S04.E07: Something Stupid

[Sarah D. Bunting]

Quote

Jimmy expands his business, but runs into a problem that only Kim can solve; Gus intervenes in Hector's medical care; Mike deals with a setback.

[Primetimer]

A time jump sees Kim maaaybe preparing to cast off more than her injury when Huell gets in trouble, and work hits snags on two fronts for Gus, in our EPIC OLD-SCHOOL RECAP of S04.E07, 'Something Stupid.'

View the full article

[Dianaofthehunt]

Jim/Saul was a triple asshole this episode. 

1. Getting drunk and making an ass of himself at the Schwiekert party

2. Sassing a cop; off-duty or not

3. Outlining the sketchiest of scenarios to Kim as to how to nail the cop in court....

and his general attitude towards the end. I'm single-handedly renaming this show Better Listen to Kim, Asshole.

[benteen]

It was okay.  Had some nice music montages, more Saul development, more Huell but I didn't find it all that interesting.

It's easy to see why Mark Margolis got an Guest Emmy nomination for playing Hector on Breaking Bad.  The man conveys a lot without saying a single word and barely moving.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

My least favorite ep this season.  Part of that is due to the jump in time.  I just hate that the show must end at all.  But, beyond that, especially after the breaking apart, if not bad, montage, I didn't buy Kim's indifference, however feigned, when Jimmy indicated the party could go bad for her due to his presence.  To me, she already knew.  We get the courtroom scene later that should cement this awareness.

I don't care for the stroke doctor, either.   Much too much time with her in the hospital room and in the kitchen.  HOWEVER...holy schnikeys, the reaction of Gus when he realized Hector was still Hector!  Easily the best moment.

I did enjoy trying to discern Mike's take on Werner.  Does he genuinely like the guy, perhaps seeing himself a little in him?  Is he growing exasperated with him, aside from the construction issues?  And so forth...  

In the current timeline, if Mesa Verde is to fall on BCS, it won't have anything to do with the 2008 bubble crash.  What a cash cow for S&C and Kim!  As always, great to see Lane (Viola).

Finally, I like the touch of Jimmy taking off in his Esteem like a minion (Wicked Witch Flying Monkey?) on a mission.  There was zero regard for, or of, Kim.  She was literally nothing to him as she was standing right there.   

Is "Kai" German for "Nacho?"

[Dianaofthehunt]

Some other things:

How are some people able to recognize plain-clothes or off-duty cops? This was a thing on Breaking Bad, also.  How can people tell?

What must Jimmy's cell phone boss think of the through-the-rooof sales? I wonder how Jimmy's going to explain it. Probably likely it won't even come up.

Any guesses as to who the school supplies were for? 

Televised tooth-brushing disgusts the hell out of me. I have to put my hand over my eyes until it's over.

[tennisgurl]

Oh, how this franchise loves their montage set to ironically cheerful, old school music. 

Poor Kim. That party scene was seriously awkward to watch, she looked like she wanted to disappear into the floor was Jimmy was making an ass of himself. So, did Jimmy just full on Break Bad and morph into Saul? Did I blink? I thought that would be a bigger deal? 

[ahmerali]

26 minutes ago, Dianaofthehunt said:

Some other things:

How are some people able to recognize plain-clothes or off-duty cops? This was a thing on Breaking Bad, also.  How can people tell?

 

I am not a cop, but a know a few. It seems like pretty standard procedure to start by asking something like "Is this you?". It's the sort of question that no one would refuse to answer if they didn't have something to hide, and the cop's goal is to get the other person talking - best way to do that is to get them to say "yes" to something.

Safe to say that Jimmy has plenty of experience talking his way out of situations with cops. He knows how to spot them.

[Tighthead]

I think Mike likes Werner. I don’t think he would fake it. Not his style. 

Jimmy is getting the phones wholesale. 

[Bama]

Gosh, I SO thought that was going to be Jesse (Aaron Paul) in the little red beater buying a phone from Saul, with the way they coyly did the delayed pan to the driver and since the car was so similar to what Jesse drove when we first met him.

[rhys]

I wish I knew what Kim was up to with all those office supply purchases. I have a feeling she's going to highlight a bunch of random stuff to help Huell but what do I know?

[ahmerali]

46 minutes ago, Dianaofthehunt said:

Any guesses as to who the school supplies were for?

I am really trying hard to figure this out.

The next episode is called Coushatta, which is a region in Louisiana. Huell Babineaux has the right kind of name to be from that part of the country.

Best guess is that Kim is somehow going to have written up a bunch of notes that look like they come from young kids or other Babineaux family members to please come home to Coushatta because great-aunt Hattie is so sick and likely to die and really wants to see him before that happens. "He didn't flee the jurisdiction, Your Honor, he just wanted to see his sick auntie. Could you say no to all of these cute sad faces?"

Or maybe some letters from Huell from over the years, including crayon and marker drawings from when he was a wee lad? Most of the stuff Kim buys is very colorful.....

In one scene from the next episode, we see Kim walking in to the courthouse with three assistants behind her, two of which are African-American. Maybe they need to do a civil rights or racism undercurrent to take it over the top?

Edited September 18, 2018 by ahmerali

[EricJ]

Was I unreasonably happy that Buntsy got to recap an episode with a D.B. Cooper reference?

Yes I was.

[Quilt Fairy]

44 minutes ago, Dianaofthehunt said:

Any guesses as to who the school supplies were for? 

The only thing I could think of was that Kim knows someone in the DA's office who sponsors school supplies for low income kids.  But what she bought didn't look to equal getting Huell off with no jail time.  On the other hand, it looked like too much if she wanted to fake  individual notes.  

[LittleIggy]

Huel is thinner than he was on BB, isn’t he?

I enjoyed the episode. It was fun seeing the emergence of the Saul Goodman (‘s all good, man) moniker. 

Yeah, Mike likes the German engineer. So do I. Those German boys need some frauleins!

Get Don Hector his bell! 

BTW, that Burl Ives cover of “Big Rock Candy Mountain” is sanitized compared to the one on the “O, Brother Where Art Thou?” soundtrack. That one has lyrics about “little streams of alcohol come trickling down the rocks” and “lakes of stew and of whiskey, too.” Oh, and “where they hung the jerk who invented work”! ?Now, that was a hobo paradise!

[MisterBluxom]

1 hour ago, Dianaofthehunt said:

Some other things:

How are some people able to recognize plain-clothes or off-duty cops? This was a thing on Breaking Bad, also.  How can people tell?

What must Jimmy's cell phone boss think of the through-the-rooof sales? I wonder how Jimmy's going to explain it. Probably likely it won't even come up.

Any guesses as to who the school supplies were for? 

Televised tooth-brushing disgusts the hell out of me. I have to put my hand over my eyes until it's over.

There are several factors. If all are present, then that person is usually a cop.

The most important is cheap ill-fitting clothing that look like they were put together by a blind gorilla.

Cops can't afford to spend money on nice clothes. Nice clothes cost a lot of money. Much more than a cop can afford. Plus cops don't ever get any training in how to mix and match colors and fabrics and other factors. It is almost never an important part of their lives. Many companies won't let employees appear in court or other places where they publicly represent the company unless they first make sure they know how to dress to make a good appearance. But no one seems to care how cops dress.

The next item is language and sense of humor. If you listen to them talk, their vocabulary and grammar usually give them away after they speak one or two sentences.

Umm ... sorry ... I'm just not happy talking about cops. I was once arrested for something I didn't do and the cops were two of the most vile and most stupid creatures I ever met. I did meet one clever cop once and if I feel up to it, I will tell you about that some other time.

Edited September 18, 2018 by MissBluxom

[acid burn]

1 hour ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Any guesses as to who the school supplies were for? 

I assumed she was thinking picket signs and plans to suggest the DA's office is racially biased. Based on the scenes from the upcoming episodes, it looks like she raises a ruckus.

Edited September 18, 2018 by acid burn

[Bannon]

3 hours ago, Dianaofthehunt said:

Jim/Saul was a triple asshole this episode. 

1. Getting drunk and making an ass of himself at the Schwiekert party

2. Sassing a cop; off-duty or not

3. Outlining the sketchiest of scenarios to Kim as to how to nail the cop in court....

and his general attitude towards the end. I'm single-handedly renaming this show Better Listen to Kim, Asshole.

I'm with you on 1&3, but I really disagree with the notion that a citizen of this country has an ethical obligation to be polite to a police officer, when that officer attempts to interfere with the citizen's perfectly legal affairs. 

[Dev F]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

BTW, that Burl Ives cover of “Big Rock Candy Mountain” is sanitized compared to the one on the “O, Brother Where Art Thou?” soundtrack. That one has lyrics about “little streams of alcohol come trickling down the rocks” and “lakes of stew and of whiskey, too.” Oh, and “where they hung the jerk who invented work”! ?Now, that was a hobo paradise!

Yeah, the long-lost original version was actually even less sanitary -- and in the final verse, uh . . . kinda rapey?

The punk rolled up his big blue eyes
And said to the jocker, "Sandy
I've hiked and hitched and wandered too,
But I ain't seen any candy
I've hiked and hiked till my feet are sore,
I'll be god damned if I hike any more
To be buggered sore like a hobo's whore
On the Big Rock Candy Mountains.

Apparently the song was originally about an old tramp who uses the story of a mythical hobo paradise to lure a young punk away so he can sexually assault him!

Honestly, it's that version that seems most in keeping with the content of the episode, in which a couple of old men haul away a group of scraggly young men every day so they'll toil miserably for some promised reward that doesn't seem like it'll ever come. It's also reflected in the title, "Something Stupid," which per the lyrics of the opening song is about how Kim and Jimmy are laboring under the delusion that their increasingly separate lives are going to lead them back to one another, but sadly they're only chasing a lovely illusion that will ultimately break them.

[Bannon]

Gosh, that party scene, and the drive home, was sad. These two people really care for one another, but their lives don't match any longer, and likely never will again, and they can't bring themselves to see it clearly. Jimmy knew this time was coming the moment Kim told him she had been offered a partnership at Schweikert, which is why it agonized him at the time. More pain and loss looms.

I have no idea what Kim's plan is, but I think Jimmy is going to alter it in a way that really drives a stake through the heart of their relationship.

[PeterPirate]

I love how Gus smiled just a tad when he realized Hector was Hector.  

Now we know Kim didn't know Jimmy was selling drop phones at the Dog House.  Still doesn't pass the smell test with me.  What other kind of work would he be doing there late at night?  As Skylar told Walt, she would rather go to prison than have people think she was too stupid to know what her husband was up to.  Just my point of view.   

I wonder if Jimmy's PPD could survive having his drop phone street business become known, or maybe his association with Huell.  Wouldn't the cell phone company keep track of the usage of their own cell phones, and detect that they are not being sold retail?   Even if what Jimmy is doing is legal, the company would not want their brand name associated with drug dealers.  They could fire Jimmy, and then it's goodbye PPD.   

I like the idea above that Kim is going to paint Huell as the target of a biased prosecution.  I'd like to see Kim get into it with Judge Neelix again.  (It also occurs to me that in the pilot episode of Voyager, Neelix was confident, independent, even swaggering.  Once the show got going he became rather subordinate to his blonde, blessed-with-superpowers girlfriend.)

The housing bubble got its start in 2002 when the government relaxed restrictions on mortgages.  It makes sense that Mesa Verde is cashing in on the boom.  

[DangerousMinds]

3 hours ago, MissBluxom said:

There are several factors. If all are present, then that person is usually a cop.

The most important is cheap ill-fitting clothing that look like they were put together by a blind gorilla.

Cops can't afford to spend money on nice clothes. Nice clothes cost a lot of money. Much more than a cop can afford. Plus cops don't ever get any training in how to mix and match colors and fabrics and other factors. It is almost never an important part of their lives. Many companies won't let employees appear in court or other places where they publicly represent the company unless they first make sure they know how to dress to make a good appearance. But no one seems to care how cops dress.

The next item is language and sense of humor. If you listen to them talk, their vocabulary and grammar usually give them away after they speak one or two sentences.

Umm ... sorry ... I'm just not happy talking about cops. I was once arrested for something I didn't do and the cops were two of the most vile and most stupid creatures I ever met. I did meet one clever cop once and if I feel up to it, I will tell you about that some other time.

I didn't notice anything strange about the cop's language in this episode. What about their vocabulary and grammar sets them apart from others? And you can buy inexpensive clothing that fits.

[qtpye]

1 hour ago, Bannon said:

Gosh, that party scene, and the drive home, was sad. These two people really care for one another, but their lives don't match any longer, and likely never will again, and they can't bring themselves to see it clearly. Jimmy knew this time was coming the moment Kim told him she had been offered a partnership at Schweikert, which is why it agonized him at the time. More pain and loss looms.

I have no idea what Kim's plan is, but I think Jimmy is going to alter it in a way that really drives a stake through the heart of their relationship.

Jimmy does not need to be acting this way. Kim is perfectly fine with him doing his thing but he is the one being an asshole at her work for no reason. I imagine the Kim is bringing in most of the income of the household. If the genders were reversed and Kim was being a jerk to Jimmy over a perceived slight most people would be raking her over the coals for messing with his livelihood. Jimmy could be happy for Kim's success but now in his rigid worldview, she has become one of "them" (the status quo) where he will always be on the other team (the rule breakers). This is a very black and white way to think.

[MisterBluxom]

43 minutes ago, DangerousMinds said:

I didn't notice anything strange about the cop's language in this episode. What about their vocabulary and grammar sets them apart from others? And you can buy inexpensive clothing that fits.

Yes you can buy clothes that fit. But not if you don't know how to tell whether your clothes fit or not.

As for their language and vocab, whenever I spend large periods of time in the States, when I come home, I seem to have a pronounced American accent for about half as long as I stayed there.

Cops spend a lot of time dealing with criminals and they are in their presence for a lot of time. Their voice and vocab take on the same kind of feel as that of criminals. I don't know the correct way to explain this. But if you've ever heard how criminals talk, you'd recognize what it is that is different about their voices.

I forgot to mention shoes. Shoes are the single biggest clue of all. I don't hate cops. Most of them really do seem to believe in "Protect and Serve". I hate the two imbeciles that arrested me because they wouldn't listen to my explanation and my lawyer made them look like idiots in court. My charges were dropped in less that 30 minutes.

Police don't get paid as well as many other professions. They aren't impoverished. But they usually have families and mortgages and they have to watch every penny. For some reason, most seem to think one good place to save money is on shoes. They only usually own 3 or 4 different pair of shoes. One for work. One for leisure. One for sports. And I forget the  other one. Point is, most of the time their shoes always seem to look "wrong". Often cheap and worn. They seem to use one pair of shoes in several different circumstances. One of the most glaring examples is in court. Since they don't spend a lot of time in court, the shoes they wear to court usually look awful.

Anyway, I'm unhappy talking about this. Brings up an unpleasant memory. I don't want to discuss it anymore. Sorry. I apologize. It was  my fault for bringing it up in the first place. I need to learn to keep my mouth shut more often.

Edited September 18, 2018 by MissBluxom

[MisterBluxom]

2 hours ago, Bannon said:

Gosh, that party scene, and the drive home, was sad. These two people really care for one another, but their lives don't match any longer, and likely never will again, and they can't bring themselves to see it clearly. Jimmy knew this time was coming the moment Kim told him she had been offered a partnership at Schweikert, which is why it agonized him at the time. More pain and loss looms.

I have no idea what Kim's plan is, but I think Jimmy is going to alter it in a way that really drives a stake through the heart of their relationship.

I read your post before I watched the episode and I was expecting Jimmy would get drunk and behave like a complete lunatic. I didn't think he behaved extremely badly - just a little badly. But you are entirely correct and your post is very perceptive. The writers and/or director spent a very short time to make a subtle yet effective point. that small change in Jimmy's behavior did portend the end of Kim & Jimmy's relationship. I found it very sad. Kim is the best thing in Jimmy's life and if he could hang on to her, she could help him have a very happy and successful life. Without her, as many people here have implied, Jimmy is destined for a very unhappy life.

[MisterBluxom]

There are many very clever people in this thread.  I am often amazed at the level of perception that so many people here show. I learn more about many things by reading this forum than I do  in many other ways.  So ... I'd like to propose a kind of group problem to solve:

There are enough really bright people here that we ought to be able to figure out just what Kim has in mind to save Jimmy's bodyguard from jail as well as what she was doing buying those supplies and how those supplies might have given her the idea how to save  him from jail.

I have no idea why she was buying those supplies. But I got the idea that she recognized that when people sell in quantity, they can sell for a lower price. I need to think more about this. But my first thought is that Kim might be thinking the prosecutor handled about half a dozen similar cases and the accuseds spent only small amounts of time in prison. Maybe Kim is going to try to argue that because her client is one of many different cases involving the same charge, he should somehow not have to spend a year and a half in prison. I know my logic is not sound. It doesn't really connect. But does anyone else have any ideas? I think between a few of you foks, we should be able to make a few good guesses as to what Kim will do next week.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The preview for next week's episode reads:

 

Jimmy goes to great lengths to right a wrong, as Kim pulls out all the stops for a case; Mike lets his team blow off steam; Nacho receives a visitor.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is it  possible that Nacho could have some connection to this? I can't imagine how. Do any of you get any ideas from this preview?

I put the preview in a spoiler box as some people might consider it to be a spoiler.

Edited September 18, 2018 by MissBluxom

[MisterBluxom]

5 hours ago, ahmerali said:

I am really trying hard to figure this out.

The next episode is called Coushatta, which is a region in Louisiana. Huell Babineaux has the right kind of name to be from that part of the country.

Best guess is that Kim is somehow going to have written up a bunch of notes that look like they come from young kids or other Babineaux family members to please come home to Coushatta because great-aunt Hattie is so sick and likely to die and really wants to see him before that happens. "He didn't flee the jurisdiction, Your Honor, he just wanted to see his sick auntie. Could you say no to all of these cute sad faces?"

Or maybe some letters from Huell from over the years, including crayon and marker drawings from when he was a wee lad? Most of the stuff Kim buys is very colorful.....

In one scene from the next episode, we see Kim walking in to the courthouse with three assistants behind her, two of which are African-American. Maybe they need to do a civil rights or racism undercurrent to take it over the top?

Remember how Kim reacted when Jimmy suggested they somehow make the cop appear to be drunk in court and make him smell like alcohol? He was describing a plan that involved deceit. He wanted to make it look like the cop was guilty of wrongdoing by doing things that were clearly dishonest. Kim would have no part of that since it was extremely morally repugnant to her and would also get both of them disbarred. After all he's gone through, I couldn't believe Jimmy was willing to risk disbarment like that. And it wasn't much of a risk. Seemed like a real stupid thing to do and if he did it, I would think it would be extremely likely he would be found out and disbarred. Actually, both Kim and Jimmy would be disbarred.

As a result ......  there is no way Kim would engage in any kind of fraudulent or phony letter writing campaign whereby she would arrange for a few people to write a hundred letters or so and make them look like they were written by school children in the region of Coushatta. No way in the world would she ever do that.   I'm pretty sure that once Jimmy suggested doing something that would get them both disbarred, that was another nail in the coffin of their relationship. I believe it was Bannon who posted he expected this to happen and it seems pretty clear to me it did. Jimmy has to be "off the rails" to risk losing Kim and risk getting them both disbarred. No wonder Kim thinks he should "talk to someone".

[Conan Troutman]

6 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

 

Is "Kai" German for "Nacho?"

No, it's not an equivalent to some other name, nor has it any other special meaning. It's just a name I guess. 

4 hours ago, acid burn said:

I assumed she was thinking picket signs and plans to suggest the DA's office is racially biased. Based on the scenes from the upcoming episodes, it looks like she raises a ruckus.

I though it just meant she was going to go on a post-it rampage, marking millions of pages of text in another montage that I now want to see.  But yeah, it most likely will be related to the stuff we had in this episode, so your guess sounds pretty good to me. 

 

I was a bit confused by the time jump, I guess we're now close to Jimmy getting his license back? It seems he passed several months of tests at least. 

Not the most eventful episode, but the Kim/Jimmy relationship had to take center stage for it to work and it did. Loved the montage at the start, that was just done so well. If it weren't so sad. I liked the bit with Jimmy pouring wine into the glas on the other side of the split screen, like they were still together phsically but so seperated already that I was surprised when it turned out they actually were eating dinner together in that scene. Visually, this show is still miles ahead of everything else. 

[MisterBluxom]

I just rewatched the scene between Kim and the lady prosecutor. Near the very end of that scene, the prosecutor calls Jimmy a "scumbag disbarred lawyer who peddles drop-phones to criminals" and calls the cop a "decorated police officer".  The last thing Kim says is, "You don't know the whole story."

I'm thinking that may be a good clue to what happens next week. Kim looked at the prosecutor very quizzically when she called the cop "a decorated police officer". I wonder if Kim might suspect there could be some kind of relationship between them?

As for "not knowing the whole story", the only thing that wasn't covered in that talk were the events surrounding Jimmy's problems that caused him to be disbarred. That included his brother going crazy and provoking Jimmy into forcing the door. Remember? Provocation is a recognized legal term that can reduce the sentence in criminal matters. Like if person A runs up to person B and starts yelling and screaming at them and threatens to do him harm and then B turns around and takes a swing at A, person A is said to have been "provoked" and any criminal punishment is usually greatly reduced. I wonder if Kim is somehow thinking of using a provocation argument to get Yuell's sentence reduced so he don't have to go to prison.  Can she argue that the cop was doing something that made it look like he was about to harm Jimmy? If so, that could be one real good way to get his sentence reduced.

Edited September 18, 2018 by MissBluxom

[Bannon]

1 hour ago, Conan Troutman said:

 

 

I was a bit confused by the time jump, I guess we're now close to Jimmy getting his license back? It seems he passed several months of tests at least. 

 

Jimmy stated that he needed Kim's help because he was getting his license to practice back in about 30 days, and Huell couldn't wait that long.

[Bryce Lynch]

3 hours ago, PeterPirate said:

I love how Gus smiled just a tad when he realized Hector was Hector.  

Now we know Kim didn't know Jimmy was selling drop phones at the Dog House.  Still doesn't pass the smell test with me.  What other kind of work would he be doing there late at night?  As Skylar told Walt, she would rather go to prison than have people think she was too stupid to know what her husband was up to.  Just my point of view.   

I wonder if Jimmy's PPD could survive having his drop phone street business become known, or maybe his association with Huell.  Wouldn't the cell phone company keep track of the usage of their own cell phones, and detect that they are not being sold retail?   Even if what Jimmy is doing is legal, the company would not want their brand name associated with drug dealers.  They could fire Jimmy, and then it's goodbye PPD.   

I like the idea above that Kim is going to paint Huell as the target of a biased prosecution.  I'd like to see Kim get into it with Judge Neelix again.  (It also occurs to me that in the pilot episode of Voyager, Neelix was confident, independent, even swaggering.  Once the show got going he became rather subordinate to his blonde, blessed-with-superpowers girlfriend.)

The housing bubble got its start in 2002 when the government relaxed restrictions on mortgages.  It makes sense that Mesa Verde is cashing in on the boom.  

I am pretty sure Jimmy only sold phones late at night, that one time.  He told Kim he had work to do at the store.  She still probably should have figured out something was off about his story, but I think she didn't really want to know.

I was also wondering if Jimmy's PPD could be revoked for associating with Huell.  His probation officer asked him if he was associating with any known criminals.

Jimmy is buying the phones wholesale, not from CC Mobile.

I have no idea what Kim's plan for Huell is.  But she seems to have some sort of trick up her sleeve.

I find it unrealistic that they are trying to give Huell serious prison time.  A pick pocket is not a hated type of criminal and unless the cop is lying the case is week.

Huell saw a man in plain clothes accosting his boss and threw sandwiches at him, causing no injury.  IRL this would not be overcharged unless there was an agenda, like the DA wanted him to rat out a big time drug dealer or a killer.

3 minutes ago, Bannon said:

Jimmy stated that he needed Kim's help because he was getting his license to practice back in about 30 days, and Huell couldn't wait that long.

It seems unrealistic that Huell's case would be tried that quickly.  IRL it wouldn't happen until Jimmy's suspension ended.

[Bannon]

7 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I am pretty sure Jimmy only sold phones late at night, that one time.  He told Kim he had work to do at the store.  She still probably should have figured out something was off about his story, but I think she didn't really want to know.

I was also wondering if Jimmy's PPD could be revoked for associating with Huell.  His probation officer asked him if he was associating with any known criminals.

Jimmy is buying the phones wholesale, not from CC Mobile.

I have no idea what Kim's plan for Huell is.  But she seems to have some sort of trick up her sleeve.

I find it unrealistic that they are trying to give Huell serious prison time.  A pick pocket is not a hated type of criminal and unless the cop is lying the case is week.

Huell saw a man in plain clothes accosting his boss and threw sandwiches at him, causing no injury.  IRL this would not be overcharged unless there was an agenda, like the DA wanted him to rat out a big time drug dealer or a killer.

It seems unrealistic that Huell's case would be tried that quickly.  IRL it wouldn't happen until Jimmy's suspension ended.

I'll forgive the writer's time compression. If you employed realistic timelines, the criminal or civil justice system would cease to be a setting in television drama.

[ShadowFacts]

3 hours ago, PeterPirate said:

I love how Gus smiled just a tad when he realized Hector was Hector.  

I thought it was a little mustache twirling villain-like when Gus realized he wanted Hector to stay the way he was, unable to speak.  Pretty unethical of the doctor if she doesn't push back on that, but she is apparently bought and paid for by Gus.  She's getting her clinic.

6 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

Huell saw a man in plain clothes accosting his boss and threw sandwiches at him, causing no injury.  IRL this would not be overcharged unless there was an agenda, like the DA wanted him to rat out a big time drug dealer or a killer.

I cannot be surprised by overcharging of a black man assaulting a police officer.  The prosecutor thinks it is perfectly OK notwithstanding all the cases Kim cited.  It's the system, and Kim is right, it's unjust.

[acid burn]

3 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I find it unrealistic that they are trying to give Huell serious prison time.  A pick pocket is not a hated type of criminal and unless the cop is lying the case is week.

Huell is black. Sadly, I don't think it's unrealistic. And that is the part that will work for Kim, who is uncomfortable operating in a moral gray area and needs to find a way to get Huell off through legitimate means. Campaigning against the DA's office for excessive sentencing due to racial bias accomplishes that. If she causes them major problems, they likely will stand down. That said, is Huell an angel? Hell, no. Has he done things to warrant legit jail time? Probably (or at least we know he will). But Kim will work with what she has and that's is the fact that the white pickpockets served no time for more violent offenses.

I agree that associating with Huell will cause an issue for Jimmy. We know Jimmy gets the license back at some point (and it may even be this one), but Kim is not going to keep ignoring Jimmy's complicity forever. She is getting increasingly frustrated and disillusioned. 

[qtpye]

1 minute ago, icemiser69 said:

Speaking of "Separate Lives", I was expecting that Phil Collins song to be played during the opening of this episode.  It would have fit better, since we see Kim and Jimmy living very separate lives.  Even when they were in bed together, I didn't sense any intimacy between them. 

Quote

Kim is trying to do everything straight without pulling off anything sleazy (Jimmy like) in n effort to get Huell off.  The problem is that her boyfriend (Jimmy) doesn't care how sleazy he gets in order to get what he wants.  It would be a shame if Jimmy did something so sleazy that it some how cost Kim her law license.  Kim is the type of person to risk her law license in order to save Jimmy.

Jimmy looks at Kim going to the big law firm as a betrayal and that is causing him to pull away from Kim. Kim has always had a "live and let live" attitude towards Jimmy and is not pushing him to seriously confront his emotions. Kim did not even really get too mad at Jimmy for acting badly at Davis and Main which cause her to be banished to doc review hell. I hate to agree with Chuck, but people really do let Jimmy get away with too much.

[Bryce Lynch]

47 minutes ago, acid burn said:

Huell is black. Sadly, I don't think it's unrealistic. And that is the part that will work for Kim, who is uncomfortable operating in a moral gray area and needs to find a way to get Huell off through legitimate means. Campaigning against the DA's office for excessive sentencing due to racial bias accomplishes that. If she causes them major problems, they likely will stand down. That said, is Huell an angel? Hell, no. Has he done things to warrant legit jail time? Probably (or at least we know he will). But Kim will work with what she has and that's is the fact that the white pickpockets served no time for more violent offenses.

I agree that associating with Huell will cause an issue for Jimmy. We know Jimmy gets the license back at some point (and it may even be this one), but Kim is not going to keep ignoring Jimmy's complicity forever. She is getting increasingly frustrated and disillusioned. 

The media narrative is that black men get the book thrown at them all the time.  The reality is that, generally, criminals of all skin colors need to try pretty hard to get serious prison time.  Prisons are overcrowded and DAs and courts are overburdened, so most offenders plea for little or no prison time, unless they do something pretty bad.  Maybe a drug dealer might get what some might think is an excessive sentence, but pick pockets are probably among the most "respected" of criminals.

My theory is that they are trying to flip Huell to squeeze Jimmy.  It could be some personal agenda (maybe the ADA knew and respected Chuck) or perhaps they want to get Jimmy to start keeping track of who he sells his burner phones to.   That could be a goldmine of intelligence for the police, DEA, etc.   They could even have Jimmy give specific tracked or bugged phones to specific customers the police are targeting.   

I thought it was interesting the ADA called the officer a decorated officer (when we also know he, at minimum has a DUI) and Jimmy a scumbag, disbarred lawyer.  Kim responds that that is not the whole story.  It seems like both Jimmy and the cop are complicated characters, who have done some really good work, but also have a darker side.  

45 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

Speaking of "Separate Lives", I was expecting that Phil Collins song to be played during the opening of this episode.  It would have fit better, since we see Kim and Jimmy living very separate lives.  Even when they were in bed together, I didn't sense any intimacy between them. 

They even put that split screen black line between them, when they were next to each other, brushing their teeth, eating dinner and in bed.   That was arguably a bit heavy handed, but clearly their is a divide between them.  

[pasdetrois]

Quote

Huell Babineaux has the right kind of name to be from that part of the country.

I'm from the Cajun parishes and thought the actor's accent was so good (sometimes-it comes and goes) that I looked up the actor's birthplace. He's from the Midwest.

Is Kim going to present a detailed flowchart to show how Huell's prosecution is racially biased?

Oops, Miss Bluxom has the same idea.

Quote

Their voice and vocab take on the same kind of feel as that of criminals.

I'm not so sure about this, at least not these days. Many US cops are former military, and also where I live they have to have college degrees. They can shop at TJMaxx like everybody else (and do). On the other hand, the few times I watched Live PD, I noticed the cops and suspects sharing the same street speak, calling each other brother and such.

Interestingly, the cop we saw looked kind of rumply, as if visually the character was being set up to be a bad cop, but I came away with the impression that he's supposed to be a good cop. In over his head with the wily Saul.

Edited September 18, 2018 by pasdetrois

[ShadowFacts]

28 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

The media narrative is that black men get the book thrown at them all the time.  The reality is that, generally, criminals of all skin colors need to try pretty hard to get serious prison time.  Prisons are overcrowded and DAs and courts are overburdened, so most offenders plea for little or no prison time, unless they do something pretty bad.  Maybe a drug dealer might get what some might think is an excessive sentence, but pick pockets are probably among the most "respected" of criminals.

It's not just a media narrative, look at black incarceration rates.  That's reality.  Even if you don't accept that, it's where they're going with this story.  Kim's recitation of more egregious cases with lighter sentences, and her comment about injustice, were pointing in that direction. 

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, MissBluxom said:

have no idea why she was buying those supplies. But I got the idea that she recognized that when people sell in quantity, they can sell for a lower price.

I considered this too, like maybe Jimmy's not just selling phones, and the cop didn't have the whole picture—maybe Huel is helping sell discount school supplies to kids in rundown neighborhoods, but this:

4 hours ago, Conan Troutman said:

I though it just meant she was going to go on a post-it rampage, marking millions of pages of text in another montage that I now want to see. 

—seems more like a Kim/lawyer strategy.
Like maybe she would show up with so many precedents and legal whatnot all highlighted and Post-It-ed that the prosecuting lawyer would back down.

Edited September 18, 2018 by shapeshifter

[Bryce Lynch]

I thought it was interesting that the elephant in the room of the Sandpiper case has not been mentioned.  S&C represents Sandpiper, and Jimmy is entitled to 20% of the common fund when the case is resolved.  They seemed to be progressing towards a settlement at the end of Season 3, and now nearly a year has passed and I don't think it has been mentioned at all.  With HHM's financial struggles, you would think Howard might have been more open to a settlement, though it might be unethical to settle for those reasons and D&M would also be involved.   

2 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

It's not just a media narrative, look at black incarceration rates.  That's reality.  Even if you don't accept that, it's where they're going with this story.  Kim's recitation of more egregious cases with lighter sentences, and her comment about injustice, were pointing in that direction. 

I don't want to get into a political debate, but incarceration rates match arrest rates, which match victim identification rates when it comes to the demographics of those incarcerated.  

[Dev F]

1 hour ago, icemiser69 said:

Kim is trying to do everything straight without pulling off anything sleazy (Jimmy like) in an effort to get Huell off.  The problem is that her boyfriend (Jimmy) doesn't care how sleazy he gets in order to get what he wants.  It would be a shame if Jimmy did something so sleazy that it some how cost Kim her law license.

I thought the implication was that Kim was going to do something stupid that could put her career in jeopardy. Yes, she originally tries to keep everything on the up and up, but when she realizes that Jimmy is going to enact some reckless plan, she totally changes tactics. I'd assume that her new plan is an ill-conceived attempt to square the circle -- to do something sketchy enough to keep Huell out of prison, but not so sketchy that it'll blow up in their faces or ruin the poor cop's life.

It's the latter possibility, especially, that Kim seems to have reacted against most strongly: "I'm not bringing down a cop!" she says. So I'd assume that whatever she has planned is an alternative that doesn't require making the cop look like a drunk or a racist or whatever.

[MisterBluxom]

48 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

.......

My theory is that they are trying to flip Huell to squeeze Jimmy.  It could be some personal agenda (maybe the ADA knew and respected Chuck) or perhaps they want to get Jimmy to start keeping track of who he sells his burner phones to.   That could be a goldmine of intelligence for the police, DEA, etc.   They could even have Jimmy give specific tracked or bugged phones to specific customers the police are targeting.   

I can't see that. Huell just happened to come along in the middle of the altercation. The cop had no idea when he would come. If they were trying to set  him up, they would have waited until Huell was there and then showed up.

[SunnyBeBe]

I was struck by four things from last night's episode.  One, I liked.  The others, I didn't. 

I liked the realistic scene that Kim had with the ADA.  That kind of dialogue is much more realistic than the one earlier where she gets her way. The only thing that wasn't realistic, is that there are normally many other attorneys trying to discuss their case too.  Her sudden idea is a mystery to me. My thoughts include: The defense of "defense of others."  It's like self defense, but, for another person.  I think you have to be right in your belief that someone is being improperly attacked though....and, Huell wasn't correct, but, was his belief reasonable?

 As far as the office supplies that Kim was buying....I have no idea what she's got up her sleeve. Could she be trying to paint her client in a better light, by having him send care packages of office supplies to needy children? But, they would need pencils, not ink pens. Hmmmmm......

I found Jimmy embarrassing Kim at the party too contrived.  I felt the same way about  the accident scene with Mike's work crew, as well as the scene with Jimmy, Huell and the officer.  My conundrum is if I just don't like them or I don't buy them.  I'll have to watch again and give it a little more thought. 

I didn't like the music in this episode either.  Just my all around least favorite episode yet.  But, I do look forward to Kim's scheme, I mean defense.   

[Bannon]

17 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

It's not just a media narrative, look at black incarceration rates.  That's reality.  Even if you don't accept that, it's where they're going with this story.  Kim's recitation of more egregious cases with lighter sentences, and her comment about injustice, were pointing in that direction. 

He agreed with you, when he correctly said prisons were overcrowded. You are both correct. Yes, black people are more likely to be incarcerated  for the same crime, but he rightly notes that black people can do pretty serious crimes and still avoid incarceration, or incarceration of serious length. The reality is that Huell's crime, in New Mexico,  really would be unlikely to result in the prison time being suggested. Again, the primary purpose of the criminal justice system is to produce guilty pleas, and that is usually accomplished by offering very short periods of incarceration.

Don't know where the Huell arc is going. It isn't impossible for a prosecutor to get a bug about a particular case; hell, it might be Jimmy that irritates her. I'm fine with it.

[Bryce Lynch]

2 hours ago, Bannon said:

I'll forgive the writer's time compression. If you employed realistic timelines, the criminal or civil justice system would cease to be a setting in television drama.

It seems like the only case in TV history with a realistic timeline is the Sandpiper case.  We are about 2 years in and it hasn't gone to court or been settled.  

11 minutes ago, MissBluxom said:

I can't see that. Huell just happened to come along in the middle of the altercation. The cop had no idea when he would come. If they were trying to set  him up, they would have waited until Huell was there and then showed up.

The cop might have been trying to provoke Jimmy into doing something illegal, so he could squeeze him directly, then Huell showed up and sandwiched whipped him. 

Also, that might not have been the original plan.  The cop might have simply, as he stated,  wanted to get Jimmy to take his drop phone business elsewhere, but after he was attacked with the "assault sandwiches" he and the ADA realized what a goldmine Jimmy's cooperation could be.  

[Bannon]

8 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I was struck by four things from last night's episode.  One, I liked.  The others, I didn't. 

I liked the realistic scene that Kim had with the ADA.  That kind of dialogue is much more realistic than the one earlier where she gets her way. The only thing that wasn't realistic, is that there are normally many other attorneys trying to discuss their case too.  Her sudden idea is a mystery to me. My thoughts include: The defense of "defense of others."  It's like self defense, but, for another person.  I think you have to be right in your belief that someone is being improperly attacked though....and, Huell wasn't correct, but, was his belief reasonable?

 As far as the office supplies that Kim was buying....I have no idea what she's got up her sleeve. Could she be trying to paint her client in a better light, by having him send care packages of office supplies to needy children? But, they would need pencils, not ink pens. Hmmmmm......

I found Jimmy embarrassing Kim at the party too contrived.  I felt the same way about  the accident scene with Mike's work crew, as well as the scene with Jimmy, Huell and the officer.  My conundrum is if I just don't like them or I don't buy them.  I'll have to watch again and give it a little more thought. 

I didn't like the music in this episode either.  Just my all around least favorite episode yet.  But, I do look forward to Kim's scheme, I mean defense.   

Funny, I found the party scene painfully realistic, in that I've witnessed things like that. One of the circles of hell is most certainly the company party, where employees are compelled to socialize with management, and junior executives fight to get their noses shoved into the rear end of the boss, who grandly informs everyone how wonderful it is to work for the boss. Yes, I've seen spouses or significant others, resentful at being forced to attend these affairs, act out in a fashion  not dissimilar to Jimmy. I was cringing watching the scene, because it was so spot on that it triggered memories I have.

[SunnyBeBe]

If the police or prosecutors wanted info from Huell about Jimmy, why haven't they asked him and why is that not on the table in the plea negotiations? Also, did the ADA know that Jimmy is Kim's lover, when she made that insulting comment? 

Edited September 18, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[Bryce Lynch]

14 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I was struck by four things from last night's episode.  One, I liked.  The others, I didn't. 

I liked the realistic scene that Kim had with the ADA.  That kind of dialogue is much more realistic than the one earlier where she gets her way. The only thing that wasn't realistic, is that there are normally many other attorneys trying to discuss their case too.  Her sudden idea is a mystery to me. My thoughts include: The defense of "defense of others."  It's like self defense, but, for another person.  I think you have to be right in your belief that someone is being improperly attacked though....and, Huell wasn't correct, but, was his belief reasonable?

 As far as the office supplies that Kim was buying....I have no idea what she's got up her sleeve. Could she be trying to paint her client in a better light, by having him send care packages of office supplies to needy children? But, they would need pencils, not ink pens. Hmmmmm......

I found Jimmy embarrassing Kim at the party too contrived.  I felt the same way about  the accident scene with Mike's work crew, as well as the scene with Jimmy, Huell and the officer.  My conundrum is if I just don't like them or I don't buy them.  I'll have to watch again and give it a little more thought. 

I didn't like the music in this episode either.  Just my all around least favorite episode yet.  But, I do look forward to Kim's scheme, I mean defense.   

I think if Huell's belief might have been reasonable.  Clearly, he had no reason to believe the man was a cop.  Whether the cop appeared threatening enough for Huell to lay hands on him, is debatable, but the level of force he used was minimal, so I doubt any serious charges would stick. 

The implication I got was that the cop was lying about how it went down, and the ADA either believes him or doesn't believe a judge or jury would believe a pick pocket or a scumbag, disbarred lawyer.  If the cop reported it as it actually happened, I think Huell would be at most charged with a misdemeanor and it might get plead down to littering.  

[PeterPirate]

I wish the music for the construction workers had been "Don't Fear The Reaper".  

If Jimmy is buying the phone wholesale from the manufacturer, and not from CC Mobile, how do they get a phone signal?  Is he using a different carrier?  

I don't know from accents, but I'm glad to hear the actor playing Huell got the Cajun accent right.  On another show there are many posts about one actor's bad Boston accent.   

I don't see how the ADA could know about Jimmy's past but not know Kim was his counsel at the PPD.  I like the idea that Jimmy is the real target of the prosecution, and in that context maybe the ADA didn't want to tip her hand.  

It will disappoint me greatly if Kim plays the race card without evidence.  The ADA did call Huell a "Pickpocket with a rap sheet", which indicates he's been at least arrested more than once.   

Edited September 18, 2018 by PeterPirate

[JudyObscure]

10 hours ago, Dianaofthehunt said:

 

Televised tooth-brushing disgusts the hell out of me. I have to put my hand over my eyes until it's over.

That wasn't the first time we've seen them brushing their teeth together, it must be some writer's idea of solid couple-hood. Ewwww.  I don't think I've ever seen my husband brush his teeth.