S03.E01: Mabel

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

In the Season 3 premiere, Jimmy and Chuck's relationship deteriorates; Kim feels the pressure of running her own firm; and Mike investigates the note left on his car.

[ByTor]

I bought my season pass from Amazon, can't wait!

[maystone]

Yup. Still hate Chuck.

[wait.what]

I am so confused. I can't remember what happened last season. But, yep, still hate Chuck. 

[Bryce Lynch]

Very disappointing episode.  It felt like a 70 minute preview of episode 2.  Nothing really happened.  They made us wait a year for this?

[benteen]

That episode SUCKED.  Seriously, half an episode dedicated to LOOOONG scenes of Mike searching and fixing stuff.  I like Mike as much as anyone but I don't find him so interesting that I want to spend entire episodes watching him build stuff.  What the next episode going to be, thirty minutes of Mike driving around the state of New Mexico?

Slow, boring crap that I have no doubt the critics will call "brilliant."  Better Call Saul has definitely fallen in love with the smell of their own farts.

[Primetimer]

When you're housebound due to a sensitivity to electricity, pulling off a scheme takes some planning.

View the full article

[mattie0808]

I need to pay more attention, lol. Someone help...

-- What was the great punctuation crisis Kim was having between a dash and semi-colon?

-- Does Ernesto now know Chuck's got Jimmy on tape?

Absolutely still HATE CHUCK.

[Bryce Lynch]

Just now, mattie0808 said:

I need to pay more attention, lol. Someone help...

-- What was the great punctuation crisis Kim was having between a dash and semi-colon?

-- Does Ernesto now know Chuck's got Jimmy on tape?

Absolutely still HATE CHUCK.

Yes to both questions.

[Armchair Critic]

1 minute ago, benteen said:

What the next episode going to be

Mike finishing his bag of pistachios

[mattie0808]

Thanks! But what was the difference between a dash and a semi-colon that had Kim thinking so hard? What was the text?

[Bryce Lynch]

1 minute ago, benteen said:

That episode SUCKED.  Seriously, half an episode dedicated to LOOOONG scenes of Mike searching and fixing stuff.  I like Mike as much as anyone but I don't find him so interesting that I want to spend entire episodes watching him build stuff.  What the next episode going to be, thirty minutes of Mike driving around the state of New Mexico?

Slow, boring crap that I have no doubt the critics will call "brilliant."  Better Call Saul has definitely fallen in love with the smell of their own farts.

I agree.  This is the first episode I didn't like.  The slow burn plot they have been doing is fine, but NOTHING happened in this episode  It was a 70 minute first half of an episode.

[Broderbits]

I have never hated a fictional character as much as I hate Chuck. 

Kim's crisis is a combination of self-doubt and guilt over what Jimmy did to secure Mesa Verde as a client.

I hope Ernesto doesn't buy Chuck's bull. Ernesto is not a lawyer, and there's no personal assistant/client confidentiality.

[Bryce Lynch]

1 minute ago, mattie0808 said:

Thanks! But what was the difference between a dash and a semi-colon that had Kim thinking so hard? What was the text?

I don't know what the text was.  I am not sure, but I think the idea was that the "mistake" that Chuck made on the Mesa Verde address has given Kim an obsessive-compulsive fear of making even the smallest mistake.

[Dev F]

6 minutes ago, mattie0808 said:

-- What was the great punctuation crisis Kim was having between a dash and semi-colon?

It's not really about the punctuation; it was just a convenient thing for her to obsess over instead of finishing Mesa Verde's paperwork. Once she submits the documents to them without disclosing her knowledge of Jimmy's malpractice, she's complicit in his crime. She's actually freaking out over that inevitability.

Also, a double-hyphen dash is never the answer, jeez, Kim. :p

Quote

-- Does Ernesto now know Chuck's got Jimmy on tape?

I was actually not sure what to make of that scene. It wasn't clear to me what exactly Ernesto heard -- whether it was actually incriminating or Chuck's freakout was the incriminating thing. There's also a part of me that wondered whether it was all an act, and Ernesto hearing it was part of Chuck's mysterious plan somehow.

Edited April 11, 2017 by Dev F

[Bryce Lynch]

4 minutes ago, Armchair Critic said:

Mike finishing his bag of pistachios

Mike is much more exciting eating pimento cheese 

[mattie0808]

2 minutes ago, Dev F said:

It's not really about the punctuation; it was just a convenient thing for her to obsess over instead of finishing Mesa Verde's paperwork. Once she submits the documents to them without disclosing her knowledge of Jimmy's malpractice, she's complicit in his crime. She's actually freaking out over that inevitability.

Also, a symbol dash is never the answer, jeez, Kim. :p

I was actually not sure what to make of that scene. It wasn't clear to me what exactly Ernesto heard -- whether it was actually incriminating or Chuck's freakout was the incriminating thing. There's also a part of me that wondered whether it was all an act, and Ernesto hearing it was part of Chuck's mysterious plan somehow.

Interesting, on both counts... Hmmm... (Thanks!)

[cyberfruit]

17 minutes ago, Broderbits said:

I have never hated a fictional character as much as I hate Chuck. 

Kim's crisis is a combination of self-doubt and guilt over what Jimmy did to secure Mesa Verde as a client.

I hope Ernesto doesn't buy Chuck's bull. Ernesto is not a lawyer, and there's no personal assistant/client confidentiality.

A part of me really hopes Ernesto goes to Hamlin to question what he heard, as well as Chuck's bogus confidentiality clause,

[SignGuy77]

In this thread: people complaining about BCS doing the slow burn like it's something new. 

We get it. You want BrBa-level adrenaline rushes.  This is not the show for you. 

[CynicalGirl]

I was thinking Ernesto might go to Jimmy with the info. Ernie previously lied to Chuck to cover for Jimmy when Chuck was in the hospital. When Jimmy asked him why, he said because Chuck had been badmouthing Jimmy a lot, and because "you're my friend." I mean, poor Ernesto. In that hospital scene, he said to himself while walking away, "I miss the mailroom." Can't say I blame him. 

[kieyra]

1 minute ago, SignGuy77 said:

In this thread: people complaining about BCS doing the slow burn like it's something new. 

We get it. You want BrBa-level adrenaline rushes.  This is not the show for you. 

And yet, we still get to watch it and talk about it anyway.

[Bryce Lynch]

4 minutes ago, SignGuy77 said:

In this thread: people complaining about BCS doing the slow burn like it's something new. 

We get it. You want BrBa-level adrenaline rushes.  This is not the show for you. 

The first 2 seasons the show often moved slowly..but it moved.  

[Bryce Lynch]

5 minutes ago, CynicalGirl said:

I was thinking Ernesto might go to Jimmy with the info. Ernie previously lied to Chuck to cover for Jimmy when Chuck was in the hospital. When Jimmy asked him why, he said because Chuck had been badmouthing Jimmy a lot, and because "you're my friend." I mean, poor Ernesto. In that hospital scene, he said to himself while walking away, "I miss the mailroom." Can't say I blame him. 

I think Chuck WANTS Ernesto to tell Jimmy.  I think he is trying to tempt Jimmy into breaking into his house to try to steal the tape, so he can have him really dead to rights on a felony.

In the beginning of the episode Jimmy made a comment about not having a key.  Also, Hamlin doubted the tape was enough to nail Jimmy.

At the end of Season 2, Chuck seemed done with Ernesto, but he suddenly trusts him again, instead of having Hamlin assign him a new flunky?  It's a trap!

[Knuckles]

Bryce...you just nailed it. Thank you...I could not figure out what Chuck was up to...and why he made such a big deal about Jimmy's voice to Ernesto. Clearly, he had lined up the tape to just that moment. And his threatening Ernesto seemed designed to send him off to warn Jimmy, his friend. And from there, Jimmy breaks in to steal the tape...yup, you got it. Thank you.

[Bannon]

I understand why some get very frustrated with what they perceive to be the episode's glacial pace, but I enjoyed it. Mike's extraordinarily methodical approach to a problem. Jimmy's world of the hustle colliding not with another hustler in bar, trying to get over on people himself, or his brother trying to dominate others via passive aggressive A-holery, but a sincere Air Force guy who really believes honesty is its own reward, with Jimmy feeling sh*tty about himself as a result. Kim being frozen with unease about how Mesa Verde came back to her. The cold open, with Omaha Saul being ashamed to have helped The Man grab shoplifter, so Saul screams at the newly arrested to get a lawyer.

I really like this show for not writing the characters stupid, to advance the plot.

 

 

I

Edited April 11, 2017 by Bannon
typo

[thuganomics85]

Poor Ernesto.  Dragged into Chuck's little war on Jimmy.  I'm guessing Chuck wanted Ernesto to hear the tape, so I wonder what his grand plan is.  Does he want Ernesto to tell Jimmy and have Jimmy try and break in, only to get arrested?  Or is there another play, here?  Either way, it's nice to see that Chuck is still an asshole as always.  Even when he's right, he still manages to be an asshole.

The cold opening was actually probably my favorite.  It was well-shot and I liked seeing the downtrodden, Cinnabon managing Saul briefly become the lawyer again, when he yelled at the shoplifter to not speak until he gets a lawyer.  Even with his new life and identity, Jimmy/Saul is still in there.

I enjoyed the premiere enough, but it was pretty slow at times.  This show has never been shy about taking their time, but it really felt like a 70 minute set-up for next week, where I won't be surprised if that episodes ends up being a bigger one.  As much as I enjoyed watching Mike put the pieces together and find a way to track his trackers, they probably did overdue the montages by a minute or two (or three.)  And while I get what they were doing with Kim and her struggle with typing up the document (realizing once she sends it, she will be complacent in Jimmy's scam), I was thinking the episode could move on after the tenth time she changed the period/semi-colon/etc.  But at least it looked good.

Curious about the scene between Jimmy and the Air Force Captain/Brendan Fehr from last season.  Where there be more to this or was it just a scene to show that Jimmy is continuing to cross the line.  I did think he didn't come off well.  Way too defensive and acting like what he did was no biggie.  If you are going to cross those lines, at least embrace them.  But I guess he isn't there.... yet.

I see we have to wait until next week for the return of a certain fast food chicken restaurant manager!

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, mattie0808 said:

Thanks! But what was the difference between a dash and a semi-colon that had Kim thinking so hard? What was the text?

As others have pointed out, it doesn't matter.  The grammar dilemma was a great way to continue the obsessive guilt that washed over her while Paige complained about Chuck's work.  It's a truth that I think she'd like to hide from but she's going to find it hard. 

2 hours ago, Broderbits said:

I hope Ernesto doesn't buy Chuck's bull. Ernesto is not a lawyer, and there's no personal assistant/client confidentiality.

When I first saw this scene, I thought Chuck screwed up his plans by having such an over-the-top reaction.  But after thinking about it and watching Talking Saul, his freakout was a way to make sure that Ernesto knew what he heard was important.  I don't know what his plan is but I do like that Howard called him out on the seeming pointlessness of tha tape.

I liked the episode a lot.  I think a lot of interesting things happened.  Some I realized while watching.  Others were pointed out to me while watching the after show (which seemed more informative to me than it had ever been in the past.)

For one, I absolutely love watching Mike work solo.  Some of my favorite scenes have been when he broke into rescue Chow or when he surveyed the Kettleman's to find out where they hid the money.  But part of my excitement is the anticipation of knowing what he's likely to find at the end of his search.

But I also found that scene between Jimmy and the air captain interesting.  In some ways, he conflated the air force guy with his brother but there was less of Jimmy's charm and more hint of a threat in their exchange.

Oh and when Gene collapsed at the beginning, did anyone else think "lung cancer?"

Edited April 11, 2017 by Irlandesa

[knaankos]

Season 2 started to fall in love with showing Mike do arts and crafts all episode with no real explanation of what he was doing and the end act is there is some kind of big revelation. Looks like season 3 continues to think that is amazing TV.

I understand that it's nice to have a show that doesn't always spoonfeed their audience but at the same time I want to have an idea of what is going on. I can't really declare with certainly anything that happened in this episode. 

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, PreviouslyTV said:

When you're housebound due to a sensitivity to electricity, pulling off a scheme takes some planning.

View the full article

Thanks for this. I needed it. In the Cinabon opening, I found myself thinking that as sad as Jimmy/Saul/Gene's state of affairs had become in the post-BrBa future, at least he wasn't dead like Walter—of cancer and a gunshot wound. But then I recalled that I had been on chemotherapy all through season 2, and then 6 hours of surgery and 4 more months of chemo—which wiped out most of my memory of 2016—and then  Jimmy/Saul/Gene keels over from what? A heart attack? Anyway, the slow roll of the show is just my speed for now (with the recap, that is). 

And interesting how right before that, Jimmy/Saul/Gene had ratted on the shoplifter because he couldn't afford to get noticed by the cops—which earned him an attaboy from the cop, but he couldn't resist warning the kid of his right to an attorney, which earned him an expletive from the cop—and perhaps upsetting him to the point of triggering a heart attack.

 

2 hours ago, Dev F said:

It's not really about the punctuation; it was just a convenient thing for her to obsess over instead of finishing Mesa Verde's paperwork. Once she submits the documents to them without disclosing her knowledge of Jimmy's malpractice, she's complicit in his crime. She's actually freaking out over that inevitability.

Also, a double-hyphen dash is never the answer, jeez, Kim. :p

. . .

All true, but I wonder if there isn't at least an inside joke among the writers about the punctuation. She started with a comma, which can be used to make a clear separation between words when needed. The semicolon, OTOH, links together 2 grammatically separate sentences that support a single idea. The double dash (which would turn into a more elegant em dash if properly entered in Word or on a Mac) would separate the main concept from an aside or conditional statement. What was the word before Messa Verde? Yeah, I know. It's probably just about what @Dev F said.

ETA: And then there was the period too.

P.S.: So when Mike put the tracker into the gas cap of the other car, and the henchman came and took the gas cap back to (I guess) Tito (or maybe Gus), was it so they would just think Mike was sending a message of I-know-that-you-know-that-I-know, and that they wouldn't suspect that Mike was now tracking them? But wasn't it Manzo (forgot the character's name in this show; that's his name in Orphan Black) who left the "Don't do it" note?

Edited April 11, 2017 by shapeshifter
What's-his-new-name is Gene.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

My fondest wish for this ep was that it begin in Omaha.  YES!  My thought is that Jimmy simply could not handle the anxiety of what had just occurred and freaked himself out with that outburst.  So, he fainted/collapsed.

Mike's license plate was VREY 61, or something very close to that.  Significance, anyone?

I am now thoroughly, and happily, confused abut the switcheroos of the transponder by Mike.  Also..wouldn't the followers be super curious as to why the wagon is nowhere in sight no mo?  

My take on the editing by Kim is that it went far beyond just grammar.  Her turmoil was about inserting unethical/illegal language, I believe.  It was not a small thing that Jimmy re-opened the paint can.  They were there for awhile longer.

I loved this ep.  A lot.  I am in no hurry whatever to get to full-on Saul.

[SinInTheCamp]

53 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

P.S.: So when Mike put the tracker into the gas cap of the other car, and the henchman came and took the gas cap back to (I guess) Tito (or maybe Gus), was it so they would just think Mike was sending a message of I-know-that-you-know-that-I-know, and that they wouldn't suspect that Mike was now tracking them? 

Mike drained the battery of the tracker the unknown person placed on the car parked outside his house so that he'd come and retrieve it, thinking it's no longer working. In the meantime, he's bought another identical tracker that he's switched out the original for in the gas cap. So after this guy takes it with him, thinking it's the one HE planted, Mike is now able to track him. And no, he probably wouldn't suspect anything.

[charks]

I re-watched the opening scene 3 times. Pay attention to the framing from the point when Gene is eating his lunch to when he yells at the kid to talk to a lawyer. Impeccable stuff.

 

All that and Nancy Sinatra to boot. Great start.

[shapeshifter]

16 minutes ago, charks said:

. . . All that and Nancy Sinatra to boot. . . .

No pun intended? ("These boots are made for walkin'. And that's just what they'll do. One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you.")

[Cthulhudrew]

I'm getting a little bored with the Jimmy and Chuck storyline, frankly. I'd kind of hoped they would wrap that up last season. 

On the other hand, I enjoy the heck out of Mike's story. It almost makes me wish this series was "Better Call Mike."

[ketose]

5 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I think Chuck WANTS Ernesto to tell Jimmy.  I think he is trying to tempt Jimmy into breaking into his house to try to steal the tape, so he can have him really dead to rights on a felony.

In the beginning of the episode Jimmy made a comment about not having a key.  Also, Hamlin doubted the tape was enough to nail Jimmy.

At the end of Season 2, Chuck seemed done with Ernesto, but he suddenly trusts him again, instead of having Hamlin assign him a new flunky?  It's a trap!

Check is likely relying on Ernie going straight to Jimmy. So, I'm guessing that eventually Chuck does something to force Jimmy to change his name because he doesn't want another McGill around. 

[Bannon]

The execution of the character of Kim, both writing and acting, are just brilliant, I think, and really lend to this show's classically tragic air, and it's theme of grief/loss, which I see as being what this show, at irs core, is about.

What Jimmy wants, more than anything else on planet earth, now that he knows he can never have his brother's respect, is to be around Kim. Just being in the presence of Kim makes him happy, makes him feel good. He loves her unconditionally, with all his talents (which are prodigous), and all his determination (which is genuinely monumental), and all his conscience (which really does exist, as the scene with the Air Force guy showed).

We know, however, that Jimmy's love of the hustle is eventually going to cause him to no longer be around Kim, even if that love of the hustle is deployed sometimes for Kim's benefit, perhaps even BECAUSE it was deployed for Kim's benefit. That's tragic, and terribly sad, even if we don't know yet exactly how Jimmy eventually loses what is now most important to him, his relationship with Kim. All of that was foreshadowed by Seehorn/Kim being frozen with anxiety by punctuation, and Seehorn's facial expressions in her scene with her friend from Mesa Verde.

This is brilliant acting/writing/direction, and there is nothing else on television that even comes close to it, in my opinion.

[Bryce Lynch]

Any thoughts on Mike driving away after he found the note without bothering to take 3 extra seconds to zip up the rifle case?

Why would he drive around with a rifle, with the serial number defaced, in plain sight?

I realize it is NM, and maybe I am paranoid about these things, being a gun owner in anti-gun NY, but that seemed uncharacteristically sloppy for Mike.  Was it because he was flustered?

[Bannon]

2 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

Any thoughts on Mike driving away after he found the note without bothering to take 3 extra seconds to zip up the rifle case?

Why would he drive around with a rifle, with the serial number defaced, in plain sight?

I realize it is NM, and maybe I am paranoid about these things, being a gun owner in anti-gun NY, but that seemed uncharacteristically sloppy for Mike.  Was it because he was flustered?

I just took it as Mike being uncertain as to whether he might be in a firefight in the near future, and wanting to have quick access to all weapons.

[Bryce Lynch]

It seems like "Gene" still has a thing for Kim all those years later.  He had a Kansas City Royals lunchbox and Kim wore a Royals shirt in an earlier episode.  I doubt that is a coincidence.  I wonder if it had belonged to her.

Edited April 11, 2017 by Bryce Lynch

[Bryce Lynch]

I caught one small Breaking Bad call back, when the client Jimmy was trying to get out the door mentioned a series of different flowers, including Lily of the Valley.  

[ghoulina]

I flippin love this show, but this was....not the best opener. I do think waiting so long between season was an issue (I swear it usually starts in January). But I did rewatch the first two seasons in the past few weeks. So I wasn't really confused on where I stood. But I just found this slow, tedious, and even a bit confusing in parts. I thought maybe it was because I was extra sleepy and was struggling to stay awake anyhow, but after seeing some of the other comments, I guess I'm not alone. 

It took me awhile to figure out what Mike was up to. And I don't mind not having everything served up to me on a silver platter. But once I realized what he was doing with the tracker, I still wasn't sure how he knew it was there in the first place. He was out in the desert last season, ready to assassinate Tio/Hector. He couldn't get a clean shot, and then hears the car horn blaring. He goes and finds the stick holding it down and the note, warning him. I assumed that was Nacho, trying to tell him to back off. So what led him to think someone had planted a GPS on that car? That wasn't even his regular car, right? Because he left it in pieces at the junk yard. So he goes back home and there's ANOTHER tracker on his regular car? In the same place? I'm sorry if I'm really missing something here, but this just did not all flow for me. 

I can deal with slow burn. They've done amazingly well with it before. But this kind of missed the mark for me. 

There was some good stuff, of course. Because the cast will never not be phenomenal. 

I loved the cold open with Gene. We're seeing just how hard it is for him to BE Gene. He is trying so hard to stay on the right side of things, so he doesn't get found out, but when he gave that kid away - that was a huge shock. He couldn't really believe he had done it. So then he tried to "right" things by shouting about getting a lawyer. The cops are staring at him like, "What the fuck, man?" His adrenaline had to be pumping like crazy. Total internal dysfunction. And then he passes out. Not completely unlike Chuck passing out in the copy shop. Good stuff from Odenkirk. 

And my heart really broke for Jimmy when he was helping Chuck take down the space blankets and was trying to reminisce about their childhood. And Chuck just couldn't have it. He couldn't let Jimmy have one nice moment. Not even for a minute. Sure, Jimmy did a really shitty thing to him. But Chuck has being trying to thwart Jimmy's career at EVERY turn. It's insane how he thinks HE is always on the right side of things. He has let his intense bitterness where Jimmy is concern totally delude him. It's obvious, to me, that Jimmy really does love Chuck and WANTS to have a nice relationship with him. But Chuck just wants to be right. 

Edited April 11, 2017 by ghoulina

[Paloma]

5 hours ago, SinInTheCamp said:

Mike drained the battery of the tracker the unknown person placed on the car parked outside his house so that he'd come and retrieve it, thinking it's no longer working. In the meantime, he's bought another identical tracker that he's switched out the original for in the gas cap. So after this guy takes it with him, thinking it's the one HE planted, Mike is now able to track him.

I got that, but I'm still confused about how they tracked him to the shooting site in the hills/desert. I thought that the car he took apart at the junkyard was one he picked up just for the shooting (in the same way he apparently got a different junker car for the truck driver trap with the spiked hose). How would his watcher(s) have gotten a tracker on something that was not his regular car?

I also first thought, as suggested by Shapeshifter upthread, that Nacho left the "Don't do it" note. But my husband said that wasn't possible because Mike would have seen him come out of the shack and head up toward where Mike was. There wasn't enough time for Nacho to get up there, put the branch in the horn, and get back down to the shack without Hector noticing.  

Finally, who would want to warn Mike off of killing Hector? It almost seems like someone trying to protect Mike rather than someone caring about what happens to Hector (because if it was an ally of Hector, why not just kill Mike?), but I can't think of anyone other than Jimmy that would fit that description. My husband thought it might be the Philly cops tracking him, but I don't remember enough about that story to know if that is possible or makes sense. 

19 minutes ago, ghoulina said:

It took me awhile to figure out what Mike was up to. And I don't mind not having everything served up to me on a silver platter. But once I realized what he was doing with the tracker, I still wasn't sure how he knew it was there in the first place. He was out in the desert last season, ready to assassinate Tio/Hector. He couldn't get a clean shot, and then hears the car horn blaring. He goes and finds the stick holding it down and the note, warning him. I assumed that was Nacho, trying to tell him to back off. So what led him to think someone had planted a GPS on that car? That wasn't even his regular car, right? Because he left it in pieces at the junk yard. So he goes back home and there's ANOTHER tracker on his regular car? In the same place? I'm sorry if I'm really missing something here, but this just did not all flow for me. 

Oops, I was typing while Ghoulina posted this--much more clearly stated than what I said.

[BeatrixK]

1 hour ago, Bryce Lynch said:

It seems like "Gene" still has a thing for Kim all those years later.  He had a Kansas City Royals lunchbox and Kim wore a Royals shirt in an earlier episode.  I doubt that is a coincidence.  I wonder if it had belonged to her.

I thought that was just a lovely, deft touch with the Royals bag.  Isn't kim originally from KC?  I can't recall if she's from KC or Omaha, but her Royals fandom from either place would be no surprise (KC has a farm team in Omaha -- or at least they did.  They may have moved...but I digress.)  It was nice to see a very subtle detail like that.

I think 'Gene's' issue is going to end up being his downfall.  If he goes to the hospital, isn't there a chance his real identity could be discovered via DNA or blood or something?  Hospitalization usually doesn't lend well to flying under the radar.

 

McKean...you are one of my favorite actors...and the fact you made me loathe you is truly impressive.  That being said.....DIAF, Chuck!

[Bannon]

6 minutes ago, Paloma said:

I got that, but I'm still confused about how they tracked him to the shooting site in the hills/desert. I thought that the car he took apart at the junkyard was one he picked up just for the shooting (in the same way he apparently got a different junker car for the truck driver trap with the spiked hose). How would his watcher(s) have gotten a tracker on something that was not his regular car?

I also first thought, as suggested by Shapeshifter upthread, that Nacho left the "Don't do it" note. But my husband said that wasn't possible because Mike would have seen him come out of the shack and head up toward where Mike was. There wasn't enough time for Nacho to get up there, put the branch in the horn, and get back down to the shack without Hector noticing.  

Finally, who would want to warn Mike off of killing Hector? It almost seems like someone trying to protect Mike rather than someone caring about what happens to Hector (because if it was an ally of Hector, why not just kill Mike?), but I can't think of anyone other than Jimmy that would fit that description. My husband thought it might be the Philly cops tracking him, but I don't remember enough about that story to know if that is possible or makes sense. 

Its Gus, and I think it is likely that it is Gus because Gus wants to extract his own revenge on Hector, after extracting as much profit as possible. If you aren't familiar with the Breaking Bad universe, of course, you dont know this. 

Edited April 11, 2017 by Bannon

[ghoulina]

9 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I don't know what the text was.  I am not sure, but I think the idea was that the "mistake" that Chuck made on the Mesa Verde address has given Kim an obsessive-compulsive fear of making even the smallest mistake.

That's how I took it as well. Not only is Kim having a crisis of conscience over how she got Mesa Verde back, but now there is the added pressure of making sure she crosses all her I's and dots all her T's. Too perfection. When people are are having a problem in their lives, they often hyper-focus on little things as well. I think Kim is struggling a lot right now, under her tough demeanor. 

 

9 hours ago, Dev F said:

I was actually not sure what to make of that scene. It wasn't clear to me what exactly Ernesto heard -- whether it was actually incriminating or Chuck's freakout was the incriminating thing. There's also a part of me that wondered whether it was all an act, and Ernesto hearing it was part of Chuck's mysterious plan somehow.

Oh, I definitely think Chuck intended for him to hear it. Chuck doesn't seem to be the type who lets things accidentally slip like that. And then he seemed to oversell the "don't tell" bit, hoping that Ernesto WOULD tell Jimmy. Or someone else? Still not sure on that bit, what his end goal is, but I do think it was intentional. 

 

7 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Curious about the scene between Jimmy and the Air Force Captain/Brendan Fehr from last season.  Where there be more to this or was it just a scene to show that Jimmy is continuing to cross the line.  I did think he didn't come off well.  Way too defensive and acting like what he did was no biggie.  If you are going to cross those lines, at least embrace them.  But I guess he isn't there.... yet.

Yea, I think this was to show more of his progression. Up until now, Jimmy hasn't really been "nasty" to people, who weren't already nasty themselves. That airman had every right to be upset and Jimmy kind of lost his shit on him. So he's stepping away somewhat from his nice-guy-who-does wrong persona, but he doesn't quite have the cool panache yet.

 

1 hour ago, Bryce Lynch said:

 

It seems like "Gene" still has a thing for Kim all those years later.  He had a Kansas City Royals lunchbox and Kim wore a Royals shirt in an earlier episode.  I doubt that is a coincidence.  I wonder if it had belonged to her.

 

Oooooh, good catch. I'm actually from Omaha and my sister lives in KC. My whole family loves the Royals, so I was more excited about telling them about that cute little lunch box than remembering the significance of it. 

[SlackerInc]

9 hours ago, benteen said:

Slow, boring crap that I have no doubt the critics will call "brilliant."

I'm with those critics.  Like ghoulina, I was sleepy when I started the episode--but I found it riveting, and it woke me right up.  Two of my very favorite shows of all time (this and The Americans) have now started their seasons this spring with long, wordless sequences of drudgery (on The Americans, it was a ten minute depiction of digging a hole) that go against every rule in the book for how to make TV.  And I did, indeed, find them both "brilliant".

5 hours ago, SinInTheCamp said:

Mike drained the battery of the tracker the unknown person placed on the car parked outside his house so that he'd come and retrieve it, thinking it's no longer working. In the meantime, he's bought another identical tracker that he's switched out the original for in the gas cap. So after this guy takes it with him, thinking it's the one HE planted, Mike is now able to track him. And no, he probably wouldn't suspect anything.

Right, but:

11 minutes ago, Paloma said:

I got that, but I'm still confused about how they tracked him to the shooting site in the hills/desert. I thought that the car he took apart at the junkyard was one he picked up just for the shooting (in the same way he apparently got a different junker car for the truck driver trap with the spiked hose). How would his watcher(s) have gotten a tracker on something that was not his regular car?

That was my question too.  But I guess he had to go get the extra car at some point, and maybe when he first bought it or whatever, they tracked him with his main car and switched the gas cap after he left it to be used later?  Definitely a little confusing, but I have a vague sense of "story checks out".

Edited April 11, 2017 by SlackerInc
I'm a stickler for italicizing show names

[Paloma]

21 minutes ago, ghoulina said:

And my heart really broke for Jimmy when he was helping Chuck take down the space blankets and was trying to reminisce about their childhood. And Chuck just couldn't have it. He couldn't let Jimmy have one nice moment. Not even for a minute. Sure, Jimmy did a really shitty thing to him. But Chuck has being trying to thwart Jimmy's career at EVERY turn. It's insane how he thinks HE is always on the right side of things. He has let his intense bitterness where Jimmy is concern totally delude him. It's obvious, to me, that Jimmy really does love Chuck and WANTS to have a nice relationship with him. But Chuck just wants to be right. 

After rewatching most of season 2 and then this episode, I've concluded that Chuck really is the "bad" brother. Jimmy may do some bad things, but he is fundamentally a good person and loyal to those he cares about (especially Chuck), even at the risk of hurting himself (such as when he ran over to the copy shop after Chuck fell). When Jimmy transposed the numbers in the file, I think he was focusing on reversing the wrong done to Kim and did not realize how extreme an effect the consequences would have for Chuck.

[benteen]

Drudgery is the right word for last night's Better Call Saul.  Really, they needed 13 minutes to reveal what Mike was doing when it was obvious from the start?

[ShadowFacts]

After waiting a whole year, I needed a little more meat.  Or vegetables, something.  The part that was most intriguing to me was Gene in Omaha, so of course, the rest of the hour dragged.  I thought that opening was very well done all around.  It was very BB, Gene was wigging out silently the way Walter White would do.  I initially thought his collapse was anxiety related, a conversion reaction or something like it.  But then I was thinking he looked a little unwell (but who over age 40 looks good in black and white close-up?) and wondered about that, although his lunch appetite seemed fine.  Maybe he's going down the same road that Chuck did.  Somehow I don't think Cinnabon will be as accommodating as HHM.

[ghoulina]

8 minutes ago, Paloma said:

After rewatching most of season 2 and then this episode, I've concluded that Chuck really is the "bad" brother. Jimmy may do some bad things, but he is fundamentally a good person and loyal to those he cares about (especially Chuck), even at the risk of hurting himself (such as when he ran over to the copy shop after Chuck fell). When Jimmy transposed the numbers in the file, I think he was focusing on reversing the wrong done to Kim and did not realize how extreme an effect the consequences would have for Chuck.

I 100% agree with you. Jimmy has done some uncool things to his brother, but no matter how bad things got between them, he was always concerned about his brother. He'd try to pull back, but then he'd be right back in there went things when haywire for Chuck. He'd be wrapping him in space blankets and calling him "buddy" and you could tell he was genuinely concerned for Chuck. 

When, during any of JIMMY'S misfortunes, has Chuck appeared to worry about him? To feel empathy, even if he knows Jimmy is a screwup? Never, from where I'm sitting. He only has helped Jimmy out of family obligation, but then he secretly tries to undermine his brother. For no reason other than to prove himself right about what a fuckup Jimmy is. 

Edited April 11, 2017 by ghoulina