S02.E10: Klick

[jnymph]

Even though Chuck has the recording, Jimmy could still say he was "just saying it" to prevent his brother from freaking out.  

 

I dunno.   For a regular season episode it would have been OK, but for a season finale, it was kind of boring. Not much happened.  

 

Not much of Kim.  That sucked.

[ByTor]

Not much of Kim.  That sucked.

But when we did see her, she had her hair in her signature ponytail, complete with Cindy Brady-esque curl :)

[peeayebee]

I think the dialogue between Jimmy and Chuck before the great "taping" was revealing.  I think, personally, while Jimmy clearly has a blind spot about Chuck, he knows that Chuck is out to undermine him at every turn.  He says so, point blank, when he's teasing him about not retiring -- "You haven't gotten me disbarred yet or run me out of town on a rail!", says Jimmy.  We now know he is completely aware of Chuck's goals.  And, I really don't think Jimmy was kidding either himself or Chuck about the reality of what he was saying -- even though it was with a light-hearted tone.

 

So, I think Jimmy is all too aware of Chuck's goals.  I just don't think he really cares.  His goals, Jimmy's goals, are to take care of Chuck and to still need his approval at every turn.

I agree with you to a point. I wouldn't say that Jimmy doesn't care that Chuck is out to get him. In this situation, Jimmy believes that Chuck has gone so much further into his mental illness than ever before. He doesn't recognize it as a scam. He also believes that Chuck needs to keep working to keep his mind occupied and distracted from his phobia. Jimmy tells him the truth to reassure Chuck that he's super smart, that his mind is sharp as ever.

 

Jimmy would never guess that Chuck has a tape recorder hidden. After all, he does say that it's his word against Chuck's. 

 

I don't know what Jimmy would have done if someone else had been present. Maybe, as others have suggested, he simply would have privately told the other person that he pretended in order to pull Chuck out of his destructive mindset.

Edited April 20, 2016 by peeayebee

[shapeshifter]

I think we saw Nacho through Mike's eyes just before the horn started sounding. He might have gotten somebody else to do it, but that would probably be too dangerous, he wanted no one to know of his connection to Mike. The person might have walked from a car parked more distantly. I don't know who it is, but a note wasn't really necessary, the jammed branch to the horn did the job. I have a feeling that type of piece of paper will come into play and Mike will get a clue as to who did it.

While I think Nacho being the root of the Don't note makes more sense given what we've actually seen (no mention of Fring on screen), I have to agree that writing the note doesn't fit with Nacho having had someone else do it. And I don't think there's any way Nacho could have gotten to the car and back to stand between Hector and Mike. Maybe if Nacho phoned the gun dealer? I could see him writing the note. Edited April 20, 2016 by shapeshifter

[TVFan17]

I'm not familiar with Chris Hardwick and/or his connection to either BB or BCS.  I can always Google his position with the show but that won't tell me why people here have a problem/don't have a problem with him.

 

What's the deal?  If any kind soul has the time or inclination to explain?  (Thanks in advance!)

 

I think that Chris Hardwick does stand-up comedy here and there.  I don't know if that's where he originally came from, but now he also has a show on Comedy Central too (it might be a sort of hybrid game/talk show, but I only saw it once so I am not sure).  Chris is primarily associated with Talking Dead on AMC, and that's how I became familiar with him.  He started that after The Walking Dead maybe 5 years ago or so.   Now, while TWD is gone for 6 months, he is doing Talking Dead for the newer show, Fear the Walking Dead.

 

Even though Breaking Bad was on AMC before The Walking Dead ever premiered, Chris didn't do the Talking Bad after-show for BB until the final 8 episodes of BB aired in 2013.  So far he has only done the 2 episodes of Talking Saul, so I would have to imagine that he will return for at least a couple of Talking Saul episodes in 2017.

 

If I am not mistaken, Chris is engaged to someone from the famous Hearst family.  He was also recently seen at Disneyland, enjoying the assorted Star Wars-related things, and at Universal Studios, enjoying the new Harry Potter stuff.  

 

I think that his excited fanboy kind of energy is appealing to some and a turn-off to others.  I think he brings a nice enthusiasm to the shows.  I don't have a problem with him, but some of his guests seem to take to him more than others.

 

 

 

Anyway, while I respect the opinions of others who aren't quite as fond of this here show as I am, I guess I don't really understand the "rinse and repeat" complaints, or the view that the show is running in place or in circles or whatever. Especially coming from people who enjoyed BB. Because I think BCS is pretty much a carbon copy of the slow burn storytelling people so loved and admired on BB. There were any number of BB episodes that were talky to the extreme, and where very little actually happened/progressed. I mean... "The Fly" anyone? Hell, I would assert that Jesse's whole series-long storyline was a case of rinse and repeat. Walt/Jesse, Walt/Skyler, the ever-increasing badness of the neverending parade of big bads... all that stuff was -- at its core -- just a seasons-long tug of war. Back and forth, back and forth. Yet it was riveting like few other shows before or since. But I do remember that in the early days (let's just say for purposes of this particular discussion... oh, around the end of season two) lots of folks weren't so sure the whole thing wasn't destined to end up being a big ol' ball of crap. Well, we see how that turned out. But I know that many of my friends got frustrated enough with BB to have tuned out, only to tune back in for the final season and say things like "Holy mother of crap was that a bad call. I can't believe I've been missing out on THIS all this time." Anyway, I would assert that the particular Gilliganesque™ method of storytelling is the one thing BCS shares most with BB, moreso than even the characters of Jimmy/Saul, Mike, the Salamancas, etc. And in my personal opinion, BCS has been every bit as riveting as BB ever was. A whole different show, no doubt. Different, but... the same. Does that even make sense? Not just because they're "in the same world" and share characters and setting, but because they share such similar tone, similar pathos, similar "feel."

 

With both shows, I often feel(/felt) like I -- myself, as a viewer -- am standing in quicksand. Or struggling to trudge through knee-deep mud. Something like that. It's just that I consider that a good thing, not at all an annoyance. I think it's 100% intentional, it's what we're supposed to feel, it's supposed to be frustrating, because we are in fact trudging through the mud of these characters' lives and struggling to get anywhere, just like they are. I think it's brilliant, and I love that Gilligan is so skilled at being able to put us there, and that he has the balls to dare to make his viewers feel that way. Because I can't imagine it's "good for business" to go that route. But it's why his shows are so goddamned compelling and unique. (In my opinion, anyway.)

 

 

The Fly episode of BB was not my favorite, although it was pivotal in that Walt came close to revealing to Jesse what he had done (or not done, as the case may be), and didn't.

 

There were various scenarios in BB that were possibly retreads of previous scenarios, but it comes down to personal preference.  Quite simply, I just enjoyed Breaking Bad more than I enjoy Better Call Saul.  (That is probably not something that anyone should be admitting to in a BCS thread, but I am keeping it real.)  I liked the stories, surprises and plot developments better on that show than what I see on BCS.

 

BCS is not a bad show, by any stretch -- and the acting is great on BCS, even in the stories that bore me -- but I was riveted to what was happening in BB much of the time.  I think that Bryan Cranston is a superb actor -- completely worthy of every Emmy and Tony that he received, and is certain to one day get an Oscar.   I was always 100% entertained and intrigued whenever Walt was onscreen, whether he was being nerdy, funny, hyper-intelligent or devious and calculating.   Even in episodes that were more dialogue-driven and talky than others, I didn't mind because I was engrossed in what was happening most of the time.  Plus, I just preferred the Walt-Jesse dynamic over the Jimmy-Chuck dynamic.

 

Then, in addition to Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, I enjoyed Mike, Gus, Hector, The Cousins, Hank, Gomez and Tuco on BB.  I liked Tuco better on BB than I do on BCS!  I think I liked Hector better on BB than on BCS.  I like Mike equally on BB and BCS.  The Cousins are menacing on both shows, but they were reallllllly ominous on BB.   If and when Gus finally appears, I am hoping that he is just as enigmatic and charismatic as he was on BB. 

 

As for Jimmy/Saul.... I like Jimmy as a more fully realized character on BCS than what we saw on BB, but I liked the occasional moments of Saul humor sprinkled in here and there on BB more than I like following the whole Jimmy-Chuck story on BCS.

 

Ideally, I'd like to see more scenes with Jimmy and Mike together, and fewer scenes with Jimmy and Chuck.

Edited April 20, 2016 by Sherry67

[Tikichick]

My only dissatisfaction is the season's over already. 

 

IMO Chuck can't see any good in Jimmy because he cannot see beyond his jealousy that his parents never wavered in their love for Jimmy, and then Rebecca was seemingly charmed by him when they met, despite no doubt being advised beforehand of all of his many flaws.  On the flip side, Jimmy can't see beyond his admiration and love for Chuck, despite knowing what a conniving human being he can be AND now knowing that Chuck sabotaged his future at HHM and hid behind Howard.  Jimmy's stuck believing he'll never measure up to Chuck, Chuck saved his bacon and they're brothers at the end of the day.  He has no idea Chuck loathes him and needs him to be the useless brother to bolster his image as the smart, wonderful and morally upright brother. 

 

I still feel we're going to find out Rebecca was driven away by Chuck's need to be always right and always in control.  And of course to Chuck Jimmy will be the cause of it since things were fine until Jimmy came to town.  When Jimmy accepts Chuck's hatred of him we may truly finally see Saul Goodman come to life. 

[Cthulhudrew]

Echoing the sentiment that it seems a bit strange that Slippin' Jimmy didn't detect his brother's con, but I guess we all have blind spots, often when it comes to relatives.

[nodorothyparker]

 

Yes, Chuck is right about everything (Jimmy did set him up), but he is now so odious, very few people care.

 

 

I care.  I don't like Chuck very much as a person and I certainly wouldn't want him as my brother, but I find him fascinating as a character study and I can't remember when I've seen such a corrosively toxic yet wholly realistic sibling dynamic like this on TV.  The whole thing is a Shakespearean level kind of tragedy.  Chuck by all conventional measure of success should be on top of the world.  He's smart and successful to the point of having his name on a building.  Yet he's living like a meth-addled squatter in real danger of being committed, and instead of doing anything to even try to help himself he's completely fixated on destroying the brother he blames for it all.

 

All that said, I can agree that we do need to see some forward movement on this story going into season 3.   The brothers can only escalate so much and so many times before there's real fallout and Jimmy has an inevitable date with Saul Goodman and then the Omaha Cinnabon he has to get to.  And like any good tragic figure in Shakespeare, it's probably not going to end well at all for Chuck.

[Uncle Benzene]

Ideally, I'd like to see more scenes with Jimmy and Mike together, and fewer scenes with Jimmy and Chuck.

 

No argument there, that's for sure!

[shapeshifter]

On the flip side, Jimmy can't see beyond his admiration and love for Chuck, despite knowing what a conniving human being he can be...

Reading this made me think that Chuck is the role model for Slippin' Jimmy.

[benteen]

So Chuck exploited Jimmy's weak spot - his basic human decency - with his cunning passive-aggressiveness.  Point Chuck.  However, when I thought about what his secret recording of Jimmy's confession would yield, it softened the blow of this cliffhanger.

 

If Chuck brings the tape into the office and plays it for Howard, he of course will be vindicated.  Howard will no longer think he's incompetent, suffering from the onset of Alzheimer's, think he's finally gone over the edge with his disorder, or whatever.  However, Howard will also know that Chuck was easily compromised by Jimmy, which still makes Chuck look bad.  And he'll probably seriously reconsider allowing sensitive documents to be taken out of the office, which hinders Chuck's ability to work from home.  So it's a tainted vindication.

 

If Chuck makes the tape available to Mesa Verde, Kim probably loses the account, and Chuck is again vindicated for being labelled incompetent.  But he now has a new label as the lawyer who lets his documents get doctored by his crazy brother.  So Mesa Verde won't be coming back to HHM and Chuck still looks bad.

 

If Chuck brings the recording to the authorities, Jimmy gets disbarred, and gets sent up the river.  Sweet revenge.  Now Chuck is alone, Ernesto won't help him anymore, and his downhill spiral accelerates.

 

So all-in-all, Chuck really gains very little if anything from bringing Jimmy down with that recording, and he stands to lose a lot more.

 

If this tape gets out, Mesa Verde needs to separate themselves from both HHM and Kim.  They've been the only real victims of the McGill Brothers Pissing Contest.

[Conan Troutman]

There were various scenarios in BB that were possibly retreads of previous scenarios, but it comes down to personal preference.  Quite simply, I just enjoyed Breaking Bad more than I enjoy Better Call Saul.  (That is probably not something that anyone should be admitting to in a BCS thread, but I am keeping it real.)  I liked the stories, surprises and plot developments better on that show than what I see on BCS.

I liked the first two seasons of BCS more than the first two seasons of BB (it's more refined right out of the gate, it feels more polished and elegantly plotted, where in BB we had a revolving door of antagonists that didn't make that neat arc that BCS had so far). Season three was where BB really picked up steam, especially with the Gus plot. Now whether BCS can reach those heights remains to be seen and I'm somewhat skeptical, simply because those last three seasons were some of the best seasons of TV ever made. But if the remainder of BCS falls just short, I won't complain.

[henripootel]

I've always felt that a big part of Jimmy wants to be slippin' Jimmy, but there is another....smaller part that feels he doesn't deserve to be anyone but slippin' Jimmy.

I see it differently.  I refer you to Acts 9:18: "Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized."  I think Jimmy's just had a graduate course in the 'nobility' of legal profession, and the real pros like Chuck are just as bad as everybody else, in their way.  Kim sees it now too, that the much of 'respectable' nature of HHM is just posturing and pretense.  In the end there's not much to choose from between them and Slippin' Jimmy, except better suits and more savory clients.  Who's to say that Slippin' Jimmy is less worthy?

 

Edit: if 'Acts 9:18' shows up as an episode title, Mr. Gilligan, I'm gonna have to ask for a 'Previously TV' shout-out. 

Edited April 20, 2016 by henripootel

[nodorothyparker]

The lack of Jimmy and Mike time is a definite issue.  I don't need them to be best buddies hanging out because that's not what their relationship ever was, but I do like watching them play off each other and want to see more of it.  I realize some of this is a matter of necessity because Jimmy hasn't crossed over yet into that life, but at times it really has felt like I was watching two entirely separate shows that just happened to be sharing a space kind of like Kim and Jimmy are trying to do.  Hey, maybe that was supposed to be an actual metaphor for the show at large.

 

I am amused that Mike has a seemingly endless supply of different colored nondescript cars available to him.  

[TVFan17]

I liked the first two seasons of BCS more than the first two seasons of BB (it's more refined right out of the gate, it feels more polished and elegantly plotted, where in BB we had a revolving door of antagonists that didn't make that neat arc that BCS had so far). Season three was where BB really picked up steam, especially with the Gus plot. Now whether BCS can reach those heights remains to be seen and I'm somewhat skeptical, simply because those last three seasons were some of the best seasons of TV ever made. But if the remainder of BCS falls just short, I won't complain.

 

That's true -- the last 3 seasons of BB were outstanding, and the pace of the show definitely accelerated, as did the intensity, sense of danger and so on.

 

Even if I don't like BCS quite as much as BB so far (and that is always subject to change, as BCS isn't over yet), it's still a good show and much better than so much of what's on TV these days.  It's a much more finely-crafted show than others.  And -- although I am a regular, avid viewer of The Walking Dead too -- I think that the acting of most of the people on BCS is better than the acting of many of the people on TWD (with the exception of Melissa McBride, Lennie James and a couple of others).

[henripootel]

I am amused that Mike has a seemingly endless supply of different colored nondescript cars available to him.

I'd say a quarter mill of cartel money comes in handy.  

I think we saw Nacho through Mike's eyes just before the horn started sounding.  He might have gotten somebody else to do it, but that would probably be too dangerous, he wanted no one to know of his connection to Mike.

This is why I'm quite sure it wasn't Nacho.  I could see him warning off Mike if there was some way to do that without compromising himself, but warning anyone else about Mike would mean Nacho'd end up in a hole in the desert too.  Had to be somebody else, and I'm hoping I know who.

[RCharter]

I see it differently.  I refer you to Acts 9:18: "Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized."  I think Jimmy's just had a graduate course in the 'nobility' of legal profession, and the real pros like Chuck are just as bad as everybody else, in their way.  Kim sees it now too, that the much of 'respectable' nature of HHM is just posturing and pretense.  In the end there's not much to choose from between them and Slippin' Jimmy, except better suits and more savory clients.  Who's to say that Slippin' Jimmy is less worthy?

 

Edit: if 'Acts 9:18' shows up as an episode title, Mr. Gilligan, I'm gonna have to ask for a 'Previously TV' shout-out. 

I'm gonna give you a shout out right now for going all biblical on our asses.

[Umbelina]

I see it differently.  I refer you to Acts 9:18: "Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized."  I think Jimmy's just had a graduate course in the 'nobility' of legal profession, and the real pros like Chuck are just as bad as everybody else, in their way.  Kim sees it now too, that the much of 'respectable' nature of HHM is just posturing and pretense.  In the end there's not much to choose from between them and Slippin' Jimmy, except better suits and more savory clients.  Who's to say that Slippin' Jimmy is less worthy?

 

Edit: if 'Acts 9:18' shows up as an episode title, Mr. Gilligan, I'm gonna have to ask for a 'Previously TV' shout-out. 

Oh, I love that.  I love the idea of Jimmy finally seeing Chuck for what he really is, but I was thinking of it more "as his hateful brother" but I really love the idea of Jimmy also judging Chuck as a lawyer. 

 

The lack of Jimmy and Mike time is a definite issue.  I don't need them to be best buddies hanging out because that's not what their relationship ever was, but I do like watching them play off each other and want to see more of it.  I realize some of this is a matter of necessity because Jimmy hasn't crossed over yet into that life, but at times it really has felt like I was watching two entirely separate shows that just happened to be sharing a space kind of like Kim and Jimmy are trying to do.  Hey, maybe that was supposed to be an actual metaphor for the show at large.

 

I am amused that Mike has a seemingly endless supply of different colored nondescript cars available to him.  

Yeah, for me, the two Breaking Bad characters are the magic of this show, and when they do get scenes together, double magic.  I really hoped that newer characters, people who had never been on BB would really capture my attention, make me want to watch them as much as I enjoyed watching the parade of fascinating people on BB.  So far though?  Sigh. 

 

Kim's getting there, the last part of this season gave her some good stuff to do.  I still have no idea why she'd chose to work solo, with Jimmy, rather than stay on a partner track at the other firm, but I have hopes that will be fleshed out by the writers.  There has been some excellent fan-wanking and speculation about possible reason by posters here.  (Started with her not saying the town she was from during the interview.)

 

Ernesto has possibilities, and there is chemistry there, maybe they will continue to use him?  Rebecca interested me, and even though it will probably just be another example of Jimmy harming Chuck (in Chuck's mind) I still want to see it play out.  That actress, and the writing there was well done.  I'd like to see her again, and can hope there is more to her than just another reason Chuck feels justified in destroying his brother.

 

I'd say a quarter mill of cartel money comes in handy.  

This is why I'm quite sure it wasn't Nacho.  I could see him warning off Mike if there was some way to do that without compromising himself, but warning anyone else about Mike would mean Nacho'd end up in a hole in the desert too.  Had to be somebody else, and I'm hoping I know who.

I really don't think it was Nacho.  Although I agree that Nacho might be involved with the person who left the note.  I can't see how it would be possible for Nacho to simply slip out, and walk however far away Mike was parked, leave a quick note, and then slip back in for more torture and the eventual murder of the driver.

 

My main problem with that scene is how the note leaver, and even Mike got there unobserved.  He had to be on the same road, or how could he have followed them, so the whole roads not connecting thing doesn't really work for me.   It's possible that Mike already knew the location and came a different way, because he thought that's where they were headed, but those are pretty big IFS and we weren't shown any of it.

 

Nice tension there though.  Still, I kind of hope we can move past the Mike watches alone from a distance thing soon.  Restaurants, garages, and now desert hideouts, and Banks makes the most of those scenes, but I like to hear him talk occasionally.

 

But as I mentioned upthread, it wouldn't be easy for him to explain the whole part about how he did it for Kim. The obvious false confession would be "You were exactly right about how I sabotaged your papers! And you were right that I did it to humiliate you!" not "You were exactly right about the sabotage, but let me spell out in specific detail and with obvious emotion why I did it for the sake of my girlfriend."

 

I think it would be pretty easy.

 

He could simply say he was repeating the wild ideas  Chuck already accused Jimmy of earlier.

Edited April 20, 2016 by Umbelina

[Dev F]

While I definitely see where you're coming from, I could also see Chuck never missing an opportunity to make his parents keenly aware of just how much a burden they were on him. Constantly talking about his being the first in the family to go to college (and on a full ride, no less, "without ANY HELP FROM YOU!") and how he FINALLY got out of Cicero and was gonna "finally make something of the McGill name" and other such assholery.

 

To me that doesn't seem consistent with the Chuck who speaks with such fondness of his father as "the personification of good," whom everyone in the neighborhood loved. If anything, the fact that he immediately follows it up with "I was named after him" suggests that what Chuck really wanted was to be his father -- the man of unfailing decency whom everyone admired and adored. A large part of his resentment probably stems from the fact that he sees himself as having worked so hard to follow in Chuck Sr.'s footsteps, morally speaking, only to discover that his sleazy little brother is the one everyone loves.

 

If Chuck brings the tape into the office and plays it for Howard, he of course will be vindicated.  Howard will no longer think he's incompetent, suffering from the onset of Alzheimer's, think he's finally gone over the edge with his disorder, or whatever.  However, Howard will also know that Chuck was easily compromised by Jimmy, which still makes Chuck look bad.  And he'll probably seriously reconsider allowing sensitive documents to be taken out of the office, which hinders Chuck's ability to work from home.  So it's a tainted vindication.

 

I actually think this is the most interesting possibility. I've mentioned before that I think Howard and Jimmy are sort of kindred spirits, in that they're more about the flash and hustle of the law than the precise adherence to rules and principles. So it would be interesting if Chuck took the proof of Jimmy's sabotage to his partner only to discover that Howard would rather keep it all a secret for the good of the agency. Which would nicely echo the growing moral gulf between Jimmy and Kim.

 

Even though Chuck has the recording, Jimmy could still say he was "just saying it" to prevent his brother from freaking out.

 

But as I mentioned upthread, it wouldn't be easy for him to explain the whole part about how he did it for Kim. The obvious false confession would be "You were exactly right about how I sabotaged your papers! And you were right that I did it to humiliate you!" not "You were exactly right about the sabotage, but let me spell out in specific detail and with obvious emotion why I did it for the sake of my girlfriend."

My main problem with that scene is how the note leaver, and even Mike got there unobserved.  He had to be on the same road, or how could he have followed them, so the whole roads not connecting thing doesn't really work for me.

 

Wait, didn't we see earlier in the episode that Mike wasn't on the same road? He follows his quarry until they turn off onto a private road behind a locked gate, yes? And then he goes up the main to spy on them?

[ByTor]

Then, in addition to Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, I enjoyed Mike, Gus, Hector, The Cousins, Hank, Gomez and Tuco on BB.  I liked Tuco better on BB than I do on BCS!  I think I liked Hector better on BB than on BCS.  I like Mike equally on BB and BCS.  The Cousins are menacing on both shows, but they were reallllllly ominous on BB.   If and when Gus finally appears, I am hoping that he is just as enigmatic and charismatic as he was on BB.

Responding in the Gilligan's Islands thread...

[Umbelina]

Wait, didn't we see earlier in the episode that Mike wasn't on the same road? He follows his quarry until they turn off onto a private road behind a locked gate, yes? And then he goes up the main to spy on them?

 

Was that at this location, if so I missed it.  Still, it would be the same road getting there, then a last minute turn off?

 

It's just such a big wide open space, and maybe I've seen to much wonderful use of it on BB, especially scenes where you see the dust of cars on those dirt roads from miles away.  I suppose it could have just rained and the roads weren't so dusty, but it didn't seem damp.  That stuff is the kind of slow I usually love from this team, just how it's all done, showing us. 

Edited April 20, 2016 by Umbelina

[BeatrixK]

I am only familiar with CH from the after-shows for The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead and Better Call Saul. I am pretty sure that he is well known to younger kids from MTV or Comedy Central maybe.

I like him, he seems very smart and witty and on the ball. Fairly sincere as these types go. I can only venture that some might think he is glib and benefiting unfairly from the success of the main shows?  Different strokes, I guess.

 

Showing my age - but Hardwick used to host some dating show on MTV like, 20 years ago or something with Jenny McCarthy.  For the lift of me, I can't recall the name of it.

 

And Chuck still sucks.

[ChipBach]

Just a few random thoughts:

 

Is it legal for Chuck to record his conversation with Jimmy without Jimmy's knowledge?

 

Doesn't the fact that Chuck had recorded his conversation with Jimmy, make Chuck a person that can't be trusted?  I mean, who in their right mind would ever have a conversation with Chuck after he pulls this type of stunt, regardless of Chuck's reason for doing so?  What law firm would want Chuck to work for them after this stunt?

 

I do wonder if Jimmy sabotages himself on purpose.  That he knows that he can get away with all sorts of crap, and people will still like him more than his brother (Chuck).

 

Chuck shouldn't be angry at Jimmy.  Chuck should be angry at the people that enable Jimmy.

In most states single party consent is OK in most taped conversations.

[Umbelina]

It's legal in Nevada, according to a recapper who checked.  Not sure about phone conversations, but face-to-face, yes.

[Bryce Lynch]

The thing is, I don't remember him choosing his words all that carefully. He said he bribed the guy, and he specifically said he changed the address to 1216. I remember thinking "oh no! don't Jimmy, don't give him all that detail!" And when Chuck asked him "do you just realize you confessed to a felony" he said he did. And he confirmed he didn't just say it to placate Chuck.

I think it especially stung, because Chuck did EVERYTHING RIGHT. Including denying himself food so he could be there by her side. And even when he told her, with hope in voice, that he was Chuck, she was still asking for Jimmy. Jimmy, who wasn't as dutiful a son and went out for cold cuts.

And for that, to some degree, I blame the parents. I realize Jimmy was lovable and Chuck maybe wasn't, but I suspect Chuck lived with that sort of favortism his entire life, and it seems wrong to have two children and to so obviously favor one over the other.

But the thing for me is that Howard has shown flashes of being interesting and fascinating.

We see that slick back veneer, but then it peels back and we see something different. We see that he liked Jimmy, but didn't hire him because of Chuck. We see that Howard protects Chuck's secret, even though it earns him Jimmy's eternal hatred. It doesn't fit with the slick shyster, sell your mother down the river image. He clearly has some sort of feeling for Kim....I'm not sure if its envy, pride, hate. He forgave her school debt, even though she was leaving the firm. He expressed how much he wanted to do what she is doing, even though he is senior partner at a large firm.

I'll be fine with whatever the writers do, because they are great, but I certainly wouldn't mind more Howard (it doesn't hurt that he is easy on the eyes)

I don't have a problem with Howard, but I don't find him all that fascinating either. Solid filler character so far.

Personally, I would rather see a lot more Mike vs the Cartel and Jimmy's new practice, with some colorful clients, than have the writers spend time developing Howard further.

In most states single party consent is OK in most taped conversations.

New Mexico is a single party consent state. The recording could be used against Jimmy, just like Walt's confession to Jesse could have been, if Hank had gotten Heisenberg back to the DEA right away, instead of wasting time gloating and calling Marie. :)

[Captanne]

Thanks for all the insight on Chris Hardwick.  Someone way upthread mentioned that "Mike"'s actor (whose name escapes me right now which blows my mind because I've been watching him like a hawk since his Wiseguy days......) ANYway, someone said that Mike's actor didn't like Hardwick and my impression was that Hardwick was some sort of new producer or writer or director.  Iow, someone Mike has to work with and that's why (that someone) was complaining about a performance or general happiness/unhappiness on the set.

 

ALL of that was a weird little misunderstanding on my part (or a misreading of the post) and I now see that he's some sort of strange comedian asked to comment on a show after it's aired?  I mean, okay, but why does anyone really care what he thinks?  (I don't watch those commentaries so I clearly don't.  LOL)  I'm sure he's a guy with wonderful opinions but why are his more significant than any other nice guy comedian's?  Why is he even in the mix?  

 

I think I'm kind of making a bigger deal of him than he really is.  So, never mind?  I guess?  (Ugh.  Now I've confused myself.)

[scenario]

Jimmy wanted Chuck to snap out of his depression. Chuck needs to focus on something. Jimmy figures if Chuck focuses on him, he would  snap out of it. Chucks a lawyer. He's going to want method,opportunity, and motive. He had the first two, Jimmy supplied the third. Since he was innocent, Jimmy was sure he wouldn't find anything. He was challenging Chuck to get out of the house and live with the biggest motivation he could think of.  

[ShadowFacts]

In the first season's last episode, we see Jimmy walking away from the Davis and Main job interview, blowing past Mike in the parking lot booth (I think), 'Smoke on the Water' playing.   Then the first episode this season walks that back and he takes the job.  I'm not criticizing that, I think it worked really well to see him try and just not fit into the staight-laced world of a conventional law firm.  But I was wondering how it would look if they do something similar next season, where the whole huge melodrama of the foil wallpaper and confession and tape recording is somehow downplayed or reversed.  I think it would work well to have it totally backfire on Chuck as some posters here have suggested, but if the vengeance quest is just ramped up, I hope it doesn't span the whole season and kind of goes on the back burner for awhile after a couple episodes.  Michael McKean has done an outstanding job with this character but he has almost stolen the show from Bob Odenkirk. 

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

 

Echoing the sentiment that it seems a bit strange that Slippin' Jimmy didn't detect his brother's con, but I guess we all have blind spots, often when it comes to relatives.

I was the younger sibling with a brother ten years older than me. I would crawl on broken glass for him, even though he treated me with disdain and left home  for college and the military when I was 6. Plus who would think that a man who had a meltdown in the hospital AND a head injury would come up with such a diabolical plan so quickly and deviously? Plus he couldn't even touch the tape recorder with his hands. 

 

When I heard the things Chuck was saying in the hospital I knew he was mentally okay (well not emotionally but memory etc). And when Jimmy was wavering to 'fess up to him, I was shouting at the TV set "Noooooo, don't fall for his trick"!!

 

Maybe Chuck ends up blackmailing Jimmy somehow and that's what makes him totally turn to the Saul side. 

[ghoulina]

Showing my age - but Hardwick used to host some dating show on MTV like, 20 years ago or something with Jenny McCarthy.  For the lift of me, I can't recall the name of it.

 

Shamefully, I can. It was called Singled Out.

[Clanstarling]

Anyone else think that Ernesto calling Jimmy a "friend" was a little bit retconnish?

I'm not sure. Ernesto was in season 1 in the RICO and Marco episodes, and I wonder if either of those were the episode where they're having the party in the mailroom - the reason I mention it is that I thought I heard Ernesto say (in this episode) that he missed the mailroom. So it seems like he could have been a friend of Jimmy's back in the day. 

 

Okay, I am no fan of Chuck and certainly have seen enough of him on BCS to last a lifetime, but anyone who doesn't understand how or why he would be hurt by his mom calling out for Jimmy from her deathbed -- not even really acknowledging Chuck's presence in the room -- and is dismissing it as no big deal, is probably looking for reasons to hate Chuck.  Mom may not have been coherent -- she was dying, after all -- but it would sting.

 

I defy anyone to sit there next to a dying parent -- someone they deeply love and from whom they want love and adoration -- and not be hurt when that parent doesn't even care that you are there, and calls out for your sibling.

Raises hand. So, yeah, it stung when it happened to me. But you know, I was a grownup, and I loved my brother and also understood why he was Mom's favorite. My husband's father called out for him on his deathbed - but he was not his Dad's favorite - he was just the one who was missing (death came too quickly for us to get there.) Most reasonable adults who love their siblings can take the sting. Chuck is not, and has never been, a reasonable adult. Just a baby in a lawyer's suit. 

 

I think its one thing to just say "whatever, you're right, I changed the documents"  but the details that Jimmy gave......I don't know....

Didn't Chuck tell Kim (in front of Jimmy) everything he thought Jimmy did. Details he guessed with uncanny accuracy? Seems like Jimmy could reasonably explain, with a witness in tow, that he was just spouting the details Chuck expected to hear. He could even suggest that he claimed Kim as his motive because it was a motive he expected Chuck to believe.

 

Argh, and sorry for rapid-fire posting, but ARGH I just realized they may very well be envisioning Chuck as the SERIES-long antagonist in a way that Hank was in opposition to Walter White throughout most of BB. But Hank was likeable.

I hated Hank for the first couple of seasons. To me its been very much like that dynamic. I'm not sure when I started liking him - but it wasn't for a very long time. Though, to be fair, he was funnier than Chuck, who is not funny at all.

 

I am amused that Mike has a seemingly endless supply of different colored nondescript cars available to him.

Where I used to live, they had a car rental place called, literally, "Rent a Wreck." I just assumed that's where Mike's getting his. Edited April 20, 2016 by clanstarling

[henripootel]

Where I used to live, they had a car rental place called, literally, "Rent a Wreck." I just assumed that's where Mike's getting his.

Not if he's smart - too much of a paper trail.  I'd assume he's either getting them from someone he trusts (an auto version of Jim Beaver the gun dealer) or he's stealing them.  It's what I've always enjoyed about Mike, he's a real pro.  

[ByTor]

Where I used to live, they had a car rental place called, literally, "Rent a Wreck." I just assumed that's where Mike's getting his.

I wonder if that's the same area I'm from. I still remember the radio commercial..."Oh what the heck, we'll rent a wreck!"

[ByTor]

He could even suggest that he claimed Kim as his motive because it was a motive he expected Chuck to believe.

Now that I think about it, he can also claim that he wouldn't want Chuck to believe he would ever do something to specifically hurt him.

[TVFan17]

Raises hand. So, yeah, it stung when it happened to me. But you know, I was a grownup, and I loved my brother and also understood why he was Mom's favorite. My husband's father called out for him on his deathbed - but he was not his Dad's favorite - he was just the one who was missing (death came too quickly for us to get there.) Most reasonable adults who love their siblings can take the sting. Chuck is not, and has never been, a reasonable adult. Just a baby in a lawyer's suit. 

 

 

 

Not everyone handles those situations in the same way, though.  We can't expect that because we handle X, Y or Z in a certain way, that makes US reasonable and someone else UNreasonable.

 

You can be a reasonable grown-up and still be terribly hurt and upset when your mom, who just died in front of you, was thinking of your sibling and not acknowledging you as she took her last breath.  It is not at all unreasonable to be hurt -- and I mean hurt beyond just that moment.  Hurt for a while. 

 

That's why I said -- we can't fault Chuck for being a human being with feelings.  It's what he chose to do with those feelings and how he let them manifest and feed his resentment of Jimmy in later years that is the problem.  But being upset about hearing his dying mom call out for Jimmy and how it impacted him emotionally is not unreasonable.

Edited April 20, 2016 by Sherry67

[millennium]

The Fly episode of BB was not my favorite, although it was pivotal in that Walt came close to revealing to Jesse what he had done (or not done, as the case may be), and didn't.

 

 

My least favorite episode of the entire series.   I always agonize over whether to skip it on rewatch.

 

Too much of The Fly in BCS.

[RCharter]

 

Didn't Chuck tell Kim (in front of Jimmy) everything he thought Jimmy did. Details he guessed with uncanny accuracy? Seems like Jimmy could reasonably explain, with a witness in tow, that he was just spouting the details Chuck expected to hear. He could even suggest that he claimed Kim as his motive because it was a motive he expected Chuck to believe.

 

 

Where I used to live, they had a car rental place called, literally, "Rent a Wreck." I just assumed that's where Mike's getting his.

Not the bribe, he only told him about the bribe in the hospital room after the meeting with Kim, and I don't think Ernesto was there at the time.  And I just think if you're saying whatever to placate someone, you sort of say "sure, yeah, whatever" not launch into details from a few days ago.  Jimmy could argue it, I just think it wouldn't be very believable.  Occam's razor....the simplest explanation is often the right one.  The much simpler explanation is if you admit to something, its probably because you did it.  

 

But I could see it going either way.  Given Jimmy's charm and ability to think on his feet, and Chucks dogmatic view and assholish ways.

 

We have/had Rent A Wreck out here, but when I tried to book, I don't remember them having wrecks at all, so I'm not sure whats up with that!

[Clanstarling]

Not everyone handles those situations in the same way, though.  We can't expect that because we handle X, Y or Z in a certain way, that makes US reasonable and someone else UNreasonable.

 

You can be a reasonable grown-up and still be terribly hurt and upset when your mom, who just died in front of you, was thinking of your sibling and not acknowledging you as she took her last breath.  It is not at all unreasonable to be hurt -- and I mean hurt beyond just that moment.  Hurt for a while. 

 

That's why I said -- we can't fault Chuck for being a human being with feelings.  It's what he chose to do with those feelings and how he let them manifest and feed his resentment of Jimmy in later years that is the problem.  But being upset about hearing his dying mom call out for Jimmy and how it impacted him emotionally is not unreasonable.

I don't think unreasonable, nor do I fault Chuck for being hurt. It is definitely painful. I don't even blame him for not telling Jimmy his mother called for him, as petty as it was, because it was right in the moment with no time to process. I fault him for how he manifested that hurt many years later. As you said, how he let his feelings manifest and feed his resentment is the problem. Edited April 20, 2016 by clanstarling

[TVFan17]

My least favorite episode of the entire series.   I always agonize over whether to skip it on rewatch.

 

Too much of The Fly in BCS.

 

There was a whole lot of the fly in that episode!  Lol.  It's one of the most polarizing and divisive episodes of BB in that that some people say is a masterpiece, while others say it was the worst one of the series.    I mainly just wanted to see if Walt would spill the beans to Jesse, but we saw how that went...

[Constantinople]

Not much of Kim.  That sucked.

 

 

But when we did see her, she had her hair in her signature ponytail, complete with Cindy Brady-esque curl :)

Maybe Kim is Cindy Brady.

More than a few viewers didn't buy her growing-up in the middle of nowhere Kansas spiel during her interview.

After growing-up in a such a square household, it might explain why she's attracted to someone like Slipping Jimmy.

[peeayebee]

Anyone else think that Ernesto calling Jimmy a "friend" was a little bit retconnish?

No. All season there was definitely a contrast betw how Chuck treated Ernesto and how Jimmy did. Jimmy called him Ernie. Ernie was always happy to see Jimmy. I remember him in one ep running up to Jimmy's car to say hi. (This was where Jimmy was sitting in his car outside of Chuck's house.) I can't remember for sure if Ernie was in the flashback mailroom scenes, but I think he was. Anyway, he definitely was in the mailroom at one time.

[Hanahope]

Part of me just can't understand why Jimmy is still trying for Chuck's affection when he hasn't had it, really, in decades.  Jimmy knows Chuck sabotaged him at HHM, and even made him think he wasn't good enough for any firm, but that he was stuck with solo work.  Yet Jimmy came back to him.  Jimmy knows that Chuck and Howard punished Kim and then stole Mesa Verde from her, but still Jimmy comes back.  Jimmy knows that Chuck always thinks the worst of him, that Jimmy is the cause for whatever goes wrong (like Mesa Verde), yet Jimmy comes back again.  Why why why?

 

Its curious as to what Chuck is going to do with the tape.  Will he really seek to destroy Jimmy?  Just use it as blackmail?  I'm guessing at some point, Chuck did something that finally caused Jimmy to forswear the McGill name. I did always wonder how Jimmy legally became Saul Goodman, he must have filed papers with the court to do so, because he wouldn't be able to appear in court under an assumed name, and certainly at least some people there must have known of his prior name.

 

Its really a puzzle who could have left that note on Mike's car.  It can't have been Nacho, and we really haven't gotten to know anyone else who knows all the players.  Nacho's dad maybe?  Or a new character that wants to hire Mike?

[shapeshifter]

My least favorite episode of the entire series. I always agonize over whether to skip it on rewatch.

Too much of The Fly in BCS.

The Fly was one of my favorites (unpopular opinion, I know) which might explain why most (all?) of the complaints about pacing etc. of BCS don't bother me--I kind of relish the drawn out stuff--most of the time. ;)

My husband's father called out for him on his deathbed - but he was not his Dad's favorite - he was just the one who was missing (death came too quickly for us to get there.)

That's how I interpreted the scene. Unfortunately, Chuck had the other interpretation.

Part of me just can't understand why Jimmy is still trying for Chuck's affection when he hasn't had it, really, in decades.  Jimmy knows Chuck sabotaged him at HHM, and even made him think he wasn't good enough for any firm, but that he was stuck with solo work.  Yet Jimmy came back to him.  Jimmy knows that Chuck and Howard punished Kim and then stole Mesa Verde from her, but still Jimmy comes back.  Jimmy knows that Chuck always thinks the worst of him, that Jimmy is the cause for whatever goes wrong (like Mesa Verde), yet Jimmy comes back again.  Why why why?

Habit (Occam's Razor). Not unlike an abuse victim staying with the abuser. Edited April 21, 2016 by shapeshifter

[scenario]

Not the bribe, he only told him about the bribe in the hospital room after the meeting with Kim, and I don't think Ernesto was there at the time.  And I just think if you're saying whatever to placate someone, you sort of say "sure, yeah, whatever" not launch into details from a few days ago.  Jimmy could argue it, I just think it wouldn't be very believable.  Occam's razor....the simplest explanation is often the right one.  The much simpler explanation is if you admit to something, its probably because you did it.  

 

But I could see it going either way.  Given Jimmy's charm and ability to think on his feet, and Chucks dogmatic view and assholish ways.

 

We have/had Rent A Wreck out here, but when I tried to book, I don't remember them having wrecks at all, so I'm not sure whats up with that!

The person who made the tape is living in a house with no electricity. It has tin foil all over the wall. The guy who made it just got out of the hospital a few days before and his doctor wants him committed. And Jimmy's a very good talker.  Your trying to convince a very good lawyer, in an attempt to stop him from killing himself. Yeah, yeah, you're right doesn't cut it. 

[RCharter]

The person who made the tape is living in a house with no electricity. It has tin foil all over the wall. The guy who made it just got out of the hospital a few days before and his doctor wants him committed. And Jimmy's a very good talker.  Your trying to convince a very good lawyer, in an attempt to stop him from killing himself. Yeah, yeah, you're right doesn't cut it. 

I could see it being argued either way, people with a mental illness aren't always wrong about things.  I think Chucks condition could be argued as a factor if the tape wasn't in existence, which is why he wanted to get that tape.  

 

I think that people's hatred for Chuck maybe colors their view on the matter.  But I think if I were an outside observer, I would give weight to a tape that clearly seemed to be an admission of guilt.  Yeah, you could tell me that you placated your mentally ill, paranoid brother -- but that paranoid mental illness hasn't stopped Chuck in the past from making pretty logical decisions.  And you have a history of scamming....which may or may not include similar scams.

 

Your brother knew that you were mentally ill, presumably was willing to admit to a felony he didn't commit, but wasn't willing to call the police? to exercise the temporary guardianship?  to put Howard or other partners on notice?  To call Ernesto and demand he sit with Chuck?  No, what you did was admit to a felony with a bunch of details?  Make sure to tell you brother specifically that you may be saying this to make him feel better, but that its the truth.  And you give specific indications that you have no idea that the conversation is being taped "its your word against mine."  I think it would be hard to ignore all of that.

 

I think if it was just Jimmy v. Chuck -- all day every day Jimmy wins that fight, but Jimmy v. Chuck + tape makes it a whole lot more difficult for Jimmy.  Slippin' Jimmy may be a fast talker, but it seems like too much to explain away.

[queenanne]

That said, I also think I know how Jimmy will somehow survive this (he obviously isn't going to jail.)  Since Chuck was making himself look depressed and maybe even suicidal, I can totally see Jimmy claiming he was in fear for Chuck's well-being and life, and was just saying what Chuck wanted to hear.  While I'm sure not everyone will fall for it, it will probably be enough to "muddy the waters", and prevent anything too bad from happening to him.

 

Not utterly convinced of this myself - I think this might start to be "Saul Goodman".  It makes perfect sense on some level, because it's beautifully fatalistic that he's just now starting to get a practice as and under Jimmy McGill.

 

Regarding Mike's sniper mission, two things. If you've ever hunted, you know getting a clear shot is a constant problem. The way snipers so easily acquire clear targets in movies and television strains credulity for me to a much larger extent. Second, sound really does travel sporadically in that terrain. If the shack was at a lower elevation than the car, with a ridge between them, it is predictable that the horn would not be audible at the shack.

 

I think TPTB finessed it in post, though.  I think there was potentiometer-crescendoed trickery making it progressively louder and less ignorable/tolerable.

 

I don't know if we know the exact age difference, but it seems like more than ten years.  That would mean that Chuck had been an only child for a long time, and that's hard to be de-throned from.  But it would also mean that during the pre-school/elementary school years of Jimmy, Chuck would have been in high school and college.  Kids that age aren't usually terrifically interested in little kids, they have other preoccupations.  I think whatever sibling rivalry there would have been has been magnified and nursed by Chuck who uses it as an excuse to be a total ass.  It was probably not a kindness that he brought Jimmy to New Mexico and gave him a job in his firm's mailroom.  They needed a few states between them. 

 

Well, judging from my experience as Elder (albeit a girl, which I think is probably different) with 10 years' difference, it can be unbelievably irritating.  If there's any wiggle room at all I'd blame the parents for not setting boundaries for how much time Chuck had to spend with Jimmy - after all, age 2-4, when Jimmy's going to start to be his most potentially annoying to a hardboiled sophisticated man of the world of aged 12-14, is the time Chuck is supposed to be practicing how to be an adult independent of his parents, which is tough to do with a small satellite.

 

I'm not sure. Ernesto was in season 1 in the RICO and Marco episodes, and I wonder if either of those were the episode where they're having the party in the mailroom - the reason I mention it is that I thought I heard Ernesto say (in this episode) that he missed the mailroom. So it seems like he could have been a friend of Jimmy's back in the day.

 

I feel like - and I could be wrong but this sounds familiar - Ernesto misses the mailroom, because he misses Jimmy, who was a former colleague of Ernesto's in the HHM mailroom.

Edited April 21, 2016 by queenanne

[shapeshifter]

Another dynamic with siblings of that age difference is that the older one falls into a parent role. At least with girls (my 3 are 4 and 6 years apart). Maybe boys don't have that mothering thing? Also, I recall when my mature looking eldest was 15 she didn't like being seen with her youngest because people thought she was a teen mother.

Hopefully we'll get something definitive next season or in an interview as to whether there was a reason for Chuck's animosity beyond what we've already seen. Or maybe this is all we'll get, in which case it's Chuck cleaning up after Slippin Jimmy one too many times.

[Conan Troutman]

There was a whole lot of the fly in that episode!  Lol.  It's one of the most polarizing and divisive episodes of BB in that that some people say is a masterpiece, while others say it was the worst one of the series.    I mainly just wanted to see if Walt would spill the beans to Jesse, but we saw how that went...

I wonder if watching it when it was on air as opposed to binge watching would influence how much people like (or dislike) the episode. I binge watched the entire show (finished right after the finale aired) and still didn't really like it at first because it kind of hit the breaks real hard and killed all momentum. So I guess that would have to be either worse if you watched it live (because you really wanted to know what happens next) or not so much of a problem, as you had a week between episodes and wouldn't notice it so much.

But as a standalone, I think it's fantastic. I guess it has a lot to do with the placing of the episode, towards the end of the season, that irritated some people. I think it might have worked better for them (and me) earlier in a season (either three or four), when the plot train isn't running at full speed.

 

Its curious as to what Chuck is going to do with the tape.  Will he really seek to destroy Jimmy?  Just use it as blackmail?  I'm guessing at some point, Chuck did something that finally caused Jimmy to forswear the McGill name. I did always wonder how Jimmy legally became Saul Goodman, he must have filed papers with the court to do so, because he wouldn't be able to appear in court under an assumed name, and certainly at least some people there must have known of his prior name.

 

Its really a puzzle who could have left that note on Mike's car.  It can't have been Nacho, and we really haven't gotten to know anyone else who knows all the players.  Nacho's dad maybe?  Or a new character that wants to hire Mike?

 

Common perception was (or still is?) that Jimmy had to change his name because of some kind of agreement. But I think it may be more likely that he'll want to change it on his own, because he doesn't want to carry the same name as his brother or maybe as a new start of sorts, to leave all that stuff between them behind him.

 

As for the note: BB and interview spoiler:

The note was from Gus Fring, a drug lord Mike worked for in BB (though he probably didn't plant it there himself, one of his men did). The creators pretty much confirmed it in interviews.

Nacho's potential involvement remains unknown, though he could very well have served as an informant and maybe blocked Mike's view on purpose.

[placate]

I haven't found this season that compelling. I've said before, I would have liked Better Call Mike better, but I guess that's because Jimmy hasn't become Saul. Kim is a fine character but I feel like she's doomed from by. We don't really get much in way of Saul's personal life in BB, but I'm betting that Kim is intelligent enough to get away and start her own firm.

 

Kim and Jimmy need a new receptionist! I hope Francessca is coming in season 3. Likewise, despite my boredom this season, I will totally watch it if Fring reprises his role. Giancarlo Esposito is an amazing actor.

 

Jimmy's lackeys are not up to snuff so I would also like to see Huell and Kuby show up. I'm a bit of an audio watcher because I liked to read things while "watching" tv and would've totally missed the sniper shots of Salamanca's house being reused for this show if I hadn't randomly looked at the screen. I wonder how much I've missed by reading other stuff while the show was on.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

I was amazed to learn that the gifter preying on the father and then giving Jimmy his motto (sheep/wolves) scene was taped last year and was meant for the first season.  Major props to G&G for understanding that they needed to slow their roll as they did (putting off the debut of Saul) and for busting it out this year.  I only wish I had that gift for storytelling (but i am still disappointed with Klick).

 

The moment When Ernesto told Jimmy he was a friend was fraught with deeper meaning than is seen on the surface, in my opinion.  BO did a great, great job indicating he did not know how to handle/compute genuine good feeling from another whom he respects.  There was no agenda.  Ernesto was quite sincere.  I saw BO give a slight smile, but he just couldn't allow such a warm moment to penetrate his devious self deep down.  In point of fact, he really can ill afford to allow such sentiment if he is to fully actuate à la Marco.  He'll need to be a dick to him to put him off.  

 

So...why was Mike moved to murder Hector?  He was well satisfied that he settled his account with him.  Then, someone (not necessarily Hector himself) made some excellent business decisions.  The innocent was murdered.  Why is that on Hector?  He wasn't even there!  It was made very clear that Mike has not yet become the force of destruction he was to be.  A very big deal was made of this by G&G and JB fully agreed.  What was Mike's motivation to get back into it with Hector????  Again, accounts were satisfactorily settled.  Mike was jovial.  Jovial!!!!  

 

It would 100% be in character for Chuck to send the damning tape to MV to make good and sure Kim lost the account.  After all, she daaaaaaaared to take sides against him.  She must pay.  Must.

 

Last thing:  Jimmy leads an unusually charmed existence when he goes into grifter mode.  Most everything just works anymore.   Pursuing what works is the most completely sane thing he can do, which is the polar opposite reality from Chuck, who avoids sanity with all his considerable, yet limited, human strength..  Both of them are headed for ruin.  It's the seeds of Greek tragedy and it also affirms the Prodigal Son parable in that we are much better off when we welcome back someone who is her/himself trying to be better.  When we don't?  We can pay severely.  I can scarcely wait to watch it play out.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Lonesome Rhodes