S05.E07: JMM

[Armchair Critic]

Saul hit on his secretary on BB so I don't think he will be with Kim then.

[Ellaria]

I suppose that it was inevitable but watching Jimmy's slide into Saul is depressing. I am no longer entertained by it. His outburst at Howard revealed an angry, pathetic man. Odenkirk has been masterful in showing us the intricacies of Jimmy/Saul and, to a lesser extent, Gene. There were many points along the way where he could have stopped and changed the trajectory of his life but he didn't. My sympathy for him probably ended with this episode.

22 hours ago, monagatuna said:

Kim has SUCH potential, she could be anything she wants. She has the work ethic, the intelligence, and the savvy to get where she wants to be. What she wants to be is Slippin' Jimmy's bad girl, but only a little bit, to the point where she will endanger her own livelihood to play a trick on her biggest--only--client and make herself and Schweikert look foolish. Among other things! Conning bottles of expensive tequila are no longer enough of a hit for her. I could see her quietly behind the scenes in BB running things, and going into hiding when shit gets real. Francesca, too.

I sure hope not. I hope that her intelligence and her common sense tell her to get out and get far away from Jimmy. Kim knows what Jimmy is; she knows what life will be like with him. For me, the unfolding tragedy in this story is Kim and her loyalty to Jimmy.

I continue to be disappointed with Gus' storyline this season. In BB, Gus was a frightening but intriguing character. We knew just enough about him; he was intelligent, ruthless and able to play a long game. I don't think that I am learning anything new about Gus this season or, at the least, anything that expands his character. (I don't care about seeing Peter and Lydia again.) Yes - we see what he was willing to do to become a power player in the cartel but that, IMO, that makes him no different than the rest. Perhaps that is the intent but, IMO, it removes much of the mystery surrounding him. 

[shapeshifter]

32 minutes ago, Xena said:

I would pay good money for an audio book of Jonathan Banks reading 'The Little Prince'.

Yes!
 

[ShadowFacts]

8 hours ago, scenario said:

Jimmy's almost certainly not the first shady lawyer to try to get money from the bank and he won't be the last. If the owner insists on spouting his mouth off and refuse to listen to his lawyers every time he's just making himself an easy mark. While Kim has done a lot of unethical things, telling her client to shut up wasn't one of them. 

I can't give her much credit for that.  That was damage control of the damage she caused.  She was acting totally against her client in being part of Jimmy's Mr. X doing what amounted to a break-in of Kevin, then using the information gained against Kevin.  Beyond unethical.  Malpractice that cost him millions he would not otherwise have been on the hook for.  She has no business continuing to represent MV.  Kevin is foolish to trust her, it makes no sense given what her boyfriend/now husband did.

 

16 minutes ago, Ellaria Sand said:

I continue to be disappointed with Gus' storyline this season. In BB, Gus was a frightening but intriguing character. We knew just enough about him; he was intelligent, ruthless and able to play a long game. I don't think that I am learning anything new about Gus this season or, at the least, anything that expands his character. (I don't care about seeing Peter and Lydia again.) Yes - we see what he was willing to do to become a power player in the cartel but that, IMO, that makes him no different than the rest. Perhaps that is the intent but, IMO, it removes much of the mystery surrounding him. 

I now have more interest in Gus than I did, owing partly to the fact that I am done with Jimmy and Kim.  They are hinting heavily at something beyond revenge for Max, maybe it won't be any different than the rest of the cartel, but the Chilean part could lead to something. 

[Bryce Lynch]

So, what was with the depiction of Herr Schuler, in this episode?

Was it just me, or did he come across as possibly gay and sort of doddering fool, being manipulated by Gus and Lydia?

We saw very little of him in BB, but I presumed he was a strong businessman and more of an equal partner with Gus in the drug operation.

[Bryce Lynch]

18 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

I can't give her much credit for that.  That was damage control of the damage she caused.  She was acting totally against her client in being part of Jimmy's Mr. X doing what amounted to a break-in of Kevin, then using the information gained against Kevin.  Beyond unethical.  Malpractice that cost him millions he would not otherwise have been on the hook for.  She has no business continuing to represent MV.  Kevin is foolish to trust her, it makes no sense given what her boyfriend/now husband did.

 

I now have more interest in Gus than I did, owing partly to the fact that I am done with Jimmy and Kim.  They are hinting heavily at something beyond revenge for Max, maybe it won't be any different than the rest of the cartel, but the Chilean part could lead to something. 

I thought Kim criticizing Kevin for not following her advice was well played, though totally unethical.  Kevin has no idea Kim was conspiring against him all along.  So, from his perspective, he was wrong not to follow Kim's advice.

That said, I'm not sure I buy that Kevin and Paige would be so easily fooled by Kim.  Would they really buy that the guy she used to share an office with and now shares a bed with was really going against her?

Also, once they saw how sleazy Saul is, I would think that they might start to believe Chuck's claim that Jimmy altered the MV documents to sabotage Chuck and give the work to Kim.  

They might not be totally convinced Kim was working for Acker, but I think prudent people would be suspicious enough that they would stop doing business with her and her firm.

 

[PeterPirate]

10 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I think she looked really turned on about the 'being a friend of the cartel.'

That was my initial reaction too.  I've re-watched that scene a few times now.  Kim did not flinch at the prospect of being married to the mob, that's for sure.  She also did not show any relief when Jimmy said he did not want to be a 'friend of the cartel'.  Her only concern was that Jimmy not keep a secret from her.  I think that scene was another signpost on Kim's road to perdition.  

[Sam Spayaid]

On 3/30/2020 at 11:04 PM, nodorothyparker said:

That was the most depressing courthouse wedding I think I've ever seen

It was truly heartbreaking.

I like Kim's character and get a sinking feeling about how she ends up NOT being in Breaking Bad. Divorce or death? Whatever, it won't end well.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

[Kevin and Paige] might not be totally convinced Kim was working for Acker, but I think prudent people would be suspicious enough that they would stop doing business with her and her firm

My daughter would attribute Kevin and Paige’s willingness to stick with Kim to “sunk cost fallacy,” meaning dropping Kim and starting with someone else seems like losing time and money invested with Kim (the fallacy), when it’s really losing more in the future. Kevin would probably make the excuse that he doesn’t believe in “switching horses mid-race.” 

 

 

[Tikichick]

On 3/30/2020 at 11:36 PM, Bryce Lynch said:

I felt bad of Lyle.  He spent hours scrubbing the fryer and Fring burns down the place.

Fring did check out the quality of his work before setting up the arson.

[Dev F]

3 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

So, what was with the depiction of Herr Schuler, in this episode?

Was it just me, or did he come across as possibly gay and sort of doddering fool, being manipulated by Gus and Lydia?

We saw very little of him in BB, but I presumed he was a strong businessman and more of an equal partner with Gus in the drug operation.

I mean, when we met him in Breaking Bad he was a catatonic basket case who killed himself rather than fight back when his crimes were uncovered, so to me his behavior here didn't seem inconsistent.

Of course, the writers could've decided to portray a stark contrast between Schuler in his prime and Schuler at the end, but showing him to be weak and manipulated by Gus all along seems more in keeping with the themes of this particular episode, which was all about how people aren't motivated by external concerns either high-minded ("Justice Matters Most") or venal ("Just Make Money") but by messier elements of their more basic character ("James M. McGill").

You also see it with Jimmy and Kim's wedding, which they try to treat as a purely practical legal arrangement but end up getting romantic about in spite of themselves, with Nacho vandalizing the Los Pollos Hermanos dining room as part of Gus's plan only to get really into it as a way of venting his frustration and anger, with Mike accepting that he's in the game for revenge rather than justice or cash, and so on.

1 minute ago, Tikichick said:

Fring did check out the quality of his work before setting up the arson.

He did check the fryers, but they weren't Lyle's work. Lyle works at the Los Pollos in Albuquerque, and they blew up the one in Los Lunas.

[peeayebee]

3 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

So, what was with the depiction of Herr Schuler, in this episode?

Lydia told Gus he wasn't feeling well. I presumed he's not completely happy with being in the drug business, let alone having spent so much money on the super lab, which is on hold indefinitely. I'm thinking is illness is more mental than physical. He sure enjoys sampling the food. That looks like where his real passion is, not in drugs.

As Dev F said, Gus is manipulating him, though I think Gus's affection for him is real. Seems to me that we'll be seeing more of Schuler and his mental state this season.

[sistermagpie]

14 minutes ago, Dev F said:

I mean, when we met him in Breaking Bad he was a catatonic basket case who killed himself rather than fight back when his crimes were uncovered, so to me his behavior here didn't seem inconsistent.

Of course, the writers could've decided to portray a stark contrast between Schuler in his prime and Schuler at the end, but showing him to be weak and manipulated by Gus all along seems more in keeping with the themes of this particular episode, which was all about how people aren't motivated by external concerns either high-minded ("Justice Matters Most") or venal ("Just Make Money") but by messier elements of their more basic character ("James M. McGill").

This was one of the most interesting choices in the ep to me because I was thinking about just what you said here, that they could have decided to show Schuler as being very different at the beginning but they made a very clear choice to do the opposite. All of which is so in keeping not only with the themes of this show but the rules of the BB universe in general. Everyone on the show has the person they become inside them potentially -- and yet it's their specific circumstances that bring out. It really does kind of all come down to the chemistry metaphor.

[DoctorAtomic]

I thought Gus was going to take the chicken home with him. He's not one to be wasteful.

[PeterPirate]

6 hours ago, Armchair Critic said:

Saul hit on his secretary on BB so I don't think he will be with Kim then.

I don't think that will a big problem to retcon if Kim turns out to be with Jimmy during BB.  Francesca would likely know that fact--and might even be in contact with her--and would discount Saul's come-on as a jerky joke.  

On the other hand, I went back and watched the BB episode (407) where Hank is relating his suspicions about Gus to his boss.  He described Madrigal as "highly diversified".  But he also said that Los Pollos Hermanos was its "tiny little footprint" into American fast food.  I can't see a way to mesh that with the big confab in Houston.  

Edited April 1, 2020 by PeterPirate

[Atlanta]

14 minutes ago, PeterPirate said:

I don't think that will a big problem to retcon if Kim turns out to be with Jimmy during BB.  Francesca would likely know that fact--and might even be in contact with her--and would discount Saul's come-on as a jerky joke.  

She could dismiss it as Saul being Saul and maybe they have a jokey-flirty friendship? During BB, Kim may be the upstanding corporate lawyer and post BCS, still married to him and also working with a different alias. Don't know how she'd be able to practice law though.

[ShadowFacts]

11 minutes ago, PeterPirate said:

I don't think that will a big problem to retcon if Kim turns out to be with Jimmy during BB.  Francesca would likely know that fact--and might even be in contact with her--and would discount Saul's come-on as a jerky joke. 

I wouldn't like that.  He wasn't a pig to her when she worked for both of them, if he suddenly calls her a gross name whatever it was when he's married to Kim, that wouldn't work for me. 

[Pike Ludwell]

When a frozen chicken drops into boiling oil an explosion takes place. That's what Gus was doing with the chicken. But why did he strike two matches outside, as he's walking to his car?

Edited April 1, 2020 by Pike Ludwell

[PeterPirate]

1 hour ago, Atlanta said:

She could dismiss it as Saul being Saul and maybe they have a jokey-flirty friendship? During BB, Kim may be the upstanding corporate lawyer and post BCS, still married to him and also working with a different alias. Don't know how she'd be able to practice law though.

1 hour ago, ShadowFacts said:

I wouldn't like that.  He wasn't a pig to her when she worked for both of them, if he suddenly calls her a gross name whatever it was when he's married to Kim, that wouldn't work for me. 

The Saul-Francesca dynamic is pretty much negative throughout BB.  I take that as the by-product of Francesca coming to realize that Saul is a cri-mi-nal lawyer.  I don't think that dynamic would change if Kim was in Jimmy's life.  Nor would Saul's let-me-follow-you-home remark be any more or any less inappropriate. 

Francesca's distaste for Saul might be magnified if her other former boss, Kim, is working for a swanky law firm, while she is stuck working for the strip-mall ambulance chaser.  One way or the other, they are going to have to work Francesca back into the show, and explain the change in her attitude.

Edited April 1, 2020 by PeterPirate

[scenario]

1 hour ago, PeterPirate said:

I don't think that will a big problem to retcon if Kim turns out to be with Jimmy during BB.  Francesca would likely know that fact--and might even be in contact with her--and would discount Saul's come-on as a jerky joke.  

On the other hand, I went back and watched the BB episode (407) where Hank is relating his suspicions about Gus to his boss.  He described Madrigal as "highly diversified".  But he also said that Los Pollos Hermanos was its "tiny little footprint" into American fast food.  I can't see a way to mesh that with the big confab in Houston.  

The other people there were from casual dining establishments or supermarkets not fast food. 

[Milburn Stone]

2 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

They don't really act like they want to be together now.  More like a "friends with benefits" type relationship.

I would be surprised if there are any more "benefits." When sex was interrupted, and Jimmy confessed who he was working for these days, and Kim said, "I'm really glad you told me," I read a lot of fear that was at odds with how "glad" she was. The kind of fear that is a powerful antidote to feeling frisky.

[Adiba]

Add me to the viewers that hopes Kim isn't with Jimmy/Saul in BB. For many reasons, not that I hope Kim meets her demise--but that she wakes up and leaves eventually.

Also, for me BB is best kept as is--I didn't even watch El Camino for that reason. Jessie driving away was enough for me--I'd rather fill in the story myself.

[ShadowFacts]

12 minutes ago, PeterPirate said:

The Saul-Francesca dynamic is pretty much negative throughout BB.  I take that as the by-product of Francesca coming to realize that Saul is a cri-mi-nal lawyer.  I don't think that dynamic would change if Kim was in Jimmy's life.  Nor would Saul's let-me-follow-you-home remark be any more or any less inappropriate. 

I don't know what will change Francesca, but as for Jimmy, from what we see of his affection for Kim, I don't see him calling Francesca "honey tits" as something he would do if he and Kim are still together happily in the Breading Bad-verse.  Outside of any Saul-Francesca dynamic, it's disrespectful to Kim.  It makes me think they're not together anymore.

[Quilt Fairy]

5 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

The investigators won't be able to tell that the thawing chicken was used as a timing device.

Not that they're going to be able to find much after that explosion, but it's a chicken in a fried chicken place.  There's nothing to draw their attention. 

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Not that they're going to be able to find much after that explosion, but it's a chicken in a fried chicken place.  There's nothing to draw their attention. 

I appreciate such impromptu resourcefulness and often employ such tactics myself (though not for criminal activities). I’m assuming the chicken as a detonator in a chicken restaurant was dreamed up by the writers rather than ripped from headlines or jailhouse memoirs. 

[Quilt Fairy]

3 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I appreciate such impromptu resourcefulness and often employ such tactics myself (though not for criminal activities). I’m assuming the chicken as a detonator in a chicken restaurant was dreamed up by the writers rather than ripped from headlines or jailhouse memoirs. 

Or one of the writers is a Rube Goldberg fan. 

[Clanstarling]

On 3/30/2020 at 7:13 PM, Ohwell said:

Yet she married Saul.  That, for me, negates any balls she ever had. 

Well, she seems to truly love him, and that's less a balls thing than a brain thing. People make all kinds of messed up choices when it comes to marriage.

On 3/30/2020 at 8:04 PM, nodorothyparker said:

That was the most depressing courthouse wedding I think I've ever seen, and I've had a courthouse wedding.  There's nothing wrong with not wanting to make a big fuss, but ye gods, Huell was showing more enthusiasm than either of the participants.  I'm sure that won't turn out badly at all for the third Mrs. McGill.

I was reliving our courthouse wedding too - at least our judge took us into his chambers. Unfortunately he had just had some kind of dental procedure, and was a mush mouth. It was less moving than hilarious. But that's okay.

On 3/30/2020 at 8:15 PM, TVFan17 said:

Anyway, I'm glad this wife thing was clarified now, because I felt like I was being picked at last week (in this forum) for believing Saul's comment about his second wife.  I know that he lies, but when he mentioned the second wife with the stepdad, there wasn't any advantage to him lying about it in that moment.  If there had been some sort of gain for him to make up that story, I would have thought he was lying.  I believed there was a second wife because it didn't benefit him to lie about a second wife at that point.

I always believed it too, for the same reasons.

On 3/30/2020 at 8:46 PM, Bryce Lynch said:

I am pretty sure Chuck never knew about squat cobbler.   But, both Chuck and Howard knew of many other dirty tricks by Jimmy.

As I recall, it was the squat cobbler incident  was when Chuck got Jimmy out of jail and took him back to New Mexico.

Edited April 2, 2020 by Clanstarling
because it's early and I didn't mean to mimic the language of a quote

[nodorothyparker]

41 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

As I recall, it was the squat cobbler incident  was when Chuck got Jimmy out of jail and took him back to New Mexico.

That was the Chicago sunroof incident, which Jimmy retells to a stupefied audience of elderly Bingo players when he was supposed to be calling numbers.  Chuck certainly did know about that, which is how Jimmy ended up in HHM's mailroom.

Squat cobbler was something that never actually happened.  It was a story Jimmy made up on the fly after Pryce, the dumbest most inept pill seller ever, called the police after Nacho burgled his house and he realized only belatedly that he'd made himself a suspect.  Because that happened after Chuck and Jimmy were already estranged from the "chimp with a machine gun" reveal, there's no reason to think Chuck ever knew about squat cobbler.  

[Bryce Lynch]

1 hour ago, Clanstarling said:

Well, she seems to truly love him, and that's less a balls thing than a brain thing. People make all kinds of messed up choices when it comes to marriage.

I was reliving our courthouse wedding too - at least our judge took us into his chambers. Unfortunately he had just had some kind of dental procedure, and was a mush mouth. It was less moving than hilarious. But that's okay.

I always believed it too, for the same reasons.

As I recall, it was the squat cobbler incident  was when Chuck got Jimmy out of jail and took him back to New Mexico.

No, Chuck got Jimmy out of jail in Chicago when he was facing charges for a Chicago Sunroof.

Squat Cobbler was what Jimmy used to explain Pryce's hidey hole to the police.  

[Bryce Lynch]

There was a fun callback to BB in the Madrigal conference room scene.  The restaurant names and logos on the nameplates were the same as those hanging on the wall of Madrigal headquarters in Germany, when they took down the LPH logo, in "Madrigal".

One of them was the unfortunately named, "Luftwaffle".  On the BB insider podcast, Vince Gilligan mentioned that you could only see part of the Luftwaffle logo in "Madrigal" and he sounded disappointed by that.  In "JMM" you can see it clearly.

 

[Clanstarling]

2 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

That was the Chicago sunroof incident, which Jimmy retells to a stupefied audience of elderly Bingo players when he was supposed to be calling numbers.  Chuck certainly did know about that, which is how Jimmy ended up in HHM's mailroom.

Squat cobbler was something that never actually happened.  It was a story Jimmy made up on the fly after Pryce, the dumbest most inept pill seller ever, called the police after Nacho burgled his house and he realized only belatedly that he'd made himself a suspect.  Because that happened after Chuck and Jimmy were already estranged from the "chimp with a machine gun" reveal, there's no reason to think Chuck ever knew about squat cobbler.  

 

1 hour ago, Bryce Lynch said:

No, Chuck got Jimmy out of jail in Chicago when he was facing charges for a Chicago Sunroof.

Squat Cobbler was what Jimmy used to explain Pryce's hidey hole to the police.  

I mixed them up. Thanks for correcting me. 🙂

[Milburn Stone]

17 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Not that they're going to be able to find much after that explosion, but it's a chicken in a fried chicken place.  There's nothing to draw their attention. 

This is probably a really dumb question, but I was assuming there were explosives inside the chicken. A thawing chicken wouldn't start an explosive blaze just by sliding into a vat of oil, would it? (Or would it?)

Edited April 2, 2020 by Milburn Stone

[PeterPirate]

14 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

This is probably a really dumb question, but I was assuming there were explosives inside the chicken. A thawing chicken wouldn't start an explosive blaze just by sliding into a vat of oil, would it? (Or would it?)

I had the same question.  So yes, it's really dumb.

Edited April 2, 2020 by PeterPirate

[Irlandesa]

24 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

This is probably a really dumb question, but I was assuming there were explosives inside the chicken. A thawing chicken wouldn't start an explosive blaze just by sliding into a vat of oil, would it? (Or would it?)

They talk a little bit about their thought process on the podcast but frozen turkeys put in hot oil have been known to explode. So the chicken was likely frozen. And if they turned on some gas somewhere, that would enhance the explosion.

[Bannon]

Every Thanksgiving there are stories of novices at deep frying turkeys who plop a frozen bird into a kettle of boiling oil. Yep, an explosion ensues. Would it ignite leaking natural gas from a deliberately disconnected line? I dunno, get the Mythbusters back, but I'll allow the writers to go for a visual.

[ShadowFacts]

There must have been an ignition source beyond frozen poultry.  That building blew.  I guess simple arson wasn't enough.  Gus delivered once again.

[DoctorAtomic]

Didn't Nacho turn on the gas? If the restaurant is filled with gas, the chicken would have been sufficient. 

[nuraman00]

On 3/31/2020 at 6:27 AM, PeterPirate said:

Imo the McGill parents are villains just as much as either of the sons.  

What did Jimmy and Chuck's Mom do that was bad?

[nuraman00]

On 4/1/2020 at 5:41 AM, PeterPirate said:

That was my initial reaction too.  I've re-watched that scene a few times now.  Kim did not flinch at the prospect of being married to the mob, that's for sure.  She also did not show any relief when Jimmy said he did not want to be a 'friend of the cartel'.  Her only concern was that Jimmy not keep a secret from her.  I think that scene was another signpost on Kim's road to perdition.  

My initial reaction was that she was appreciative of Jimmy's honesty.  One of the few times he's been honest about his business dealings with her.

 

So she saw that she could trust him now, and that he would tell her things.

On 4/1/2020 at 8:46 AM, Dev F said:

He did check the fryers, but they weren't Lyle's work. Lyle works at the Los Pollos in Albuquerque, and they blew up the one in Los Lunas.

How did you know it was in Los Lunas?  When does it say that?

[nuraman00]

Did Nacho have to really trash the dining room?

 

Once Gus started the procedure to thaw the chicken, and he knew the place would burn down, then would there have been anything gained to really trash the place?  If the place was burned down, then it would have been hard to know whether the dining room was trashed or not, right?

 

Are there any security cameras at this location?  I would have thought after Hector visited a location a few years ago, then there would have been some installed.

 

How many minutes did it take from once Gus placed the chicken on the cutting board, until it hit the oil?  Would it have exploded right away or needed even more time?

 

So 3-6 minutes from once it was at the top of the cutting board, until it hit the oil?  Then another 1-2 minutes for the explosion?

[PeterPirate]

On 4/1/2020 at 12:41 PM, Pike Ludwell said:

When a frozen chicken drops into boiling oil an explosion takes place. That's what Gus was doing with the chicken. But why did he strike two matches outside, as he's walking to his car?

It strikes me as odd that Gus would have Nacho tear up the dining area to make the explosion look like some sort of gang hit, but then stage it make it look like a kitchen accident.  So I think Gus used the chicken start the explosion, but left the matches behind to complete the illusion that it was a gang hit.  

 

6 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

Quote

I believed there was a second wife because it didn't benefit him to lie about a second wife at that point.

 I always believed it too, for the same reasons.

Same here.  For that matter, I still think when Hank described Los Pollos Hermanos as Madrigal's "tiny little footprint into American fast food", it was the truth at the time, and there was a retcon between seasons 4 and 5 so that Madrigal ran a series of American food providers.  

 

1 hour ago, nuraman00 said:

What did Jimmy and Chuck's Mom do that was bad?

For one thing, she begged Chuck to get Jimmy out jail following the Chicago Sunroof incident, rather than let her son face the consequences of his actions.  I just think the McGill parents really did a number on both of their children by being unable or unwilling to delineate between good and evil.  As long as Jimmy was entertaining, he could get away with anything.  Just how I see things.  

Edited April 2, 2020 by PeterPirate

[sistermagpie]

1 hour ago, nuraman00 said:

Once Gus started the procedure to thaw the chicken, and he knew the place would burn down, then would there have been anything gained to really trash the place?  If the place was burned down, then it would have been hard to know whether the dining room was trashed or not, right?

Maybe I'm wrong, but I assumed there was something besides the chicken to make it explode--for instance, a gas line being opened. So the idea was that people had come in and trashed the place, and that broke a gas pipe, and then they trashed the kitchen, which sent a chicken into the deep fryer.

So he was making it look like intentional destruction on purpose, but the chicken explosion can still be an accident that story, if somebody is trying to work it out step by step.

1 hour ago, PeterPirate said:

For one thing, she begged Chuck to get Jimmy out jail following the Chicago Sunroof incident, rather than let her son face the consequences of his actions.  I just think the McGill parents really did a number on both of their children by being unable or unwilling to delineate between good and evil.  As long as Jimmy was entertaining, he could get away with anything.  Just how I see things.  

It always seemed to me that the real problem wasn't even specifically what the did in different situations, but just how everyone in the family meshed together. Jimmy was amusing but he was also a sweet guy at heart-we saw that early on. Where as Chuck was impressive but had a personality that made it hard for him to engage with people the same way.

Basically, Chuck was Jeannie to Jimmy's Ferris Beuller. Yes Ferris got away with too much, but it was Jeannie's own personality that made her get furious about it rather than reap the advantages. She just couldn't do it as a sibling and neither could Chuck. He couldn't accept that Jimmy didn't get the reaction from the universe in general that Chuck thought he deserved. (This was, after all, a guy who wound up enslaved to delusions of an invisible enemy.)

The difference between the McGills and the Beullers (or the Weasleys--Percy vs. Fred & George) is they ultimately broke through and forgave and Chuck never could.

Edited April 2, 2020 by sistermagpie

[Clanstarling]

On 3/30/2020 at 9:23 PM, chick binewski said:

Lydia casually inquiring about people getting murdered in prison made me laugh out loud.

So very Lydia, murder as a first resort.

On 3/31/2020 at 8:45 AM, PeterPirate said:

The hotel room also had a bidet.  Something worth thinking about these days.  

But then I'd have to have a stranger come into my house and install it. 😞

On 3/31/2020 at 8:56 AM, peeayebee said:

Jimmy has always been interested in nice offices and homes, hasn't he.

And yet he ends up in a bigger, but still a strip mall, office.

On 3/31/2020 at 10:44 AM, Skyfall said:

"In the Breaking Bad episode "Green Light", Saul states to Walt that he has been divorced twice, mentioning that his second wife cheated on him with his stepfather. 

That leaves widowed or still married (or separated)

On 4/1/2020 at 5:18 AM, Bryce Lynch said:

So, what was with the depiction of Herr Schuler, in this episode?

Was it just me, or did he come across as possibly gay and sort of doddering fool, being manipulated by Gus and Lydia?

My take was that he and Gus were more than old friends or business partners.
 

On 4/1/2020 at 1:12 PM, Adiba said:

Also, for me BB is best kept as is--I didn't even watch El Camino for that reason. Jessie driving away was enough for me--I'd rather fill in the story myself.

We did watch El Camino, and agree that the ending was best kept as is.

2 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Didn't Nacho turn on the gas? If the restaurant is filled with gas, the chicken would have been sufficient. 

Yes he did, now that you mention it.

1 hour ago, PeterPirate said:

It strikes me as odd that Gus would have Nacho tear up the dining area to make the explosion look like some sort of gang hit, but then stage it make it look like a kitchen accident.  So I think Gus used the chicken start the explosion, but left the matches behind to complete the illusion that it was a gang hit.

I think it was because the restaurant wouldn't be completely destroyed, they wanted to plant evidence of a deliberate attack. If not for the police, then for the cartel who don't want Fring and the Salamancas fighting.

35 minutes ago, sistermagpie said:

Maybe I'm wrong, but I assumed there was something besides the chicken to make it explode--for instance, a gas line being opened. So the idea was that people had come in and trashed the place, and that broke a gas pipe, and then they trashed the kitchen, which sent a chicken into the deep fryer.

So he was making it look like intentional destruction on purpose, but the chicken explosion can still be an accident that story, if somebody is trying to work it out step by step.

Agreed.

[DoctorAtomic]

57 minutes ago, sistermagpie said:

So he was making it look like intentional destruction on purpose, but the chicken explosion can still be an accident that story, if somebody is trying to work it out step by step.

Gus very much pays attention to details and just blowing it up invites unwanted questions from law enforcement. A reckless act of vandalism, possibly from tweakers, does not. I don't think there was anything else to it. 

[sistermagpie]

11 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Gus very much pays attention to details and just blowing it up invites unwanted questions from law enforcement. A reckless act of vandalism, possibly from tweakers, does not. I don't think there was anything else to it. 

Yes, that's what I thought too. It's made even less suspicious with the mixing of possible mistake and vandalism--vs. somebody intentionally setting it on fire or blowing it up specifically. Where as Lalo, of course, will understand it was intentional.

[Dev F]

4 hours ago, nuraman00 said:

How did you know it was in Los Lunas?  When does it say that?

 

[PeterPirate]

17 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

We did watch El Camino, and agree that the ending was best kept as is.

El Camino had a pretty strong character development for Jesse imo.  But one can read about that in the BB thread without spending the time watching it.  

I for one am glad they made it, and the time I spent watching it a couple times.  But that has to be balanced against the notion that production of BCS was delayed because of it.  

Whatever happens to Kim Wexler, I want to see the character survive to reunite with Gene.  Maybe a stand-alone like El Camino will tell her story during the BB years.

Edited April 3, 2020 by PeterPirate

[Clanstarling]

1 hour ago, PeterPirate said:

El Camino had a pretty strong character development for Jesse imo.  But one can read about that in the BB thread without spending the time watching it.  

I for one am glad they made it, and the time I spent watching it a couple times.  But that has to be balanced against the notion that production of BCS was delayed because of it.  

Whatever happens to Kim Wexler, I want to see the character survive to reunite with Gene.  Maybe a stand-alone like El Camino will tell her story during the BB years.

I think it was definitely a mileage varies situation. El Camino, to us, was more like a couple of mediocre BB episodes, and I'm not really sure I learned more about Jesse than I actually knew before - though my memory has faded on this point, so maybe I forgot that.

[Dobian]

On 3/30/2020 at 11:47 PM, TVFan17 said:

 I also chuckled at Gus proudly talking about the curly fries (or whatever they're called) to his peers, competitors and associates in the restaurant business. 

I have to say for a drug lord, Gus is a pro at selling fast food.  I was ready to run down to a Los Pollos Hermanos and order a large southwestern curly fries after that scene, my mouth was watering!

[PeterPirate]

4 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

I think it was definitely a mileage varies situation. El Camino, to us, was more like a couple of mediocre BB episodes, and I'm not really sure I learned more about Jesse than I actually knew before - though my memory has faded on this point, so maybe I forgot that.

El Camino was pretty slow.  I think it was like The Fly on BB.  Not much action or plot development, relatively speaking, but a number of viewers speak highly of it long afterwards.  

I wonder if we will ever have an episode like that on BCS.  Part of the tragic aspect of this show is that both Jimmy and Kim consistently fail to take stock about what they are doing.    

Edited April 3, 2020 by PeterPirate