S06.E01:Wine and Roses/S06.E02: Carrot and Stick

[nodorothyparker]

Airdate 04.18.22

This is two episodes running back to back over what the AMC schedule is showing as a 2 1/2 hour block.

Quote

Harsh realities dawn on Nacho as he runs for his life. Jimmy doubles down while he and Kim hatch a plan. Mike questions his allegiances and Gus investigates his suspicions.

 

[JudyObscure]

Now why do they do that?  AMC has very few original shows, they usually have short seasons, we wait for years for the new season -- and then they want to run two episodes together making the season even shorter. 

Plus, I usually go to bed at nine so this is going to be painful for me.

[Cinnabon]

1 hour ago, JudyObscure said:

Now why do they do that?  AMC has very few original shows, they usually have short seasons, we wait for years for the new season -- and then they want to run two episodes together making the season even shorter. 

Plus, I usually go to bed at nine so this is going to be painful for me.

I long for the days of Mad Men and Breaking Bad! AMC, do better.

[PeterPirate]

4 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

Now why do they do that?  AMC has very few original shows, they usually have short seasons, we wait for years for the new season -- and then they want to run two episodes together making the season even shorter. 

Plus, I usually go to bed at nine so this is going to be painful for me.

I signed up for AMC+ on April 14.  My first payment will be April 21.  Because of the double episode the show will end on August 16 and not August 23.  So instead of paying for five months I will only have to pay for four.  So that decision will save nine dollars.  

Edited April 18, 2022 by PeterPirate

[peeayebee]

I signed up today. Even if I were to save money, I'd rather they didn't stack these eps one after the other. What's the rush? I wouldn't think AMC would get more eyeballs if they air two eps in one night. I wonder what the thinking is. Maybe because so many people love to binge and hate having to wait a week to watch the next ep of whatever show they're watching, AMC thought this type of scheduling would appeal to them. :shrug:

[Cinnabon]

2 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

I signed up today. Even if I were to save money, I'd rather they didn't stack these eps one after the other. What's the rush? I wouldn't think AMC would get more eyeballs if they air two eps in one night. I wonder what the thinking is. Maybe because so many people love to binge and hate having to wait a week to watch the next ep of whatever show they're watching, AMC thought this type of scheduling would appeal to them. :shrug:

I agree. They air 2 episodes on one night, then later have a 5-6 week gap?? It’s awful.

[FortKnox]

Season 5 recap

 

 

[Spartan Girl]

Me watching the opening: No Gene opening?! That’s the best part of every season opener! How they dare! I wanna know what happens to…oh. Oh. Ohhhhhhh…

Well played, as always, Vince Gillligan. 

Seriously, that whole mansion was tacky even by Saul’s standards. A gold toilet? Really, Saul?

[Stats Queen]

26 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Seriously, that whole mansion was tacky even by Saul’s standards. A gold toilet? Really, Saul?

Right, seems like last time we saw him, he didn’t have that kind of stupid money.

I hope we learn how much time elapsed between this season and last season.

[SoMuchTV]

7 minutes ago, Stats Queen said:

I hope we learn how much time elapsed between this season and last season.

Isn’t it picking up on the next day?  Or are you talking about the intro part?

[Stats Queen]

2 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

Isn’t it picking up on the next day?  Or are you talking about the intro part?

I’m behind, I meant to intro part (wine might have been involved)

[Armchair Critic]

So that’s where the Statue of Liberty in the opening credits came from. Poor Craig.

Edited April 19, 2022 by Armchair Critic

[Dianaofthehunt]

What was that safe switcheroo all about?

[Spartan Girl]

51 minutes ago, Stats Queen said:

Right, seems like last time we saw him, he didn’t have that kind of stupid money.

The into scene was in the Breaking Bad timeline, I assume, so maybe he did.

[SoMuchTV]

Can anyone remind me what year it is now?

[Armchair Critic]

Jimmy better hope Kim never turns on him, she is tough.

[WritinMan]

Damn, I love this show. It's been too long.

I'm going to have to do some digging on the Kettleman's story. Can't quite remember what happened there.

Edited April 19, 2022 by WritinMan

[MrWhyt]

1 hour ago, Dianaofthehunt said:

What was that safe switcheroo all about?

Mike needed to know what was in Nacho's safe and put the motel evidence in it. so they drilled it. But he knew the Salamanca's would come looking for Nacho and bust the safe too so he had to replace it so that the slamanca's wouldn't be tipped off that someone had already broken into it.

as for the episodes: oh yeah that's the good stuff I've been waiting for. 

[Penman61]

Nacho's safe: Wait, why would Mike & Co want Bolsa et al to get Nacho's motel location?

Prelude: That house on the outside looked a lot like Chuck's. So when is that (very Citizen Kane) sequence in the timeline? I'm thinking it's after Saul had to leave for Nebraska? Did we ever see Saul's house in the BB timeline? I can't recall...

Edited April 19, 2022 by Penman61

[SailorGirl]

Oh baby. The slow burn is back. I forgot how much I missed it! 

So I'm really starting to wonder if Kim makes it through alive or if she is the first of many who ends up needing a dust filter for a Hoover Max Extract® 60 Pressure Pro, because we are really skirting the edges of BB timeline now. She clearly had a big influence on Jimmy becoming Saul -- tonight we saw her give him the "I fight for you" line, she's going to help him find the strip mall office, etc., but she's gone when we meet him in BB. 

Just about any other show and I wouldn't have high hopes that they'd write her exit story (whatever it is) well, but this is Vince Gilligan. 

I would love to start a thread speculating when/how we're going to see 

Spoiler

Walt and Jesse

but I guess that's too much of a spoiler thread. . . but just because its fun to speculate . . . the Kettlemans' kids now go to public school.

Spoiler

And do we know a public school chemistry teacher and public high school student in this timeline?? Why yes! Yes we do!!

I'm rooting for Nacho and love how Mike is standing up for him as best he can, and keeping his dad out of it. That's always been one of Mike's best character traits. He tries so hard to keep the innocent out of it. Not always successfully, but I love that he still has some sort of moral compass despite the work he does. 

Does Giancarlo Esposito age? Everyone looks pretty much the same given the significant COVID time gap. . . the twins seem to be showing the age difference the most. 

Can you tell I'm excited this show is finally back?

Edited April 19, 2022 by SailorGirl
edited to add a second spoiler tag

[Starchild]

This show is poetry. It is art. 

Simple landscapes of silence and shadow. Subtle whorls of tension like stars in a Van Gogh. Splashes of anger and blood, made impactful by proximity to quiet cleverness.

It deserves the purplest of prose.

I'm amazed by how scenes can be so slowly paced yet never drag, because there's so much going on in those masterful shots. As slow as they move, you can still miss things.

Oh, Jimmy how I've missed you.

And yes, you have indeed created a monster. Good luck trying to get her back into the bottle.

[Dev F]

12 minutes ago, Penman61 said:

Nacho's safe: Wait, why would Mike & Co want Bolsa et al to get Nacho's motel location?

Because they're setting him up to take the fall. The number was written on a bank statement that implied some other cartel or outside group had paid him to sell Lalo out.

[LittleIggy]

I lived in Albuquerque ages ago, and the mention of sopapillas made me salivate. 😋

[Stats Queen]

Just now, LittleIggy said:

I lived in Albuquerque ages ago, and the mention of sopapillas made me salivate. 😋

Born and raised in Albuquerque- man I miss sopapillas also (and green chile on most food items)

[MrWhyt]

19 minutes ago, Penman61 said:

Nacho's safe: Wait, why would Mike & Co want Bolsa et al to get Nacho's motel location?

Fring wants Nacho out of the picture, they planted the evidence making it look like Nacho was getting payoffs from someone else. They gave out the motel location so that the Salamanca's would find him and kill him. But this assumes that the Salamancas will kill him outright and won't capture him and torture the truth out of him. It's more clumsy than Mike's usual work IMO, but he did say it wasn't his call.

[Penman61]

Note that the Tasteful Mansion in the opening looks like it had a panic/safe room, lol.

Other note: Was the "brief nudity" warning for Odenkirk's locker room sidecheek?

Final note: OMG just realized Lalo's paying for his employee's dental work was so he'd have a viable body double to fake his own death. Evil Burt Reynolds, indeed.

ETA: Ok, I've talked myself down from "Wow Lalo had a dentist change that employee's mouth to match Lalo's own so that he'd have the future option to use that corpse to fake his own death" to "Oh, wait. Lalo would just bribe the dentist in advance to give law enforcement the x-rays of the employee labeled as Lalo's." It's been a long night, not gonna lie. Also, I clearly don't spend enough time thinking through faking one's own death.

Edited April 19, 2022 by Penman61

[thuganomics85]

The show has finally returned and it looks like everything might be coming to ahead for this final ride!

Not surprised that Gus would have suspicions over Lalo "dying" and would eventually figure out that he escaped.  Say what you will about the world's deadliest fast food chicken joint owner, but he is nothing if not methodical and makes sure every i is dotted and t is crossed, so Lalo's body being all disfigured and burned beyond recognition would be a huge red flag.  And he naturally knew he could confirm it by going to Hector, because there was no way Hector could resist not gloating a little despite Lalo wanting it to be secret.  Now, obviously thanks to Breaking Bad, I at least have a general idea over how some of this is going to play out, but I'm looking forward to seeing what Gus' next move is going to be.

Looks like Kim (and Jimmy)'s plan to discredit Howard is going to be making him look like some kind of cocaine addict to Clifford and the rest of his co-workers, and cause friction between them and the whole Sandpiper deal.  The seeds definitely seem to be planted into Clifford's head now but I have to imagine that they are really going to go big to make everything stick.  I certainly wouldn't underestimate Kim right now!

Ha, they brought the Kettlemans back!  Didn't predict that.  Craig is still a big doofus as always and Betsy continues to be the worst, although Julie Ann Emery continues to be the best at playing her.  And, once again, they bit off more than they could chew.  Classic Kettlemans!

Poor Nacho.  Everyone already figured out he's the rat, and not only are the Salamancas out for him, but Gus is perfectly content to let him take the fall.  I hope he makes it through somehow, but I'm preparing for the worst.

I have to remind myself that he's not a good guy either, but I continue to be impressed over how Mike gives no fucks about challenging Gus whenever he thinks he is making the wrong call.  Didn't even flinch when Tyrus stuck the gun in his face.  And I do think Gus respects that, which is why their relationship works/will work as well as it does.

A golden toilet?  Oh, Saul! 

These two and a half hours certainly flew by.  Can't wait to see how this season plays out and everything will end!

Edited April 20, 2022 by thuganomics85

[Irlandesa]

The Nacho shootout at the hotel with the cousins was a callback (or call forward) to One Minute with the two of them walking up to the truck and him hitting reverse. 

15 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

Looks like Kim (and Jimmy)'s plan to discredit Howard is going to be making him look like some kind of cocaine addict to Clifford and the rest of his co-workers, and cause friction between them and the whole Sandpiper deal.  The seeds definitely seem to be planted into Clifford's head now but I have to imagine that they are really going to go big to make everything stick.  I certainly wouldn't underestimate Kim right now!

I am confused as to what their plan is.  Is it just to start spreading the rumors that Howard is a coke addict within the legal community or specifically with Davis and Main?  Because if it's supposed to be specific, there's no way to predict that they'd make that law firm one of their stops and that they'd be able to speak specifically with Cliff. Plus, Davis and Main is located in Santa Fe, not Albuquerque.  It makes no sense why they would have gone there.

In addition, isn't Kim setting herself up to get censured if the Kettlemans had any awareness between them?  Isn't she still bound by attorney/client privilege?

[mickaelp]

I don't have AMC but I have Netflix. The good news for Netflix users is that they add Better Call Saul on Netflix. The bad news is that you can only watch it in Netflix United Kingdom.

The good news is that I found a video tutorial on how to watch it from anywhere on netflix:

 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Days of Wine and Roses as a set-up for the season was beyond perfect.  If you've never seen that movie, you simply must find a way to do so.   Fantastic version of the song was chosen, as well.  I was happily stunned we got a full length rendition.  

On the opposite side...no Gene.  Boooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've said all along that Kim was the truly twisted one.  On several occasions, she had every chance to get out of the grifter game.  She freely chose to return each time, as she did here.  The psychology of the lady who has  been absolutely obsessed over Bar ethics finding great satisfaction in flouting these is text book material.

What was the arty point being made with the free-falling ties in the open?  It was certainly purty.

I wish I knew what that object was which fell from the truck into the gutter.  I admit I am not a BB aficionado, although I did enjoy most of it.

I had difficulty buying Fring's clear anger at Mike's takes.  This is the guy who is an ultimate strategist.  He would never choose to do more than required to achieve his ends.  Now, he is all about a war?  Mike gave him some smart outs and a way to preserve an interesting piece to use on the chess board.  Gus is a managerial genius and knows from loyalty and threat to authority.   Mike is an incredibly talented asset and he displayed no fealty for anyone else.  Yet Fring would choose to treat him as an ignorant?!  Not buying.

Also not buying that Nacho survived that gauntlet with those two goons firing freely at such close range.  I seriously doubt that the truck was fitted with M-1 Abrams armor, too.  

I think my favorite moment was when Kim outlined the fraud case on the phone call with the prosecutor.  Whatever bad happens to the Kettlemans is fine by me.  Of course, now she will have to splain to the guy at some point why she never followed through in that moment.  Yeah, I know, suspend disbelief.

Anyway, Odenkirk's expression was wonderful.  Sadness, foreboding, worry, awareness of really bad truth about Kim, emptiness.  Jack Lemmon would recognize.  Nice touch that Kim confronted him about giving them the cash.  Proverbial nail being driven on their relationship coffin.  They are still together, but not like they were.  

I hated the overall tone of turrible finality throughout the eps.  It was excellent drama, but emotionally, it was like experiencing loss.  It's all gonna be dead to me soon - just as the days of wine and roses always, inevitibaly, end.

 

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by Lonesome Rhodes

[Dev F]

4 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I am confused as to what their plan is.  Is it just to start spreading the rumors that Howard is a coke addict within the legal community or specifically with Davis and Main?  Because if it's supposed to be specific, there's no way to predict that they'd make that law firm one of their stops and that they'd be able to speak specifically with Cliff.

Saul made sure they'd go to Cliff with a quick "Don't throw me in the briar patch" pose. He made a big deal of how outraged he'd be if they took his case to some bigshot lawyer like Clifford Main. 

[Blakeston]

8 hours ago, SailorGirl said:

Does Giancarlo Esposito age? Everyone looks pretty much the same given the significant COVID time gap. . . the twins seem to be showing the age difference the most. 

Honestly, I was struck by how old Gus looks. Even more so with Tyrus. (Not that looking older isn't completely understandable, of course!)

5 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

In addition, isn't Kim setting herself up to get censured if the Kettlemans had any awareness between them?  Isn't she still bound by attorney/client privilege?

Kim isn't their lawyer. If she actually got the Kettlemans in trouble with prosecutors, then they could retaliate against her by revealing to the state's legal ethics board that she was on board with JImmy's vendetta against Hamlin. But Kim is confident that the Kettlemans will do what they have to do to keep her happy, and it won't come to that.

[StatMom]

36 minutes ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

I wish I knew what that object was which fell from the truck into the gutter.  I admit I am not a BB aficionado, although I did enjoy most of it

That was the cork to the fancy booze (rum?) that “Giselle” and “Viktor” scammed off that guy in the restaurant way back when. More recently, when Kim quit Schweikart, she walked back to her office just to get this one item. The fact that it was in Saul’s possession suggests to me that Kim is no longer around. 

[suzeecat]

8 hours ago, Starchild said:

This show is poetry. It is art. 

Simple landscapes of silence and shadow. Subtle whorls of tension like stars in a Van Gogh. Splashes of anger and blood, made impactful by proximity to quiet cleverness.

It deserves the purplest of prose.

I'm amazed by how scenes can be so slowly paced yet never drag, because there's so much going on in those masterful shots. As slow as they move, you can still miss things.

Oh, Jimmy how I've missed you.

And yes, you have indeed created a monster. Good luck trying to get her back into the bottle.

This deserves to be posted and read again.

I woke up this morning feeling like I just had the very best one night stand with the most intriguing stranger, and looking forward to the next, lol.

After suffering through most of the final season of This Is Us (the WORST season), I SO APPRECIATE that the final season of Better Call Saul is living up to my very high expectations.  I continue to watch TIU because, well because I invested time in the first five seasons, no other reason.  It's a disappointing, hideous mess and I will be relieved when it is put out of its misery and over once and for all.  Those who bring us BCS know how to tell/show a story (multiple, interwoven stories) and use time travel as a true art.  BCS is the equivalent of classic literature when compared to the "See Dick Run" of TIU.  I feel sincere remorse for those in this world who do not watch BCS. 

[gallimaufry]

Wow.  It's been a long wait and it didn't disappoint.

I will say, despite the show's incredible quality, I am nervous about how they're going to stick the landing.  "Breaking Bad" did a marvellous job but even that felt a little rushed in its last season.  "Gliding Over All" seemed to contain what in Season 3 would have been several episodes' worth of stories and Marie was barely given any follow-up to Hank's death.  Jesse's life in prison was such a rich soil for stories that it made up a good half of "El Camino".  I'm not saying BB5 wasn't absolute top-tier genius but Vince Gilligan has talked about wanting to squeeze every drop of juice out of the orange at each stage and generally he's done that.  But there's just so much on the table, I'm at a loss to see how they're going to do it.

Kim's acceleration into RedKim certainly straddles a line.  On the one hand, I can see every step that has taken her down this path.  The one that felt jarring was in 510 but I think that was deliberate.  On the other hand, seeing her cross line after line feels exhausting.  I did not expect to see her get into it with the Kettlemans but it absolutely makes sense that she would want to be the one to crush them - especially since, in her mind, you can see it's clearly justified.  They're grifting off innocents.  She's defending those innocents.

But I am so impressed by how all the previous storylines are being expertly folded in.  The Kettlemans were a major part of the first half of S1 and they were brought back (incidentally, while I'd usually be upset that the credits spoiled who was to come, in this case it just added such a little frisson of excitement to the scene to know who they were talking about).  Then we have the Sandpiper deal which is the crux of this case.  We have Marco's pinkie ring which is given a brief cameo.  Then we have Cliff, back at the centre of Jimmy's web.  Plus we get an unexpected but brilliant cameo from Kevin Wachtell who has not in the least bit softened on Jimmy (which seems like a real vulnerability for Kim).  Clearly there's more to come -- and the one that really needs paying off more than anything is Chuck -- but that's a brilliant start.

There are plenty of smaller moments that are great too though:

- The gold toilet which seems like a direct callback to "Do you shit gold?" in Season 4
- Kim's bottle cork in the gutter.
- The mesothelioma case that was the subject of the blue swirl video Davis & Main put out.
- Of course, seeing the genesis of the Statue of Liberty neatly straddles "Inflatable" through to "Breaking Bad".

The plan -- to make Cliff doubt Howard so that they accelerate settling when they catch wind of Howard being in trouble -- seems solid enough.  It will be interesting to see who is following Kim and Jimmy -- Lalo's people?  Gus's people?  Someone connected to Kim?

The latter seems unlikely except the line to the Kettlemans about not knowing what it's like to lose everything definitely tips into a suggestion that Kim's dark past is about to collide with the present.  Water is usually used to suggest justice so the fact that the bottle top in the gutter suggests that Kim is, at minimum, on the run from the law.  I also don't feel like the Saul Goodman home feels like the place Jimmy McGill unwinds from the day -- the taste is very much for show and the presence of a safe room also suggests the possibility that Saul could have associates at his "home" while monitoring them.

On the Nacho front, there's less to say but it was great enjoyable suspense writing.  Very glad that they didn't let the ambiguity about Nacho's position linger.  I love that Nacho gave his position to protect an innocent and is obviously gutted at the loss of Lalo's people.  Mike siding with him is great.  Gus continues to be rather underwritten in this show -- we learned a lot more about him in a far shorter time on "Breaking Bad".  I'm going to be a little disappointed if we end this season without really delving into his backstory.

Even if Gus doesn't use Nacho's father as leverage, surely the Salamancas will.  I can't see that shoe has long to drop.  That said, Lalo looks like he's heading south rather than north.  We know Nacho has relatives south of the border as this was mentioned as a reason to encourage his father to fall in line.  The Lalo storyline was perfect and I like that the new character from the trailer turned out to be literally just for that scene as I think we're past the point where major new players should be added. 

Of course, that's not to say they won't be -- there are so many question mark characters on the periphery.  Kim's family, Gus's family (he claimed to have one with Jesse -- even if it was a bluff), let alone almost the entire Breaking Bad world.

 

[BC4ME]

1 hour ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

What was the arty point being made with the free-falling ties in the open?  It was certainly purty.

It reminded me of the way they set up the plane crash throughout the season in BB. Artsy videography (or whatever they're using) as a clue to eventually finding out something horrible.

[nodorothyparker]

The thing I was really struck by during the entire Jimmy-Kim caper was how many times it was clear that Jimmy really doesn't have the taste for what they're setting up against Howard but squared his shoulders and grimly marched forward anyway because Kim wants it. You could see it all over his face in spots and in the fact that he still this far in felt enough toward the Kettlemans to give them money for jerking them around, which Kim of course immediately called him on. The show seems to be telegraphing pretty hard that there's still going to be one more bad thing coming for Jimmy/Saul to truly break bad to where we meet him in the Breaking Bad timeline. The over the top tackier beyond tacky house being emptied out that's so very far removed from Kim's style and the tequila bottle cap that's come to represent "Viktor and Gisele" being left behind to roll toward the gutter seem pretty big clues that Kim's already long gone one way or another before "Gene" has to relocate to Omaha.

The cinematography was as usual really gorgeous throughout as were a number of individual shots. I loved the final conversation between Jimmy and Kim that was framed with the cheesy inflatable Lady Liberty vigorously waving in the background as if to say you know I'm coming. It's funny that the Kettlemans' tacky patriotism on steroids office trailer turned out to the prototype of what Saul will eventually open up.

It's very in character for Mike to be trying to look out for Nacho in pointing out that he's done everything that was asked of him and he deserves to not be left twisting in the wind. It sucks to then see him shrugging that "it's a job" to then be active in setting Nacho up to take the fall but it's consistent with his weary fatalism he's shown throughout both series.

Of course Evil Burt Reynolds has a look alike employee that he kept on the payroll just in case he ever needed to fake his own death because of course he does. Doesn't everybody? It's a trip watching Gus try to suss out the truth of Lalo's "death" from an impotently fuming Hector after having just seen again where that relationship ends in Face Off during the recent AMC marathon.

Shoutout to the big neon El Camino sign at the dining room where Kim and Jimmy had dinner.

[Ellaria]

Still processing these two brilliant episodes. I’m sure that I will need to watch a 2nd time.

The opening scene of Saul’s home was unexpected in many ways. Instead of checking in with Gene in B/W, we got a vividly-colored scene of Saul’s home and possessions. I underestimated his success once he committed to being a “criminal” lawyer because the excess was shocking.

And that scene highlighted how far he still is from being the full-on Saul that we see in BB. I’m curious and nervous to see the sequence of events that eventually drives him to that point.

I have a love/hate relationship with Lalo. He adds energy to every scene but it’s never in a good way. Those poor goat farmers…

I’m worried for Nacho. I’m concerned about Kim. Gus was a much more interesting character in BB probably because we knew much less about him. I loathe Hector Salamanca.

As always, the cinematography is stunning and unique. It is a visually beautiful show.

[SailorGirl]

I didn't catch this, but one of the recaps I read (and I read a few!) noted that the HG Wells novel shown in the mansion clean-out was on Jimmy's bedside table in episode two. No significant meaning other than continuity from one iteration of life to the next, but its these little continuity details that make this show so damn masterful.

One of the things I love about this show, and loved about Breaking Bad, is that I'm still thinking about it well into the next day (at least), if not longer. 

[sunbum51]

1 hour ago, StatMom said:

That was the cork to the fancy booze (rum?) that “Giselle” and “Viktor” scammed off that guy in the restaurant way back when. More recently, when Kim quit Schweikart, she walked back to her office just to get this one item. The fact that it was in Saul’s possession suggests to me that Kim is no longer around. 

tequila - Zafiro Anejo - that was (i think) $50 a shot and they drank the entire bottle with that obnoxious KenWins guy in Switch (1st episode of BCS 2nd season) who got stuck with the bill

Gus first introduced this tequila (to all of us) in BB episode Salud when he gifted it to Don Eladio ;-)

just seeing that stopper in the street made me think/realize Kim is dead (although i seriously hope that is not true)

 

[Bannon]

Yep, the cinematography in this show makes other shows look like public access cable t.v.. It's such a valuable tool in storytelling, and so often overlooked.

Lots to chew on with these two episodes, but the scene with Saul, Kim, and the Kettlemans in and out of the trailer, is a Masters Class in writing, acting, direction, and cinematography. The humor, drama, plot advancement, and most importantly, character exposition, is done as well as anything we've seen in television. We finally see Kim reach the heights (or depths) of her potential for cold blooded, pitiless, ruthlessness. Something snapped in her when she bargained/bullshitted with Lalo for their lives, and prevailed, and she'll really stop at nothing now, as she taps into her own gigantic reservior of anger/grief, that so many of the other characters have. "You think you've lost everything? You have no idea...", she says to Betsy Kettleman,.and I think our writers are still going to eventually give us a fuller picture of the depths of loss Kim has experienced, that has made her capable of such rage and recklessness, which was nearly entirely concealed as this story began years ago, but is now being released like a magma chamber on a once dormant volcano.

As this scene played out, Saul, or the Jimmy that still resides in Saul, was increasingly made uncomfortable, to the point of being frightened, by what Kim is becoming, and perhaps sickened by his role in that change. Jimmy started at HHM years ago, idolizing his brother, trying to break from his small con past, and Kim also represented a break from that past, as someone good, who actually saw  Jimmy as something other that a small, somewhat pathetic grifter; as a person who could function in way that society  attributed legitimacy to.  Those versions of Kim and Jimmy are dead and buried now, and Saul/Jimmy really doesn't know what to make of that, when it comes to Kim.

The work that Seehorn and Odenkirk have done together, playing off each other, for yrars now, in exploring these people, is as good as acting gets.

 

[Crashcourse]

The Kettleman's are back!  I hope they fuck Kim's shenanigans up and she gets sent to prison.  Or Belize.  Even Saul is afraid of her now. 

[Penman61]

How did Kim know the Kettlemans were stealing from their clients, down to the (albeit common) method they used? 

[nodorothyparker]

I thought she was making an educated guess, based on what she knows about them, the business they're in and who their clients are, and the way they reacted to the accusation. About the same time period this episode was taking place, I spent one tax season moonlighting at an off-brand tax prep place for extra money and quickly discovered how little the average person who goes to one of those places knows about the process.

[JudyObscure]

2 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

The over the top tackier beyond tacky house being emptied out that's so very far removed from Kim's style and the tequila bottle cap that's come to represent "Viktor and Gisele" being left behind to roll toward the gutter seem pretty big clues that Kim's already long gone one way or another before "Gene" has to relocate to Omaha.

 

1 hour ago, Bannon said:

Kim also represented a break from that past, as someone good, who actually saw  Jimmy as something other that a small, somewhat pathetic grifter; as a person who could function in way that society  attributed legitimacy to.  Those versions of Kim and Jimmy are dead and buried now, and Saul/Jimmy really doesn't know what to make of that, when it comes to Kim.

Sigh.  You two are right. The tequila stopper and Jimmy's "World's Best Lawyer" thermos were both seen discarded this episode, casting off their value as romantic good luck charms.  Then we saw Saul muttering about wolves and sheep as they drove away and it wasn't clear if the wolf was Mrs. Kellerman or Kim, or all of them.

[Ellaria]

1 hour ago, sunbum51 said:

tequila - Zafiro Anejo - that was (i think) $50 a shot and they drank the entire bottle with that obnoxious KenWins guy in Switch (1st episode of BCS 2nd season) who got stuck with the bill

Gus first introduced this tequila (to all of us) in BB episode Salud when he gifted it to Don Eladio ;-)

just seeing that stopper in the street made me think/realize Kim is dead (although i seriously hope that is not true)

 

I don’t know if she is dead. I think it means that she is no longer in his life…reason unknown at this point. Rather, I think it is a sign that Saul still remembers his life with her (and their scams) fondly. Saul may not have completely consumed Jimmy.

[nodorothyparker]

Watching bits of the Saturday Breaking Bad marathons the last couple of weeks where Saul was definitely moving some of the pieces really drove home to me that there's still a fair bit of daylight between the current version of Jimmy/Saul and who he'll become. Saul hasn't fully consumed him yet. It's easy to forget that if you've only been seeing him devolve the last couple of seasons and comparing him to the small-time hustler who still wanted to live up to his brother we met in the first episode of this show. That's why I'm convinced something Very Bad is still about to happen (almost certainly involving Kim in one way or another) to give him that final hard shove into BB Saul who rather casually suggests murdering Badger as a fix to a problem in one of his first scenes.

[DudeLeaveMeAlone]

3 hours ago, StatMom said:

That was the cork to the fancy booze (rum?) that “Giselle” and “Viktor” scammed off that guy in the restaurant way back when. More recently, when Kim quit Schweikart, she walked back to her office just to get this one item. The fact that it was in Saul’s possession suggests to me that Kim is no longer around. 

I think she was - some of the clothing they were removing from Saul's house was female clothing (the cheetah print sweater on the rolling rack). I suppose it could be argued that Saul kept her clothes if she was no longer around.

[JudyObscure]

Was Saul's  tacky toilet mansion the same house we once  saw Kim and Saul looking at, and taking an accidental shower in?  The mansion seemed much bigger, but I never did get a good feel for the size of the one with the angry realtor.

Edited April 19, 2022 by JudyObscure

[Razzberry]

 It's been a long time so maybe I forgot what exactly changed Kim from a conflicted and interesting person into "that awful woman with the ponytail".