Bannon

Yeah, there's a distinct lack of any sympathetic characters, besides the kids. Wendy's a complete monster at this point, and hubby's only marginally better. Ruth might still be capable of redemption; what is she 20 or 21? Her whole life has been a descent into trauma at the hands of violent people older than she. It would be consistent with her character to be capable of change; watch her resolve to be a more moral and ethical human being, and get killed for it...

So I finally started watching this show, and am now in season 3. My thought is that it is extraordinarly well acted, even the child actors, and they get about as much as they can from some highly derivative material. I wouldn't say it is badly written, or even just average. It's good, but it really isn't especially vivid. I'll watch it the rest of the way.

Oh, the squad hired by Gus was completely inept and hapless, which makes me think that writers had Gus building them up to Mike so as to give Mike reason to tear Gus a new one, and put their relationship on a different footing. Especially if Nacho lives long enough to have a conversation with Mike , and Mike thus learns how little opposition the squad faced.

No, I was referring to her father, and perhaps not so much being abusive to Kim, but perhaps witnessing him abuse her alcoholic mother.

Ah, I see we are on the same page. I think this analysis has a lot to consider.

I do see a possible parallel between the effect of Jimmy's experience of his old Chicago con artist buddy suffering a heart attack, combined with his gaining knowledge of Chuck's betrayal, and what Kim has gone through in the last few episodes. Kim knew that being murdered by a violently powerful man was within seconds of happening. She then runs into another powerful man who tried to bury her professionally, for petty, egocentric, reasons. Who then insults her. In both Jimmy's and Kim's cases, we have characters having terrifying or unsettling brushes with imminent mortality, while also experiencing profound betrayal or harm from people they know well. In Jimmy it produced a rejection of ever sticking strictly to the rules again, like he did in the mailroom for 6 uears. Might it not produce a similar reaction in Kim, especially if she had a formative abusive experience at the hands of a powerful man?

Who said anything about "justifications"? When human beings, including criminals, engage in behavior, including criminal behavior, they have reasons for doing so. Sometimes the reasons are conscious, sometimes unconscious, usually a mix. None of it need entail a justification; but the reasons why people engage in the behavior they do can be quite interesting.

Issues of control between Gus and Mike seem to be on the horizon as well. I don't think the writers would have had Gus explicity remark on how highly skilled the assasination squad he hired was, and then show them performing with such ineptitude (and it really was inept), without a purpose. I think that purpose may have been to allow Mike to read Gus the riot act, which would certainly be a shift in their relationship. That could lead to some interesting places, perhaps involving Nacho and his father.

I do think we are getting to a more clear answer as to what attracts Kim to Jimmy, and it isn't just what Jimmy is, but rather what he is not. Jimmy is many things, but he most definitely is not a figure of power and authority, and those qualities repulse Kim. Which leads me to try, unsuccessfully, to recall what we know of Kim's father, other than that he wasn't around. Which leads me to speculate that perhaps Kim is the progeny of a relationship in there was a huge imbalance of power, perhaps not as hideous as rape, but one in which Kim's father could psychologically compel her mother into a sexually exploitive relationship which produced Kim, and Kim at some point became aware of this. That certainly might result in Kim having a searing hatred of any man in a position of authority who seeks to control her (and we know how control issues are central to character psychology in the BCS/BB universe), and just as importantly, a bottomless contempt for the idea of her, or any woman, succumbing to a man's attempt to exert control. Jimmy's only chance to influence Kim's behavior comes by an absence of any overt effort to do so. Now, that's a lot to unpack for a major character in a final season, and that abrupt shift in our understanding of Kim is quite jarring, but I'm willing to see where the writers go with it.

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that there have to be some major remaining character reveals, probably featuring a much younger Kim, next season. The writers specifically wrote Jimmy as being borderline shocked at Kim's ruthless, hateful, desire to harm Howard, and I think they intended for the audience to share that emotion. Which means the writers will give the audience more to chew on. I don't know how I see this. I certainly don't need characters to be likeable. I just need them to be interesting. It just seems odd to have major character reveals in the final sesson.

Lalo's action scenes were mindful of the worst action montage from Breaking Bad, which to me was Walt pulling off the simulteaneous multiprison assasinations. Kind of clunky.

Well, Howard did bury her at HHM, even after Kim delivered the Mesa Verde pot of gold. Her loathing of Howard is quite reasonable, but the irrational self destructive white-hot hatred is puzzling, and I suspect we will get another flashback featuring a much younger Kim which illuminates her psychology. If it's well written it'll help the story, and if it isn't it'll be kind of clunky.

I've had a car stolen in that city. Believe me, car theft reports in Albuquerque are given as much attention as jaywalking. You don't even meet with a police officer. You call a secretary at the nearest substation, and have a 5 minute conversation. I've had a car stolen in that city. Believe me, car theft reports in Albuquerque are given as much attention as jaywalking. You don't even meet with a police officer. You call a secretary at the nearest substation, and have a 5 minute conversation.

All Saul has to do is report the car stolen.

Jimmy is thoroughly traumatized by the violence he witnessed, and by nearly dying, in the desert. He's badly, badly, frightened. He's learned that Lalo has met Kim, which frightens him more. Now he learns that Kim has resigned from a lucrative partnership. He's scared out of wits. This will change as he goes through the mental process that Mike described, but right now he is a terrified little man.