Bryce Lynch

BB never stretched things out the was BCS is doing. I enjoyed the slow burn of BCS, but at this point, for me, the fire has pretty much gone out. Barely anything has happened for all season, and we have learned very little about the characters. On BB and previously on BCS, as in shows like The Sopranos, they gave us reasons to root for certain scumbags and against others. But, at this point, I don't care much what happens to any BCS character. Kim can get disbarred and go to prison or wake up and appreciate her great life and start doing her job. I don't care. The endless back and forth with her has become tedious. Saul is totally unlikable. Acker is unlikable. But, I don't really care if MV Kevin gets his way or not. Mike has become a grumpy, depressed, boring old man. They wouldn't even let him complete his improvised cell phone charger. All of BCS has added nothing to Fring's character. There was so much mystery about him on BB, and BCS has given us almost no answers. Nacho and his Dad are about the only ones I care at all about, and I don't even care that much.

But, Lalo is focused on cutting off Fring's money, so he will lose Eladio's favor when he stops sending cash South. Also, since Gus and Mike got the Regalo Helado truck busted by the Boarder Patrol and the El Griego Guiñado ice cream shop got raided by the DEA, the Salamancas started depending upon Gus and his LPH trucks to smuggle product over the boarder from Mexico. I think Lalo wants Gus to continue smuggling drugs for him, but to be financially strained so he can't keep being Eladio's favorite.

I think Saul just needed something to reach the latch to open the gate. I believe Kim did something similar in a previous episode. Maybe Howard had cameras that covered inside the walls, but not outside. I doubt Kim and Saul will ever intentionally reveal his involvement in the Acker case. I can't see how it wouldn't end Kim's career at S&C. If they do reveal it, as opposed to them getting caught, I think it would mean Kim decided to leave S&C and join Saul.

The only time Hector was in LPH was in BCS. He was already in wheelchair in BB. It was in BCS Episode 3:4 when Hector, Nacho and the Arturo came showed up at LPH. Lyle stood up to Hector pretty well, and tried to keep him from smoking his cigar and going into the employee's only area. Hector ignored him, but seemed impressed with him having the balls to try to stop him and patted him on the back. Fring arrived back from the Fire Station to find all the customers gone and Hector and his guy basically holding his staff captive. When Fring sent the staff home, Lyle hesitated and asked Fring if he wanted him to stay or to call someone. Fring told him everything was fine and to go home. Lyle is a brave lad. In BB, there was an unnamed female manager at LPH who appeared in 3 episodes. In one episode, she was concerned with Marco and Leonel sitting in a booth for hours, but Fring said it was OK.

We'll see. I tend to think the writers have come up with some way to make it plausible that Kevin and Paige wouldn't know that Kim was conspiring with Saul to backstab them, though I have no idea how. I can't see them trying to hide their relationship, as the attorneys at S&C, who also deal with MV, know they are a couple. As close as Kim works with MV, and particularly with Paige, it would be hard to believe nobody there knows she is in a relationship with Jimmy/Saul. They will probably come up with some way to hide Saul's involvement from MV.

I think the term sociopath gets thrown around way too much. But, Saul is a devious, diabolical person capable of harming others for fun, revenge or profit. Remember, in a short time he will matter of factly suggest shivving Badger in the chow line and sending Hank "on a trip to Belize" as solutions to get rid of Walt's problems. I tend to think this was not the first time he suggested such solutions to a client. Sociopath or not, Saul Goodman is a very evil and dangerous person.

It just occurred to me that Gus making Lyle endlessly scrub the fryer for some supposed contamination is reminiscent of Walt obsessively making Jesse help him remove the contamination, in the lab, in "Fly". I wonder if that was intentional. It could be that Gus, like Walt, became even more OCD than usual while dealing with a very stressful situation. In both cases, Jesse and Lyle were told they could leave, but knew they really couldn't.

I still can't imagine why Fring would need an alibi. He is not a suspect in anything and won't be until Season 4 of Breaking Bad. I am not sure how much Jimmy was trying to "protect" Chuck from HHM and how much he was trying to stick it to Howard, because he thought Howard was the one who blocked him from being an attorney there. Now, maybe Jimmy convinced himself that HHM was taking advantage of Chuck. But, it was obvious that he was still highly valued and respected there. Chuck continuing to be a senior partner was what he wanted and helped maintain the value of the firm that he owned a major share of. If Jimmy was really looking out for Chuck, he probably would have tried ro negotiate a bigger stipend, as opposed to trying to force HHM to buy out Chuck, when Chuck clearly did not want that.

I understand where you are coming from. But, we BCS fans love us some call backs. 🙂

I was about to post that I thought that unlike the toothbrushing and spitting scenes in the Episode 4:7 montage, which helped show that they were drifting apart over the course of about 6 months, this spitting was gratuitous and pointless. But, then I rewatched both scenes. I think that the fact that they were brushing their teeth together again signals that they were very close again and that Kim is embracing Saul Goodman, not rejecting him. Well, that and the shot of them lying in bed naked together just before brushing.:)

I also think Mesa Verde Kevin has been fine, But, I kind of suspect the writers are setting him up to have some major subprime mortgage issues. I agree he is smarter than Howard. Kevin would never be foolish and reckless enough to offer a job to Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman.

I agree about Stacey. She was being diplomatic and keeping Kaylee away from Mike while trying to convince him to get help or straighten himself out. The bowling ball thing needs a catchy name, like Chicago Sunroof or Squat Cobbler.

I agree, Saul had no reason to vandalize Howard's car. But, I think it is consistent with where he character is. He is a lawless, selfish, vindictive jerk. There is almost nothing left of good side of Jimmy McGill. I totally agree about Kim. Dump Saul and play it straight or join Saul Goodman & Associates and be his scam partner and gun moll. All her back and forth is getting tedious. It seems like she finds both the corporate law and the pro bono criminal law unfulfilling. She only seems happy after she pulls off a stupid scam. I really don't buy the Acker case as the type of heartbreaking case that would lead her to do something stupid to jeopardize her career. If some poor family was being tossed out of their home without just compensation, I could see it. But, who cares about crybaby contract breaking, obnoxious, Acker? I don't think Lyle was in BB. This is good as it adds to the tension in scenes he is in. It is possible he could be killed by the Salmancas for not letting them into the employees only area or by Fring if he accidentally finds some meth in the chicken batter (or doesn't clean out the fryer adequately).

Yes, Saul really just can't let go, can he? His need to take revenge on Chuck with the malpractice insurance carrier led to Chuck's death.

Or maybe he will take a job at El Michoacáno.

I really have no interest in the Acker case or Kim's self created angst over it and her "horrible" life as a hugely successful banking lawyer, who gets to spend most of her time doing the pro bono work she claims to love. Acker is a cantankerous old jerk who leased his land instead of buying to save money. His landlord obviously valued the flexibility of the long term lease with a buyout option and wouldn't have leased the lots without that option. Saul's stunt in the court is one of the oldest and least realistic movie/tv courtroom cliches. The writing on this show has declined. I haven't enjoyed Fring at all this season. I think writing him as just a dick for the sake of being a dick makes him less interesting and is inconsistent with his BB character. I thought the image of him being a reasonable, generous businessman and employer...until you crossed him, at which point he would turn into the Devil, was much more interesting.

I don't blame Howard for what happened in the past. Nowhere in the world is one partner going to hire a senior partner's brother over the strenuous objection of that partner. That was 100% on Chuck and Chuck was 100% right about Jimmy. He is a chimp with a machine gun. At most, Howard could have told Chuck he wouldn't play the heavy for him and that he would have to tell Jimmy himself. This probably would have ruined the relationship between the McGill brothers much sooner, but it might have prevented the escalating vitriol and tit for tat that destroyed Chuck. I thought Jimmy was an ahole for vandalizing Howard's car. He could have simply declined his offer or even told him off. But, he chose the cowardly low life approach. There is nothing left to like about Jimmy, IMO. As for Howard, I wonder what is going on with him. Why does he suddenly want to hire the sleaziest lawyer in ABQ and give Jimmy a hug? Is he into some sort of Zen thing and is trying to see the best in people? Has he joined a cult? One theory I have had for a while is that maybe Howard brought HHM back from the brink by taking on some shady clients, like maybe the Salamancas , Los Pollos Hermanos, or its parent company Madrigal Electromotive. Maybe Saul Goodman is just the type of criminal lawyer the new HHM needs. What did Fring need an alibi for?

Yes, Hank said that he could find no record of a Gustavo Fring in Chile. They found records of him emigrating to Mexico in 1986 and then to the US in 1989. Gus blamed bad record keeping in Chile under the Pinochet regime. The timing is interesting, because Pinochet was in power until 1990. So, apparently the "Grand Generalissimo" had to leave Chile during the Pinochet regime, and assume a new identity in Mexico. Could he have crossed Pinochet and been forced to flee? Or did he commit some atrocity while serving Pinochet and they faked his execution and smuggled him to Mexico? Eladio said he was still alive only because Eladio knew who he really was. That suggests that Fring still had some influence at the time or perhaps that Eladio respected what he did in the Santiago incident and let him live for that reason. Given Lalo's question to Bolsa about whether the Santiago incident was also business, it could be that Eladio approved of what Fring did in Santiago, but the Salamancas did not. Since the Salamancas are total animals and Eladio seemed to be a bit more reasonable, it could be that what Fring did was a good thing. His actual word to Hank were: "Pinochet's government was guilty of many sins. First and foremost were human rights abuses. But it was also notoriously unreliable at keeping records. l'm sure if you keep digging" The fact that he criticized the Pinochet regime, could just be him hiding in plain sight and playing the good citizen. But, it could also suggest that he become disillusioned with it and betrayed it. The line about finding him if you "keep digging" was probably just a throwaway line. But, the writers could backfill on that and maybe have an empty grave in Chile, where Fring was supposedly buried, under his real name, after he faked his death. There are a lot of great ways the writers could fill in the blanks in Fring's past. I really hope they do.

There was one intriguing little tidbit I almost forgot about in episode 1. When Lalo and Bolsa were discussing Fring, Bolsa told him that with Fring it was all business. Lalo replied in Spanish, "What about the thing in Santiago, was that business too" This makes me hope we might get more information about what Gustavo was into in his days in Chile. In BB, it was pretty clear that Gus was an important man in Chile. In a flashback, during a phone call, Hector derisively referred to Fring as "Grand Generalissimo", suggesting he might have been a powerful general under Pinochet. After Hector executes Max, by the pool, on Eladio's orders, Eladio told him that the only reason he was alive was that he knew who he was, but reminded him that he was no longer in Chile. I would love to find out who Gus was in Chile and what the Santiago incident that Lalo referred to was Did he commit some atrocity or double cross someone? Something else?

If Hank had followed SOP, he would have been fired and possibly gone to prison, if they believed Walt's "confession" DVD. Walt was doing things the only way he could save his career and get hard evidence against Walt. He was going to call it in, now that they had Walt's taped phone call to Jesse, in which he confessed to numerous murders and other crimes. He told Walt he was going to call in a team to find Walt's money. He just took a moment to call his wife, who had gone through Hell with him. In that call, he told her that he would probably be tied up with the DEA for hours and wouldn't be able to talk to her. I can't believe calling your wife to tell her you were safe, but would be late for dinner and, by the way, just nailed a mass murderer who was ruining their lives could be considered "hubris". It was a combination of common courtesy and love. Hank had no reason to suspect an army of Nazis would be coming to rescue Walt and kill Hank and Gomey.

I don't think that was hubris, more like fate or horrible luck. He was just calling the woman he loved to let her know he caught the devil and everything was going to be OK. If he hadn't made that call, things might have gone a lot better for Walt. Jack and the Nazis probably still would have arrived before Hank got Walt out of there. If Marie hadn't told Skyler and made her tell Walt Jr, Walt might have been able to sell them on some BS story about needing to disappear for some other reason. (Probably different stories for Skyler and Jr.) Nobody would have known what happened to Hank and Gomey. Marie would have known that Hank was trying to nail Walt, but not that he succeeded. By the time she reported him missing, Walt probably could have disappeared with the whole family, and Marie would never really know what happened to Hank.

I agree. I don't think she was trying to trick him. She was trying to make things better for the old coot. Now, maybe she might have embellished her story a bit (though I'm not so sure) to get him to accept her help. But, even if she was, that would have been a good use of her superpowers. He was getting evicted soon one way or another. She was trying to make it as painless as possible. I think Mr. Vargas had the GOOD kind of pride and stubbornness. Proudly and stubbornly standing up for what is right is a virtue, not a vice.

But, I admire Mr. Varga's stubbornness and pride (though I fear for him). If we all had the integrity and courage to stand up for what is right, drug dealers and other criminals wouldn't be able to thrive. Mr. Varga's attitude is not the problem. The problem is that so few of us are like him.

It sometimes takes more than just average intelligence. He might have had to have read the contract very carefully and possibly had it explained to him by his lawyer or realtor, to understand that clause. It is possible he wasn't aware of the clause when he signed and just signed the "standard contract" it was represented to be. Of course, this is a fictional character and situation, so we really have no idea how aware he was of that clause. I think the writers intended to present it as a situation where Acker was legally in the wrong, but still a somewhat sympathetic character, though also a bit of a jerk.

While there are some similarities between Acker and Mr. Varga, I think Varga is on a whole other moral plane. He is willing to risk his life to not take filthy drug money and run away. Acker is guy who while somewhat sympathetic, has no right to remain on the property and has been offered a fairly generous and clean solution to his problems. The are both stubborn and full of pride, but Mr. Varga's motivations are nobler.