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S06.E12: Waterworks

nodorothyparker

By nodorothyparker
in Better Call Saul

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Armchair Critic
Armchair Critic

I just Googled con man albuquerque and the Better Call Saul commercial came up.

maystone
maystone

Kim is still my girl. She was a shell of herself in her existence in Florida - I can't call it her life. And it was the punishment she set for herself. It was joyless. It was everything that Kim was n

JudyObscure
JudyObscure

They seemed like nice enough women to me.  I'm not crazy about TV writers who assume anyone who doesn't  have a glamourous job is boring and stupid. When did we ever see Kim having scintillating conve

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Adiba

Adiba

37 minutes ago, PeterPirate said:

Maybe Howard's body is dug up by an excavator.  Deus ex machina.  

I was thinking that, too. I mean, in the post BB world, wouldn’t authorities have investigated every inch of Gus’ lab? Wouldn’t they confiscate the machinery or destroy the whole thing, and in doing so, accidentally come across human remains? Maybe it’s a stretch, but it’s possible.

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Constantinople

Constantinople

Quote

The stakes are raised when a discovery is made.

LOL

That only describes about every episode of BB/BCS ever made.

Uno (S1E1) : The stakes are raised when Jimmy discovers the idiot skateboarders hit the wrong car

Mijo (S1E2) : The stakes are raised when Jimmy discovers Nacho wants to steal the money embezzled by the Kettlemans

Nacho (S1E3) : The stakes are raised when Jimmy discovers the Kettlemans faked their kidnapping

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gallimaufry

gallimaufry

I suspect the discovery will be more closely related to the break-in in 611 but who knows.  I'll be travelling for the debut of this so hopefully will be able to get online for this one sooner rather than later.

Based on the title though (and from last week's reference to Kim's new job), I think it's worth talking about liquid on this show.  It could be to do with Kim's sprinkler job or it could just be based on the common way of referencing fake tears.  Or both.  Or neither.

But one thing I've been tracking for a long time is their use of imagery around different liquids.  Like, I know they like their symbolism and colour choices but to me the amount of deliberate framing of drinks and water has to be something they discussed in the room.

Clear, transparent, fresh water is used to represent justice and the law.  So many examples of where this is used but for a few:
- In S2, Mike's sprinkler system with the hose is used to bring law and to "clean up" the Salamancas.  Later, he sees Kayleigh playing in the water - innocent and uncorrupted.
- In 609, Kim and Jimmy enter HHM and drink water.  But when they go to Cheryl, they both PUT DOWN the water and you see it shaking - they're moving past the law now and into their murky criminal selves.
- Gus' neighbourhood has sprinklers abound - a peaceful, law-abiding area.
- In 401, Jimmy watches the water disappear down the drain.  With no Chuck in his life, the force of the law ad justice just runs away.  (And earlier in the same episode I think is where we get Gene's soapy water overflowing - the law about to overwhelm him).
- Gus' fountain in 505 brings justice to bear out of Max's death.
- Lyle cleans the Pollos kitchen to death in 505, trying to bring respectability while Gus' men are running through the sewers.
- In 508, Mike tries to capture some water in the desert but there's hardly anything - this is a place where the law doesn't apply while back in civilisation, Kim is able to drink because she's still in the world of laws.  Indeed, earlier in the episode we see Jimmy use his water bottle to clean his shoes - making himself look like the upstanding officer of the law when he's really anything but.  And of course Mike's bottle is shot in the gunfight showing the law doesn't apply.
- Nacho in 603 hoses himself off in the "baptism" scene.
- Gene is surrounded by snow and ice - literally the law all around him.

Water that is salty, chlorinated, unclean or full of waste signifies death or at least extreme danger - the illusion of propriety but which has actually become tainted and wrong:
- Howard's shoes helpless in the tide.
- Jimmy's fish, suffocating in its own waste as Jimmy overfeeds it.
- Jimmy floating in the pool in 201, watching for wildebeest (referenced elegantly as he flips the channels in 611).
- Jimmy drinks his own pee (from the Davis & Main water bottle no less!).
- Kayleigh in the pool as the cousins point finger guns at her as they stare down Mike.
- Nacho gulping down drain water early in S6 as he runs out of places to hide.
- Gus stares into the swimming pool reminding him of Max's death (I confess that this one I initially struggled to fit into the pattern and for good reason as I'm sure they didn't have this schema in mind during the BB years.  However, I do think it fits reasonably well).
- Not quite in keeping but the sink in 611 being full of stems is kind of ironic - the waste of a drug habit clogging up justice flowing is kind of a micro metaphor for Francesca and Saul.

Then we have water or liquids that are sweet or alcoholic - the product of ill-gotten gains.
- Gus' wine that he is reminded has hints in it of blood.
- The music "Wine and Roses" and Kim's wine-coloured rose shirt.  (And, tangent, but so interesting that Gus' last scene so far was about wine and Nacho's last chronological scene was a desert rose).
- Howard's drinks with Chuck, notably after acquiring Mesa Verde.
- Jimmy's orange juice which suddenly seems horrific in 509 when he connects the violence of what happens with the oranges with the violence of what produces his "juice".
- By S6, Kayleigh is drinking lemonade - she's no longer innocently playing in water but is imbibing sweet stuff provided by Mike.
- Melting ice cream in 503 and 601 - which we're shown lead to death (the ants in 503 called back to by the ants in 601).
- Hector's method of transporting his product?  Ice cream trucks.  Sweeties on ice.
- The Zafiro Anyejo bottle - ill-gotten gains and recognised as such as the medium Kim uses to cheer Jimmy up after Chuck's death, metaphorically taking the strongest bonding part of their relationship in bottle form.

Coffee has a slightly different place as it's usually associated with the outcome of a legal process - stimulating but not quite clean or perfect:
- The coffee machine at the courthouse where cheap coffee accompanies cheap bartering of these clients' fates.
- After Howard's confession in 401 that he feels responsible for Chuck's death, Jimmy dumps the coffee granules, symbolically divesting himself of responsibility for Howard.

And of course my favourite use of liquid in the show - the oil into which Nacho descends in 603 to hide from the cousins.

(There's also a side-category of electricity flowing as an indicator of Slipping Jimmy at work which obviously has a lot of play in the early seasons with Chuck and has the odd later reference such as the "lighting leaps from my fingertips!" rant and the videotape credits breaking down.  I slightly wonder whether they wanted electricity to be recurring image in this way but switched to water/liquid from S2 because it offered more scope.  And in fact, another thing that allows flow, traffic - not just Kim's big traffic moves in 407 and 606 but also the traffic lights in 608 and when she decides to go with Wexler/McGill in S2).

No idea what this means for 612 but I will be intrigued to see if/how they build on this picture.

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Bannon

Bannon

(edited)

Been traveling, and didn't watch the Gene-centric episodes until this weekend. Unlike many, I thought they were good, with Gene going from " I need to fix the two knuckleheads who can snitch on me", to "Oh, that's right, I've been a Rage Machine ever since my brother snitched on me, by secretly recording me, and now I'm more enraged and possessed of malice than ever!!!!"

It's worth reflecting on the Jimmy who once existed, who was willing to toil for years, scam-free, in a mailroom, all in pursuit of working alongside a brother he idolized, and being around a woman he loved. Even when he re-engaged Scam Life, that Jimmy couldn't bring himself to ruin the friendships of an elderly woman client.

Jimmy's long gone, and Gene may even be worse than Saul. This is great writing.

Edited by Bannon
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Sailorgirl26

Sailorgirl26

(edited)
4 minutes ago, SnarkAttack said:

OMG, Sling is " temporarily unable to load content"!  For the past 10 minutes.  Not now!!!! I can't miss this show.  UGH.

I had the same issue -- its working on my laptop but still not my tv. But I missed the first couple of minutes for the same reason. 

Edited by Sailorgirl26
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sistermagpie

sistermagpie

1 minute ago, bad things are bad said:

The birthday card scene reminded me of the Bob's Burgers when he dreamed he was working in an office and realized how much he hated it. For Kim to be living this banal life when she's so damn smart...

But did the tuna salad work out without real mayo??!

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Penman61

Penman61

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(edited)

All the naysayers (including me) gotta eat some crow:

“Carol Burnett is wasted in this role!”

”Why cast an actress of this stature as Howard’s wife?”

”I don’t think we need to see Kim anymore.”

”Saul is redeemable!”

”Rhea Seehorn isn’t much of an actress.”

Edited by Penman61
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Lola82

Lola82

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5 minutes ago, SimplexFish said:

Potato salad and they said yes it did...

She then had a tuna salad sandwich with miracle whip.

and her coworker tried almond butter instead of pean…

(it cracked me up that the scene was cut off there, like this conversation is too boring to show fully)

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Sailorgirl26

Sailorgirl26

(edited)

So Kim inadvertently and ultimately sets off the entire chain of escalatory events of Saul getting embedded into the Breaking Bad world, Gus and the superlab, the worldwide distribution of meth, and all the BrBa deaths. Wow. 

Edited by Sailorgirl26
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Penman61

Penman61

2 minutes ago, PeterPirate said:

Carol Burnett lives.  There's still hope.

HE WAS ABOUT TO BRAIN A TERMINAL CANCER PATIENT WITH HIS DEAD DOG RUSTY’S ASHES!

I don’t know what to tell you people. Jimmy is lost.

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sistermagpie

sistermagpie

12 minutes ago, Lola82 said:

She then had a tuna salad sandwich with miracle whip.

Yes, the chicken salad I took what's his face's word for. 😄

My God, that was tenser than anything I remember on BB. I can't even. 

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Spartan Girl

Spartan Girl

(edited)

CAROL BURNETT FOR THE FUCKING WIN.

It was long past time for karma to bitchslap Gene. He managed to slip out of that guy’s house thanks to Jeff’s stupidity—he BETTER have put that that dog urn back—and then tries to get his poor mom come down to the station to bail him out? Ughhhhhhhhh. But evidently Carol Burnett is not as gullible as he thought, because the internet never forgets.

Nice touch that the commercial was in color.

Was not expecting Kim to encounter Jesse in that flashback.

I was glad that Cheryl finally found out what really happened to Howard, and even more glad that she told Kim off. Congratulations on telling the truth after six years when all the witnesses are dead and all you have is hearsay. Howard’s reputation is still ruined and odds are it’s too late to recover any kind of body. But Kim cleaned her conscience. Put that on the medal.

It was too little, too late, and judging from her breakdown on the bus, she knows it.

One more to go! Perhaps we’ll see the Gene stuff in color?

Edited by Spartan Girl
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MJ Frog

MJ Frog

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(edited)

Oddly, one of the best parts of this episode for me was when a stranger put a hand on Kim's shoulder during her breakdown.

Yep.

Edited by MJ Frog
Articles and tenses are important.
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Sharper2002

Sharper2002

Even with the awful hair, I still have no sympathy for Kim. She confessed to witnessing Howard’s murder and setting him up after everyone that can corroborate is essentially dead or in the wind (Gene). She unburdened herself and gave Howard’s wife closure but I guess she’ll go back to Florida with her “yep” man.

Seriously thought Gene would murder Marion, but he’s never committed murders himself. My only question is what made her Google “con man in Albuquerque”? 

Not sure how I feel about the Kim and Jesse crossover.

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