Jimmy McGill: Go, Land Crabs!

[Lalo Lives]

Jimmy/Gene also changed his Rusty Nail habit and went to straight SCOTCH.

[Constantinople]

Subject: Inconsistencies Between BB & BCS about Jimmy/Saul/Gene

It occurred to me this thread would be more appropriate to discuss inconsistencies, or alleged inconsistencies, between BB and BCS over Jimmy's life story, than in an episode thread that doesn't touch on the inconsistency.

Background:

In the Waterworks thread (BCS S6 E13) we've been discussing whether Jimmy's stated reasons for practicing law under the name Saul Goodman are inconsistent. In the Better Call Saul episode of Breaking Bad (BB S2 E8), Saul tells Walt, "My real name's McGill. The Jew thing I just do for the homeboys. They all want a pipe-hittin' member of the tribe, so to speak." In Magic Man (BCS S5 E1), Jimmy tells Kim he'll be drafting law under the name Saul Goodman because the criminals of Albuquerque already know him under that name from selling  burner phones to them.

An Example:

In Full Measure (BB S3 E13), Saul told Walt, "Believe me, money laundering ain't what it used to be. God, do I miss the '80s". I think we're meant to take that quote sincerely.

Yet according to the timeline in the Breaking Bad wiki, Jimmy didn't move to Albuquerque until 1992 (after the unfortunate "Chicago Sunroof" incident). Before then he was Slipping' Jimmy in Cicero, performing small time scams. There's no reason Jimmy would have to engage in any kind of money laundering in the 80s, other than the very basic kind of never depositing $10,000 or more in a bank in a single transaction.

For the context of the scene in Full Measure (BB S3 E13), Saul is driving Walt to meet Jesse at the Laser Tag place where Jesse is hiding. On the way Saul is talking about money laundering and trying to convince Walt to use the laser tag place to launder money instead of a car wash. Or, in case his car has been bugged, Saul may be saying that to provide a plausible explanation for why Saul is driving Walt to the Laser Tag place. But there's no indication Saul is lying about laundering money in the 80s.

[Starchild]

Since we can only offer speculation on the topic, it's also possible that Saul threw that out there as a reputation-enhancer. A surface-level, off-the-cuff statement to say "don't worry, my advice is sound, I've been doing this for decades." 

Of course, anyone digging into his background could uncover that as a lie, but he's banking on his client accepting it at face value.

[Spartan Girl]

Regardless of when the exact moment was that Jimmy changed his mind and decided to confess everything and accept the consequences, I have to grudgingly admire how he decided to go out his way—in his flashiest suit, making one last courtroom spectacular. True Saul Goodman-style, indeed.