S06.E12: Waterworks

[Starchild]

3 minutes ago, PeterPirate said:

I remember being confused when I first saw people posting about the "redemption" of a fictional character.  I still don't really know what the term means, just that it gets used a lot.  I suppose it means a person lives up to their potential, or at least their core personality. 

I think it just means that we the viewers can feel OK again about liking them.

[ShadowFacts]

35 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

Lots of people do things they regret deeply and can't undo.  I thought her break down on the bus was her moment of realization that she will never really be able to undo the damage she did and she's going to have to live with that. 

Maybe now she will begin to accept that and quit punishing herself because no one is keeping score, no amount of self denial will bring back a dead man. Even Kim in prison wont bring Howard back.

I hope that nice woman on the bus tells her that whatever it is, it's time to forgive herself and go on.

I think forgiving oneself for terrible acts is intrinsically very difficult for a person with any level of guilt and self-awareness. Kim would probably need professional help with this. 

12 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

A very good take, but I still feel like Kim’s atonement was too little and too late. And I’m not sure she ever can or should forgive herself for what she did to Howard. Would she be feeling this much remorse if Lalo never showed up that night, and all she did was just ruin Howard’s life?

Good point. She seemed to get a huge turn-on/high after seeing him humiliated. That was her intent, to ruin his reputation, so much so that she bailed on what was supposedly her highest professional goal. She probably also needs insight into what that's all about.  She didn't just make a mistake or have bad judgment, she made it her mission to inflict pain and she got huge enjoyment from it.

[JudyObscure]

8 minutes ago, PeterPirate said:

She can still help people legally, perhaps not as a lawyer, but as someone mentioned above, she could be the best paralegal in the world.  

Best idea for Kim yet! 

My husband volunteers at a non-profit food bank by doing taxes for people for free.  He did over a thousand last year!  There's a tremendous need for people to do paperwork for those who just aren't capable.  When the stimulus checks started coming out, people who were homeless or unemployed and had never earned enough to need to pay income tax, suddenly had to turn in tax papers in order to get the check.  

Lots of government benefits are dependent on a pile of paperwork that the potential recipients aren't capable of but Kim could do in her sleep.

[SimplexFish]

38 minutes ago, BetyBee said:

I wonder if he has time to grab his diamonds before he scurries off? It doesn't seem like he would, which means his apartment will be searched and some things will be discovered.

He has plenty of time...Even when the police show up at Marion's home they will have no clue where he lives, thats gonna take some time to get that info at least enough time to give him time to grab and run. 

Edited August 10, 2022 by SimplexFish

[Ellaria]

43 minutes ago, BetyBee said:

 I wonder if he has time to grab his diamonds before he scurries off? It doesn't seem like he would, which means his apartment will be searched and some things will be discovered. I believe the Gs will come up with a great finish for this excellent show. 

I’ve been wondering about the diamonds for awhile. We never saw how they came into his possession. (Sure…we can guess but, at this point, it doesn’t matter.) We know that he has them and I believe that the diamonds may aid him his plans to flee. Or, at the very least, he thinks that they will.

18 minutes ago, SimplexFish said:

He has plenty of time...Even when the police show up at Marion's home they will have no clue where he lives, thats gonna take some time to get that info at least enough time to give him time to grab and run. 

Agree. He has time to run, if he chooses. He is low on options right now. 

[Andre LaPlume]

I’m surprised that Howard’s wife didnt remind Kim that she showed up at Howard’s wake (especially knowing what she knows now) and reinforced the drug lie.   Kim and Jimmy could have skipped the wake.     Just so cold blooded and cruel. 

[Adiba]

2 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

This is my take too. Those episodes were necessary to build to this. Saul reawakens in Gene just enough for the mutual destruction con with Jeffy and then very pointedly walks away from the very Saul Goodman-esque shirt and coat combo at the end. That would seem to be the end of it. He's still Gene Takovic, mild manned mall store manager. But then Francesca tells him all his secreted money is gone, that it was all for nothing, and oh by the way, Kim asked about you after all this time. So the phone call happens where once again they prove Kim right about how profoundly they influence each other. Gene goads Kim into waking up enough from her stultifying (and I keep using that word because it feels like it fits so perfectly) new life to try to go back and clean up the mess she left behind only to find out that it doesn't really fix anything or likely change anything. Her purgatory is the one she built for herself in Florida. Meanwhile, Gene now knows he's got absolutely left to lose except a monochromatic life at a mall Cinnabon counter so he goes full Saul again, stealing identities, B&E, and nearly murdering old ladies and a passed out cancer patient in very short order.

You can't really get there in a way that feels truly earned without the buildup to it.

I think my impatience with the two episodes focusing on the Gene scams were that the series is ending and I wanted the pace faster--although I do realize that's not how this show works. The character development did not bother me--we had to see how Gene devolved back into Saul and sociopathy. (BTW, sociopaths do have a conscience, it is just very weak.)

I would have rather it be shown in one episode, with Genes scams escalating throughout, but just my taste (as we've seen here with the mayo discussion, taste vary, lol).

PS. I do enjoy some slower-paced character studies--for example I enjoyed the 1981  11-part series Brideshead Revisted.

Edited August 10, 2022 by Adiba

[bad things are bad]

I hope AMC will do a Saul marathon,  like they frequently do with BB. So many things to revisit!

[Razzberry]

I've worked my share of boring, monotonous jobs, but usually my co-workers have been anything but. 

I'm fine with Kim working with sprinkler fittings. She doesn't trust her own judgment, nor should she.  Just look at her taste in men.  Earplugs during sex is a small price to pay.

[MaggieG]

I loved the cop complaining about the fish tacos. I felt that. 

[PeterPirate]

I don't think Old Jeff would have crashed his cab, intentionally or not.  

[zscore]

Someone on another forum (a diamond seller) estimates that Saul's bag of diamonds is worth only about $50-70K. It's all really small ones and not worth a lot. Maybe that's why he had to go back to scamming after learning that his money from the shell companies is all gone. 

[Dobian]

7 hours ago, millennium said:

The Aaron Paul cameo felt gratuitous.

I didn't expect Walt or Jessie to add anything to BCS story-wise as their story has been completely told.  I thought this scene was a nice moment but also important because it so clearly puts Kim into the BB world, albeit briefly.  Now when when re-watching the first season of BB, you know that Kim is out there and has been to Saul's office, and will soon be departing for Florida.  It's a nice connecting of the two shows together like this.

[Bannon]

1 hour ago, Adiba said:

I think my impatience with the two episodes focusing on the Gene scams were that the series is ending and I wanted the pace faster--although I do realize that's not how this show works. The character development did not bother me--we had to see how Gene devolved back into Saul and sociopathy. (BTW, sociopaths do have a conscience, it is just very weak.)

I would have rather it be shown in one episode, with Genes scams escalating throughout, but just my taste (as we've seen here with the mayo discussion, taste vary, lol).

PS. I do enjoy some slower-paced character studies--for example I enjoyed the 1981  11-part series Brideshead Revisted.

I disagree that someone who deliberately self-sabotaged, out of a profound sense of remorse, the attempt to obtain several million dollars, that was nearly within his grasp, that he had pursued for years, has an inherently weak conscience, or is in any real sense a sociopath. Gene/Saul/Jimmy is much more interesting than this. To me, he is consumed by rage, triggered by a (quite rational) sense of betrayal, and he allows that rage to help him rationalize profoundly immoral behaviors. He really does have an heavily grounded emotional grasp of what constitutes shameful conduct, however.

[Starchild]

55 minutes ago, bad things are bad said:

I hope AMC will do a Saul marathon,  like they frequently do with BB. So many things to revisit!

I don't know if US and Canada AMC have the same schedule, but it looks like in Canada AMC will repeat the back half of season 6 leading up to the felina.

[Crashcourse]

I think Marian scared the crap out of Gene when she told him that there was no Nippy.  I was expecting her to pull out a butcher knife and stab him to death.  

[Penman61]

2 hours ago, SimplexFish said:

He has plenty of time...Even when the police show up at Marion's home they will have no clue where he lives, thats gonna take some time to get that info at least enough time to give him time to grab and run. 

Gene doesn't have plenty of time, and he knows it: Marion and Jeff have his name, his car's make/model. LEOs can run that info instantly and get his driver's license and address.  

[Dobian]

15 minutes ago, Penman61 said:

Gene doesn't have plenty of time, and he knows it: Marion and Jeff have his name, his car's make/model. LEOs can run that info instantly and get his driver's license and address.  

Plus the police will go to bus stations, train depots, and airports, so public transportation is not an option.  That means driving to get out of Omaha, so he would have to steal a car, pay cash wherever he goes. There would be an APB, his face would be all over the news.  It would be hard for him to stay ahead of the law at this point.

Edited August 10, 2022 by Dobian

[Adiba]

26 minutes ago, Bannon said:

I disagree that someone who deliberately self-sabotaged, out of a profound sense of remorse, the attempt to obtain several million dollars, that was nearly within his grasp, that he had pursued for years, has an inherently weak conscience, or is in any real sense a sociopath. Gene/Saul/Jimmy is much more interesting than this. To me, he is consumed by rage, triggered by a (quite rational) sense of betrayal, and he allows that rage to help him rationalize profoundly immoral behaviors. He really does have an heavily grounded emotional grasp of what constitutes shameful conduct, however.

Hmm, I don’t know. Saul may not be a textbook sociopath, but his behavior, imo, displays many signs of sociopathy. 

It’s not really the reasons why Saul does things, nor his past disappointments that show sociopathy to me, it’s the things that he is willing to do (or feels compelled to do). Almost everyone has “reasons” in life— not everyone makes the same choices in dealing with life’s problems, trauma, disappointments, failures, unfairness, etc. 

Edited August 10, 2022 by Adiba
Rewording for clarification

[SimplexFish]

34 minutes ago, Starchild said:

I don't know if US and Canada AMC have the same schedule, but it looks like in Canada AMC will repeat the back half of season 6 leading up to the felina.

There are plenty of streaming sources to watch it all the way from Season 1 at your own pace.

Edited August 10, 2022 by SimplexFish

[SimplexFish]

26 minutes ago, Penman61 said:

Gene doesn't have plenty of time, and he knows it: Marion and Jeff have his name, his car's make/model. LEOs can run that info instantly and get his driver's license and address.  

He absolutely has time to get to his house grab the diamonds and a few things and take off. and go on the lam. Knowing the cars make and model mean nothing without the plate number and Marion had no time to get that and I seriously Marion is up to date on being able to tell what make and model a car is anyway...maybe the color, Jeff is in the county jail mess and neither of them has his address, Im not even sure they have even heard his last name much less remember it

Edited August 10, 2022 by SimplexFish

[NDW5332]

I absolutely loved the details in this episode.  During the scene where Kim drove to work, it looks like they actually filmed in Port Canaveral, Florida. The Exploration Tower can be seen to the left as she drives past.  While I don't work in sprinklers, I do work in an adjacent industry and can say that they nailed every detail of what it would look like in one of those offices.  My one complaint is that they called it "Palm Coast Sprinkler" when everything in Titusville would most likely be named "Space Coast".

[Lone Wolf]

A poster on a forum that I follow observed that on a Monopoly board "Water Works" is the last Utility before "Go To Jail".

Also, apparently Odenkirk liked someone's comment that Saul should be made an example of.

Just sayin'... 

[Wiendish Fitch]

37 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

I think Marian scared the crap out of Gene when she told him that there was no Nippy.  I was expecting her to pull out a butcher knife and stab him to death.  

Now THAT would have been an awesome series finale!

But, alas, one more episode to go, so that ain't happening. Darn.

[PeterPirate]

13 minutes ago, NDW5332 said:

My one complaint is that they called it "Palm Coast Sprinkler" when everything in Titusville would most likely be named "Space Coast".

I suppose "Sprinkly Dinky" would have been too on the nose.  

[BC4ME]

19 minutes ago, SimplexFish said:

He absolutely has time to get to his house grab the diamonds and a few things and take off. and go on the lam. Knowing the cars make and model mean nothing without the plate number and Marion had no time to get that and I seriously Marion is up to date on being able to tell what make and model a car is anyway...maybe the color, Jeff is in the county jail mess and neither of them has his address, Im not even sure they have even heard his last name much less remember it

Also, IIRC he has another set of plates.

[DrSparkles]

3 hours ago, peeayebee said:

Of course people's tastes vary, but can you be more specific?

Living in the south, people rave about it like it is something special. So I bought it and tried it in a couple of different things, potato salad, sandwiches, etc. I do not like it. I prefer Hellmann’s

[Scout Finch]

3 hours ago, SimplexFish said:

Since this is the second mention of Kim's "Cindy Brady ponytail", I thought I would clarify that Cindy actually wore two pigtails and never a single ponytail.

https://www.charactour.com/hub/characters/view/Cindy-Brady.The-Brady-Bunch

Jus sayin...

Right. But it's the type of curl that instantly makes me think of Cindy Brady.

[PeterPirate]

Another dull-voiced, non-Courtney video.  He made a good observation that Kim's hair and clothing were similar to the teenage version of herself.  

[sistermagpie]

8 hours ago, millennium said:

I was surprised by what a complete dick Saul was to Kim when signing the divorce papers, more so when he pulled the same thing in his phone call to her six years later as Gene.   There's nothing left of who he used to be.

That's exactly who he used to be, though. He was hurt by Kim's perceived coldness to him, and lashed out at her.

4 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

Redemption is another thing and not dependent on specific acts. The Christian teachings on this (as I feebly understand it) is the only thing required to be redeemed is to confess your mistakes,(to God not to the police) then stop whatever the mistakes are and "go and sin no more."  Jesus simply forgave people he never followed it up with, "Now go and work in the salt mines."

5 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

To me it seems more like Kim's working hard at this because she's not redeemed in the sense that she hasn't changed. She's more a dry drunk than someone who's kicked the habit. She's terrified of what she would do if she could do what she wanted, not trying to atone for it. When she did try to do the right thing, it didn't really atone for anything. 

1 hour ago, Bannon said:

I disagree that someone who deliberately self-sabotaged, out of a profound sense of remorse, the attempt to obtain several million dollars, that was nearly within his grasp, that he had pursued for years, has an inherently weak conscience, or is in any real sense a sociopath. Gene/Saul/Jimmy is much more interesting than this. To me, he is consumed by rage, triggered by a (quite rational) sense of betrayal, and he allows that rage to help him rationalize profoundly immoral behaviors. He really does have an heavily grounded emotional grasp of what constitutes shameful conduct, however.

1 hour ago, Adiba said:

Hmm, I don’t know. Saul may not be a textbook sociopath, but his behavior, imo, displays many signs of sociopathy. 

To me Jimmy doesn't seem like a sociopath at all. When he's at his worst, he seems to be acting out of hurt--people who aren't sociopaths can be just as hurtful. I don't think, for instance, that his decision to not kill Marion was based on any strategic move or even an attack of conscience. I think he has the capacity for love and hurt.

[ShadowFacts]

1 hour ago, Adiba said:

Hmm, I don’t know. Saul may not be a textbook sociopath, but his behavior, imo, displays many signs of sociopathy. 

It’s not really the reasons why Saul does things, nor his past disappointments that show sociopathy to me, it’s the things that he is willing to do (or feels compelled to do). Almost everyone has “reasons” in life— not everyone makes the same choices in dealing with life’s problems, trauma, disappointments, failures, unfairness, etc. 

Oh exactly.  It doesn't matter the label that is put on his behavior or how much of a conscience he has or doesn't have.  He chooses to override what he knows is decent behavior again and again. 

1 hour ago, Penman61 said:

Gene doesn't have plenty of time, and he knows it: Marion and Jeff have his name, his car's make/model. LEOs can run that info instantly and get his driver's license and address.  

I think he has to move fast, and he may have just enough time to grab his diamonds which will pay for another vacuum cleaner job.  I can't see the series ending in Omaha.  Those Chekhov's diamonds have to be for something, just like Marion's computer was.

[ahmerali]

5 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I intend to watch this episode again the weekend, but wasn’t that song that Gene was singing on the way to pick up Marion, The Tide Is High by Blondie?  

Yes. The tide is rising, but Gene is still holding on. He's not the kind of girl who gives up just like that. Oh no.

[ahmerali]

3 hours ago, SimplexFish said:

He has plenty of time...Even when the police show up at Marion's home they will have no clue where he lives, thats gonna take some time to get that info at least enough time to give him time to grab and run. 

I'd bet money that Marion has one of the 'Nippy' flyers and it has Gene's (real) phone number on it. Shouldn't take long after that. Or certainly Jeffy or Buddy knows where Gene lives - or the Cinnabon staff. Gene will get out with his stuff, but just barely.

1 hour ago, Dobian said:

I didn't expect Walt or Jessie to add anything to BCS story-wise as their story has been completely told.  I thought this scene was a nice moment but also important because it so clearly puts Kim into the BB world, albeit briefly.  Now when when re-watching the first season of BB, you know that Kim is out there and has been to Saul's office, and will soon be departing for Florida.  It's a nice connecting of the two shows together like this.

That scene was really just for the last line. Jesse is asking if Saul is any good - meaning as a lawyer. Kim's response is about whether or not Saul is any good as a person.

[ahmerali]

I like the discussion of atonement vs. redemption. Saul cannot redeem himself any more, but he can atone. The question is, with what, and to whom. He's got his diamonds, and I daresay that he stashed other money around Albuquerque before going to the vacuum store - certainly he had to leave some money for Francesca for that phone call on his birthday, we know that. He would have other dead drops for this eventuality.

Maybe he takes it and gives it to somebody who sets up scholarships for wayward kids, like that girl in Season 2 or 3 who didn't get a chance because she had a spotty record? Something like the Kim Wexler Achievement Award, the Charles McGill memorial award, something like that?

[Eulipian 5k]

20 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I've never heard of Duke's, never noticed it in the stores, but I may look for it and try it for the heck of it. Yep, yep, yep.

Duke's Mayo and Yep, yep,yep. Is that your fanfic proposal?

At least "the Yepper" doesn't need to tear someone's life and career down to get "in the mood" with Kim.

Does b&w Kim get Rhea a second Emmy nomination? I was mouth agape during that airbus ride breakdown, Wow, just wow.

[Cinnabon]

5 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Kim definitely implicated Jimmy.  There was no way around it if she wanted to be truthful and at that point she did.  What Kim didn’t do was say why she finally confessed after 6 years.    What Kim didnt do was say that she heard from Jimmy and knew he was alive and likely knew where he was.  
 

I have never been a big fan of killing off the dark protagonist in the last episode.  It is one of my few gripes about BB.  I thought Walt should actually have to pay for his actions.  That isn’t paying.   I would hate it if Jimmy gets the same ending.  I would prefer if he either ends up in jail or is forced to run into yet another half Gene life and and start the routine over again.  Because that is who he is.

Walt was going to die very soon, whether he died in the finale or not. Jesse is the one who truly got off and I hate that. 

Edited August 10, 2022 by Cinnabon

[Constantinople]

1 hour ago, SimplexFish said:

He absolutely has time to get to his house grab the diamonds and a few things and take off. and go on the lam. Knowing the cars make and model mean nothing without the plate number and Marion had no time to get that and I seriously Marion is up to date on being able to tell what make and model a car is anyway...maybe the color, Jeff is in the county jail mess and neither of them has his address, Im not even sure they have even heard his last name much less remember it

Jeff knows Gene's name and knows where he works.

Marion knows Gene's name too. When New Jeff walked into the house and saw Marion and Gene at the kitchen table, Marion introduced Gene as Mr. Takavic and Gene replied Mr. Takavic was his father and that Jeff should call him Gene.

I suspect law enforcement can search on driver's licenses and car registrations by name alone, though the plate number would help.

Sooner or later the staff at Cinnabon will call the police, either to report him missing or to respond to a news story that simeone saw about him.

The feds will also be after him after Marion identifies Gene as Saul.

So he's got some time, but not a lot. Also, traveling under Gene's name is a big risk, as would accessing any bank accounts or credit cards under Gene's name. Perhaps he put his identity theft proceeds in a bank under another name. Otherwise it's hard to pay for gas with diamonds.

[Eulipian 5k]

18 hours ago, qtpye said:

It is sort of like how Walt Jr. idolized his father for being a high school teacher but that would never be enough for Walt.

However (S2E10) Walt, Jr was always more taken with the glamor of Uncle Hank's exiting DEA stories. Guess Walt developed a kind of( Chuck style) jealousy of his brother-in-law.

[Starchild]

31 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

  Those Chekhov's diamonds have to be for something, just like Marion's computer was.

Knowing this universe, it wouldn't surprise me if those diamonds landed in a landfill or at the bottom of some lake.

25 minutes ago, ahmerali said:

That scene was really just for the last line. Jesse is asking if Saul is any good - meaning as a lawyer. Kim's response is about whether or not Saul is any good as a person.

Yes, Jesse was asking if Saul was a good lawyer; Kim responded that he used to be a "good" lawyer.

[KittyQ]

4 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Wasn’t Paul changed to Saul in the  Biblical conversion on the road to Damascus?  Hmmm…but since he’s Gene now that comparison might not be applicable.  Lol 

Saul became Paul, I believe. So, perhaps Jimmy/Saul/Gene has one more iteration? I don't think that "Gene" is enough of a change from "Saul" to qualify as a true conversion. He's changed outwardly but hasn't made the interior changes necessary to embrace a truly new life and lifestyle as a non-criminal person. That's one reason he experiences his new circumstances as so unfulfilling. By clinging to his previous perspectives and behaviors, he can only see the exterior changes as diminishment, not the opportunity for renewal that it could be.

[SimplexFish]

22 minutes ago, Constantinople said:

So he's got some time, but not a lot. Also, traveling under Gene's name is a big risk, as would accessing any bank accounts or credit cards under Gene's name. Perhaps he put his identity theft proceeds in a bank under another name. Otherwise it's hard to pay for gas with diamonds.

Exactly! Now I think Saul knows all of this and how to get around it (he was the burner phone king), however did he have a preplanned and set up for quick a get-a-way before Marion blew him out of the water?  

Edited August 10, 2022 by SimplexFish

[MBayGal]

Help!  I can't remember where the diamonds came from!

[sistermagpie]

3 minutes ago, MBayGal said:

Help!  I can't remember where the diamonds came from!

We don't know where they came from literally, just that Gene has some stashed at his place if he needs to run.

[Eulipian 5k]

7 minutes ago, SimplexFish said:

did he have a preplanned and set up for quick a get-a-way before Marion blew him out of the water?  

After working with Mike, I'm sure he has a "Go Bag" ready .

Diamonds are the most portable assets; he couldn't fit the toilet in the Go Bag. I'm sure he has cash (and the Black Book) in it. He still has time to hit an ATM before the cops/DEA/FBI can block it.

[Bannon]

1 hour ago, Adiba said:

Hmm, I don’t know. Saul may not be a textbook sociopath, but his behavior, imo, displays many signs of sociopathy. 

It’s not really the reasons why Saul does things, nor his past disappointments that show sociopathy to me, it’s the things that he is willing to do (or feels compelled to do). Almost everyone has “reasons” in life— not everyone makes the same choices in dealing with life’s problems, trauma, disappointments, failures, unfairness, etc. 

The constant of sociopathy is the lack of inner emotional conflict; the sociopath wants something, acts to obtain it, without reference to how it may affect others. Jimmy/Saul/Gene is quite often a hideous person who does awful things, with ridiculous rationalizations put forth in support of the behavior. He's also, however, very often quite emotionally conflicted. He feels awful about his actions leading to an old lady losing her friendships, and thus passes on a nearly completed scheme that would have paid him millions. No actual sociopath would do that. His relationship with his brother was not sociopathic, even when he was doing awful things to his brother. What drives J/S/G is not something as simple as sociopathy, but something far more complex; rage driven by loss.

If I can illustrate with an example from another great television show, Paulie Walnuts was a sociopath, but Tony Soprano was not, even if Tony was every bit as awful as Paulie, in terms of morality.

[SimplexFish]

17 minutes ago, MBayGal said:

Help!  I can't remember where the diamonds came from!

They just appeared in 05-01 Magic Man during a Gene flash forward when he was digging through his secret shoe box and pulled out the Band Aid tin and there were the diamonds, previously he kept a coin collection in there.  So with that strange unexplained "swap out" appearance of the rocks Im sure G&G has plans for them. Kinda like the swap out of badass Jeff to wussy Jeffy to better suit the ending

8 minutes ago, Eulipian 5k said:

After working with Mike, I'm sure he has a "Go Bag" ready .

Diamonds are the most portable assets; he couldn't fit the toilet in the Go Bag. I'm sure he has cash (and the Black Book) in it. He still has time to hit an ATM before the cops/DEA/FBI can block it.

The black book unfortunately was left in his mansion and was tossed in the garbage by the clean out crew in 06-01...

Edited August 10, 2022 by SimplexFish

[Simon Boccanegra]

The divorce papers and the Jesse/Kim meeting were still in 2004, the jam-packed year of essentially the second half of the BCS series. The nine-month jump in season 4's "Something Stupid" put us in 2004, and there we stayed except for flash-forwards to 2007, the Walter White era, and the Cinnabon-and-sprinklers era. 

I suspect that scene is going to be an enduring point of confusion, because the personality Jimmy shows is so thoroughly "Saul Goodman," and Jesse is there doing lawyer scouting for a crony. But Jimmy's reference to the Sandpiper settlement money coming through made it sound as if that were a recent development, and we know what went into moving the Sandpiper matter along. Some of Jimmy's portion went toward the makeover of the office. We also knew that Jesse's association with Emilio long predated Breaking Bad; they'd known each other since elementary school. It would also be on brand for Kim to move fast on the divorce and on getting out of Albuquerque.

Then, there was Jimmy's comment to Kim on the phone, "It suddenly occurred to me it's been six years." As much of a show of indifference as he was making when they were signing the papers, that meeting wouldn't slip his mind.     

So, Paul was 41 or 42, playing 19. The character was 23 in the Breaking Bad pilot.

Edited August 10, 2022 by Simon Boccanegra

[Eulipian 5k]

11 minutes ago, SimplexFish said:

The black book unfortunately was left in his mansion and was tossed in the garbage by the clean out crew in 06-01...

E

You are correct sir, hence the parenthesis. He still had the cleaner's number, and he knows a fence/identity broker, (so maybe it's the Gene in lil' Black & White Book, 😉)

[Chaos Theory]

Because I needed something to do on Monday I rewatched about half of season 1.   Although alot of elements remain the same and last through the series Season 1 Jimmy is alot different then Season 6 Jimmy/Saul/Gene.    For one thing Jimmy loved his brother and went out of his way to care for him.   There was a scene where Chuck appeared to get Jimmy out of jail (I forget if he actually did or not) but because of this Jimmy secretly went into law school in part to make Chuck proud.   He had no idea that that was the last thing Chuck wanted and probably exasperated whatever was actually was wrong with him.   But my point is that season 1 Jimmy loved Chuck even if Chuck never quite gave him what he wanted or need which was ironically approval.    

This is all important because I think that is ultimately what Jimmy is a little boy who needs his brother's approval.  Who needs Kim's approval.   Who was ultimately left with nothing because he was left to fall back on his worst instincts because no one was there to show him different.   By the time the Gene and Marion confrontation happens Jimmy/Saul/Gene has nothing left.   This little old lady who he probably actually liked looks at him the same way Chuck did.     

Oh I am not saying he didn't deserve it.   That by this point Jimmy might be too far gone to save.  It is just interesting to see where he was at the pilot and how many times someone could have just pat him on the head and said "good boy"  or gave him the incentive to go into a branch of law that might have appealed to his Slippin Jimmy side.  Heck told him straight up that HHM was not the law firm for him and give him a letter of recommendation to another law firm.   

Because Jimmy was a "good"  lawyer.   Saul Goodman was a "Good criminal" lawyer.   Gene was just a good criminal.  

[ahmerali]

57 minutes ago, Starchild said:

Knowing this universe, it wouldn't surprise me if those diamonds landed in a landfill or at the bottom of some lake.

Yes, Jesse was asking if Saul was a good lawyer; Kim responded that he used to be a "good" lawyer.

I think she may have meant both, but more about him as a person.