also curious about Mike's role in all of this. Is that really his current job or is it a cover? That he keeps working for small fish Saul despite being a big player in Gus' operation would suggest that Saul's the one who introduces him to his new job and he's doing it purely out of loyalty. On the other hand, are a couple of years really enough to rise through the ranks to one of the highest ranked henchmen/cleaners/killers (or whatever his job description is) in the whole state? Anyway, I'm excited to find out. Also, as funny as the running gag with the stamps has been, I doubt this was simply to give JB some screen time. I'm guessing they're setting up something either dramatic or hilarious (or both) with this.

It makes perfect sense that Saul is very afraid, of both the DEA and criminals. As has been pointed out, he certainly committed more than enough crimes himself to go to jail if found out, possibly even for life. And while all known/shown members of the crime families are dead, that doesn't mean there aren't any related folks who simply didn't appear on BB (not necessarily family members, just business associates). Now, the question isn't so much if the DEA actually got any evidence on him or if there is indeed some criminal after his head, but the possibility is definitely there and that alone would be enough to justify that Saul has to be deeply terrified of being found (out). Even if it was a bit irrational, that would still be plausible, as fear doesn't have to be completely rational and often enough isn't. In the opening scene, the guy that scares him looked like he could be related to the Nazis somehow, with the bomber jacket and the haircut and all. Makes sense that he would freak Saul out just by staring in his direction. I think that was the main point of the cold open: Saul's scared shitless of being found and wants his old life back. All in all, despite a relatively low pace, a promising start (and the second episode already has picked up speed considerably). The pilot did it's job of (re-)establishing the character and laying the groundwork for the things to come. I really liked the driving scene at the beginning - it's been posted before, but I too fully expected him to hit (or nearly hit at the very least) someone/something, but was expecting to see it onscreen before it hit, to make it clear that Saul screwed up. But nope, that literally came out of nowhere. ETA: I also thought Saul was being late at the court and expected an unshaven, fighting-with-his-tie Saul storming in and apologizing/losing the case. Instead he delivered this ridiculous defense for the three creeps. Plus when he entered his brother's appartment, I thought he was completely broke, with no electricity etc. So the show's already doing a great job of subverting expectations. Same with his the failed scheme at the end, you knew it had to be an epic fail, but it failed even more spectacularly than I possibly could've imagined. Of alle the similarly looking cars, they had to confuse it with Tuco's granny's car! Sure a bit contrived, but who cares? It's fiction, so I can forgive some unrealistic coincidences here and there if the results are like that. Someone mentioned the episode was cut down - I only saw the short version on Netflix, what exactly has been cut out? Anything of importance? I heard something about the law firm.

Another perfect one. Wow. "50 shaved old gays" still has me in stitches (no fanfiction here, please...). The scavenger hunt (I knew it had to be stellar and I wasn't disappointed)! All those callbacks were pure gold! Especially those to the accountant firm, totally forgot about them. ETA: "Highway to the Calzone Zone". Need more muscles in cheeks to handle all of this.

Indeed. And Adam Scott has to be the king of those, especially in the Little Sebastian episodes. I somewhat agree. As great as this season has been so far (and this weeks episode was maybe the best), it's obvious that the show has to end. The time jump and the shortened season really injected some much needed life, but that can only last so long. Yet another campaign? I rolled my eyes at first, but at least it won't be Leslie all over again and the show really caught me off guard when it revealed it would be about Ben this time. Should be a great ending for his character arc - although we probably won't get to know the actual outcome of the election (outside of maybe an epilogue in the final scenes), but I guess that isn't really all that important. I'm also hopeful that it will be just one of the plots and not the focus of the entire show, since the other characters need some closure, too - especially April and Andy, who judging by the upcoming epsiode titles, will be at the center of at least two of them. Speaking of those titles (better put it in spoiler tags, I guess):

But not nearly as good as Alison as Sarah. I need more of those precious minutes!

I don't know. I tried to dress Helena up as Alison, but it just... Hey wait, I'm not supposed to be playing with dolls!

Meh. They all look the same.

Exactly what I was thinking - what happened to "Yay, more work!" Amy? Anyway, Amy/Rosa is probably my favorite pairing this season, so this should be good.

I keep wondering how big the population is in this world. I originally assumed it might be one or two million in Westeros plus maybe a bit less in Essos. But then there's the fact that the Wildlings alone are about a 100 000 strong, in a probably not very densely populated area. Also we got that "beloved by millions" line in the trailer, which indicates that we're presumably talking more about at least 5-10 million overall, if not more. Are there any indications in the books? What's your take on it?

Yeah, that was weird, I was pretty sure that was going to happen. Maybe the girl shows up at the National Parks Service - Dept. Knope instead next week.

On a different show, it could be called "Little Finger Holes". Forget that I just said that.

Yeah, those bits don't sound too good. The show suffered noticeably from breaking up the Clone Club in separate story lines. Hopefully they can find a compromise: Give them their own stories, but also get them together regularly, if only to discuss their situation and give advice etc. Wait, Vic is gone? What did I miss? Not that I'd really miss the character, but Michael Mando sure was a lot of fun. He was "urban".

Apparently, it's supposed to be an "international" show, i.e. aimed at audiences mainly in the US, UK and Canada. So it's set in "Generica" officially, presumably because TPTB are afraid that setting the show officially in Toronto would scare non-Canadian viewers away or something weird like that. My wish list for season 3: - Agree on no more abductions, that's getting old fast. If you need some sort of danger for your characters, do something new. - Also agree on more clone interaction, especially between the main Clone Club members. - More Alison and Felix, my favorite pairing by far! Also, let her (and Donnie) interact more with the others. - Other pairings I want to see more of: Sarah/Art: I thought they had nice chemistry and it makes perfect sense plot-wise. Rachel/Cosima: I like the contrast between Rachel's icy demeanor and Cosima's natural warmth. Plus they make sense together given their science background and both could have an interest in cracking the DNA/finding a cure, should Rachel also start to show symptons (wich I fully expect, if only to re-allign her more towards the clones). - Speaking of Rachel: I'd like to see some sort of alliance with the other clones. I don't mean insta-heel-face-turn, but it could be a nice storyline if she allies herself with the Clone Club vs the military/DYAD/whatever at some point. Also, eye patch! Maybe those techno white eyes would be more fitting, but she has to sport an eye patch at least a couple of episodes until her Neolutionist eye is ready. - The creators said they had a three-season-arc mapped out from the beginning, so I want to see some sort of resolution. Stop introducing more and more mysteries without cleaning up some of the existing ones before. Especially how Mr. S and Paul (and also Marion/Marian?) fit in this whole conspiracy. - Better non-clone villains in general. Helena and Rachel were great, the others... not so much. Those Proletheans were creepy, but also pretty pathetic as far as TV villains go. Leeky may have been a good antagonist, but hardly a real threat. The military/DYAD angle is much more promising. - Give new!Daario his own agenda or alternatively write him out altogether. He's more of a plot device than an actual character at this point.