S04.E09: Wiedersehen

[Bannon]

38 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I don't think Chuck typically said things about Jimmy to his face.  Quite the opposite, for the most part he held his negative opinions about Jimmy in or told them to other people, not Jimmy.

He pretended to be happy and proud when Jimmy told him he passed the bar and pretended to be upset that "Howard" nixed him being an attorney at HHM.  He encouraged Jimmy in his solo law practice, though secretly disapproving, and telling him that Howard didn't want him using the McGill name in the name of his practice.    

When he came to dinner, he apologized to Rebecca in advance and called Jimmy "an acquired taste", but didn't say anything negative to his face.

Is wan't until Jimmy figured out that Chuck has shut him out of HHM and he confronted him, that Chuck let his feelings be known with the "chimp with a machine gun" speech.  

As their feud escalated, especially after Mesa Verde, Chuck became more open about his feelings, capped off by his final "You never mattered that much to me."  But, through most of their lives Chuck did not knock Jimmy, to his face.   

It became much worse, of course, after Mesa Verde, but Chuck likened Jimmy to a chimp (and make no mistake, dehumanizing someone like this, especially someone normally considered to be part of a loving relationship, is as about a hideous thing that can be daid to another person) a few years ago now.I'd have to go back and check, bur I'm pretty sure Chuck was pretty condescending to Jimmy back in the mail room days.

[Bryce Lynch]

3 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

The opening scene was for some small project, right? This was not a major thing, but, a small client, I take it. Still, such a big risk to take for something so insignificant.  It boggles the mind that Kim or Jimmy would go there.   

It was for Mesa Verde.  Kevin wanted to change the plans for the Lubbock branch to make it the same as the Tucumcari branch.  In the last episode, Paige said it would be too much trouble and take to long and a disinterested Kim backed her up, probably because she didn't want to be bothered.  Giselle Saint Claire realized it could be a fun scam, after the Huell letter writing operation.  

[SailorGirl]

8 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

One of my favorite things on both this show and on Breaking Bad is how Gus can change the expression on his face at the drop of a hat -- from pleasant, friendly, helpful Los Pollos Hermanos boss to scary, tired-of-shenanigans, will-kill-you-if-you-test-him drug kingpin.    I just love that change in his facial expression so much!   He switches from welcoming and pleasant to chilling and annoyed in 2 seconds.   When someone irritates Gus, his face says everything.   I laughed out loud at the look he gave Nacho as soon as Lalo was not looking.

Couldn't agree more. If you need a laugh and have about 20 minutes, AMC has the "Los Pollos Hermanos employee training video series" as part of their BCS exclusives.

You get 20 minutes of friendly Fring to frightening Fring . . . its really awesome and is SO worth watching -- there's so many little things going on, you have to watch it a couple of times to catch all the little easter eggs. 

https://www.amc.com/shows/better-call-saul/exclusives/los-pollos-hermanos-employee-training

There's also a Mike Ehrmentraut Madrigal Employee Training security series. 

I can't take credit for finding these -- another poster provided it in another BCS thread. 

 

[Bryce Lynch]

2 minutes ago, Bannon said:

It became much worse, of course, after Mesa Verde, but Chuck likened Jimmy to a chimp (and make no mistake, dehumanizing someone like this, especially someone normally considered to be part of a loving relationship, is as about a hideous thing that can be daid to another person) a few years ago now.I'd have to go back and check, bur I'm pretty sure Chuck was pretty condescending to Jimmy back in the mail room days.

Chuck was making a harsh, but true, analogy, not "dehumanizing" Jimmy.   He wasn't calling him an animal, he was calling Jimmy with a law license a danger, which clearly he was.  

I get the feeling Chuck probably mostly ignored Jimmy in the mail room.  But, condescension is not being openly critical.  

11 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

No, it was for Mesa Verde, the change that Kevin wanted that Kim earlier agreed with Paige about not being feasible.  She switched the plans so that a delay wouldn't happen and Kevin would indeed get what he wanted.  I think. :)  And if that's what she was doing, what's up with that?  Trying to please big daddy?  I didn't get the subtext of that, beyond she was thrilled to be scamming.  And it was so tacky and beneath her, as Bryce Lynch said above.  That woman wasn't a stupid greedy person that Victor and Giselle enjoyed messing with. 

I think pleasing Kevin was, at most, a bonus for Kim.  She didn't care enough to try to cut through the red tape with her usual hard work and persuasiveness.  I am sure it was the thrill of the con that motivated Kim. 

[Bannon]

4 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

Chuck was making a harsh, but true, analogy, not "dehumanizing" Jimmy.   He wasn't calling him an animal, he was calling Jimmy with a law license a danger, which clearly he was.  

I get the feeling Chuck probably mostly ignored Jimmy in the mail room.  But, condescension is not being openly critical.  

I'm sorry, but when you are using an analogy like that, it is dehumanizing, and one of the worst things you can say about another person, 

[teddysmom]

22 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

8 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

I originally thought Werner was going to commit suicide in the trailer after the phone call.   His earlier terror demonstrated he is not the man he was and that decline was upon him.  Emotionally, he was at wits end.  I was thinking that he would trust Mike to ensure that his wife got whatever monies were due.  Instead, it appears we are getting suicide by Mike.  Given how crushed Werner appeared to me, I have no trouble buying that he would make such a choice - with an outside chance of actually making it home.  His whole world, basically, was collapsed.

It is Werner's "Great Escape". 

In the move, "The Great Escape", most of the escapees died.  I think only one of the escapees lived.  Most of the rest were hunted down and killed.  IIRC, Steve McQueen's character was recaptured and then shot.   It has been so long since I have seen the movie, my memory isn't very good.

Steve McQueen made it. They brought him back, put him in solitary and he started throwing the ball against the wall again as the guard chuckled and walked off. 

Charles Bronson (Danny) and John Leyton (Willie) make it, they take a boat down the river. James Coburn (Sedgwick) makes it. 

I have a feeling none of the Germans were ever supposed to make it out of Albuquerque. Too many loose ends. 

[SailorGirl]

21 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

 She switched the plans so that a delay wouldn't happen and Kevin would indeed get what he wanted.  I think. :)  And if that's what she was doing, what's up with that?  Trying to please big daddy?  I didn't get the subtext of that, beyond she was thrilled to be scamming.  

She gets the thrill of the scam and looks like a rock star in front of her client by somehow magically pulling off what she and his inside counsel said wasn't possible? Win-win . . . on the surface. . . 

[Ohwell]

9 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

The review board were dicks for not reinstating Jimmy. Speaking as a former lawyer, if being insincere was a bar to practicing law, there wouldn’t be many lawyers.

My sentiments exactly.  Screw them.

[Bryce Lynch]

7 minutes ago, Bannon said:

I'm sorry, but when you are using an analogy like that, it is dehumanizing, and one of the worst things you can say about another person, 

Is it dehumanizing to call someone a "bull in a china shop", "strong as an ox", a "sly fox"  or a "weasel"?  It might be insulting, but the animal metaphors and similes are not calling the person an animal.  They compare a persons traits to something we associate with those animals.  A "chimp with a machine gun", describes someone who is likely to unintentionally do a great deal of harm, because they are in a position they should never be in.  That perfectly describe Jimmy as a lawyer.   

1 minute ago, Ohwell said:

The review board were dicks for not reinstating Jimmy. Speaking as a former lawyer, if being insincere was a bar to practicing law, there wouldn’t be many lawyers.

They were dicks for why they did it, but they fell assbackwards into the right decision.  

How do these hearings work in real life?  I assumed that if he kept his nose clean, had all his ducks in a row and didn't totally blow the interview, it would pretty much be a formality.  

[Eulipian 5k]

Did Mark Margolis have to take out his teeth to play Hector? Imagine being an actor whose only "dialog" amounts to sniffs and swishing his lips around. Great work! He reeeally wanted to talk about "the Chilean".

Does Mike have to kill Werner? Gus won't do that unless they are sure Kai could finish the job. He wouldn't kill WW in BrBa until he had assurance that Gail or Jesse could fill in. Why not really lock them in, double down on security, (welded hatches, no fire escapes, barbed wire, etc) for the last few months.

Werner really wants to see his wife and spend all their money with her, I don't think he sees suicide as a way of accomplishing that. He knows Gus probably supplied their plane tickets home, so where can he really go?.. unless he made arrangements to meet his wife in Denver.

BTW... do the security guys speak German? Did they know what Werner said to his wife?

[nodorothyparker]

The Kim-Jimmy fight was everything in showing us just how much space Chuck is still taking up in Jimmy's head, no matter how much he protests that he never thinks about him or never utters his name even when the panel was all but feeding him lines to what they obviously wanted to hear.  Raging at her that she thinks he's "some kind of lowlife, some kind of asshole, some kind of lawyer only guilty people hire" when we know that's what Chuck predicted and that's exactly what he'll eventually become was breathtaking.   It makes me wonder if Jimmy has always been that truly insecure about himself and how much of that is on Chuck.  The fight itself was so ugly and raw in voicing things on either end that have been hanging out there for awhile, like how on some level Kim already knows that he's not a suitable partner for her no matter how much she may enjoy slumming with him or how she's always always been the one to support him and clean up after him as he's done progressively grayer and grayer things but he's "always down."  He's always the "victim," of Chuck, of the system, of his own bad judgment.  He's always his own worst enemy.  

Kudos to the show for showing us their utter astonishment at what had seemed a forgone conclusion:  That of course Jimmy would get his law license back and then eventually descend from there.  Because as a viewer I assumed it too.   It feels like there's some kind of analogy there about the mostly criminal characters we're watching, recidivism, and the justice system.  As far as the panel knows, Jimmy has done everything right for the past year.  He held down a job he hated but excelled at nonetheless, earning salesmanship awards three times which also tells us that at least some of those burner phones he's been peddling were on the books at the store.  He wasn't arrested for anything.  In fact, his association with Huell and his assault on the officer and his role in it as the "scumbag disbarred lawyer selling drop phones to criminals" never even came up.  And yet it's still not good enough but hey, maybe try back next year.  This certainly won't encourage you not to say fuck it and forget trying to stay on the straight and narrow on the off chance that in maybe another year from now we'll find you worthy.  The panel completely missed all the legitimately criminal reasons Jimmy shouldn't be a lawyer but vetoed him anyway because he's "insincere."  Sure. 

I wish I found all the cartel stuff half as interesting as the show apparently wants me to because it certainly ate enough time out of this episode.  The actor playing Lalo is charming enough even if I still don't really much care that Hector was again a homicidal asshat and that's how he got his bell.  At least the story of the building of the superlab should lay to rest one of the frequent criticisms I see of Mike, that he's too sharp and too competent and that everything always works out for him.  He was prepared from the start to have trouble with Kai, who's kind of a pain in the ass but a manageable one, but wrongly put his faith in the poor doomed Werner because he liked him and related to him.

[Bryce Lynch]

2 minutes ago, Eulipian 5k said:

BTW... do the security guys speak German? Did they know what Werner said to his wife?

Yes, some of the security guys speak German.  Mike mentioned to Gus that they should get some German speakers when discussing the security plans for the compound.   

[100Proof]

7 hours ago, MissBluxom said:

I don't understand why the panel would care one wit whether or not Jimmy was sincere. What does sincerity have to do with practicing law anyway?

Honor among thieves. Within the group itself, one must grovel and humble thyself.

Edited October 2, 2018 by 100Proof

[Ohwell]

22 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

23 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

The review board were dicks for not reinstating Jimmy. Speaking as a former lawyer, if being insincere was a bar to practicing law, there wouldn’t be many lawyers.

They were dicks for why they did it, but they fell assbackwards into the right decision.  

How do these hearings work in real life?  I assumed that if he kept his nose clean, had all his ducks in a row and didn't totally blow the interview, it would pretty much be a formality.  

That wasn't my quote, but I agreed with it.

[100Proof]

1 hour ago, icemiser69 said:

Jimmy is very good at blaming everyone else for his problems, along with heavy doses of self pity.

He is lucky to have Kim by his side to put up with his bullshit.  Most people would have moved on long ago.

When Jimmy says, "that look. there's that look".  That to me was a... "do I look fat in this dress", or, "which dress do you think looks better on me" thing, lol. Cheap writing ploy to get the Jimmy and Kim characters plot further along

[qtpye]

8 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

Time flies for me while absorbing this show like no other thing.  Given how slow the pacing of the various arcs has been is testament to the genius of VG.

To that end...my instant reaction to understanding that Jimmy was denied was joy that somehow, Gilligan discovered a way to buy another year of BCS!  If we later learn that there was a big, fat, Howard rat putting the thumbs of the committee's scale, I will not be shocked.  Without some kind of outside interference, I really do not get why such a committee would have refused Jimmy.  As others have mentioned - it takes a lot to block a lawyer from practicing.  

I'm wondering if Mike's security guys who missed Werner's escape might could be in major trouble.  At some point, Werner would have been shown on camera as leaving his trailer, if only briefly before he managed to laser the camera.  This is especially true when the entire place would be free of any awake humans.    

It really is tragic that for Kim, it is not enough to be an extremely gifted corporate lawyer and negotiator.  

I originally thought Werner was going to commit suicide in the trailer after the phone call.   His earlier terror demonstrated he is not the man he was and that decline was upon him.  Emotionally, he was at wits end.  I was thinking that he would trust Mike to ensure that his wife got whatever monies were due.  Instead, it appears we are getting suicide by Mike.  Given how crushed Werner appeared to me, I have no trouble buying that he would make such a choice - with an outside chance of actually making it home.  His whole world, basically, was collapsed.

The provenance of Hector's bell was a sublime touch.

 

11 hours ago, MrWhyt said:

oh Werner, poor sweet stupid dead Werner

 

10 hours ago, peeayebee said:

Do you all think that Werner plans to return to the job? I don't. Maybe he doesn't realize how brutal his employers are, so he will return, but I think he has gone back to Germany for good. I don't think he's going to be killed. Maybe this is wishful thinking.

What was going on with him when he was checking on the explosive wiring? Was he hearing things? I thought there was some kind of animal down there, but maybe this was in his head. I mean, I'm sure there wasn't an animal down there, but I didn't understand what kind of issue he was having.

I love how Gus interacts with people. A big smiling face one second, a death mask the next. I don't know the actor playing Lalo, but he's enjoyable. Seems like such a nice guy. :D

Oh Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy. I think the more he crushes down his feelings about Chuck, the more he becomes Saul.

I missed what it was Kim got with the blueprint switcheroo. A few more feet for a building? Was this what Kevin wanted?

Oh, Werner... you beautiful fool. We know he is highly intelligent and the fact that cool as a cucumber "Michael" got so upset that he was just talking with a couple of guys about Civil Engineering. I had bad feelings when he was describing his marriage, like an old 80's buddy cop movie where the older one has served on the force for 25 years and now all he wants to do is retire and spend all his time fishing with his grandson..you just know that character is dead. Of course, Gilligan is a brilliant writer and might surprise us with an outcome that is not "Mike is forced to kill Werner, the closest thing he has to a friend, to prove himself to Gus."

9 hours ago, scenario said:

But he hasn't resolved his anger about Chuck. If he tried to say them the words would probably stick in his throat. And if he said the truth that Chuck inspired him to be a lawyer because he wanted to prove to the old SOB that he could do it, It probably wouldn't help his case any. 

He always looked up to someone who told him a few days before he died that he never really liked Jimmy. When it comes to Chuck, I see Jimmy as someone whose inches from flying off the handle whenever Chuck's is mentioned but covering it with a thick layer of indifference. 

Again, Gilligan's writing has made the Jimmy/Chuck relationship so complex and fascinating. Their issues with each other really cannot be simply stated because both brothers are right and wrong at the same time. There is no winner and the results are heartbreaking.

9 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

I wondered if Werner had Parkinson’s with his hands shaking like that. Poor Werner. Run, Werner, run!

The review board were dicks for not reinstating Jimmy. Speaking as a former lawyer, if being insincere was a bar to practicing law, there wouldn’t be many lawyers.

Did anyone else get a craving for fried chicken because of Lalo’s glowing critique? ?

I am going to eat fried chicken today on my lunch break just because of Lalo and I have stayed away from fried chicken for over a year.

2 hours ago, ShadowFacts said:

Lalo is not doing anything but annoy me, too.  A bit odd they introduce a big bad new Salamanca at the end of the season, and it's like they deliberately want to make him the total opposite of Hector, Tuco and the cousins.  Kind of hokey to me.

I actually bought that the bar people would be predisposed to not want Jimmy back.  Chuck was a towering figure in Albuquerque and for Jimmy not to have the sense to at least mention him would not play well.  The man died in a fire shortly after the bar hearing.  I also thought Jimmy was not prepared for that last question and gave a ridiculous response aside from the lack of Chuck reference.  The photography, lighting, etc. even made Jimmy look unappealing, and for that matter, Kim was looking pretty hard throughout the episode, too.  They are descending into co-dependency and it shows. 

I know this is going to be strange to mention due to current events but the Cosby Show had a friend of Rudy's (the youngest child) who never spoke. We later found out that his father never spoke and his whole family was kind of the same way. Later, we are introduced to his little brother who is a total chatterbox and the contrast was supposed to be hilarious, though a lot of people probably found it annoying. I sort of see Lalo in that way. I can imagine the Salamanca family reunion in which pre-stroke Hector is literally pissing in the punch bowl, Tuco is beating the shit out of a random person, the twins are in the corners staring menacingly at everyone, and Lalo is on stage singing Karaoke. 

2 hours ago, JFParnell said:

Well, now. There it is. That ep picked up steam, didn't it? I didn't realize it was another of those 1-hr ... PLUS MORE! ... episodes, and then more things kept happening.

LOL! Perfectly stated. Too funny. He'll be the Gale Boetticher of BCS. We haven't seen Mike fully "turn" down the darkest path yet, have we? I've been as curious about that as I have been for Jimmy. Maybe Mike whacks PSSD Werner, and then the remorse -- he does/did like the guy -- sends him to the (mostly; there's still Kaylee) dark side once and for all?

Now don't hate me ... !! ...  but ... I have to say I just didn't give a rip about the origin story of Hector's bell. I'm sitting there thinking, "C'mon! Penultimate episode -- time's a wastin'! -- and we're gonna watch Hector hunched over and drooling for like 9 minutes??!" Raise your hand if you were never all that curious about How Hector Got His Bell.  :)

[OK, sorry; that was mean. Now that's out of my system!]

Otherwise loved it. Werner's desperation didn't seem all that forced to me -- he was showing signs of cracks in his armor in prior eps. But he's clearly not thought this through. Mike is trouble enough, but the poor man has NO idea how supremely pissed Mike's BOSS, the Chilean, is going to be.

Jimmy's blow-up after the board rejection got the pulse pounding and while his and Kim's scene was well done, etc., Jimmy's accusations felt a teeny TINY bit forced and convenient. Could be I'm being too picky! Or maybe I just don't like seeing them fight :) I wonder, and hope, Howard will somehow be involved in getting Jimmy's appeal rushed along -- IF that appeal even happens this season. And hope it does: They are running out of time to let Saul take charge.

Besides his Dad, does Nacho have any allies at all? I wonder if he makes it to season 5.

Can't believe we're almost finished again. Bleh.

I totally had no fucks to give about the bell. I usually love all things Gilligan but the nursing home scene annoyed me. Everything from the bell origin story, to the cheesy Newlywed game show, asking if the wives had gained weight in their "bow or stern", to the lady clutching her purse when Nacho came near, which felt pretty racist.

2 hours ago, Bannon said:

Jimmy has completely internalized all the negative stuff Chuck said about him, to his face, for years. To the point that he thinks it is possible that the one person who really, sincerely, loves him, who really sees his positive attributes, and forgives his negative attributes, holds him in as much secret contempt that Chuck did much more openly. It's really sad.

 

2 hours ago, Pat Hoolihan said:

Jimmy did very well and acted responsibly in the interview, until the last question. His answer was idiotic and a change in character from the reasoned responses earlier. American Samoa U is what inspired him? "Go Land Crabs?" Forget not mentioning Chuck.  There were a thousand easy, better responses than this. This seemed flippant. I think Jimmy has a subconscious need to sabotage himself.  He can do things quite well and then he loses it and does something completely idiotic like this.

 

1 hour ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I don't think Chuck typically said things about Jimmy to his face.  Quite the opposite, for the most part he held his negative opinions about Jimmy in or told them to other people, not Jimmy.

He pretended to be happy and proud when Jimmy told him he passed the bar and pretended to be upset that "Howard" nixed him being an attorney at HHM.  He encouraged Jimmy in his solo law practice, though secretly disapproving, and telling him that Howard didn't want him using the McGill name in the name of his practice.    

When he came to dinner, he apologized to Rebecca in advance and called Jimmy "an acquired taste", but didn't say anything negative to his face.

Is wan't until Jimmy figured out that Chuck has shut him out of HHM and he confronted him, that Chuck let his feelings be known with the "chimp with a machine gun" speech.  

As their feud escalated, especially after Mesa Verde, Chuck became more open about his feelings, capped off by his final "You never mattered that much to me."  But, through most of their lives Chuck did not knock Jimmy, to his face.   

 

59 minutes ago, benteen said:

I thought the American Samoa U thing was what sunk him.  THAT would have been the time to have brought up Chuck, even if he didn't mean it.

On the subject of Chuck's reputation with the board, I checked over that episode from last season where Jimmy is brought before that meditation session.  It's noted that Chuck knew all the prosecutors in the Albuquerque DA so they had to bring in a DA from outside the city named Kyra Hay.  Though she didn't know Chuck, she was more than familiar with him and was pretty much treating it like an honor to meet him.  She was completely on his side during this whole matter.  After Jimmy accepted the PPD agreement to avoid jail time, Hay insisted that Jimmy apologize to Chuck, which in my opinion wasn't her place to do.  Because as noted, family relationships can be complicated.  But to me, if gives you an idea on what the board's mindset might have been in turning down Jimmy. 

Everyone in the legal community had great admiration for Chuck and for his legal prowess but they never saw the real Chuck.  Chuck was an arrogant elitist who could treat people terribly, especially those who were beneath him.  We don't know the full details on why his marriage fell apart but it's very likely he was the one who wrecked it.  He manufactured a medical condition because he couldn't deal with Jimmy being a lawyer, refused to seek help on it for a long time, make sure everyone else had to bend over backwards to accommodate his "condition" and when it Howard finally confronted him about it, he threated to take Howard to court and destroy his law firm.  I think Chuck was ultimately right about Jimmy but he certainly didn't do much to help the situation.

I was surprised to see Kim and Jimmy patch things up after that fight too.  But it was clearly the beginning of the end of their relationship.  Jimmy was totally wrong to treat Kim the way he did but Kim doesn't have much of a moral high ground to stand out.

It was cool seeing Lyle again.  It didn't surprise me to see that he stayed.  He seemed like a Mr. Fring loyalist last season.

 

53 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

Jimmy is very good at blaming everyone else for his problems, along with heavy doses of self pity.

He is lucky to have Kim by his side to put up with his bullshit.  Most people would have moved on long ago.

Again, the Chuck and Jimmy relationship fascinates me because it has so many layers. Sometimes death can cleanse a person of their bad traits and I think, wow, Chuck is such an amazingly accomplished and respected person to have such a lowlife brother like Jimmy. Then I think about how Jimmy took care of Chuck when he was sick, protecting his brother in every way and Chuck never uttered one word of gratitude. Jimmy was barely scraping by and living in a shitty office in the back of a nail salon and Chuck never offered to help him out financially, even though Jimmy was taking care of him and Chuck had plenty of money. Yeah, Chuck is under no obligation to give Jimmy financial help and probably thought the job in the mailroom was too generous, but it was still a dick move.

The fact that Chuck's contempt was such a shock to Jimmy means that he has internalized Chuck's opinion to a self-fulfilling prophecy. It also means that he can not trust people who claim to love him, because they all must secretly feel the way Chuck does. Why bother to be good, when being good does nothing but bring you heartache and pain.

Does anyone find it odd that two parents who seem to have been as dense and simple as the McGills produced an intelligent con artist like Jimmy and a brilliant legal mind like Chuck? I guess genetics can be funny.

47 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

Kim and Jimmy's scam in the beginning was sinking pretty low for Kim, IMO.  While, it was pretty much a victimless crime, as nobody will likely be harmed by Kevin's more attractive branch being built, she committed fraud and put the clerk's job and pension in jeopardy.  

It was pretty low for her to play the fake, single mother card, to play on the woman's sympathies.  I especially hate scams that play on people's kindness and generosity, as they discourage people from being kind and generous, and punish them for it.  If she had merely swapped out the plans, while the woman was distracted, I'd have less problem with it.  But, getting her to participate in the fraud by stamping the new set of plans was pretty sleazy.  

2

 

35 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

Howard might be the key for Jimmy to get back his law license.  If Howard were to mention how much of a "pill" Chuck was to deal with, as well as Chuck's mental health issues, that might be enough for the committee to sympathize with Jimmy and reverse their decision.  It would also help if Howard were to mention how often Jimmy had to baby sit his adult brother.

At this point, I don't think there is much doubt that the tongue lashing that Jimmy gave Howard will probably clear the cobwebs out of Howard's head, resulting in Howard's business picking up.   I still contend that was an extremely dangerous move for Jimmy to make.  That talk that Jimmy had with Howard could have easily caused Howard to commit suicide.

 

28 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

The Bar review was another situation where Kim really did try to help Jimmy, but, he refused. Recall how she suggested that he see a therapist? Well, if Jimmy had seen one and said that he had worked through his issues and provided a letter from the therapist on his sincere efforts to deal with his issues, explore family dynamics, learn coping skills, deal with GRIEF of his brother's death and move forward, it might have helped.  The Bar likes recovery with professional guidance. But, I agree, that they should have approved him, anyway.  I'm not really buying that their issue was insincerity, though, that was stated, but, more likely poor insight.  To me, he didn't really display the insight necessary to really reflect on his indiscretions.  He talked about it, but, it was more like he wouldn't do it again. 

I wonder if DWMarch, as stated upthread is correct about Werner, really knowing that he was not going to make it home, after what happened last week and he was intent on getting out of there. It makes sense.  Why else leave after all the work invested without your money?  The sudden request for trip home didn't seem plausible, but, Mike seemed to think it was legit.  If not, he'd have put more tabs on the guy. 

The opening scene was for some small project, right? This was not a major thing, but, a small client, I take it. Still, such a big risk to take for something so insignificant.  It boggles the mind that Kim or Jimmy would go there.   

 

26 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

I didn't experience that scene as anybody trying to force or compel anything from Jimmy.  They may have had an expectation that he would at least make mention of Chuck.  And he could have in a very non-committal way that at least acknowledged his passing, but as he said to Kim, he never thinks about Chuck.  I think a prudent person would have thought of that in the context of Chuck having been prominent, and that he in fact was a witness in Jimmy's initial bar hearing.  The elephant in the room, if you will. 

 

19 minutes ago, ShadowFacts said:

No, it was for Mesa Verde, the change that Kevin wanted that Kim earlier agreed with Paige about not being feasible.  She switched the plans so that a delay wouldn't happen and Kevin would indeed get what he wanted.  I think. :)  And if that's what she was doing, what's up with that?  Trying to please big daddy?  I didn't get the subtext of that, beyond she was thrilled to be scamming.  And it was so tacky and beneath her, as Bryce Lynch said above.  That woman wasn't a stupid greedy person that Victor and Giselle enjoyed messing with. 

The scam did not feel good and fun like their other ones. I hated that Kim took advantage of that woman's kind nature. I wonder if we are going to find out that the shenanigans will be found out...someone in the planning committee will figure out that the fancy branch was not the simple design they originally approved...and the poor clerk lady gets fired. The city might also call out Mesa Verde and cancel their approval, causing great embarrassment for Kim and the bank. I also thought it was funny that some people on this board have said that Jimmy and Kim have a more brother/sister vibe than lovers and they used that to their advantage. It is odd how they are totally believable as siblings even though the two actors really do not resemble each other.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's Previously.TV's EPIC OLD-SCHOOL RECAP of the episode!

The Best-Laid Plans Of Better Call Saul Often Go Awry

Not all of them, but as Jimmy heads into his reinstatement hearing, Ziegler misses his wife, and Lalo relies on a prop, our EPIC OLD-SCHOOL RECAP breaks down all the strategery.

[Bannon]

21 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

Is it dehumanizing to call someone a "bull in a china shop", "strong as an ox", a "sly fox"  or a "weasel"?  It might be insulting, but the animal metaphors and similes are not calling the person an animal.  They compare a persons traits to something we associate with those animals.  A "chimp with a machine gun", describes someone who is likely to unintentionally do a great deal of harm, because they are in a position they should never be in.  That perfectly describe Jimmy as a lawyer.   

 

Yes, it is dehumanizing to call someone a weasel. The intent to insult matters. When a person is called a cockroach, the person hurling the insult is not literally saying the target is an insect, but it is dehumanizing. That's the point of the insult. Likening someone to a chimp is the same. I think it may be the worst thing Chuck ever said to Jimmy.

[Bryce Lynch]

As uncomfortable as I was with Kim's con, from a con-artists perspective the real beauty of it was that she didn't even suggest the switch.  She manipulated the poor clerk into doing it on her own.  

[MisterBluxom]

1 hour ago, icemiser69 said:

Jimmy is very good at blaming everyone else for his problems, along with heavy doses of self pity.

He is lucky to have Kim by his side to put up with his bullshit.  Most people would have moved on long ago.

I got the feeling that Jimmy has never before endured the pain of an extremely close love relationship ending due to him being stupid enough to terminate it himself. I know what that's like. It's a deep pain that lasts forever. Every time I think about the love I threw away, I realized just how terribly foolish I was to do that.  Kim is a treasure that Jimmy should value forever and more than just about anything else in his life.  At the time he tossed it aside, he may have thought it would be no problem to find another Kim. But as the years go by, he will realize just what a huge mistake he made and how it can never be rectified. That is a pain that just never goes away.

Edited October 2, 2018 by MissBluxom

[Bannon]

5 minutes ago, MissBluxom said:

I got the feeling that Jimmy has never before endured the pain of an extremely close love relationship ending due to him being stupid enough to terminate it himself. I know what that's like. It's a deep pain that lasts forever. Every time I think about the love I threw away, I realized just how terribly foolish I was to do that.  Kim is a treasure that Jimmy should value forever and more than just about anything else in his life.  At the time he might toss that aside, he may think it will be no problem to find another Kim. But as the years go by, he will realize just what a huge mistake he made and how it can never be rectified. That is a pain that just never goes away.

This really is the saddest show I've ever watched. It's marvelous.

[MisterBluxom]

6 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

As uncomfortable as I was with Kim's con, from a con-artists perspective the real beauty of it was that she didn't even suggest the switch.  She manipulated the poor clerk into doing it on her own.  

As cons go, that is just "icing on the cake"? No. That's not the right way to describe it. But, it approaches the "perfect con" because the clerk will almost certainly never admit what happened because she would not want to admit that she was responsible and she was so foolish to have done it herself.

[Shriekingeel]

Episode title was interesting: “Wiedersehen” rather than “Auf Wiedersehen”. Literally “to see again” rather than “Until we see [each other] again” (aka goodbye). 

 

Lalo’s visit reinvigorates Hector, who now sees the world again. 

[Bryce Lynch]

5 minutes ago, MissBluxom said:

As cons go, that is just "icing on the cake"? No. That's not the right way to describe it. But, it approaches the "perfect con" because the clerk will almost certainly never admit what happened because she would not want to admit that she was responsible and she was so foolish to have done it herself.

Yeah, I was thinking that even if it was discovered and the clerk confessed, Kim would have plausible deniability, as she didn't do it, and she could claim she thought the plans were identical.  Of course, she might have trouble explaining her "son", her "brother" and her bag of breast milk. :)

I do think that convincing the mark to become the aggressor in getting themselves conned, adds a lot of style points.  It is like trying to "push away" an investor in a scam, and having them insist.  

I think con-artists, at least in the movies and on TV, really do consider themselves "artists".  

Edited October 2, 2018 by Bryce Lynch

[Shriekingeel]

1 hour ago, teddysmom said:

9 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

 

It is Werner's "Great Escape". 

In the move, "The Great Escape", most of the escapees died.  I think only one of the escapees lived.  Most of the rest were hunted down and killed.  IIRC, Steve McQueen's character was recaptured and then shot.   It has been so long since I have seen the movie, my memory isn't very good.

For what it’s worth, the “good-guy” guard in that movie was named Werner. 

[100Proof]

What did Mike see in that one monitor that tipped him off?  Footprints in the dirt?

[Bannon]

10 minutes ago, 100Proof said:

What did Mike see in that one monitor that tipped him off?  Footprints in the dirt?

I think it was the laser used to blind the cameras.

[100Proof]

6 minutes ago, Bannon said:

I think it was the laser used to blind the cameras.

That'd be it. I was looking at a freeze frame but didn't notice anything odd. However, I figure what he did see had to do with his earlier 'checking the perimeter'

[aemom]

8 hours ago, MissBluxom said:

Did I see the words on the big rock correctly? It looked like someone had written "Auf Wiedersehen" on it.

You are correct.  :-)

11 hours ago, SailorGirl said:

I swear I say this every week in some form or another, but only Gilligan et al can make something as mundane as going down a flight of steps to check wiring fraught with tension.  (The Americans was very good at making mundane things fraught with tension as well.) 

I was thinking there was going to be a short or something and Werner was going to get electrocuted or the charge was going to inadvertently blow with him down there/on his way down there. Then when he took his helmet off and leaned against the rock dejectedly I thought he was going to do something to trigger the charge and commit suicide right there. But nope... he's committing suicide by escaping, knowing Mike will kill him when (not if) he catches up to him. . .  

I was worried about all the same things.  And then the poor guy had a full blown panic attack.  Such a sweet guy and in WAY over his head here.  I don't think he has a clue of how badly he has screwed himself by running away.

[Blakeston]

I think there's a big difference between calling someone a sly fox and comparing them to a chimp with a machine gun.

"Sly fox" and "weasel" are common expressions, which don't have the connotation of calling someone subhuman. "Chimp with a machine gun," on the other hand, isn't an expression for a human who acts a certain way.

It's far, far more demeaning than just saying "you would be reckless and create chaos."

1 hour ago, Eulipian 5k said:

Werner really wants to see his wife and spend all their money with her, I don't think he sees suicide as a way of accomplishing that. He knows Gus probably supplied their plane tickets home, so where can he really go?.. unless he made arrangements to meet his wife in Denver.

I think Werner has pretty much lost it, and simply can't go on anymore. If he can see his wife and go home, that would be great. But he knew he had to get out, period, even if that meant winding up in a barrel somewhere.

[100Proof]

I dunno. A guy who obviously is in business to do 'shady' construction jobs, goes and gets all soft on this one?

[Bryce Lynch]

Just now, Blakeston said:

I think there's a big difference between calling someone a sly fox and comparing them to a chimp with a machine gun.

"Sly fox" and "weasel" are common expressions, which don't have the connotation of calling someone subhuman. "Chimp with a machine gun," on the other hand, isn't an expression for a human who acts a certain way.

It's far, far more demeaning than just saying "you would be reckless and create chaos."

It was insulting, but I don't think it was dehumanizing.   I'd put in the category with "Bull in a china shop" or "Wolf in sheep's clothing" or "Deer in the headlights".   He wasn't calling him a chimp, he was saying that him being a lawyer a hazard to innocent people.   

[Bannon]

6 minutes ago, 100Proof said:

I dunno. A guy who obviously is in business to do 'shady' construction jobs, goes and gets all soft on this one?

He said he'd never been away from his wife so long, he's getting on in years, and losing his nerve. We really don't know how many off the books jobs he's overseen.

4 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

It was insulting, but I don't think it was dehumanizing.   I'd put in the category with "Bull in a china shop" or "Wolf in sheep's clothing" or "Deer in the headlights".   He wasn't calling him a chimp, he was saying that him being a lawyer a hazard to innocent people.   

Cliches lose their impact via widespread, largely thoughtless repetition. "Chimp with a machine gun" is an insult that Chuck took the energy to invent, as a means to hurt Jimmy, via dehumanization.

We disagree again. That's o.k..

[PeterPirate]

I'm also not convinced that Werner is a dead man running.  The lab has to be finished.  I don't see how they can just drag Werner back and compel him to keep working.  

For that matter, I wonder if Werner has a plan about what to do if he even gets back to Germany, or has the financial means to keep away from his employer.  

And regarding something from the preview for next week:

Spoiler

If what we saw is the end of Howard's arc, and HHM is going well, I'm fine with that.  It's what I thought would happen when season 3 ended.  Of course, anything can happen.    

[Tighthead]

You don’t have to be sincere to practice law, but you have to be sincere in a disciplinary hearing. If you aren’t sincere, nothing you say is seen as credible. 

Regardless of the Chuck thing, Jimmy laid it on way too thick from the start.  The “oh here I go again talking case law” bit came off as obviously reversed and over the top. Way too much faux humility which came off as being cocksure. 

[100Proof]

7 minutes ago, Bannon said:

He said he'd never been away from his wife so long, he's getting on in years, and losing his nerve. We really don't know how many off the books jobs he's overseen.

That's true. However can't lose sight that that's what writers created for a character. So in that sense, it's either a plausible thing to happen in real life or it could be a writers 'trick'. lol

[ChromaKelly]

2 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I'm not so sure Werner will be killed, either.  I could definitely see it happening, but I could also see Mike covering for him, or letting him escape and either lying to Gus about killing him or pissing Gus off.   The writers seem to be playing with us more this season than in any other season of BB or BCS and letting our imaginations run wild, then subverting our expectations.   

Now I'm wondering if Werner might be a half measure, which causes Mike to adopt his "no half measures" credo.

[Bryce Lynch]

2 minutes ago, Tighthead said:

You don’t have to be sincere to practice law, but you have to be sincere in a disciplinary hearing. If you aren’t sincere, nothing you say is seen as credible. 

Regardless of the Chuck thing, Jimmy laid it on way too thick from the start.  The “oh here I go again talking case law” bit came off as obviously reversed and over the top. Way too much faux humility which came off as being cocksure. 

I noticed the faux humility as well.  He would have come off more genuine if he mentioned the extenuating circumstances of his break in, but acknowledged that they didn't excuse his behavior. 

It's funny, so often apologies from politicians and celebrities are lame because they don't take full responsibility (even if they use the words, "full responsibility").  Jimmy's apology was too perfect, so it came across a bit phony.  

I also thought he laid it on too thick, and came across as a phony, when he said, "But as I sit here, I can assure you nothing like that will ever happen again. Never. "

It reminded me of the final scene of "The Producers" (1968) when Bialystock tells the judge, "And may I humbly add, your honor, that we have learned our lesson and we'll never do it again."  Then they cut to them doing the same exact scam, in prison, with their new musical, "Prisoners of Love".  

1 minute ago, ChromaKelly said:

Now I'm wondering if Werner might be a half measure, which causes Mike to adopt his "no half measures" credo.

Mike told Walt that he gave up on half measures, during his days as a cop,  after the wife beater he threatened to kill, but didn't, killed his wife.   Maybe Werner reinforced the lesson, but it was supposedly already Mike's policy.  I guess you could say he also used a half measure with Tuco, by instigating the assault instead of killing him.  

[sempervivum]

59 minutes ago, Shriekingeel said:

Episode title was interesting: “Wiedersehen” rather than “Auf Wiedersehen”. Literally “to see again” rather than “Until we see [each other] again” (aka goodbye). 

It's been many years since college German, but I believe colloquially, the 'auf' is often dropped, sort of the way English speakers will just say ''Bye' instead of 'Goodbye'.

1 hour ago, SailorGirl said:

2 hours ago, ShadowFacts said:

 She switched the plans so that a delay wouldn't happen and Kevin would indeed get what he wanted.  I think. :)  And if that's what she was doing, what's up with that?  Trying to please big daddy?  I didn't get the subtext of that, beyond she was thrilled to be scamming.  

 

She gets the thrill of the scam and looks like a rock star in front of her client by somehow magically pulling off what she and his inside counsel said wasn't possible? Win-win . . . on the surface. . . 

This is more complicated than that. Kevin wanted to change Lubbock's design from a more traditional to a high fashion/trendy design. Kim said that they had to fight just to get the city to agree to the traditional one, and that she believed a lot of time and effort would be wasted going back to start over, with little chance of success. Kevin has accepted this. If this goes forward, the first thing that happens will be that the contractor who presumably gave a quote based on the first blueprint will receive the new one and realize that his material and labor costs will be (probably) higher.  I don't know at what stage the city will realize that the building being erected is not what was agreed upon, but Kevin's going to be on the hook for all the costs and either will have to demolish and/or spend $ to reconstruct. I really don't think this will make him happy, and if he finds out (via the poor elastic waist pants clerk) who did it, Kim will be axed.

Back to Werner. I still don't think the show did a great job of building up to Werner's 'break', but I am thinking of how Werner- while talking to Mike about leaving- suggested Kai as a temporary leader for the workmen. This seems odd in retrospect, no? Kai is the black sheep who cheats at games and broke the rules at the strip club; Werner has had to protect him from Mike to some extent, so why would he push him as his replacement?

Also, if he isn't committing suicide, how can he escape back to Germany? We don't know if he stole a vehicle, and he certainly can't walk thru the desert. If he does steal a car, there's no GPS, and he has no idea of where he even is. There's no smart phones, really,(and he wouldn't have been allowed to keep one anyway) so how does he find his way to an airport much less buy a ticket? Unless he did more planning than we've been shown, and has some US cash and a passport (but I would have expected Mike to have taken those away back at the beginning of the job)? 

[Bannon]

4 minutes ago, Tighthead said:

You don’t have to be sincere to practice law, but you have to be sincere in a disciplinary hearing. If you aren’t sincere, nothing you say is seen as credible. 

Regardless of the Chuck thing, Jimmy laid it on way too thick from the start.  The “oh here I go again talking case law” bit came off as obviously reversed and over the top. Way too much faux humility which came off as being cocksure. 

The scene was completely credible to me, but it also illuminated, for me, one of the consistent failings of human beings, especially in bureaucratic settings. Nearly all of us just succumb to confirmation bias, and convince ourselves that we can, with a degree of confidence, discern what the motivations are of the people we regularly encounter in our daily lives.

Now, when we experience a work of fiction, we see those fictional characters in a particularly intimate and encompassing way, which can give us insight. Even then, we are frequently left in the dark as to what motivates a character. Now think of the people you see in your daily life, especially  those we only experience briefly or in a limited fashion. What chance do we really have to discern, with accuracy, what is motivating that person ? Yet nearly all of us will pretend that we can confidently state why another person engaged in a behavior, or said what they did. Our brains just aren't wired to handle uncertainty with comfort, so we tell ourselves that we are certain, or nearly so.

[Eulipian 5k]

If Jimmy can't even mention his brother's name, how could he show any contrition for what he did to get disciplined. All "parole" hearings want to hear an admittance and apology for what ever offense was committed. That's the Board/Bar's interest in Jimmy mentioning Chuck. Plus, now the victim is dead, and you come here ignoring him like "Good riddance"?.. 12 more months PPD!

[Bryce Lynch]

1 minute ago, Bannon said:

The scene was completely credible to me, but it also illuminated, for me, one of the consistent failings of human beings, especially in bureaucratic settings. Nearly all of us just succumb to confirmation bias, and convince ourselves that we can, with a degree of confidence, discern what the motivations are of the people we regularly encounter in our daily lives.

Now, when we experience a work of fiction, we see those fictional characters in a particularly intimate and encompassing way, which can give us insight. Even then, we are frequently left in the dark as to what motivates a character. Now think of the people you see in your daily life, especially  those we only experience briefly or in a limited fashion. What chance do we really have to discern, with accuracy, what is motivating that person ? Yet nearly all of us will pretend that we can confidently state why another person engaged in a behavior, or said what they did. Our brains just aren't wired to handle uncertainty with comfort, so we tell ourselves that we are certain, or nearly so.

I recently read an article pointing to a study that found that while most people are very confident in their ability to tell if someone is lying or telling the truth, from their demeanor, we are only guess right 54% of the time.   Even professional lie detectors like cops, border patrol, judges, etc. weren't much better, if any better at all.  

[Bannon]

4 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I recently read an article pointing to a study that found that while most people are very confident in their ability to tell if someone is lying or telling the truth, from their demeanor, we are only guess right 54% of the time.   Even professional lie detectors like cops, border patrol, judges, etc. weren't much better, if any better at all.  

It's all just little more than randomness that is too terrifying for us to acknowledge, so we tell ourselves that we "know" things, or we are "pretty sure" about that which we are doing little more than making wild a$$ed guesses. I think widespread electronic media might actually strengthen the phenomena, on a net basis.

[ShadowFacts]

28 minutes ago, PeterPirate said:

I'm also not convinced that Werner is a dead man running.  The lab has to be finished.  I don't see how they can just drag Werner back and compel him to keep working.

They can drag him back and threaten to harm his wife, and he'll keep working. 

9 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

Also, if he isn't committing suicide, how can he escape back to Germany? We don't know if he stole a vehicle, and he certainly can't walk thru the desert. If he does steal a car, there's no GPS, and he has no idea of where he even is. There's no smart phones, really,(and he wouldn't have been allowed to keep one anyway) so how does he find his way to an airport much less buy a ticket? Unless he did more planning than we've been shown, and has some US cash and a passport (but I would have expected Mike to have taken those away back at the beginning of the job)? 

I don't think he's in any position to have planned any of that, he seems to be losing it, but he was able to escape undetected, so who knows.  I think he has to be found and made to finish the job, possibly via threat to his wife's life, and then probably meet his end.  We know Mike stays in Gus' good graces, and I don't think that would be the case if the engineer of the super lab, who is a loose cannon, gets away. 

[Eulipian 5k]

OMG, OMG! Has Kim been saying all along that "Jimmy, you can't move ahead and even be a good lawyer if you don't deal with your feelings about Chuck"??? Are (we) men sooo dense as to not hear her shouting???

[100Proof]

15 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I recently read an article pointing to a study that found that while most people are very confident in their ability to tell if someone is lying or telling the truth, from their demeanor, we are only guess right 54% of the time.   Even professional lie detectors like cops, border patrol, judges, etc. weren't much better, if any better at all.  

Interesting. I realize psychologically speaking most people just naturally assume what a stranger is saying is the truth. However, is that really a natural assumption? I'm thinking that one person going along with what kind of story a stranger is telling them has more to do with a fear of confrontation.

Of course I'm not talking about the usual day to day mundan  interaction with strangers, in that, I don't think the Home Depot employee is lying to me when I ask them where to find the PVC plumbing.  I mean the more unusual involved interactions where a stranger might come upon you and weave some kind of story of woe or help.

Edited October 2, 2018 by 100Proof

[Bannon]

7 minutes ago, Eulipian 5k said:

OMG, OMG! Has Kim been saying all along that "Jimmy, you can't move ahead and even be a good lawyer if you don't deal with your feelings about Chuck"??? Are (we) men sooo dense as to not hear her shouting???

Well, Kim has her own issues with very obvious, yet unacknowledged, self destructive  behaviors, so getting too sex-specific may be unwarranted.

[Eulipian 5k]

2 minutes ago, Bannon said:

Well, Kim has her own issues with very obvious, yet unacknowledged, self destructive  behaviors, so getting too sex-specific may be unwarranted.

It's a standard Hollywood/TeeVee trope that men are reluctant to "explore" their feelings. (I personally, like Jimmy, wouldn't go in for the "navel gazing" either).  From Clint Eastwood to John Wayne, to Bruce Wayne, the woman is written as the one who grounds a  solitary, conflicted man to his feelings. (The Americans approached it differently). I think this arc of the season was written from that perspective. It's a show about Saul not Kim.

[Bannon]

I understand why some are impatient with the superlab story, but structually it really can't be as compelling as Jimmy & Kim (with a dash of Howard), or Nacho's, because we already know that Gus and Mike's relationship in a few years won't be terribly different than it is now, with the exception of Mike engaging in more overt violence, with the moral compromises from Mike required (if Gus starts telling him to kill innocents or semi innocents). In contrast, we know Jimmy and Kim's relationship, in it's current state of intimacy, is dissolved, and Nacho is no longer part of the cartel world, in a few years, and we don't know how we get there. I still don't think the writers had the option of minimizing Gus and the superlab.

I am also starting to wonder, as other posters have speculated, whether Howard had a way to influence the reinstatement board, and put his thumb on the scale. Will he succumb to the urge to gloat, and unintentionally reveal himself to Kim or Jimmy? I don't think the writers are going to wait another year for Jimmy to get his license back (in the time of the show), so I think something has to happen in the appeals process.

[Bryce Lynch]

9 minutes ago, Bannon said:

I understand why some are impatient with the superlab story, but structually it really can't be as compelling as Jimmy & Kim (with a dash of Howard), or Nacho's, because we already know that Gus and Mike's relationship in a few years won't be terribly different than it is now, with the exception of Mike engaging in more overt violence, with the moral compromises from Mike required (if Gus starts telling him to kill innocents or semi innocents). In contrast, we know Jimmy and Kim's relationship, in it's current state of intimacy, is dissolved, and Nacho is no longer part of the cartel world, in a few years, and we don't know how we get there. I still don't think the writers had the option of minimizing Gus and the superlab.

I am also starting to wonder, as other posters have speculated, whether Howard had a way to influence the reinstatement board, and put his thumb on the scale. Will he succumb to the urge to gloat, and unintentionally reveal himself to Kim or Jimmy? I don't think the writers are going to wait another year for Jimmy to get his license back (in the time of the show), so I think something has to happen in the appeals process.

I was wondering if Howard might help Jimmy with his appeal in the season finale, as a thanks for his harsh pep talk inspiring him to get back on his feet. It is also possible he acted to block his reinstatement.

In the preview

Spoiler

Howard states that HHM is back.  

I wonder if Howard and HHM could have either knowingly or unknowingly gotten into bed with the Salamancas or more likely Fring, or LPH or Madrigal, and might be making money off the illegal drug trade.    A classy, but financially desperate, law firm like HHM would seem like the perfect firm for Fring to get his hooks into, to maintain his shiny image as a local business leader and philanthropist.    I could see Mike putting them on Fring's radar, with his knowledge of Chuck's meltdown and death.  

Edited October 2, 2018 by Bryce Lynch