S01.E04: Hero

[Tara Ariano]

Jimmy conjures up a bold plan to solicit new clients, but has to face the consequences when the scheme strains his relationship with a rival firm.

[Umbelina]

I thought this was the best show yet.  I loved the whole "take on the big guys" in typical Jimmy way, and the billboard stunt was classic.  The female lawyer is growing on me too.  I may even learn her name.

 

Then they ended it with the brother, and even though the inside look at the way he views the world was very well done, and did put me inside his head for a while, I just do not like the brother character or anything to do with him.  At this point, as soon as I see him on screen I feel like groaning.  So, the only clunker in an otherwise wonderful episode.

 

Loved the S'alls a Good Man too.

[Shriekingeel]

So many laugh lines in this one. Very much a Breaking-Bad Saul feeling.

"It could be argued that all of life is one great coincidence"

"Probable cause out the wazoo"

"No offense to your minutes of experience"

[Joan van Snark]

I LOVED Saul in Breaking Bad, but I'm starting to think he was the perfect example of a character that was perfect in small doses.  I just don't find this show engaging at all at this point.  I'll keep watching out of some sense of loyalty to Saul, I guess, but I hope it gets better.

[editorgrrl]

I literally LOL'd at Chuck. I like Vince Gilligan's twisted sense of humor.

[Umbelina]

The whole negotiation with the embezzlers cracked me up too.  "You're the kind of lawyer guilty people hire.  Take the bribe.  It's like overtime." 

[tennisgurl]

I literally laughed out loud as the wife in the woods started on her "What is legality? Slavery was once legal! Slavery of PEOPLE!" rant, and Saul was just starring at her like "no...that's not going to cut it."

 

"Its like they say in Silicon Valley, its not a BUG, its a FEATURE"! 

 

So this is how Saul will become SAUL I assume? Maybe by the end of the season, he`ll ditch Jimmy, and fully embrace Saul Goodman? 

 

Whenever I see Saul interacting with anyone, I`m just going to assume its a con from now on. 

[Irlandesa]

There wasn't much Mike but I loved his exchange with Jimmy. "Not the loquacious sort, are you?"  "We can't all be as blessed as you." 

 

I think Odenkirk did some great work in this episode.  That little look when Betsy said that he was the kind of lawyer only guilty people would hire showed that he can get wounded.  She's the catalyst for him reverting. 

 

I figured out that the hanging guy was a con but I loved that the rival lawyer knew it as well.  I like it when characters on TV shows aren't naive to serve the plot.  I also think Hamlindigo should be a real color.

 

I thought the episode was a bit slow as they set up the con but I did think I saw the chemistry between the Jimmy and the woman who works at Hamlin that they've been talking about in the podcast this episode.

[Quilt Fairy]

I have to work "Deep discount mani-pedi" into a conversation, somehow.  And I have to listen to the ep 4 podcast to find out if 'Saul Goodman' came from " 's all good, man" all the way back in BB.

[thuganomics85]

Dammit, I feel like an idiot, because the pre-credit scene was pretty much a dead giveaway that another scam would probably happen in this episode, and yet I totally fell for the billboard scene.  Totally got played like a chump.  Not sure if I blame the writing or Bob Odenkirk just being so good at making Jimmy sell that scene, but they sure fooled me.

 

Of course, it looks like it worked, but now Chuck knows what he did, and sure looked like Hamlin figured out it was all a ploy.  Have a feeling both of their reactions are going to have an impact down the line.

 

The Kettlemans just crack me up.  Betsy seems to be the brains of this operation: Craig comes off a bit daft, to say the least.  Can't believe Betsy had the audacity to compare what they did to slavery.  That whole scene was great.  Interesting that Jimmy ended up taking the bribe at the end.  It's like he basically accepted that he has to be dirty to stay in the game.  Kind of sad.

 

Not much Mike in this one, but I did like their one scene.  But, I want more of Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks' natural banter, please. Did enjoy the Nacho scene, and how Jimmy actually stood up to him, in his own way.

 

More former Breaking Bad crew behind the scenes: Gennifer Hutchison wrote this, while Colin Bucksey directed.

 

Saul Goodman coming from "s all good, man", works for me.  In general, this show is working for me in general.  Surprised, but happy.  I'm really getting a kick out of it.

[Umbelina]

I fell for it too.  For a comic, Saul really does "serious" well, which is why I do think he can carry this show.  The possible storylines are endless.

 

The brother is my only downer from this (and all) episodes.

[benteen]

I thought the first half of this episode was dull.  This show has a bad tendency to absolutely drag scenes out and they can be looong.  That being said, the second half picked up nicely with Jimmy starting to turn into Saul and working all those angles.  I loved the second half and the ridiculously funny scene with Chuck at the end.  Also nice to see Kevin Weisman of Alias fame in the beginning.

[morgankobi]

"And that's why you never try to make a man change his name, kids!"

[placate]

I LOVED Saul in Breaking Bad, but I'm starting to think he was the perfect example of a character that was perfect in small doses.  I just don't find this show engaging at all at this point.  I'll keep watching out of some sense of loyalty to Saul, I guess, but I hope it gets better.

I agree.  I want to see Francesca, Huell, and Kuby.  I like that Mike is here but the biggest highlight for me was seeing Tuco again.   Not going to give up on it because I still like Saul and I like Vince Gilligan.

[Consternation]

I love this show.  That teaser was epic.

 

Jimmy in the suit shop!  Hmm, the orange shirt with purple tie-- no, no, I came for something else today.

 

I love Chuck and worry about him.  I was distraught that he had to go outside.  Jimmy, look what you're doing to your brother!

[Constantinople]

Then they ended it with the brother, and even though the inside look at the way he views the world was very well done, and did put me inside his head for a while, I just do not like the brother character or anything to do with him.  At this point, as soon as I see him on screen I feel like groaning.  So, the only clunker in an otherwise wonderful episode.

I wasn't nutty about it, but it was interesting to see that Chuck knew that Jimmy was bullshitting him, and that Chuck was willing to face his fear to find out what was going on.

But I loved that the neighbor was watching Chuck the whole time as he stole the newspaper from her driveway. That's a real WTF moment when you see someone doing that while wearing aluminum covering.

 

 

I also think Hamlindigo should be a real color.

For some reason, the color Hamlindigo made me wonder why they named the character Hamlin.

I wonder if it's supposed to be a call out to L.A. Law since Harry Hamlin played one of the main characters on that show.

[queenanne]

For some reason, the color Hamlindigo made me wonder why they named the character Hamlin.

I wonder if it's supposed to be a call out to L.A. Law since Harry Hamlin played one of the main characters on that show.

 

Possibly a given, but I also wouldn't be surprised if a law firm IRL tried to trademark a color and they threw it into the absurdity.  Anybody else curious how/who told Jimmy the composition of Hamlin's suits?  If you have to write down "Sea Island cotton", I'm betting you don't know it by sight; and I give Villigan credit for not trying to make it look like Kim is the source..

 

I really felt for Jimmy when Mrs. Kettle said that about him seeming like the guy who only defended the guilty.  I immediately thought of Jesse's "Ohhhhh, you want a guy who is a CRIMINAL lawyer..." at Walt.

 

I think I have hope for the brother character if he is so invested in knowledge that he will hirple himself out the door after a single paper, like it's the be-all and end-all.

Edited February 24, 2015 by queenanne

[shapeshifter]

So "Hero" was not a sandwich after all. I should have known, since "Nacho" was not an edible either.

In the nail salon chairs with Kim (reminded me of those horrible ED bathtub commercials) there as a brief glimpse of Jimmy/Saul's humanity when he suggested that Kim should work for a law firm where there was somebody who "cared" about her. I guess that's as close as he will ever come to an ILU.

How old was Jimmy in the scene with the con where he helped roll a rich drunk who was really his partner in crime? Early 20s? So if/when Chuck forces Jimmy to change his name (or someone/something else) why does he go back to his old 's all good, man moniker?

I wonder how much the fake watches cost. $80 minus the watch, probably minus the cost of buying a few rounds for the real mark (or at least buying them for himself until closing), split 2 ways, and yeah, it was just beer money.

Was Odenkirk deliberately drawing out the Chicagoland short a sounds for effect, or does he always do that? I know a lot of people raised there cannot seem to pronounce the short a vowel sound any other way, but I would assume he could do it if he wanted.

[ghoulina]

I love Jimmy/Saul because I never quite know what he's up to. Maybe I'm just incredibly naive, but it did not dawn on me that the stunt on the billboard was, in fact, a stunt. Not until he had hoisted the dude all the way up and they shook hands. When the dude first fell, Jimmy kind of hesitated, as if he didn't know if it was worth it to risk his neck as well. I really did not consider that he had planned to the whole thing to make himself look like a hero. He is really a clever little shit and totally cracks me up. 

 

Chuck knew right away that something wasn't right when Jimmy was regaling him with his sudden success. I'd like to know more about their relationship, because I almost get more of a fatherly vibe than an older brother vibe sometimes. Maybe their father died/left and Chuck was a lot older and helped the mother raise Jimmy? Anyhow, I like the scenes between them and I really enjoyed the scene with Chuck venturing outside. They did a great job of really putting us inside his head and letting us see exactly what he's suffering from. LOVED that he left a $5 bill for the paper. 

 

I hope he's okay next week!

[DrSpaceman]

I LOVED Saul in Breaking Bad, but I'm starting to think he was the perfect example of a character that was perfect in small doses.  I just don't find this show engaging at all at this point.  I'll keep watching out of some sense of loyalty to Saul, I guess, but I hope it gets better.

 

 

As I have posted on other episodes, I agree with you to an extent, so far this show has underwhelmed me.  I think the problem though is we get too little of the real Saul those of us who watched Breaking Bad know and love in this one, not too much.  I think its still too much Jimmy and not enough Saul. 

 

However this episode I thought was better than prior ones.  I loved the flashback scene to the "old" Jimmy, which was part Saul.  And not just because he used the name.  Or because it never crossed my mind that "Saul Goodman" = "Its all good, man".  Clever.  It was just a nice way to mix up the two characters he really is playing even as the same person

 

So it seems, though I hate making the Breaking Bad comparison, the strategy here is again, similar to Breaking Bad.  "Jimmy" isn't really who this character is, its more of a role he has played and adopted it seems to make his brother happy, to prove he could leave behind his old life.  Saul is really more of who he really is instinctively and what he is finding is how to mix the new with the old to create the Saul we knew on Breaking Bad. 

Its similar to how Walter White/Heisenberg was handled on Breaking Bad. 

 

I don't mind the mix of the two to compare, contrast and understand the characters.  I would just prefer more Saul and less Jimmy.  That may happen with time, though

 

I would also add, however, there have been very few scenes in the whole first 4 episodes without Jimmy/Saul in them at some point.  A few this episode, but not many, and even those were to set up Saul/Jimmy or directly involved him.  The show is very heavy still on the one character, and I think that is the long term danger of the show and what you are noticing.  ANy single character dominating so thoroughly a one hour drama will become tedious. 

I thought the first half of this episode was dull.  This show has a bad tendency to absolutely drag scenes out and they can be looong.  That being said, the second half picked up nicely with Jimmy starting to turn into Saul and working all those angles.  I loved the second half and the ridiculously funny scene with Chuck at the end.  Also nice to see Kevin Weisman of Alias fame in the beginning.

 

I do agree as well that some of these scenes really seem to drag.  I think this again goes back to trying to so thoroughly use one character mainly to fill a one hour drama.  May be they run short on material and drag out the scenes almost as "filler". 

The whole negotiation with the embezzlers cracked me up too.  "You're the kind of lawyer guilty people hire.  Take the bribe.  It's like overtime." 

 

 

That really is the line of the night, maybe the whole series so far in summing up Jimmy, to me.  "You're the kind of lawyer guilty people hire".  ANd I can see her point and know what she means, even its a bit off base. 

[SoSueMe]

I am loving this show. Salon living, lol.

 

Seriously though, I thought they did a good job of showing what it must feel like for Chuck to leave his comfort/safety zone. I feel badly for people who suffer from similar conditions like agoraphobia, maybe.

[teddysmom]

The phone number on the billboard is real.  I just called it.  There's even a beep, but I was laughing too hard to leave a message. 

[SailorGirl]

I love Jimmy/Saul because I never quite know what he's up to. Maybe I'm just incredibly naive, but it did not dawn on me that the stunt on the billboard was, in fact, a stunt. Not until he had hoisted the dude all the way up and they shook hands. When the dude first fell, Jimmy kind of hesitated, as if he didn't know if it was worth it to risk his neck as well. I really did not consider that he had planned to the whole thing to make himself look like a hero. He is really a clever little shit and totally cracks me up. 

 

Chuck knew right away that something wasn't right when Jimmy was regaling him with his sudden success. I'd like to know more about their relationship, because I almost get more of a fatherly vibe than an older brother vibe sometimes. Maybe their father died/left and Chuck was a lot older and helped the mother raise Jimmy? Anyhow, I like the scenes between them and I really enjoyed the scene with Chuck venturing outside. They did a great job of really putting us inside his head and letting us see exactly what he's suffering from. LOVED that he left a $5 bill for the paper. 

 

I hope he's okay next week!

Oh Ghoulina, great minds think alike and thanks to your post I feel much better about my missing everything the first time around -- I too, didn't realize it was a scam, actually until I watched the encore presentation and heard the guy Jimmy had rescued say, "took you long enough." I was doing other things and didn't catch that the first time -- I thought the handshake was a "thanks for saving me" thing. The hesitation to react and the "don't look down" as he was climbing up all made me think it was legit.  Its amazing Jimmy doesn't have more money given his level of detail to pulling off a believable scam! 

 

I agree that they did a really good job of getting us inside Chuck's head too -- frankly, it kinda freaked me out! Well done with the wonky angles and jerky camera work but I also think Michael McKean did a good nonverbal acting job conveying the angst. Interesting that he felt seeing the paper was so important he was willing to risk the dangers of electrical waves. 

 

I also didn't get "Saul Goodman" = S'all good, man" until it was blatantly stated. I guess this show will work as long as there are oblivious people like me watching! :-D

 

I am enjoying the little snippets we are getting in each episode that are showing us how Saul became "Saul" -- the very first episode, we saw the car. This episode, we saw the clothes. At least I'm catching a few things! :-D

 

[Wouldofshouldof]

As I have posted on other episodes, I agree with you to an extent, so far this show has underwhelmed me.  I think the problem though is we get too little of the real Saul those of us who watched Breaking Bad know and love in this one, not too much.  I think its still too much Jimmy and not enough Saul. 

 

However this episode I thought was better than prior ones.  I loved the flashback scene to the "old" Jimmy, which was part Saul.  And not just because he used the name.  Or because it never crossed my mind that "Saul Goodman" = "Its all good, man".  Clever.  It was just a nice way to mix up the two characters he really is playing even as the same person

During the Breaking Bad reign I either read an interview or saw it on The Writers' Room - Vince said then that Saul's name comes from S'all Good, Man.

 

Like others, I'm going to stick with this show, but I feel like the best part of Saul's story was told in BB.  I want more scenes like the one in the desert with the twins, but I guess that's just me jonesing for the BB vibe again.

[Fisher King]

Hey, it's Nurse Patsy from Getting On playing the drunk in the alley.

 

I liked Kim's little smile after seeing the news report about Jimmy's heroic billboard scam.  It was she who gave Jimmy the details about the suit, right? I thought it was hilarious that he even dyed his hair to look like Hamlin.

 

I'm over Chuck. His paranoia is not endearing to me, and he obviously will never accept Jimmy's antics. Skirting around the law, abusing it and using it to his advantage is the person Jimmy is and who Saul becomes.  I think it's only because of Chuck that Jimmy has to change his name. He's certainly not going to do it for anyone else, unless he loses in court.

 

Am looking forward to seeing some of Jimmy's old partners in crime reappear after Saul becomes fairly well-known.

Edited February 24, 2015 by Fisher King

[peeayebee]

The Kettlemans just crack me up.  Betsy seems to be the brains of this operation: Craig comes off a bit daft, to say the least.  Can't believe Betsy had the audacity to compare what they did to slavery.  That whole scene was great.  Interesting that Jimmy ended up taking the bribe at the end.  It's like he basically accepted that he has to be dirty to stay in the game.  Kind of sad.

It was a great scene. I was very pleased that Jimmy kept insisting that they needed to turn the money in, that he kept refusing the bribe. Last week I had really thought that he'd work a deal with them right away, but he's trying to do the right thing. I loved when he was back in his "office" working the calculator to match the money to his fees. How much an hour? $940? 

 

I was surprised at how ditzy Betsy was. I thought she was smarter than this, but I was happy to see that she may -- MAY -- be smarter than her husband, but that's still pretty dumb. Plus they honestly believe that he earned that money.

 

During the Breaking Bad reign I either read an interview or saw it on The Writers' Room - Vince said then that Saul's name comes from S'all Good, Man.

Yes, that revelation in this ep wasn't a surprise to me, though it was cool hearing it. I thought Vince explained it in one of the BB podcasts.

 

Of course it's fun seeing the hints of things to come in Jimmy's/Saul's future. The billboard, his attraction to colorful shirts and ties, the name.

 

Loved the scene at the tailor's. I didn't pick up on his getting an identical suit to Hamlin's. I thought he had read in a men's magazine about the best in men's clothes.

 

I thought it was hilarious that he even dyed his hair to look like Hamlin.

Not only that, but he had the top of his hair curled. It wasn't until I saw Hamlin that I realized what Jimmy had done.

 

Hey, it's Nurse Patsy from Getting On playing the drunk in the alley.

Thanks! I was trying to figure out where I knew him from. I kept getting him confused with Mike McShane. Oh, and he also was in the still-missed Enlisted.

 

It didn't take me long to recognize that Jimmy was pulling a scam in that alley. The wallet stuffed with cash gave it away. However, I don't understand the scam. Did the guy give Jimmy money out of his own wallet? Why wouldn't he just give him money from the found wallet?

 

In the billboard scene, as Jimmy was talking to the cameraman and we see the worker up on the billboard, I began to think that he would fall, esp since the scene opened with a shot of him up there. Then when he fell I thought, "Wow, what a convenient coincidence… Hey, maybe this is a scam, too."

 

I'm starting to like the stuff with Chuck. Him venturing out with his tinfoil cape was a great scene. The way it was shot -- strange angles, quick cuts, loud ambient noise -- really made you feel what he was going thru. And then I loved the cut to the neighbor watching him. From crazed chaos to quiet. 

 

So now I'm curious what Chuck is going to do about Jimmy.

Edited February 24, 2015 by peeayebee

[springwater]

 

It didn't take me long to recognize that Jimmy was pulling a scam in that alley. The wallet stuffed with cash gave it away. However, I don't understand the scam. Did the guy give Jimmy money out of his own wallet? Why wouldn't he just give him money from the found wallet?

 

My guess is the money in the wallet on the ground was "fake" money.  You don't want to lose $1000 on the chance the scam fails.  Yeah, the guy from the bar jumped at the rolex when Jimmy said it was worth $3000.  He let him keep the $1000 found in the wallet on the ground and $500 from his own wallet.  So the scam net $500.  Share half with his fat partner.  Minus expenses such as the fake rolex watches and you are left with only beer money.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

He is really a clever little shit and totally cracks me up.

That's why I was a little surprised that he practically confessed to Nacho. He had plenty of time to think of what to say and could have at least taken the obvious tactic of pointing out that Nacho was conspicuous enough to have spooked the Kettlemans. If Nacho were to find out about the phone call, Jimmy could claim that they made that up because they couldn't say that they were afraid that the stranger hanging out in the neighborhood was after the money they embezzled.

[Lorimac]

The female lawyer is growing on me too.  I may even learn her name.

Ditto.  I was having a hard time identifying her because she kind of looks different in different scenes, but now I am starting to recognize her immediately.  I kind of feel the character she plays is a little like that too - not show-offy, and a little underestimated.

Edited February 24, 2015 by Lorimac

[ghoulina]

I'm starting to like the stuff with Chuck. Him venturing out with his tinfoil cape was a great scene. The way it was shot -- strange angles, quick cuts, loud ambient noise -- really made you feel what he was going thru. And then I loved the cut to the neighbor watching him. From crazed chaos to quiet.

 

I like it too. Chuck is the sort of character I always end up rooting for. He seems to really be suffering. And it's very sad, because he was ostensibly quite successful before he began being plagued with this issue. I also like what appears to be a real role reversal with Chuck and Jimmy. For a long time, Chuck was the one trying to help Jimmy and bail him out of bad spots. Now Chuck is the one who needs help. And Jimmy is trying his darndest. But he still can't be completely forthright with his brother. Chuck may not be all there in some ways, but he still knows his little brother. I like dynamics between those two. 

[Primetimer]

Howard Hamlin learns the hard way that Jimmy McGill's got moves he's never seen.

Read the story

[SoSueMe]

Ditto.  I was having a hard time identifying her because she kind of looks different in different scenes, but now I am starting to recognize her immediately.  I kind of feel the character she plays is a little like that too - not show-offy, and a little underestimated.

I know what you mean. In the first little glimpses in Ep. 1, I thought it was Natasha Henstridge. I like the 'so young yet so world weary' vibe that she is bringing.

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

I love Jimmy/Saul because I never quite know what he's up to. Maybe I'm just incredibly naive, but it did not dawn on me that the stunt on the billboard was, in fact, a stunt. Not until he had hoisted the dude all the way up and they shook hands.

Ghoulina - I'm riding in the naive boat with you. I was originally convinced that Jimmy/Saul was one of those beaten down guys that just slides into the "dark side" but apparently he has his own fully germinated crooked side already. I didn't get the billboard thing until I read it here - I thought it was a lucky break for him. Springwater, thank you for explaining the watch rouse - I figured it was a con but not how he was making any money.

Chuck scares me, running around with his reflective cape. I was worried he was going to get run over last night.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Dougal
Quote formatting.

[Ohwell]

I guess I was in a cranky mood last week; this week's episode was much better (or maybe I was just in a better mood).  However, I am getting tired of Chuck and his issues and I wouldn't mind if he met his demise sooner rather than later.

 

I hope we haven't seen the last of the Kettlemans because I don't want them to get away with it.  In particular, I really don't like Betsy because she thinks she's smart (her husband isn't) and I want her to do something stupid where they get caught.   Also, even though she told Jimmy the truth about being a lawyer for guilty people, I didn't like that she hurt his feelings (even if, on the other hand, it was an enlightening moment for him).     

[ghoulina]

I hope we haven't seen the last of the Kettlemans because I don't want them to get away with it.  In particular, I really don't like Betsy because she thinks she's smart (her husband isn't) and I want her to do something stupid where they get caught.   Also, even though she told Jimmy the truth about being a lawyer for guilty people, I didn't like that she hurt his feelings (even if, on the other hand, it was an enlightening moment for him).

 

I hope one of their kids turns them in, as repayment for forcing them to sit out there in the woods, singing John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.

[Umbelina]

Well, from the previews, it looks like Chuck's isolation may be over in an extremely scary way for him.  Guess the neighbor wanted her $.25 paper more than the $5.00.

 

I think (a few) people aren't liking this because it's not as dark/crazy as BB, and that's a shame.  This is a completely different show, with it's own vibe, and it's really growing on me.  I don't think it's trying (at ALL) to be a BB clone, and in fact, they are fighting against that, but giving some important nods to the world that was already created in this same location.  Tuco IS there, and he's a criminal, though not tweaker extra-nuts yet, and since Saul is a criminal lawyer their paths will cross.  They just crossed in a typical early Jimmy fuck up way.  It was a little gift for us, but it's not the show.

 

Nacho isn't going to let this go, and he's probably in this for a relatively long haul.  He's scarier, because he's calmer, and he thinks.  Saul stood up to him well, I thought he would be more terrified, but Saul is a good talker, and does have a backbone.  He's going to owe Nacho, and that relationship will probably lead him into darker clients.  I don't think it's going to be all dark though, as a matter of fact, while I expect scary moments, I think many of Saul's cases will be pretty funny, add to the ridiculous, without crossing that line.  Jimmy's "criminals are stupid, you kind of hope they would be smarter" line to Mike seemed like foreshadowing to me.  (not exact quote)

 

This show has so much potential since there will be a variety of crooks who need Jimmy/Saul's help, so it shouldn't get boring.  We all know he eventually takes on a client who does change his life in very bad ways, but the parts we are watching now, seem to be Saul doing pretty well, he's smart, he's a quick learner, a "go getter" and I don't think most of that is going to be dark.  I don't WANT one particular criminal becoming the main storyline, bring in several of the smaller cases, and have some fun with all of those possibilities.

 

The thing with Chuck as conscience is bothering me though, probably because he is SO isolated, and his only interactions are with Jimmy, and even those are trying to get Jimmy to not be Jimmy.  Or getting Jimmy to not be Saul.  Maybe I don't like him partly because Chuck wants the opposite of what I want.  Ha.  Also, I think there is good in Jimmy, and I don't like the idea of Chuck being the reason for that.  They aren't quite going that yet, but in a way they are dancing close to it.  Although, if something happened to them while they were raised that caused one to (sorry) "break bad" and one to "break good" I guess there could be a payoff there.

Edited February 24, 2015 by Umbelina

[editorgrrl]

Dammit, I feel like an idiot, because the pre-credit scene was pretty much a dead giveaway that another scam would probably happen in this episode, and yet I totally fell for the billboard scene.  Totally got played like a chump.  Not sure if I blame the writing or Bob Odenkirk just being so good at making Jimmy sell that scene, but they sure fooled me.

 

I'm the chumpiest chump who ever chumped, and I totally fell for Jimmy's billboard scam. When the guy said "took you long enough," I groaned. Like you, I felt in retrospect that the cold open should've tipped me off. But nope.

 

Was Odenkirk deliberately drawing out the Chicagoland short a sounds for effect, or does he always do that? I know a lot of people raised there cannot seem to pronounce the short a vowel sound any other way, but I would assume he could do it if he wanted.

 

Bob Odenkirk grew up in Naperville, Illinois (suburban Chicago). I was so distracted by his "younger" demeanor (he used it in the 1992 jailhouse flashback, too), that I completely missed the accent. (I did appreciate the elevated train, which immediately read as "Chicago" to me.)

 

I like how AMC reruns the previous two episodes, so I can go back & look for the stuff I've read about here in the forums. 

[Fisher King]

I saw "Cicero" on the building at the beginning where the alley scam took place.  Isn't that close to where Al Capone got started?

[Bannon]

The scene with Jimmy and Ma and Pa Kettle was really exceptionally well written and acted. Jimmy isn't a real sociopath, because he understands very well when he is slinging complete self serving bullsh*t. Ma Kettleman? She's worse than Bernie Madoff, in terms of complete self delusion in pursuit of being self serving. She can convince herself of anything when she wants to; I'd bet she'd easily convince herself that killing somebody was the right thing to do. Hell, Walter White had to work harder at rationalization than she does.  Pa Kettleman is worse than Skyler, from what we've seen; Mrs. Heisenberg would at least make a stab at telling the spouse that they were behaving immorally.

Edited February 24, 2015 by Bannon

[editorgrrl]

What really gets me about this show are the quiet moments. Like Jimmy's crestfallen face when Betsy Kettleman tells him he's the kind of lawyer guilty people hire. (Echoing Jesse calling Saul a criminal lawyer.) Or Jimmy trying to put the whammy on his answering machine by wiggling his fingers at it. (And when that finally pays off, it's with a whopping seven messages.)

[ElsieH]

I was totally cracking up at the Rush poster in Jimmy's (?) apartment. That doesn't seem like what he would have been into, and I wonder why they included it. As for the show, I really like how "slow" it is. It allows the writers to put little details in there that you might miss first time you watch it. And it just feels like it is very well planned and everything will make sense eventually, if you just stick around. BB was like that too in the beginning, and I really like that similarity. Plus, it's funny as hell... I died when Jimmy told Mike he was amazed at how dumb criminals are, and how it breaks his heart a little bit. So funny.

[shapeshifter]

...I'm over Chuck. His paranoia is not endearing to me, and he obviously will never accept Jimmy's antics. Skirting around the law, abusing it and using it to his advantage is the person Jimmy is and who Saul becomes. I think it's only because of Chuck that Jimmy has to change his name. He's certainly not going to do it for anyone else, unless he loses in court....

In this episode Jimmy and Chuck resembled each other more physically (to me), and reading this post, I realize they are in a way different sides of the same coin--assuming that Chuck's illness is psychosomatic and not grounded in physiology. Jimmy pretty much knows when he's scamming someone; Chuck does not.

ETA: I just realized that the Kettlemans are also different versions of that coin. They seemed to almost convince themselves that they earned the money that they stole.

Howard Hamlin learns the hard way that Jimmy McGill's got moves he's never seen.

http://previously.tv/better-call-saul/necessity-is-the-mother-of-personal-reinvention/

...And you know what, HOWARD? A little market confusion to Jimmy's advantage might have been the end of it if you hadn't hauled him in front of a judge to whine about the font your firm's been using for the past twelve years or the misappropriation of your precious "Hamlindigo Blue." This is a strategy that probably works all the time when you're dealing with other fat cats. You just didn't realize that Jimmy is a feral cat. He's got street smarts you'll never have, and when you corner him, he's going to fight back with all four limbs and jagged, broken teeth. Of course this is a setup...

Great review/synopsis! Edited February 24, 2015 by shapeshifter

[Bryce Lynch]

Good episode. Loved the scene with team Kettleman and Jimmy's HHM imitation scheme and the "rescue".

The scene where Chuck went to get the paper was good too. It really brought home how terrified he is of EM fields.

The one thing I hate is the Kim character. I find the show unbearably boring whenever she is on the screen.

[Quilt Fairy]

There were a lot of good lines in this episode, but here's one I laughed at that hasn't been mentioned yet:

Jimmy to Nacho: "And blood in the van? Seriously? Here's a thought for you - Ajax! Formula 409!"

[Bannon]

I get into more detail in the Chuck thread, but the neighbor seeing Chuck steal/buy the paper is going to have repercussions which last for the rest of the series, methinks. 

Edited February 24, 2015 by Bannon

[LoneHaranguer]

 

I died when Jimmy told Mike he was amazed at how dumb criminals are, and how it breaks his heart a little bit.

On average, someone who needs a public defender isn't going to be as smart as someone with the resources to hire their own lawyer, so he should have expected that in the clients he's seeing. Not that he won't find dumb upscale criminals too.

[peeayebee]

My guess is the money in the wallet on the ground was "fake" money.  You don't want to lose $1000 on the chance the scam fails.  Yeah, the guy from the bar jumped at the rolex when Jimmy said it was worth $3000.  He let him keep the $1000 found in the wallet on the ground and $500 from his own wallet.  So the scam net $500.  Share half with his fat partner.  Minus expenses such as the fake rolex watches and you are left with only beer money.

Yeah, I figured the money in the found wallet was fake, but what I don't understand is how Jimmy got the guy to give him money from his own wallet. Was there some dialog I missed? Maybe in some of the cons the chump pulls money from the found wallet and gives it to Jimmy in exchange for the watch.

Edited February 25, 2015 by peeayebee

[Umbelina]

The con was Jimmy had the watch, because he claimed it.  The dude basically bought a cheap watch from them, by giving them the money in the wallet, and everything he had on him.

[peeayebee]

I thought he kept all the money in the found wallet but gave Jimmy money from his own wallet for the watch. I'll have to rewatch.

 

I guess I have a mental block about this. I'm apparently the only one who doesn't get it. I do understand that the watch was fake, as was the money in the found wallet, and that the aim of Jimmy's con was to have the chump give him real money for the fake watch. It just seems to me that the scam could fail if the guy gives Jimmy some money from the found wallet instead of from his own.

[SoSueMe]

I'm the chumpiest chump who ever chumped, and I totally fell for Jimmy's billboard scam. When the guy said "took you long enough," I groaned. Like you, I felt in retrospect that the cold open should've tipped me off. But nope.

 

 

What's a cold open, please? TIA

I get into more detail in the Chuck thread, but the neighbor seeing Chuck steal/buy the paper is going to have repercussions which last for the rest of the series, methinks. 

A Gladys Kravitz situation perhaps? ( anyone remember "Bewitched"?)