Your Honor - General Discussion

[MBayGal]

On 12/22/2020 at 10:42 AM, DoubleUTeeEff said:

50 minutes ago, preeya said:

Question: were they eating dinner (gazpacho) in a restaurant, or was that their palatial mansion? I didn't see any waiters and the wife took the soup to get it heated.

Yeah, very confusing.. It seemed to be in a downtown club, with the big bar downstairs, and was near some large buildings, so not the entrance or neighborhood where they live.. But why did she have to take his soup somewhere to warm it up? 

As for them watching the house explode in the Lower 9th, we were only in NO for a couple of weeks, but the Lower 9th is not near an area like where they were eating.. It’s hard to believe they could see a fire in a single house there from that balcony. Still, I recall the city as fairly flat, so with good eyesight and looking in the right direction....maybe.

On 12/20/2020 at 6:40 PM, aghst said:

[TV Diva Queen]

On 12/8/2020 at 12:46 AM, sheetmoss said:

Not so much today, but growing up in Chicago, it wasn't so unusual to hear reporters on radio or TV  talking about X having ties to organized crime  or a specific family.

Some  reporters like John Drummond(local CBS TV affiliate), his beat was covering Chicago organized crime - the hits to their trials

 

LOL - I was finishing up reading the comments and was going to go back and quote the same one you did, with pretty much the same info.  As I was reading yours I was like "wait - I posted already"  DEAD!!!  Chuck Goudie too.  (I live right by Horwath's and my house shook)

[preeya]

17 hours ago, Robert Lynch said:

I think Bryan Cranston is only five years older than Margo Martindale, but I think by 2003-2004 that her roles consisted of mothers and grandmothers. When she started in the 90s, her movie roles were usually a best friend, wise-cracking neighbor, nurse, or a doctor. So far today these are the roles I see Margo saddled with.

She was great as the spy handler in The Americans, and had a significant role as Mags Bennett in Justified.

[Ms Lark]

20 hours ago, Robert Lynch said:

I think Bryan Cranston is only five years older than Margo Martindale, but I think by 2003-2004 that her roles consisted of mothers and grandmothers. When she started in the 90s, her movie roles were usually a best friend, wise-cracking neighbor, nurse, or a doctor. So far today these are the roles I see Margo saddled with.

She did a great job as Bella Abzug in Mrs. America.

[aghst]

BTW, keep forgetting to mention it but it seems that autographed (by Mariano Riviera) baseball is going to be a big plot point?

Now the younger Jones brother, the only surviving member of the family, has it.

Michael knew the player who autographed it but maybe it was Adam's?  Or he didn't know that it was in the Volvo?

 

Why would people in New Orleans, which doesn't have a major league team, be interested in a Yankee pitcher's autographed ball?

NO is much closer to the baseball teams in Houston, Atlanta, maybe even the FL teams in Tampa and Miami than the NY Yankees.

 

[KateHearts]

On 12/8/2020 at 5:49 PM, aghst said:

Michael and Adam are doing the wrong things, illegal things, but they still have to get viewers to sympathize and root for them to get away with it, to be safe essentially and not have to face the consequences.

but this is the essence of the way the writers are presenting this- not unlike Breaking Bad. You start out with a sympathetic character/characters (Michael, Adam/Walter White) who are basically decent people (Michael is a caring judge as exemplified by his making allowances for the lawyer with prostate cancer; Walter who is sick and wants to be sure his family is provided for in the event of his death)- and the character arc is that we start changing our views of the character.  Michael is now doing unsavory things to protect his son- he lies, he covers up, and ultimately he is responsible for the destruction of others' lives. Walter White did the same- he got caught up in the underworld of the drug industry and through time became a cold, heartless criminal who sacrificed others (including his family) to keep his head above water. In a similar (opposite) arc, Jesse Pinkman was the ne'er-do-well, dropout loser who ended up with a conscience. I think it's subtle but brilliant writing.

I think the entire goal here was to get us to sympathize- early on- only to then feel very conflicted when we see the lengths Michael goes to in order to protect his son.

I agree with others that there are obvious holes and unbelievable parts to the story. I was shaking my head when Adam returned to the scene of the accident to find remnants of evidence there, blood on the curb, etc. 

[chediavolo]

On 12/27/2020 at 1:46 PM, Bluesky said:

Why is the grandmother the same age as her son-in-law?  Horrible casting, I assumed it was his sister in law. 

She is a few years older, maybe three or four.  Hollywood is notorious for doing this to women. Well especially women who aren't plastic surgeried to death and look at their actual age. Did they ever show a photo of his wife? I have been paying perfect attention. I bet if they did she looks 20 years younger than him. Another  “fuck you” to women from Hollywood. 

[chediavolo]

15 hours ago, preeya said:

He's not very believable as a powerful gangster boss.

Question: were they eating dinner (gazpacho) in a restaurant, or was that their palatial mansion? I didn't see any waiters and the wife took the soup to get it heated.

He played Arnold Rothstein in boardwalk empire. I thought he was pretty believable in that, different era, kind of gangster though I guess

[Robert Lynch]

I liked Boardwalk Empire, except the final season. By the end, it looked like the writers from Boardwalk Empire ran out of ideas.

Edited December 28, 2020 by Robert Lynch

[RealReality]

So, we're all agreed, this is loosely based on that John Gotti story about his son getting struck by a car and killed when he cut off a neighbor on his motorbike and Gotti had the guy disappeared.  Because thats what its giving me.

I like the show, I like Bryan Cranston, and everyone is varying degrees of awful.  Had I known about the racial undertones I would have stayed away, but oh well, now I'm in it and its not bad.  

[RealReality]

On 12/28/2020 at 9:45 AM, Ms Lark said:

She did a great job as Bella Abzug in Mrs. America.

Margot Martindale is a national treasure.  I haven't seen her ever do a bad job.  Although now that I think about it, she generally plays the same role, she just plays it so damn well.  Loved her in The Americans. 

[TV Diva Queen]

we too were confused with the gazpacho scene too.  I think they own that fancy restaurant and that was the Baxter's apartment above the club for "business meetings"  

[dwmarch]

Edit: unspoilered as of the air date.

Baxter's fancy restaurant is in a hotel that he owns. Makes sense because nowadays villains own hotels.

It took us five episodes to wander into sterotypical Nawlins, where it is apparently always Mardi Gras, even in mid-late October.

I see we are going the Romeo and Juliet routine with Adam and... Baxter's daughter, who does not get called by name often. I think Adam made a strange, dumb choice here. How did you know Rocco? Oh, from that club that he never went to. Why didn't he just admit that it was morbid curiosity and guilt because Rocco was hit by the car that was stolen from his house? That way it isn't another lie to keep track of it, it's just half of the truth.

As for Michael's mystery stalker, I think we're dealing with a pair here and I predict it's going to end up being Adam's teacher girlfriend and his friend Wesley. The teacher girlfriend knows what happened and I have a sneaking suspicion that if she'll sleep with one student she might just sleep with another. There was also the unusually specific amount of money requested ($220,000) which suggests inside knowledge of how much money the Desiato family might have stashed away. She might have a key to the house. The emergency with the dog wasn't a poisoning, it was just Adam being a general-purpose screwup.

Then again, it might not be them because the proof that was sent to Michael was filmed from directly behind the car. The previouslies show that the gas station footage was shot from overhead. So this means that someone got impatient at the gas pump, whipped out their phone and filmed the person who was taking their time in the hopes that this might turn out to be blackmail material. Sure, why not?

I like the gangster lady in charge of the Desire crew. No messing around with her. She goes right to Baxter, lays out the facts for him and lets him know he's only got so long to respond.

That gas station attendant sure has a phenomenal memory. Sure, you'd remember the sob story and the guy who told it but Gas Station Guy knew the specifics!

Edited January 4, 2021 by dwmarch

[Cotypubby]

🧐 I thought this airs Sunday nights? I don’t remember seeing any of that on the last episode!? 
 

edit

Edited January 1, 2021 by Cotypubby

[dwmarch]

6 minutes ago, Cotypubby said:

🧐 I thought this airs Sunday nights? I don’t remember seeing any of that on the last episode!? Stalker? Gangster lady?

It seems episode 5 was involved in a hit and run (or at the very least fell off the back of a truck) and was left bleeding on the corner on Wednesday night despite the record showing that it should have happened on the following Sunday... I'll spoiler code my post until it actually airs.

[Cotypubby]

Weird. Episode 5 is now available to watch on Showtime On Demand even though it says it’s from 01/03/21.

[TVMovieBuff]

On 12/8/2020 at 12:33 AM, dwmarch said:

The person I feel the worst for is the gangster mom. She fell to the ground in grief and between her giant heels and that leather pencil skirt she's going to have a hell of a time getting back up.

I still think it's too early to judge if this show will be good or bad. As I recall, Breaking Bad wasn't brilliant right from the beginning either.

I could do with less gore though. The big cough up of blood and whatever else, the squashed kid's lung noises, the kid with asthma having a big booger hanging down... we could skip all of that and I wouldn't miss it at all.

If this was Saturday morning cartoon would the moral of the story be "don't play in the ghetto, kids!"

I'm looking forward to Legal Eagle taking a dump on this show. The courtroom stuff seems whimsical.

Somehow Hope Davis isn't doing it for me as the mom. She doesn't project as dangerous, which this type of role should do. The kid is kind of unsympathetic too. But I don't see any reason for us to feel sorry for him vis a vis the accident. 

I always did feel for Jesse Pinkman, in Breaking Bad. He got caught up in something way too much for him, the magnitude of which he didn't choose.

Oh, but I was captured by BrBa from the first episode! It grabbed me by the throat and never let go!

Edited January 1, 2021 by TVMovieBuff

[TVMovieBuff]

On 12/30/2020 at 1:19 AM, RealReality said:

Margot Martindale is a national treasure.  I haven't seen her ever do a bad job.  Although now that I think about it, she generally plays the same role, she just plays it so damn well.  Loved her in The Americans. 

Margo Martindale is a great actress. She plays many ways, likable, unlikable, smart, dim, all of it. Already her performance in this is shaded, she veers between a perfect grandmother and a pain in the ass busy body. 

[RealReality]

1 hour ago, TVMovieBuff said:

Margo Martindale is a great actress. She plays many ways, likable, unlikable, smart, dim, all of it. Already her performance in this is shaded, she veers between a perfect grandmother and a pain in the ass busy body. 

When I say the same character, to me, I meant she always plays a strong, capable and smart woman.  

[LoveLeigh]

On 12/31/2020 at 8:42 PM, dwmarch said:

Edit: Episode 5 seems to have aired early in Canada, spoiler coding post until it airs:

  Hide contents

 

Baxter's fancy restaurant is in a hotel that he owns. Makes sense because nowadays villains own hotels.

It took us five episodes to wander into sterotypical Nawlins, where it is apparently always Mardi Gras, even in mid-late October.

I see we are going the Romeo and Juliet routine with Adam and... Baxter's daughter, who does not get called by name often. I think Adam made a strange, dumb choice here. How did you know Rocco? Oh, from that club that he never went to. Why didn't he just admit that it was morbid curiosity and guilt because Rocco was hit by the car that was stolen from his house? That way it isn't another lie to keep track of it, it's just half of the truth.

As for Michael's mystery stalker, I think we're dealing with a pair here and I predict it's going to end up being Adam's teacher girlfriend and his friend Wesley. The teacher girlfriend knows what happened and I have a sneaking suspicion that if she'll sleep with one student she might just sleep with another. There was also the unusually specific amount of money requested ($220,000) which suggests inside knowledge of how much money the Desiato family might have stashed away. She might have a key to the house. The emergency with the dog wasn't a poisoning, it was just Adam being a general-purpose screwup.

Then again, it might not be them because the proof that was sent to Michael was filmed from directly behind the car. The previouslies show that the gas station footage was shot from overhead. So this means that someone got impatient at the gas pump, whipped out their phone and filmed the person who was taking their time in the hopes that this might turn out to be blackmail material. Sure, why not?

I like the gangster lady in charge of the Desire crew. No messing around with her. She goes right to Baxter, lays out the facts for him and lets him know he's only got so long to respond.

That gas station attendant sure has a phenomenal memory. Sure, you'd remember the sob story and the guy who told it but Gas Station Guy knew the specifics!

 

 

Episode 5 is up early at On Demand. So I am using a spoiler. 

Spoiler

Episode 5 is up early at On Demand. I laughed when the gangster lady asked Baxter if he was a rabbi when he said "due diligence." Don't get me wrong, I love this show, but it is preposterous. Now blackmail? I thought it was $222,000, I could be wrong. How many layers does Michael think he can keep creating to cover his tracks and get away with the whole thing? He is a judge! He has to realize it will all unravel. And now Baxter goes to the gas station and the owner tells him that "Dylan Thomas" was there and erased tape and he points to a picture of the judge on the newspaper as who did it and that was after the gangster lady said Kofi was in that car on the 10th not the 9th. And Baxter knows it was the judge's car that hit Kofi. He put the pieces together right away. So now what? And I speculate that Maura Tierney will play Adam's murdered mom in flashbacks. I think it is the gas station guy who is blackmailing him. 

 

Edited January 2, 2021 by LoveLeigh

[Cotypubby]

Spoiler for Ep 5:

Spoiler

The video Michael saw on his phone looked like a dashcam video from the guy who beeped at Adam. That’s the only way the angle of that video makes sense.

 

[aghst]

Episode 5 thoughts:

 

Dumbass Adam is at it again.  Now he's stalking Fia, the sister of the guy whom he killed?  He won't tell her his last name, like she won't be able to find out.  At least he didn't use a dumb pseudonym like Dylan Thomas.

If they hook up, you know he will unburden himself, like he did with Frannie.

To top it off, he forgets to give Django his meds and Michael has to rush the dog to the vet.

Yeah Michael is being blackmailed but how does a random guy at the gas station put it together that Adam is the one who hit Rocco?  Did they publicize the Volvo in the media or just show photo of Kofi?  And this guy sneaks into the court room to hide a burner phone?

Also, if burner phones can be traced, why would people keep buying burner phones?  I am pretty sure the SIM card ID or any unique number tied to the device or the SIM card are not registered to individual phone stores.  They sell burners at random convenience stores so the manufacturers aren't going to tie those devices to some specific stores.

Desire is now going to take care of Eugene but guess they want to avoid the war so the boss lady (don't know if they called her by name) is telling Baxter that Kofi wasn't the driver.  She's going to be a player the rest of the season.

Not sure why Baxter really cares.  Gina is satisfied with him killing Kofi's family except for Eugene.  He's been avoiding actions which might cause a gang war but now he wants to stir things up again?

And come on, mobsters are doing "due diligence" which in this case is active detective legwork that the NOPD didn't bother with?  How do they know which tower the 911 call came from?  I guess they have a corrupt judge now issuing court orders to telephone companies.

But in any event, they figure out there was a call from a gas station and they narrow it down?  They'd be good detectives but most of the time, they don't care that much to get the truth, they would just torture people to tell them.

This is where the Dylan Thomas gambit backfires on Michael.  Baxter is asking the gas station owner about Kofi but the owner recognizes Michael's picture instead.  I don't know how security camera systems work but some of them only keep recordings going back a limited period of time, because they run out of tape or hard drive space.  Or cloud storage space.

Unless something happened like a robbery, most of the recordings don't show anything important so the systems record over previous recording.  If something happens, they have a few days or a week to go review and save permanently the event recorded.

I thought the owner would say something like "well it got recorded over because it's been x weeks" but somehow he knows Dylan/Michael deleted his recording?

Now Jimmy knows it was Michael who deleted the security tape from the gas station where Rocco's phone was when the 911 call was recorded.  He also knows the car belonged to Michael.  That is probably all the "due diligence" evidence that most mobsters would care about, to beat up Michael and get him to talk.  Soon, he's going to see that Adam is dating Fia.  Too many coincidences and you don't need "due diligence."

The Desire boss lady should have straight up told Jimmy that it was Michael or Adam who probably hit Rocco.

Meanwhile, Lee is getting a second autopsy on Kofi so Michael hasn't been controlling her with sex very well, as Charlie recommended that he do.

 

Edited January 4, 2021 by aghst

[preeya]

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

My guess for the $222,000.00 extortionist is Charlie. He could easily come and go in the Courthouse without looking suspicious.

And yes, Adam is a DUMB-ASS!  And once again, Fia does not look or act like a young teenager. How long before Adam and Fia are hooking up?

 

 

Edited January 4, 2021 by preeya

[LoveLeigh]

Parts of this are so idiotic: 

Spoiler

At the end when Baxter goes with his back up guy to the gas station, there is a newspaper on the counter. The owner of the station points to the paper with Michael's picture and he calls him "Dylan Thomas." Could he not read the newspaper's caption which probably identified him as a judge and named him? 

 

Edited January 5, 2021 by LoveLeigh

[RealReality]

Spoiler

Well, the S finally hit the F.  

I'm interested to see the aftermath.  I wonder if its all going to end with Michael being blackmailed into becoming a "mafia owned" judge.  It would really be a fitting and ironic end for someone who took such pride in being honest and judicious.  

The road to hell is paved with good intentions should be the tagline for this show. 

 

[Dianaofthehunt]

Mrs, Mob Boss is like Lady MacBeth via Morticia.
I keep yelling at on-screen Adam to stop being such a sad sack mope-adope!  He wants to wreck all his dad’s careful plannning, and I hate him for that.
The writing not only has plot holes, the conversations have holes and empty spaces you could drive a Volvo through. And what’s with the dim lighting? Turn some lamps on, characters!

[Shermie]

Meh, I don't care about the coincidences. I'm still entertained. 

I think the Baxters look like Ted Cruz and Morticia Adams. 

Charlie as the blackmailer is a good guess. 

I wonder if Grandma is going to end up a victim of Baxter; why else introduce the character?

I'm also wondering about the murder of Adam's mother - who did it and why/how, why was she in that neighbourhood, will it all connect in some way?

[TVMovieBuff]

Even if Your Honor doesn't make total sense, there are a lot of coincidences, it's over-plotted, I don't care. I like watching it. It is a good, absorbing diversion. 

It is a plus that I don't feel like I know what is going to happen before it does. Going off on tangents, is entertaining. It's not a documentary.

[RealReality]

11 hours ago, Shermie said:

Meh, I don't care about the coincidences. I'm still entertained. 

I think the Baxters look like Ted Cruz and Morticia Adams. 

Charlie as the blackmailer is a good guess. 

I wonder if Grandma is going to end up a victim of Baxter; why else introduce the character?

I'm also wondering about the murder of Adam's mother - who did it and why/how, why was she in that neighbourhood, will it all connect in some way?

I feel like her murder was a wrong place/wrong time situation.  It just all seems to fit with the racial tension, but maybe there is more to it.   Actually you may be right, because the subject of the Robin's final photos came up at the awkward dinner and everyone was looking at them so maybe its part of something bigger?  Because they could have talked about Robin for a million other reasons besides the pictures so it could be part of something bigger. 

LOL, they may have just heard that they could get margo martindale and suddenly grandma's role got expanded and she got a little depth.  But thats just me and I love me some margo martindale.  

[Madhattter]

Like many, I am annoyed by the poor writing and the plot holes. But by far the thing that has me almost irrationally annoyed is the fact that the actress playing Fia looks about 30! She's supposed to be in high school, about to make her confirmation? That puts her at 16 maximum. They couldn't do better casting for the desired age of the character?  In the scene where she greets her older brother who is newly out of prison, she looked like the older sibling by far. The Catholic school girl outfits they put her in are just making her look more absurd to me. 

[buttercupia]

2 things that cracked me up. The volvo being destroyed in a manner very reminiscent of a certain RV was one. Then I about lost it when someone said "Jimmy Baxter is a Serious Man". (for those who don't know, Michael Stuhlbarg played the titular character in the movie A Serious Man.)

[iMonrey]

Quote

It took us five episodes to wander into sterotypical Nawlins, where it is apparently always Mardi Gras, even in mid-late October.

LOL I noticed that too.

Hmm, I think I might be done with this. The dog was kind of the last straw for me.

I commented on this before, but knowing this was written by the same guy responsible for The Night Of I'm starting to see a pattern here with Peter Moffat. Long, sustained scenes in the first episode that really draw you into the story, but then after the first episode it all devolves into something rather pedestrian and tedious. Like that first episode of The Night Of was so engrossing and compelling but then it just turned into a tiresome prison drama I'd seen a million times.

By the same token I'm seeing a sort of bait and switch with Your Honor. I'm really not interested in seeing some type of gang war uprising, and suddenly there are all these characters I don't give a damn about. I had a really hard time making it to the end of this one and I don't know if I'll watch any more of it.

[heatherchandler]

On 1/5/2021 at 12:59 PM, Madhattter said:

Like many, I am annoyed by the poor writing and the plot holes. But by far the thing that has me almost irrationally annoyed is the fact that the actress playing Fia looks about 30! She's supposed to be in high school, about to make her confirmation? That puts her at 16 maximum. They couldn't do better casting for the desired age of the character?  In the scene where she greets her older brother who is newly out of prison, she looked like the older sibling by far. The Catholic school girl outfits they put her in are just making her look more absurd to me. 

Confirmation is usually during 8th grade.  At least in my experience.

Like someone posted above, why would the guy at the gas station take a picture or video or a young guy getting gas?? 

Maybe if he was taking a long time, I would be annoyed, but no one yells at someone to hurry up!  And then takes a picture!  Also, weren't there other pumps?  Go around.

This show is... I don't know.  I hated the first episode, but kept watching because why not.  I am actually now curious where they are going to go with it.  

[HC87]

On 1/5/2021 at 1:59 PM, Madhattter said:

Like many, I am annoyed by the poor writing and the plot holes. But by far the thing that has me almost irrationally annoyed is the fact that the actress playing Fia looks about 30! She's supposed to be in high school, about to make her confirmation? That puts her at 16 maximum. They couldn't do better casting for the desired age of the character?  In the scene where she greets her older brother who is newly out of prison, she looked like the older sibling by far. The Catholic school girl outfits they put her in are just making her look more absurd to me. 

This....was going to post this yday, beat me ya bahstid!!!  While it's often the case, this casting was really a stretch. Though she seems like a fine actress, she is supposed to be  14, 15 maybe 16 but looks well older here. It took me awhile to find but she appears to be 26 or 27 irl.

It's kinda wacky overall but I'm enjoying watching this. Margo is great in everything.

[aghst]

Part 6:

Michael comes up with some fake story and gets Detective Nancy to identify the car at the gas station which was behind Adam.

Just as with Walter White, Michael keeps digging deeper and deeper when he's already in the hole.

Jimmy Baxter, with the fancy suit, decides to break into Michael's home and look around, sees the inhaler that they found bits of at the crash site.  So he thinks Michael killed Rocco and leaves him a little calling card, a Polaroid of Django.  Also pisses in the toilet with the seat down.

Michael finally figures out who's blackmailing him, a no good son who stole his father's Camry and uses it to Uber people around.  Michael spends some time with Edward, the father of Trevor, the blackmailer.  Then the next thing you know it, Michael is riding in Trevor's stolen Camry as an Uber customer though he just jumps in the car, says his phone wasn't working.

He leaves a burner phone in the back seat and then later calls Trevor to set up a meeting.  Trevor was going to use the blackmail money for a boat so what does Michael do, finance the boat for him and offer to make payments as long as Trevor doesn't drop the dime on him.

Trevor says Michael should really come out on his boat with him some time and then Jimmy and Frank confront him.  Jimmy has a gun while Frank the henchman just knocks Trevor into a rudder and knocks him out.

Jimmy is about to end Michael right then and there but then Michael blurts out that Carlo is going to be arrested for murdering Kofi.  Lee had found out Carlo killed Kofi and got DNA evidence.  Michael says he can make sure he gets the case and have Carlo go free.

Finally, Walter White is in the house!

Adam and Fia are getting close.  She has a VW bug which has been immaculately restored.  OK unique looking car but in a crash with a typical modern SUV, she's instant roadkill.  Jimmy and his gifts to his children!  But who knew gangsters would raise hipsters?

Fia tells Adam that the newspaper stories about her father aren't true, that he's a self-made man and he's kind.  But when the subject turns to Carlo, her older brother, she screams.  OK so Carlo is a POS but Jimmy's a saint, the one who kills poor Trevor without a second thought?

Yes Trevor has a very short visit in this show and basically Michael gave Jimmy the OK to kill Trevor.  No more boat payments!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 11, 2021 by aghst

[dwmarch]

Comparisons to Breaking Bad are inevitable, as with any other show that snagged that One Great Actor and thought they were the key to success (I'm looking at you, Marvel's Inhumans!). But I feel like this is not a great show, it is several mediocre shows mashed together. We've got:

Nawlins Gangsta Shit, where the white mob and the black mob have a misunderstanding that leads to war.
The Adventures of Lee Delamere, Street Lawyer, where she fights tirelessly on behalf of those who have been wronged by the justice system.
A Plague on Both Your Houses, starring Adam and Fia, star-crossed lovers whose parents are mortal enemies. This one is a comedy.
Judge Desiato, PI, the story of an activist judge who finds justice via social engineering.

There are also some aborted spinoffs involving a Senator and another one where Baxter's wife encourages her dumbass hothead of a son to go ahead with his fentanyl business (and his dumbass buddy volunteers to try it! I don't know how it is in New Orleans but around here fentanyl has killed a lot of people).

At least this plot is finally moving along at something other than a snail's pace.

I'm still confused as to how Mr. Green Toyota figured out that he should record that video. I can see a character piecing it together because of the way Adam and Michael have been walking around with giant I'M GUILTY signs all over them but how did he know to record the video in the first place? I guess we will not be finding out.

Edited January 13, 2021 by dwmarch
Removed spoiler tag after air date

[preeya]

On 1/10/2021 at 11:44 AM, dwmarch said:

I'm still confused as to how Mr. Green Toyota figured out that he should record that video. I can see a character piecing it together because of the way Adam and Michael have been walking around with giant I'M GUILTY signs all over them but how did he know to record the video in the first place? I guess we will not be finding out.

He must have met up with "The fortune queen of New Orleans," Dark Lady.

 

Edited January 11, 2021 by preeya

[Bcharmer]

Nitpick.... When Charlie enters the diner, we see the table where Michael is waiting for him. Michael has a cup of coffee, but there is no coffee cup on the other side of the table. But as soon as Charlie sits down, he starts pouring sugar into a cup of coffee that just suddenly appears. I had to re-wind that scene at least three times to make sure my eyes were not deceiving me. But nope... no coffee cup when he walks in.

[Sharper2002]

So is anyone going to tell Lady Baxter that her rash assumptions and haggling caused them to kill a boy and the majority of his family for nothing? Not that they would care. Apparently, she enables Carlo who is not the smartest in that family. 

If Adam is dumb enough to show up for dinner at their house then there are no words. 

[meira.hand]

On 1/10/2021 at 9:10 AM, aghst said:

Yes Trevor has a very short visit in this show and basically Michael gave Jimmy the OK to kill Trevor.  No more boat payments!

Michael did this because he realized Trevor poses the greatest risk to Adam at that moment. Jimmy at this point thinks Michael killed his son and Michael wants to keep it this way but Trevor may disclose that Adam was driving the car and has proof of it. This was why Michael thought for a moment and decided the only way to save his son was to let Jimmy kill Trevor. The boat payments had nothing to do with it, It was in fact the major shift in Michael descent into actual evil, i.e. willing to kill to defend his son. Up to this point he was just hiding the truth and even Kofi's death was a misfortune of his being caught stealing the car and Michael even tried to save him in prison by getting him transferred when he realize Carlo was being sent to the same prison (during the cemetery scene).

Edited January 11, 2021 by meira.hand

[MBayGal]

On 1/10/2021 at 11:44 AM, dwmarch said:

I'm still confused as to how Mr. Green Toyota figured out that he should record that video. I can see a character piecing it together because of the way Adam and Michael have been walking around with giant I'M GUILTY signs all over them but how did he know to record the video in the first place? I guess we will not be finding out.

I’m confused about where the video showing the green toyota came from, since Michael erased the CCTV footage from the gas station.  

[aghst]

25 minutes ago, meira.hand said:

Michael did this because he realized Trevor poses the greatest risk to Adam at that moment. Jimmy at this point thinks Michael killed his son and Michael wants to keep it this way but Trevor may disclose that Adam was driving the car and has proof of it. This was why Michael thought for a moment and decided the only way to save his son was to let Jimmy kill Trevor. The boat payments had nothing to do with it, It was in fact the major shift in Michael descent into actual evil, i.e. willing to kill to defend his son. Up to this point he was just hiding the truth and even Kofi's death was a misfortune of his being caught stealing the car and Michael even tried to save him in prison by getting him transferred when he realize Carlo was being sent to the same prison (during the cemetery scene).

The boat payment comment was meant to be flippant.

Michael was willing to put up with the arrangement but of course he didn't want to be blackmailed.  Yet he wasn't going to kill or hire some hit man to kill Trevor.

But when the opportunity presented itself, Michael basically gave Jimmy the permission to kill.

It's a milestone in Micheal breaking bad.

His attempts to cover up the incident has gotten Kofi and now Trevor killed.  He's suppose to be a good judge but he offered to fix Carlo's case for Jimmy.

He's gone a long way down the road from just trying to keep Adam and himself safe.  It's cost the lives of others.

5 minutes ago, MBayGal said:

I’m confused about where the video showing the green toyota came from, since Michael erased the CCTV footage from the gas station.  

Michael took a picture of the screen from the video feed with his phone before he deleted the video.

 

 

[Lone Wolf]

On 1/6/2021 at 9:04 PM, HC87 said:

This....was going to post this yday, beat me ya bahstid!!!  While it's often the case, this casting was really a stretch. Though she seems like a fine actress, she is supposed to be  14, 15 maybe 16 but looks well older here. It took me awhile to find but she appears to be 26 or 27 irl.

It's kinda wacky overall but I'm enjoying watching this. Margo is great in everything.

She's actually 29.  I Wiki'd her because she had the same problem in the only other thing I've seen her in, which was The Mick (I know...sometimes I eat junk food, too).  Annnyway...she also played a high school kid in that, and then she was about 24.  Fun fact; apparently she was in Gossip Girl as well, which I've never watched but some of you may remember her from.

I guess Adam was supposed to be the moral compass, but to me he seemed ungrateful for everything his dad was doing to save his whiny ass.  Now it appears that he's over his trauma, convictions, and fears, all due to an ever growing (although badly informed) infatuation. 

In general though, I cut the show a lot of slack because I've liked Cranston since BB. He's nibbling the scenery a bit here, but he's hit it out of the park in everything else I've seen him in since then.   

Edited January 11, 2021 by Lone Wolf

[MBayGal]

2 hours ago, aghst said:

 

Michael took a picture of the screen from the video feed with his phone before he deleted the video.

Missed that, thank you!

[iMonrey]

Man, this show is so bad at being good. Take, for instance, the diner scene with Michael spinning this long yard to get Detective Nancy to identify the car at the gas station. It's trying so hard to be so clever but it just feels so contrived and so over-written. 

Then there's the scene of Jimmy Baxter peeing. Do we really need an overhead shot of the urine stream hitting the toilet water, and then a close-up of one dribble dropping on the rim? Is that supposed to be artistic or something? Why did we need to see that?

I agree with dwmarch, there seems to be several competing ideas on this show and most feel like irritating distractions from the main plot.

[Bcharmer]

Can someone tell me what it was that Baxter took out of the refrigerator? He held it up, and it looked like a vial of something. Was it the dog's meds? Looked like he took it over to the sink, but I couldn't figure out what was going on. I thought he was refilling the medicine with water, but I couldn't tell.

[aghst]

19 minutes ago, Bcharmer said:

Can someone tell me what it was that Baxter took out of the refrigerator? He held it up, and it looked like a vial of something. Was it the dog's meds? Looked like he took it over to the sink, but I couldn't figure out what was going on. I thought he was refilling the medicine with water, but I couldn't tell.

I thought he ate something.

But the whole break-in scene was kind of pointless.

All he did was look around, kind of mark his territory (literally with the toilet) and then once he found the inhaler, he was convinced he found the driver who hit his son, only he thinks it's Michael, not Adam.

It's surprising that Jimmy would get hands-on.  He's wearing a nice suit and presumably his days of violence are in the past.  He has a public profile as a businessman.  Would he have killed Michael or Adam if they came home?

Or when Michael saw the polaroid that Jimmy left, he was wondering about it and then saw someone at the door and was panicking a bit but it turned out to be Adam.

Jimmy was going to have Frank kill Michael but then Adam shows up and they have to reconsider if they want to kill both.

Then at the harbor, he was going to kill Michael and then he ends up killing Trevor.  Again, nice suit and Frank, his henchman is there.  But he does it himself.  If he shot Michael at such close range, it would have splattered blood all over himself.

Frank can't be the only guy who is in his mob.  He was willing to risk war with Desire, with Gina egging him on.  So he better have some soldiers.  Looks like Carlo is getting involved with Desire so there's going to be potential conflict there too.

Tony Soprano got his hands dirty but most of the time it was his underlings who did the killing.  And he's pretending to be in "waste management" but otherwise a suburban dad and husband.

[Cotypubby]

On 1/6/2021 at 4:32 PM, heatherchandler said:

Like someone posted above, why would the guy at the gas station take a picture or video or a young guy getting gas?? 

It was just dashcam footage from the Camry. He didn’t film him on his phone. 

[TV Diva Queen]

On 1/11/2021 at 12:18 AM, Bcharmer said:

Nitpick.... When Charlie enters the diner, we see the table where Michael is waiting for him. Michael has a cup of coffee, but there is no coffee cup on the other side of the table. But as soon as Charlie sits down, he starts pouring sugar into a cup of coffee that just suddenly appears. I had to re-wind that scene at least three times to make sure my eyes were not deceiving me. But nope... no coffee cup when he walks in.

Ha - I feel that when Baxter and his daughter were snuggling on the couch, they did an over the shoulder of Baxter shot and he had a cup of coffee in his hand, then when they did the front shot, while his hand LOOKED like there was a cup of coffee in it, I don't think there was.  

[GodsBeloved]

21 hours ago, aghst said:

It's surprising that Jimmy would get hands-on.  He's wearing a nice suit and presumably his days of violence are in the past.  He has a public profile as a businessman.  Would he have killed Michael or Adam if they came home?

Or when Michael saw the polaroid that Jimmy left, he was wondering about it and then saw someone at the door and was panicking a bit but it turned out to be Adam.

Jimmy was going to have Frank kill Michael but then Adam shows up and they have to reconsider if they want to kill both.

Then at the harbor, he was going to kill Michael and then he ends up killing Trevor.  Again, nice suit and Frank, his henchman is there.  But he does it himself.  If he shot Michael at such close range, it would have splattered blood all over himself.

Frank can't be the only guy who is in his mob.  He was willing to risk war with Desire, with Gina egging him on.  So he better have some soldiers.  Looks like Carlo is getting involved with Desire so there's going to be potential conflict there too.

Tony Soprano got his hands dirty but most of the time it was his underlings who did the killing.  And he's pretending to be in "waste management" but otherwise a suburban dad and husband.

I think the issue is this is personal for Jimmy not business and that's why he personally killed Trevor and would have killed Michael and Adam if the chips fell accordingly. I don't think it's much different from what Michael is doing. He's personally getting dirty to cover for Adam and Jimmy is doing it to get revenge Rocco.

Edited January 12, 2021 by GodsBeloved