S01.E05: Alpine Shepherd Boy

[jnymph]

The scene with the elderly owner of the Alpine Shepherd Boy only cemented my crush on Jaul. He was so cute and patient with her (well, at least, tried to come off as patient on the outside!)

 

Awww, that was endearingly cute.:) Duke2801- I think you're my "Jaul" soulmate. I also like when in the nursing home he said, "Ladies! You look lovely!" And he was so cute joking with the various elderly people playing games there. I've never seen "Matlock", was he emulating him ? Either way, I enjoyed it.

Also, cracked me up when he explained to Chuck why he was going into Elder law; and repeated verbatim what Kim said. LOL!

ETA: how many times have Duke2801 & I used the word "cute" describing Jaul? LOL

Edited March 6, 2015 by jnymph

[peeayebee]

I also like when in the nursing home he said, "Ladies! You look lovely!" And he was so cute joking with the various elderly people playing games there. I've never seen "Matlock", was he emulating him ? Either way, I enjoyed it.

I've seen some eps of Matlock. Let's just say I was watching them with my dad, ok? Anyway, IIRC Matlock wasn't like that. Saul was just making a subconscious positive impression on the elderly people, as they might associate him with Matlock.

[Ohwell]

I also like when in the nursing home he said, "Ladies! You look lovely!"

This is OT but I just had to remark on the fact that I think that compliments really do make a difference, especially to older people (or most of them anyway).  I used to take my mom to her doctors appointments and there was a female doctor she used to go to who was rather cold and clinical; my mom didn't like her and, therefore, didn't want to follow her instructions .  She changed doctors and got this really nice young man.  The day she went to see him she was wearing a hideous print blouse (I would never have told her that, of course).  When she sat down in front of him, the first thing out of his mouth was "I love your blouse!"  She just  melted, right then and there and couldn't stop smiling.  She did everything he asked her to.

 

So back on topic, Saul said absolutely the right thing and the nice thing is that he actually looked like he meant it.

[Milburn Stone]

So back on topic, Saul said absolutely the right thing and the nice thing is that he actually looked like he meant it.

 

Agree. One of the things that makes the show likable (as opposed to just darkly pleasurable) is that Saul doesn't seem to be the thoroughly cynical character he became. Sure, he realizes that Elder Law can be lucrative and might be just his salvation. But he also seems to genuinely sign on to the concept that, as Blonde Lawyer Lady put it, "it's a field in which you can do a lot of good." Who knew he'd even care about doing good?                  

[queenanne]

There's probably also some "pleasing my friend Kim, who is a Good Person and knows how good people should and would act", in his parroting of the Elder Law lines.

[Milburn Stone]

There's probably also some "pleasing my friend Kim, who is a Good Person and knows how good people should and would act", in his parroting of the Elder Law lines.

 

No doubt you're right. Still, it appears to me the "arc" of this show is beginning to take shape. And that arc is Jimmy McGill's own "breaking bad," so to speak: tracing the events that somehow turned Jimmy McGill not just into Saul Goodman, but turned a young lawyer who had decency in him (as well as indecency), a young lawyer who knew right from wrong and tried to stay on the side of right despite temptation, a young lawyer capable of love who found gratification (as well as profit) in helping people, into the thoroughly amoral character we saw in the first series. That's where the suspense is in Better Call Saul. 

Edited March 7, 2015 by Milburn Stone

[wrestlesflamingos]

Saul wasn't entirely immoral in BB. He had boundaries, lawyers getting shot.

[Jolie]

OMG! I think I just saw my future. I had to look up Alpine Shepard Boy, but sure enough, he's sitting in my curio cabinet. I got a collection of Hummels from my mom when she passed away.

 

I just finished BB on Nexflix a few weeks before BCS started, so the show is keeping me from missing BB too much. I like the slower pace and journey into knowing the characters. This is the first episode where I felt I could understand Chuck and his relationship with Jimmy. Earlier,I was confused as to what was wrong with him.

[Clanstarling]

I definitely thought it was his daughter-in-law.

I didn't remember Kaylie (?) having the same last name - but that doesn't exclude the woman from being Mike's daughter. Unless it was specifically indicated in BB (I don't remember), she could easily be his daughter - you don't need to be married to have a child.

 

The direct, almost expressionless, stare she levied at him seemed pretty much the same as his. Like father, like daughter, it seemed to me.

 

As for a triggering event for Chuck's condition, I imagine Jimmy had something to do with it. In the first show, it seemed as if Jimmy had at one time been part of the firm. I wonder if he was dismissed from the firm by doing something somewhat unethical (or was set up - I can see that odious partner setting him up). It couldn't have been huge, or he would have been disbarred. Chuck would have been deeply torn and traumatized by that, since he has such high standards and loves his brother.

Edited March 7, 2015 by clanstarling

[Umbelina]

OMG! I think I just saw my future. I had to look up Alpine Shepard Boy, but sure enough, he's sitting in my curio cabinet. I got a collection of Hummels from my mom when she passed away.

 

I just finished BB on Nexflix a few weeks before BCS started, so the show is keeping me from missing BB too much. I like the slower pace and journey into knowing the characters. This is the first episode where I felt I could understand Chuck and his relationship with Jimmy. Earlier,I was confused as to what was wrong with him.

I just googled, your Alpine Shepard Boy is for sale for $168.  Price may go up if BCS becomes a hit.

 

Wait, there are all kinds of Shepard Boys, and one is for sale for $1200! 

Edited March 7, 2015 by Umbelina

[shapeshifter]

This episode made me really feel for Chuck, instead of just finding him "interesting." And I give a lot of credit to Michael McKean for that. He's not just an excellent comic actor--he's an excellent actor.

One thing in particular I noticed in this ep. At times, his voice quality was uncannily like Bob Odenkirk's. There were moments when he was heard off-camera that I momentarily thought I was hearing Jimmy and not Chuck. And of course that makes sense if they are brothers. I believe McKean is actually attuning himself to Odenkirk's speech patterns and vocal sound so that he can create this similarity. Which blows me away.

I noticed him pronouncing the short a sound as it is only pronounced in certain Chicago areas, including Bob Odenkirk's native Naperville. After reading this post, I looked on Wikipedia and was surprised to read that McKean is from NY. Yes, they are supposed to be from that area (I think they said specifically Cicero and the South Side), but still, good job capturing that incredibly flat a.

BTW, to me, Michael McKean, will always be body-swapped Fox Mulder/David Duchovny.

Edited March 8, 2015 by shapeshifter

[WicketyWack]

The awkward high-five between Jimmy and Ricky was the cherry on the cake of this episode.

[Nashville]

I can't believe that Jimmy would ever becone Saul Goodman, t.v. lawyer pitchman, while Chuck is still alive, so I still think Chuck's a goner, even if I thought he'd be killed by the cops (the real life Albquerque Police Department's track record of handling mental illness calls made it completely credible) in this episode.

 

Well, they did kick in his door and Taser him over a fifty-cent newspaper - so they weren't that far off.  :)

 

The title alone is cracking me up. I love Jimmy as a lawyer for seniors. (Hey, better than trying to help some maroon in the suburbs patent his sex toilet! That dude was ridiculous. The best part was when he seemed totally perplexed that Jimmy saw it that way. I bet he and his wife have an incredibly vanilla sex life.)

 

Or, at least, he does.  Jury's still out of the wife.  Toilet Boy may want to invest in some DNA testing.

 

 

The way Jimmy nearly fell over himself to accept the wadded up $140 from her tells me the rest of those seven prospective clients on the answering machine last week didn't turn out any better.

 

I think Jimmy was simply glad to find a client willing to pay him with money which didn't feature self-portraiture.

 

I do think that is the cafe that Mike also met with Walter one time.

 

My first impression was, it was the Denny's where Walt got his birthday breakfast:

 

[editorgrrl]

Wasn't that Denny's in New Hampshire?

Mike ate breakfast in the same restaurant in which he will later meet Lydia. And Jimmy gave away Jell-O in Tio's nursing home. (I don't think he's there yet, though.)

Edited March 8, 2015 by editorgrrl

[Nashville]

Wasn't that Denny's in New Hampshire?

 

The Denny's was in ABQ; it was one of Walt's first stops after returning from NH.

[ShadowFacts]

I was sad when Jimmy was so happy to get the $140 in cash for the will, which he was assiduously trying to get right.  We are getting a many-faceted picture of Saul in the making, and I'm impressed.  This is exceeding my expectations, and they were pretty high to begin with. 

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Well, they did kick in his door and Taser him over a fifty-cent newspaper - so they weren't that far off.  :)

Chuck should have told the cops that the neighbor had agreed to sell the newspaper; legally, the $5 was an offer of trade that she accepted by not returning it.

[ShadowFacts]

Didn't he say that? Or was it to Jimmy later? Because I remember hearing $5 for a 50¢ paper.

[ghoulina]

He did state to them that he had paid for it, and overpaid for it - but the cop followed that up by asking if she had consented to that deal. 

[editorgrrl]

Chuck should have told the cops that the neighbor had agreed to sell the newspaper; legally, the $5 was an offer of trade that she accepted by not returning it.

 

That $5 bill was still fluttering in the breeze beneath a rock on the neighbor's driveway when the Five-O rolled up. She was under no obligation to come knocking on her crazy neighbor's door to return the money.

 

He did state to them that he had paid for it, and overpaid for it - but the cop followed that up by asking if she had consented to that deal. 

 

Yep. Chuck said, "I have a condition. I can't go outside or be exposed to what's out there," to which one of the cops calmly replied, "You were able to come outside to steal your neighbor's newspaper." Chuck said, "I didn't steal it—I left $5. The cover price is 50 cents," and the cop asked, "Did your neighbor consent to sell you her paper?"

 

Jimmy would've been able to quickly de-escalate the situation with his gift of gab. Chuck started lecturing the cops about probable cause.

[bmoore4026]

I can't really condemn Chuck, because I, too, have a condition that would be considered "special needs" and will probably need help once my parents pass on.  I don't know what to make of him because, yes, he can come across as a bit irritating but condemning him for that feels like condemning myself, also.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

That $5 bill was still fluttering in the breeze beneath a rock on the neighbor's driveway when the Five-O rolled up. She was under no obligation to come knocking on her crazy neighbor's door to return the money.

True, but she could have had the cops return the $5, and didn't; she was hoping to end up with both the newspaper and the money.

[Catherinewriter]

I've seen all the shows to date and I'm confused about Pete. What was all that stuff at the end - his reading a book in his security cubicle, a car pulling into the lot, his sitting in his car watching a woman (who, you all say, is probably his daughter-in-law), and then his being arrested. Is there a backstory to this that I've missed, even seeing all the episodes? 

 

I love Jimmy and I love Bob Odenkirk. I hate it that he's going to turn into a less fine person than he is now. That is all. 

[editorgrrl]

That's Mike (not Pete). This show really likes to dole out information in dribs & drabs. You haven't missed any clues—you just have to place your trust in TPTB and enjoy the ride.

[Catherinewriter]

Thanks, editorgrrl, I don't know where I got Pete. But good to know my brain isn't dying.

 

Such a good show.  

[ByTor]

I just finished listening to the insider podcast for this episode, and it answered a few questions we've had.

[snip]

-The diner where Mike has breakfast is the same one where Walt and Lydia met.[snip]

I KNEW that diner looked familiar!

[wrestlesflamingos]

I can't really condemn Chuck, because I, too, have a condition that would be considered "special needs" and will probably need help once my parents pass on.  I don't know what to make of him because, yes, he can come across as a bit irritating but condemning him for that feels like condemning myself, also.

 

This is a very honest thought. I'd ask you to consider that scripted material wants you to feel a certain way, it intentionally builds thoughts like the ones you are struggling with above. While each person will react in their own way, and have their own raw spots, be careful about judging yourself for ideas that are part of the plot. You aren't Chuck even if you can identify with him.

[peggy06]

Think I just saw Alpine Shepherd Boy at my local Goodwill. He was pretty beat up, but only 99 cents. I am not sure if this legacy is going to prove all the lady expects it to be.

[MaryPatShelby]

I didn't think the nurse Mike was watching was his daughter. I thought it was a nurse who was taking care of an elder relative of Mike's who died. Mike feels she's responsible. There may have been a hearing that determined she was not responsible, but Mike still blames her and has periodically harassed her.

Is this from Breaking Bad?

[editorgrrl]

Is this from Breaking Bad?

Stacey is Mike's daughter-in-law, the mother of his grand-daughter Kaylee. She was only seen briefly in Breaking Bad, played by an extra.

Edited to add that peeayebee was mistaken.

Edited June 13, 2015 by editorgrrl

[peeayebee]

Yeah, that was just my speculation.

[paramitch]

Just in case it helps, I just watched this episode, and the scene in the hospital is fairly unambiguous.

 

The doctor (Clea Duvall) quietly turns on the electricity to the hospital bed and Chuck doesn't notice. The doc exchanges meaningful looks with Jimmy and Kim, and then a moment later, she and Jimmy step aside for a quiet conversation. Jimmy accuses her of a "cheap trick" (clearly showing that Chuck's illness is psychosomatic) and the doctor responds that the guy needs help. Jimmy admits that it's psychosomatic but also "not that simple," and that he's not ready to institutionalize his brother.

 

So it's presented pretty clearly -- at least within the show -- (along with the sly moments where Chuck is instantly fine once Jimmy does what he wants) that Chuck's electric allergy is actually a completely mental illness versus a physical one.

Edited March 25, 2016 by paramitch