Better Call Saul! - "I'm the best lawyer ever!"

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > Better Call Saul! - "I'm the best lawyer ever!"

PassTheRemote: Mar 15, 2007; Number 6 holds The Village record in Duck Hunt.

The first one to kill wins.

Paradoxish posted:

I guess we have different interpretations, because nothing good has really happened to Jimmy as a result of straight and honest work. He's found a niche, sure, but it's financially unrewarding and it's not going to make him successful. He was a good public defender, but public defenders aren't exactly what you'd call successful lawyers. He worked his rear end off doing night correspondence courses and grinding away at the bar, only to get his dreams shot down.

The best thing to happen to him was a highly illegal bribe that he literally stumbled upon and an opportunity to take an unwinnable case and screw over some real lovely people, but instead he gave that up to do right by his friend and two terrible people who probably didn't deserve his help.

Also, he was going overflow PD work for peanuts, trying to support himself and his brother, a brother who has not been that supportive in turn. Not really exotlling the virtures of bootsrappin it.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 04:48

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# ? Jun 8, 2024 02:12

Doltos: Dec 28, 2005; 🤌🤌🤌

Finally watched this last episode and all I can say is wow. It had me gripped the entire time and I really can't wait for next week to come around.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 04:55

MadSparkle: Aug 7, 2012; Can Bernie count on you to add to our chest's mad sparkle? Can you spare a little change for an old buccaneer?

The Duggler posted:

This is automatically better than the first season of BB because it has no Aaron Paul

You are a horrible human being. And horribly wrong.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 04:56

MadSparkle: Aug 7, 2012; Can Bernie count on you to add to our chest's mad sparkle? Can you spare a little change for an old buccaneer?

I know it's not about his life post BB, but I want to know if in any away they touch on Jimmy/Saul's life at all again past that depressing first scene.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 04:58

Nissin Cup Nudist: Sep 3, 2011; Sleep with one eye open

We're off to Gritty Gritty land

I'm guessing Hamlin told Jimmy he wouldnt be hired on as a lawyer, but would Hamlin fire him from the mail room job as well? Or did Jimmy decide he had enough of Hamlin's poo poo and go do his now thing now?

# ? Mar 25, 2015 05:05

boom boom boom: Jun 28, 2012; by Shine

monster on a stick posted:

Also Hamlin is not the bad guy, says Hamlin's actor on the podcast

The part of the podcast where that guy is talking about Hamlin's suit and how it makes him feel like the character and all the little details owns so hard, just because in the background Vince Gilligan is going, "yeah...yeah...YEAH"

# ? Mar 25, 2015 05:06

Tupperwarez: Apr 4, 2004; "phphphphphphpht"? this is what you're going with?

you sure?

boom boom boom posted:

The part of the podcast where that guy is talking about Hamlin's suit and how it makes him feel like the character and all the little details owns so hard, just because in the background Vince Gilligan is going, "yeah...yeah...YEAH"

Speaking of suits, I hope more episodes make use of Jimmy's in-depth knowledge of menswear. The bits where he perfectly clones Hamlin's suit and designs his own Matlock suit are great. The Matlock suit in particular, because he knows to intentionally make it loose fitting.

Also, god drat two more episodes left? This is a fast show, I can't believe how quickly it's gone by.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 05:17

Beeez: May 28, 2012

Captain von Trapp posted:

Saul's romantic life in Breaking Bad is pretty dire. Something's gonna happen with Kim, and it won't be good.

On the other hand, Saul's making good money and isn't really a bad guy when Walt shows up, so I wouldn't assume his BCS career will be one of total failure and loss.

We don't really know that, technically. He seemingly didn't have anyone who needed to come with him, but he could have still be playing the field a bit. Plus, he claims to have had several wives in BB, so I don't think Kim is the only woman he'd ever have a chance at intimacy with, if that's what you're saying. Or maybe you just mean he'll never be able to trust anyone again, in which case you may be right.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 05:18

The Duggler: Feb 20, 2011; I do not hear you, I do not see you, I will not let you get into the Duggler's head with your bring-downs.

I feel like Saul wouldn't really have included his personal life in anything that happened in BB even if it was happening in the background

He could have had a lot going on that we don't know about

# ? Mar 25, 2015 05:20

Sleeveless: Dec 25, 2014; by Pragmatica

SpiderHyphenMan posted:

I binged Breaking Bad after it ended and loved it. Then I tried to watch Mad Men. I gave it two seasons before deciding it wasn't my kind of show at all. I've been in love with Better Call Saul since the negotiation in the desert.

What do I watch in two weeks?

It's only tangentially related but Gideon's Army is on Netflix, it's about the real-life public defenders who do what Jimmy was doing in the first few episodes and it's both amazing and completely soul-crushing.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 05:28

pnumoman: Sep 26, 2008; I never get the last word, and it makes me very sad.

The show is obviously setting up Jimmy for a big betrayal here, whether it's via Kimmy or Chuck. I want to say Chuck, if only because the shot of Kimmy agreeing to print out research had the Kettlemen case file boxes looming over her. She owes Jimmy, owes him big. Plus, billing the research is a great way to tip off Hamlin without Kimmy spilling the beans herself.

This leaves Chuck to turn the knife. It makes sense when you realize a large federal case is just simply too much for Jimmy to handle, even with Chuck fully on board. They simply don't have the resources to deal with a complex federal case that will most definitely wind up at least the appellate level. And now that Chuck seems to be over his mental issue, there is no reason for him to not utilize his own firm for this case.

Which brings me to Chuck's illness, which is the most interesting point to me. We've seen Chuck get worse when he sees Jimmy doing what he thinks is shady poo poo, and Chuck get better when he sees Jimmy doing well. Jimmy is clearly a part of his illness, and I think this episode reinforces this as well. Chuck didn't get better because of legal work, he was always surrounded by legal work supplied from HHM. He got better because Jimmy finally seems to have left his Slipping Jimmy ways behind. I think there was always a suspicion by Chuck that Jimmy was never serious about being a lawyer, and that made him use Hamlin as a hatchet man to cut Jimmy down when he got his shady as poo poo law degree. The guilt from this move has to be a large portion of why Chuck turned crazy in the first place. And now that Jimmy's not only motivated enough to find actual clients, he actually finds big cases, Chuck can finally stop worrying about his little brother in general. More importantly, he can tell Jimmy he'll never be a part of HHM guilt free. Because I think that's the real issue here; no matter how good Jimmy could be, he has a crappy degree from a crappy school, and HHM just cannot have an associate with a degree from a correspondence school in American Samoa. Especially when he's the little brother of a partner. Chuck knew that Jimmy could never be a part of HHM, not really, but he also had no faith in his brother's ability to make it without him. This conflict led to his illness, and now that Jimmy's showing an actual ability to make it on his own with elder law, he can finally jettison his brother with a clear conscience.

So will Chuck eagerly stab Jimmy in the back? You betcha. Jimmy can always fall back on drafting wills now, right? No need to bury him under a complex federal case he's wholly unequipped to handle.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 05:41

SpiderHyphenMan: Apr 1, 2010; by Fluffdaddy

I just want Season 2 to end with McGill McGill and Wexler is that so wrong?

# ? Mar 25, 2015 05:46

Last Chance: Dec 31, 2004

pnumoman posted:

The show is obviously setting up Jimmy for a big betrayal here, whether it's via Kimmy or Chuck. I want to say Chuck, if only because the shot of Kimmy agreeing to print out research had the Kettlemen case file boxes looming over her. She owes Jimmy, owes him big. Plus, billing the research is a great way to tip off Hamlin without Kimmy spilling the beans herself.

This leaves Chuck to turn the knife. It makes sense when you realize a large federal case is just simply too much for Jimmy to handle, even with Chuck fully on board. They simply don't have the resources to deal with a complex federal case that will most definitely wind up at least the appellate level. And now that Chuck seems to be over his mental issue, there is no reason for him to not utilize his own firm for this case.

Which brings me to Chuck's illness, which is the most interesting point to me. We've seen Chuck get worse when he sees Jimmy doing what he thinks is shady poo poo, and Chuck get better when he sees Jimmy doing well. Jimmy is clearly a part of his illness, and I think this episode reinforces this as well. Chuck didn't get better because of legal work, he was always surrounded by legal work supplied from HHM. He got better because Jimmy finally seems to have left his Slipping Jimmy ways behind. I think there was always a suspicion by Chuck that Jimmy was never serious about being a lawyer, and that made him use Hamlin as a hatchet man to cut Jimmy down when he got his shady as poo poo law degree. The guilt from this move has to be a large portion of why Chuck turned crazy in the first place. And now that Jimmy's not only motivated enough to find actual clients, he actually finds big cases, Chuck can finally stop worrying about his little brother in general. More importantly, he can tell Jimmy he'll never be a part of HHM guilt free. Because I think that's the real issue here; no matter how good Jimmy could be, he has a crappy degree from a crappy school, and HHM just cannot have an associate with a degree from a correspondence school in American Samoa. Especially when he's the little brother of a partner. Chuck knew that Jimmy could never be a part of HHM, not really, but he also had no faith in his brother's ability to make it without him. This conflict led to his illness, and now that Jimmy's showing an actual ability to make it on his own with elder law, he can finally jettison his brother with a clear conscience.

So will Chuck eagerly stab Jimmy in the back? You betcha. Jimmy can always fall back on drafting wills now, right? No need to bury him under a complex federal case he's wholly unequipped to handle.

Ahhh. Well, poo poo

# ? Mar 25, 2015 05:49

NadaTooma: Aug 24, 2004; The good thing is that everyone around you has more critical failures in combat, the bad thing is - so do you!

Tupperwarez posted:

Also, god drat two more episodes left? This is a fast show, I can't believe how quickly it's gone by.

That's it? poo poo. I thought it was going to be thirteen episodes like most cable shows do nowadays. I'm not ready for it to be over yet.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 05:53

Fat_Cow: Dec 12, 2009; Every time I yank a jawbone from a skull and ram it into an eyesocket, I know I'm building a better future.

What was the song when Jimmy was trying to reassemble the strips? I've heard it before and I can't remember it at all. :negative:

# ? Mar 25, 2015 05:53

The Merry Marauder: Apr 4, 2009; "But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own."

Fat_Cow posted:

What was the song when Jimmy was trying to reassemble the strips? I've heard it before and I can't remember it at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EheSOZHjHb8

Well, this samples the original, apparently.

The Merry Marauder fucked around with this message at 06:00 on Mar 25, 2015

# ? Mar 25, 2015 05:57

Steve Yun: Aug 7, 2003; I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.; Soiled Meat

Then why don't you post the original :colbert:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=112&v=vNQ_A9r_hBA

# ? Mar 25, 2015 06:55

robot roll call: Mar 7, 2006; dance dance dance dance dance to the radio

pnumoman posted:

The show is obviously setting up Jimmy for a big betrayal here, whether it's via Kimmy or Chuck. I want to say Chuck, if only because the shot of Kimmy agreeing to print out research had the Kettlemen case file boxes looming over her. She owes Jimmy, owes him big. Plus, billing the research is a great way to tip off Hamlin without Kimmy spilling the beans herself.

This leaves Chuck to turn the knife. It makes sense when you realize a large federal case is just simply too much for Jimmy to handle, even with Chuck fully on board. They simply don't have the resources to deal with a complex federal case that will most definitely wind up at least the appellate level. And now that Chuck seems to be over his mental issue, there is no reason for him to not utilize his own firm for this case.

Which brings me to Chuck's illness, which is the most interesting point to me. We've seen Chuck get worse when he sees Jimmy doing what he thinks is shady poo poo, and Chuck get better when he sees Jimmy doing well. Jimmy is clearly a part of his illness, and I think this episode reinforces this as well. Chuck didn't get better because of legal work, he was always surrounded by legal work supplied from HHM. He got better because Jimmy finally seems to have left his Slipping Jimmy ways behind. I think there was always a suspicion by Chuck that Jimmy was never serious about being a lawyer, and that made him use Hamlin as a hatchet man to cut Jimmy down when he got his shady as poo poo law degree. The guilt from this move has to be a large portion of why Chuck turned crazy in the first place. And now that Jimmy's not only motivated enough to find actual clients, he actually finds big cases, Chuck can finally stop worrying about his little brother in general. More importantly, he can tell Jimmy he'll never be a part of HHM guilt free. Because I think that's the real issue here; no matter how good Jimmy could be, he has a crappy degree from a crappy school, and HHM just cannot have an associate with a degree from a correspondence school in American Samoa. Especially when he's the little brother of a partner. Chuck knew that Jimmy could never be a part of HHM, not really, but he also had no faith in his brother's ability to make it without him. This conflict led to his illness, and now that Jimmy's showing an actual ability to make it on his own with elder law, he can finally jettison his brother with a clear conscience.

So will Chuck eagerly stab Jimmy in the back? You betcha. Jimmy can always fall back on drafting wills now, right? No need to bury him under a complex federal case he's wholly unequipped to handle.

Interesting take, I like it. Chuck using Hamlin as a proxy rear end in a top hat would be a pretty good twist.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 07:14

Sammus: Nov 30, 2005

I'm guessing that no matter how HHM gets involved, they're going to turn on Chuck and his illness once they see the value of the case, take it away from Chuck, and in doing so cut Jimmy out as well.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 07:18

hailthefish: Oct 24, 2010

Maybe some sort of an arrangement where HHM pay Jimmy off with part of the settlement if he agrees to stop practicing law under the McGill name, leading to him setting himself up as Saul Goodman? Maybe by threatening Chuck's partnership? gently caress WHY IS MONDAY SO FAR AWAY?

# ? Mar 25, 2015 07:22

syscall girl: Nov 7, 2009; by FactsAreUseless; Fun Shoe

Sammus posted:

I'm guessing that no matter how HHM gets involved, they're going to turn on Chuck and his illness once they see the value of the case, take it away from Chuck, and in doing so cut Jimmy out as well.

What like non compos mentis him? He's getting his poo poo back together at a pretty quick pace. He's gonna have to be complicit if it goes down the way pnumoman is saying.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 07:26

Bobby Digital: Sep 4, 2009

Hamlin's actor was hilarious on the podcast.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 08:49

Frostwerks: Sep 24, 2007; by Lowtax

hailthefish posted:

Maybe some sort of an arrangement where HHM pay Jimmy off with part of the settlement if he agrees to stop practicing law under the McGill name, leading to him setting himself up as Saul Goodman? Maybe by threatening Chuck's partnership? gently caress WHY IS MONDAY SO FAR AWAY?

I bet the changing of his name will be heavy on the religious theatrics.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 09:53

NowonSA: Jul 19, 2013; I am the sexiest poster in the world!

MadSparkle posted:

I know it's not about his life post BB, but I want to know if in any away they touch on Jimmy/Saul's life at all again past that depressing first scene.

I'm hopeful that we'll get a Cinnabon flash forward at the start of every season, and the finale can be fully set in the Cinna-future and show some sort of positive change in Saul's life in exile. I mean, Saul has done more than enough shady poo poo to deserve his fate, but with how likeable they've made Jimmy so far I want him to have some sort of redemption or easing of his suffering. You also want to see a proper ending for the character, and I think that can best be accomplished by showing a change at the end of a character's timeline, rather than ending with Saul first meeting Walt and Jesse, for example.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 11:16

Jesto: Dec 22, 2004; Balls.

Nevermind.

Jesto fucked around with this message at 18:22 on Mar 31, 2015

# ? Mar 25, 2015 12:28

ClydeUmney: May 13, 2004; One can hardly ignore the Taoist implications of "Fuck it, Dude. Let's go bowling."

Anybody see this section of Sepinwall's review? Promises some interesting developments in the next two episodes...

Alan Sepinwall posted:

I keep thinking about what Peter Gould told me about how the last two episodes take the show in a tonal direction that surprised even him and Vince Gilligan. Will that involve the return of Nacho and maybe some "Breaking Bad"-style violence? Will Chuck get back in the saddle and pull Jimmy into the world of big law, Albuquerque-style? Beats me, but I can't wait to see whatever it is.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 12:33

Binary Logic: Dec 28, 2000; Fun Shoe

Jesto posted:

I scoured the last few pages and didn't see anyone mention one small, quickly passed over plot point from the episode:

The documents were thousands of pages, $400~ in printing.

Chuck offered to have it billed to his account.

Chuck is on sick leave from the law firm, but he's using it's resources and his account there for outside work.

Chuck is hosed.

I can only see bad ways this goes down.

A: Chuck gets accused of felony theft from his company.

B: Chuck gets kicked out of the company and loses his settlement.

C: The lawfirm takes Chuck to court and somehow gets him prohibited from working in law, not sure how likely this oneis.

D: Because a large amount of company resources were used in the case, Chuck's lawfirm is somehow entitled to snatch the case away from them.

I wouldn't be worrying about this so much if they didn't make such a point to lay the burden of the finances at Chuck's feet, to the point where they devoted time to Jimmy running inside and getting Chuck's code. This is going to blow up on them in the worst way. It's the small mistakes that ruins empires in the Breaking Bad universe, even just leaving a book in the bathroom can bring about your downfall.

Chuck is a partner; even while on sick leave (not suspension) he has access to the firm's library and resources. Not that he has them but he could legitimately have a company car and cellphone and email account. If they didn't want him using the office resources the other partners would have suspended his account.

I'm just saying that I don't think this mundane, prosaic direction is where the show is headed.

Binary Logic fucked around with this message at 12:45 on Mar 25, 2015

# ? Mar 25, 2015 12:42

Illinois Smith: Nov 15, 2003; Ninety-one? There are ninety other "Tiger Drivers"? Do any involve actual tigers, or driving?

Jesto posted:

I scoured the last few pages and didn't see anyone mention one small, quickly passed over plot point from the episode:

I don't think you're very good at scouring things because the last few pages are all about this.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 12:45

Boing: Jul 12, 2005; trapped in custom title factory, send help

They wouldn't have set Mike up this episode for getting his hands dirty if that wasn't going to come together with whatever Jimmy's doing for the next couple episodes. I'd say there's a safe bet on it not just being about corporate backstabbing and legal fuckery

# ? Mar 25, 2015 12:53

FuriousxGeorge: Aug 8, 2007; We've been the best team all year.

They're just finding out.

I'm not sure Chuck and Jimmy are as obviously hosed as seemingly everybody else seems to think they are. They both are (in their own ways) talented lawyers and they both know the contract Chuck signed. I think the eventual fuckover is going to be a lot more complex than people think. It's not going to be over $400 in printing Chuck ordered from a law firm he is a partner at.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 13:07

Beeez: May 28, 2012

Interesting that you guys think Chuck is getting better, because I saw that last scene as him having a relapse when he came to the realization he was outside. When he was invested in the case he wasn't even thinking about his illness and was thus fine, but when he was reminded of his sensitivity he looked pained and dropped the box, which to me implied next week he'll be back in that space blanket. I haven't listened to the podcast yet so maybe they mention this on it, but I definitely feel like that moment was supposed to make us concerned rather than happy. If only Jimmy hadn't woken up so quickly.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 14:29

pnumoman: Sep 26, 2008; I never get the last word, and it makes me very sad.

~$400 in printing fees for a complex federal case is a drop in the bucket. When you could recover up to 20 mil? A laughable expense. Chuck won't get hosed unless he has a legal skill based fall from grace we don't know about. It seems unlikely though, since the show hasn't really hinted at that.

As long as Chuck isn't wrong about this case, HHM won't be loving him, it will be loving Jimmy.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 14:36

Last Chance: Dec 31, 2004

Beeez posted:

Interesting that you guys think Chuck is getting better, because I saw that last scene as him having a relapse when he came to the realization he was outside. When he was invested in the case he wasn't even thinking about his illness and was thus fine, but when he was reminded of his sensitivity he looked pained and dropped the box, which to me implied next week he'll be back in that space blanket. I haven't listened to the podcast yet so maybe they mention this on it, but I definitely feel like that moment was supposed to make us concerned rather than happy. If only Jimmy hadn't woken up so quickly.

Yeah, but the music playing during the scene indicated that Chuck was going to have an attack of sorts, but then it abruptly stops and all you can hear are birds chirping and such. I think that was meant to show that he's not going to have an attack.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 14:47

Cromulent: Dec 22, 2002; People are under a lot of stress, Bradley.

Last Chance posted:

Yeah, but the music playing during the scene indicated that Chuck was going to have an attack of sorts, but then it abruptly stops and all you can hear are birds chirping and such. I think that was meant to show that he's not going to have an attack.

I feel like this issue is going to be this week's "We still don't know where the Kettleman's money ended up."

# ? Mar 25, 2015 14:54

Beeez: May 28, 2012

Last Chance posted:

Yeah, but the music playing during the scene indicated that Chuck was going to have an attack of sorts, but then it abruptly stops and all you can hear are birds chirping and such. I think that was meant to show that he's not going to have an attack.

I guess, I just think the box dropping didn't seem like a great sign.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 15:20

VendaGoat: Nov 1, 2005

I'm not sure I like BCS, since it portrays lawyers in a humane light.

:v:

# ? Mar 25, 2015 15:30

boom boom boom: Jun 28, 2012; by Shine

NowonSA posted:

I'm hopeful that we'll get a Cinnabon flash forward at the start of every season, and the finale can be fully set in the Cinna-future and show some sort of positive change in Saul's life in exile. I mean, Saul has done more than enough shady poo poo to deserve his fate, but with how likeable they've made Jimmy so far I want him to have some sort of redemption or easing of his suffering. You also want to see a proper ending for the character, and I think that can best be accomplished by showing a change at the end of a character's timeline, rather than ending with Saul first meeting Walt and Jesse, for example.

I heard an interview or something with Bob Odenkirk where he said that show is about a guy making decisions based on the circumstances he finds himself in, so he thinks it totally could cover the Cinnabon years. Not just in flash forwards, but later seasons actually taking place then.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 15:34

Asema: Oct 2, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

We can't say for sure who's going to betray Jimmy because they are both depressing. Chuck would do it because of his respect for law and agreements and "it's out of our hands", Kim would 100% absolutely loving do it if Hamlin offered her partnership to the firm after re-securing the Kettles AND for betraying Jimmy.

Both are depressing. Both will destroy Jimmy.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 16:00

Rageaholic: May 31, 2005; Old Town Road to EGOT

This new insider podcast is mixed weirdly. I can only hear Kelley Dixon through my left ear and everyone else only comes in from the right. And everyone sounds further away than normal.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 16:16

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# ? Jun 8, 2024 02:12

Illinois Smith: Nov 15, 2003; Ninety-one? There are ninety other "Tiger Drivers"? Do any involve actual tigers, or driving?

Boing posted:

They wouldn't have set Mike up this episode for getting his hands dirty if that wasn't going to come together with whatever Jimmy's doing for the next couple episodes.

When they cut to Mike after Jimmy gets kicked out of the Sandpiper building I got all excited for a moment about Badass Mike going undercover at a nursing home.

# ? Mar 25, 2015 16:31

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