Better Call Saul

I thought he was like that guy - he serves the exact same purpose as being someone the audience can take an instant dislike to and thus feel gratifying schadenfreude as people screw him over - but I had no idea they were going for that.

Anyway watching this reminded me that Better Call Saul's dancing a line between darkness and comedy and dumbass criminals getting in over their heads (that luckless, feckless IT guy) makes it more like a Coen Brothers TV show than anything on the air, including, you know.

Better Call Saul >>> Fargo

On Price, I absolutely loved seeing them take what was essentially a parody of Walter White last season, and turn him into a full-on savage satire. Oh, how I hate that man. Also if preview clips of next week are to be believed, he will be in need of legal assistance, most definitely. Which makes me want to remember if Saul ever openly treated Walt like the buffoon he was; doing that got Mike killed

But... but... "Pimento" is like, the episode of this show so far. Mike's scene with nerdy IT guy after the first drug deal about the difference between morality and criminality is so good.

I also know someone who had no memory of Pimento. Odd, some kind of magical smokescreen. Just the bag lunch in that parking garage was enough to bring it all back for me!

"Cobbler" is an A for me. That foreboding opening scene with Chuck and the metronome, Mike's negotiation with Nacho, the way Jimmy rallies after Chuck first joins the case meeting, Jimmy's story to the cops, "I'm sure the boys at the chop shop will take real good care of it," and that final, impossible to keep promise, "You won't."

That's a fair read. I recall the line as, "I can't hear about this sort of thing ever again." And while he can maybe keep the promise of, "I can't hear about this sort of thing from you," it's a greater and more treacherous promise that he can prevent her from eventually learning the truth from someone, somehow.

Then, that might be splitting hairs. What I think can be agreed is how terrifically this moment uses what we the audience already know.

It's almost unbelievable how ridiculously good this show is. Prequels in general are a rough sell for me, because it's pretty hard to have dramatic stakes when you know how it's gonna turn out. But their ability to keep us so invested in these characters and genuinely sympathize with them and hope it all turns out alright, while at the same time have at the edge of our minds that this is all just a slow-motion tragedy, is truly remarkable.

The final touch, that he had to be crying when he did it. God. Plus some class A acting by Odenkirk there.

I liked the way they managed to make a very dry legal commercial about mesothelioma hilarious.

I suspect, given Pilot Jimmy-Saul-Fakename's depressing watching of his own commercials, that sleazy commercials are largely responsible for good things in Jimmy's life and he's going to get some sort of a pass from Guitar Man. Plus, I feel like we have at least a few more episodes to go before the answer to Jimmy's Ominous Foreshadowing Moment with "Has anything blown up yet" is a yes.

BB Call-backs so far this season:

"Ken" is the same guy whose car gets exploded by Walt (I totally called this character being brought back a year ago)

The expensive brand of tequila is the same as the one that Gus poisons on BB (notice the bottle)

"Ice Station Zebra Associates" is what Saul tells Badger to make the check out to in his first appearance, apparently it is a favorite movie of Kim's

(any others?)

ETA: One of the cops who visits Pryce's house was also present when Skylar tried to get Walt removed from their home before he called her bluff

ETA2: Toy pig Mike gives his granddaughter is later used in BB to distract a rogue hitman

ETA3, just a note: Mike's car is the same one from Breaking Bad.

Another great episode. Also, late to the party, but I don't know if I'll look at pies the same way again.

Again, every episode they just keep bringing it. What a great fucking show.

Things I loved:

Krazy 8 coming back, and obviously being earlier in his criminal career.

Mike deciding to try another approach with Tuco. While I agree that it's correct to read this as a half measure approach to the problem, I kind of took it another way: it was the right call to avoid killing him. Not only is murdering Tuco the more risky move (witnesses in broad daylight), as he mentioned, it would bring in more scrutiny from the Salamancas. Plus, based on Breaking Bad, we don't really have any reason to suspect that this half measure comes back to hurt him. They explicitly had a scene in which he described how he won't need to testify against Tuco (which seemed like it was part of Mike's plan all along), so it's not like his name is going to be a matter of public record. All that's not to say that the Mike we know from Breaking Bad wouldn't have at least considered killing him, as it could have been the easier option. I'm really curious to see what eventually happens with Mike that would probably lead him to chose to buy the rifle. Speaking of which:

Jim Beaver returning as Lawson. Ever since his first appearance in Breaking Bad, I just thought he was such an awesome, fully-realized (despite his brief screentime) background character. I don't know what it is exactly, but I just love his quiet, professional, reasonable demeanor. It's just such an interesting contrast with what he does for a living.

The Jimmy/Chuck scene. They're just phenomenal actors, and this show is so well written. Jimmy continuing to help and support Chuck, only to be so viciously attacked in return, is just heartbreaking. Also, like a lot of other people, I love that Chuck isn't just this one dimensional bastard; he's almost always right. But it's just the way he operates, and how blind he is to his own motivations and hypocrisies, that makes him so unlikeable in the best of ways.

Michael Mando as Nacho continues to be amazing, and I loved that he had more to do in this episode.

Also, am I the only one who immediately thought when Jimmy found Chuck on the couch that he was malingering? I think he's still suffering from his mental condition, but I wouldn't put it past him to grab a space blanket and dive onto his couch in order to avoid (even temporarily) the Kim discussion with Jimmy. Mostly because I think he didn't want to admit to the fact that he pressured Hamlin to come down hard on Kim, and he was explicitly doing so to get at Jimmy in a backhanded way.

Current family bonding activity: yelling, "Chuck, you ASSHOLE!" at the television screen.

Also loved the very subtly reveal (during the gun salesman's scene) that Mike was in 'Nam.