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[Ignatz Mouse]

What's the bingo thing about? Is the fact that Chuck has the original and Jimmy broke a duplicate tied into that extra $2 thing? I feel like something about that point, along with the pointed initialing of JMM is pointing toward Jimmy weaseling out of all of this somehow. I mean, aside from the fact that he must weasel out of it somehow.

The fact that they made a duplicate points to the idea that this was akin to entrapment.

 

[rekameohs]

I like that Chuck is the one giving the rope by which he is going to hang himself. That extra bit of smugness that gave Kim the edge is going to bite him in the ass and hard. He couldn't resist rubbing it in, and now he's gonna pay.

Chuck's lawyer is also a little interesting in how she went the extra mile to make Jimmy apologize. If not for her other scenes and a general lack of belief that Chuck would be so overt, I'd have assumed Chuck asked her to demand an apology from Jimmy. But since I doubt that is the case, she must be sincere. Which kind of makes her a 'pure' chuck, someone who sees legal and moral elements as intertwined and is genuinely offended by what Jimmy did without harboring any past resentment for him.

She very clearly is sympathetic of Chuck's condition, so that will definitely be a point of contention when Kim and Jimmy use the photos as evidence of Chuck's insanity.

 

[Exclamation-One]

What's the bingo thing about? Is the fact that Chuck has the original and Jimmy broke a duplicate tied into that extra $2 thing? I feel like something about that point, along with the pointed initialing of JMM is pointing toward Jimmy weaseling out of all of this somehow. I mean, aside from the fact that he must weasel out of it somehow.

Bingo.

(foreshadowing that Jimmy's gonna lose it again)

 

[riotous]

Jimmy is definitely after Chuck's law license.

 

[Dan]

Another killer final shot.

I can live with seeing more of Gus and his long-running plan to get revenge on Hector.

I had to laugh at Lyle getting pumped up Gus's speech, but I wonder if he's really truly convinced...

- 'Better Call Saul' Director on Why 'Sabrosito' Felt Like a 'Breaking Bad' Episode

So that garbage can shot, how many times did Giancarlo have to do it?

(Laughs.) I don't think it was that many times. I don't think he got it on the first one, but it was pretty soon. The thing I don't like is that it actually was farther in person than it looks like it was on-camera. It was actually a much more impressive shot than it looks like on TV. I don't know what it was about how we shot it from behind and that side view, but it takes away a little bit from how hard it was. It was probably the third or fourth [time] that he got it and then he got it a couple times in a row after that. We filmed it a bunch of times from a bunch of different angles. Once he got rolling, he would crumple it up and turn around and hit it all in one shot and that was what we wanted and he did it. We went in talking about, "Well, do we need invisible string?" and this and that and it was like, "No, just let him make the shot. If Bryan Cranston can throw a pizza on a roof, then he can hit a straight shot across a restaurant with an aluminum ball."

Haha.

 

[CMojicaAce]

This show is so good.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Looks like they're going to convince the board that Chuck is crazy. The twist is that Chuck gets disbarred, not Jimmy.

..... yup, that sounds about right.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Spectacular episode. Hector is such an asshole. I mean, we knew that already, but this just cements it even more.

Kim & Jimmy are a dangerous pair. Sounds like they're really taking it to Chuck & Hamish.

 

[Monocle]

This show is so good.

No kidding. Each episode finds new ways to impress me. And not in a showy way. It's just a great story told really well.

 

[Deviousx]

I like how Gus says a bullet to the head would have been far too humane for Hector Salamanca.

Reminds me of when one of The Cousins was going to shoot Hank in the head but thought it was "too easy".

Show is awesome.

 

[Kopite]

I like how Gus says a bullet to the head would have been far too humane for Hector Salamanca.

Reminds me of when one of The Cousins was going to shoot Hank in the head but thought it was "too easy".

Show is awesome.

Funny how both The Cousins and Gus would probably still be alive if they had taken the easy way.

 

[turtlesbonanza]

Chuck's lawyer is also a little interesting in how she went the extra mile to make Jimmy apologize. If not for her other scenes and a general lack of belief that Chuck would be so overt, I'd have assumed Chuck asked her to demand an apology from Jimmy. But since I doubt that is the case, she must be sincere. Which kind of makes her a 'pure' chuck, someone who sees legal and moral elements as intertwined and is genuinely offended by what Jimmy did without harboring any past resentment for him.

Howard is Chuck's lawyer. I'm fairly certain the woman is the prosecutor.

 

[IggyChooChoo]

I like that Chuck is the one giving the rope by which he is going to hang himself. That extra bit of smugness that gave Kim the edge is going to bite him in the ass and hard. He couldn't resist rubbing it in, and now he's gonna pay.

Chuck's lawyer is also a little interesting in how she went the extra mile to make Jimmy apologize. If not for her other scenes and a general lack of belief that Chuck would be so overt, I'd have assumed Chuck asked her to demand an apology from Jimmy. But since I doubt that is the case, she must be sincere. Which kind of makes her a 'pure' chuck, someone who sees legal and moral elements as intertwined and is genuinely offended by what Jimmy did without harboring any past resentment for him.

Assuming Jimmy is going to use the information Mike stole from Chuck to replace the original tape, does Jimmy have any recording of Chuck that would make Chuck sound crazy? Because the show placed a lot of emphasis on Chuck insisting that the tape will be played. The most dramatic thing would be that the tape winds up playing something that puts Chuck in a mental institution. And Jimmy is obviously going to be arguing that he broke into the house to destroy a tape that was going to wreck Chuck's career somehow. That it was all an act to protect Chuck from his own insanity. So what'll be on that tape when it gets played?

 

[Theorry]

Jup we need a Gus spinoff.

 

[Rymuth]

Butt brothers...dig on Gus's partner? Hector is a POS

My memory of Don Eladio are hazy but was he this flamboyant?

 

[Dark_castle]

The fact that they made a duplicate points to the idea that this was akin to entrapment.

Shiiiiiiieeeeeeeet, didn't think of that. I kept pondering what Kim's bingo was about.

 

[Cornballer]

My memory of Don Eladio are hazy but was he this flamboyant?

Yes. He was always a mercurial loon.

 

[HigXx]

This show is so slick. That last shot of Jimmy and Kim, damn. This has definitely surpassed Breaking Bad

 

[The Horror the horror]

Assuming Jimmy is going to use the information Mike stole from Chuck to replace the original tape, does Jimmy have any recording of Chuck that would make Chuck sound crazy? Because the show placed a lot of emphasis on Chuck insisting that the tape will be played. The most dramatic thing would be that the tape winds up playing something that puts Chuck in a mental institution. And Jimmy is obviously going to be arguing that he broke into the house to destroy a tape that was going to wreck Chuck's career somehow. That it was all an act to protect Chuck from his own insanity. So what'll be on that tape when it gets played?

Chuck's lawyer said her father(?) had suffered from something similar to Chuck's ailment, that he couldn't stand to hear the church choir because they sang at a high frequency or some such? Might be related to that.

 

[Cornballer]

- 'Better Call Saul' Director on Why 'Sabrosito' Felt Like a 'Breaking Bad' Episode

A few quotes:

You directed last year's premiere with the Gene from Omaha sequence and in this episode, you have a flashback opening to Don Eladio's hacienda. They're both almost these little standalone shorts. How did this one compare to Gene from Omaha in terms of whole-different-show-ness?

I had the great advantage that I was on the set with Michelle McLaren for two days when she was directing the hacienda sequences for the episode "Salud" back in Breaking Bad. I had been around the actors and I knew the location. It felt like I was doing a Breaking Bad episode of Better Call Saul. We shot it the first day of Daylight Savings Time and the day was shorter and we were really running and gunning and getting all these shots and so the cameras kind of have a little bit of that looseness that we did in Breaking Bad, whereas when we shoot Better Call Saul they're a little more locked off and a little steadier. On Breaking Bad, the camera had a little bit more life to it and I didn't actually intend it to be that, but it just sort of happened because we were rushing so much to beat the sunlight. It's fun to do these other little individual films on their own outside of the episode itself.

Having been on the set for that episode, did you need to go back and re-watch the Breaking Bad hacienda stuff to find specific moments you wanted to foreshadow or echo?

I didn't re-watch anything, because I tend to have a pretty good memory. I knew right away that the last time we see Don Eladio's face is face-down in a pool, so I immediately thought, "The first time we see him now, I want to see his face in the pool," so I knew I had to get that underwater shot of him diving in. That was one thing from Breaking Bad that influenced the shooting of this episode.

You came onto the writing staff of Breaking Bad just as Mike was going from being introduced as Saul's fixer to being revealed to also work with Gus. What do you remember about how that relationship was initially kicked around in the writing room and what's it like now getting to play out the early stage of the relationship?

Yeah, there was a point where we had the Cousins going to Walter White's house and my head's a little hazy on some of the details, but Mike was watching Walter for Saul and we thought, "Well, if the Cousins show up, wouldn't it be interesting if Mike had a connection to Gus?" We needed to have Gus know that these killers were showing up to Walter White's house and Gus needed to stop them. That was the germ of the Mike-Gus connection and then it just blossomed from there, that Mike was working for two sides. Saul always had that gray line of "I know a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy" and once we started putting pieces together it was like, "Mike is one of the guys who knows another guy." It blossomed.

Now as we're going backwards, there are a lot of puzzle pieces we're trying to fit together and have make sense, so it's a great challenge to make sure that all the stuff we're doing logically tracks for what we know happens in the future of Breaking Bad. It's not a perfect science, but we're doing the best we can. I'm sure we'll make some mistakes along the way, but we've got a great team who keeps track of all of the timelines and what happens when and if we do try to do something, have a character cross paths with another character that does make sense in the Breaking Bad universe, somebody will usually flag it and say, "Guys, we can't do this."

In terms of tracking and arcing, do you think the scenes with Gus and Hector and then Gus and Mike show differences between Breaking Bad Gus and Saul Gus?

Gus, he plays a long game and he moves at an iceberg pace. I don't know how different he is in the Better Call Saul universe as compared to the Breaking Bad universe. He plays a very long game and I think we're just seeing him, in this episode, setting up some pieces that he needs to set up as far as having Mike screw with Hector's supply chain and forcing Hector to come to him and demand that Gus carry his product. When he crumples up that aluminum foil and makes that basketball shot, we sort of know that he's manipulating this, that everything he wanted to happen has happened. He goes to Mike and says, "What you did for me was a great service, more than you can know."

Your episode last season, the premiere, also saw Jimmy and Kim working a con together. What do you find particularly appealing about that dynamic, because darned if it's not the cutest side of their relationship?

It's Jimmy showing off what he can do best and I just love that Kim can enjoy that side of him, but also keeps it sort of in check that, "OK, we're gonna do this thing, but we're not really gonna take their money" or "We're not gonna cash that check." It just playing out a thing that Kim has always had. In season one where he did that whole billboard stunt and Hamlin was like, "Can you believe this guy?" and she's the one with the smile on her face because she knows, "Yeah, that's the Jimmy that appeals to me. There's something about that rascal." A lot of us love that side of Jimmy McGill, so I think we're experiencing Jimmy through Kim's eyes. He has this great, fun side, but it doesn't always end in fun and bad things can also happen.

And every episode this season has seemingly been raising the bar on Chuck-as-asshole. Is demanding reimbursement on the tape the most petty Chuck has been?

It really seems to strike a chord with people when they see that. It seems so petty, even though there's a reason that both sides are maneuvering to get this tape on the record, and Jimmy and Kim are pretending that they don't want it on the record, but both sides have a longer game going on. So when Chuck does that thing about the extra money, he's doing it not just to be a dick, but doing it for reason. It's just that the way he says it is so icky. You just feel disgusting.

 

[Intheflorsh]

Just realized the DA is the principal in Vice Principals.

 

[Ghost_Messiah]

Hasn't touched Breaking Bad for me so far but it's so well-produced and well-shot and gripping, compelling television that it's getting there. I love that the show has ramped up a little more now and we're getting in to the heart of the story. I'd say this season is the best one so far, at least in terms of how much I'm transfixed to the screen and enjoying it.

It has that Breaking Bad signature style but it's a very different show, and all the better for it IMO.

Enjoyed this week as usual and looking forward to next.

 

[RangerX]

Another great episode. This whole season has been excellent. It's surpassed Breaking Bad for me. I just prefer the character building in this so much more. Can anyone clear up what Jimmy wanted the photos for?

 

[MGrant]

I think the thing in the address book was Chuck's private investigator's info. Jimmy's gonna set up a little intimidation to scare him off or change his testimony. Maybe Nacho or Mike will pay him a visit.

I'm starting to worry about Kim. Jimmy's going to get away relatively unscathed, of course, but I could see this shit landing Kim in some hot water. Don't think her law license will survive the series, unfortunately.

 

[BigJonsson]

Assuming Jimmy is going to use the information Mike stole from Chuck to replace the original tape, does Jimmy have any recording of Chuck that would make Chuck sound crazy? Because the show placed a lot of emphasis on Chuck insisting that the tape will be played. The most dramatic thing would be that the tape winds up playing something that puts Chuck in a mental institution. And Jimmy is obviously going to be arguing that he broke into the house to destroy a tape that was going to wreck Chuck's career somehow. That it was all an act to protect Chuck from his own insanity. So what'll be on that tape when it gets played?

But Hamelin has surely heard the real tape

 

[Farooq]

Even though dating Jimmy is probably going to be terrible for Kim, I am glad the show is shipping them together. That walk out in the final scene was great.

 

[Cornballer]

As far as the address goes, it could be the PI or Chuck's wife?


A few things swiped from Reddit:

One of many nice shots:

Heh:

 

[Nyx]

'323 dollars and 98 cents'

Holy shit, this show man.

 

[PHOENIXZERO]

Rhea Seehorn does such an amazing job on this show, I wish she'd get more recognition for it. I still dread what Kim's eventual fate could be considering early on it seemed her ultimate fate would be tragic but her portrayal of the character has I think made her the only character on BCS that I wish had be a part of Breaking Bad. Hopefully Kim's future isn't as doomed as I thought.

 

[Cornballer]

- ‘Better Call Saul’ Postmortem: Director Tom Schnauz on the Importance of That $3.98 Tape

A few quotes:

This does feel like the most we’ve seen Gus, because we see a lot of different sides to him in “Sabrosito.” The scene with his employees after Hector and his men visit — we’d never seen Gus like that. There was a lot going on, but he was genuinely concerned about them.

That’s a water cooler moment, I think, because I also believe that Gus doesn’t want the truth to get out, and the story he told about Hector and the other guys was a complete lie. And we know the history, that they didn’t come to him demanding money. This might be a point where people who didn’t watch Breaking Bad might not know as much, might be a little confused by the scene, because we know the history of Gus approaching Don Eladio to get into the meth business with him, which ended in the death of [Max].

Personally, when I see that speech to his employees, I laugh a little bit. It’s a little bit taken from The Godfather, about how great America is. And he’s telling this story to sort of rally their spirits. He doesn’t want them to know what he’s involved in, so he comes up with this line that sort of is inspiring to them, and he gets his round of applause. Yeah, you can feel for Gus in the sense that he does care about you, believe he cares a lot about his employees and he cares about his restaurant, and he’s very tidy, and everything has to be done a certain way. He likes things perfect, but he also has this very dark side of him as well.

Back to the restaurant for a minute… when, after Gus talks to Hector in his office and they’re leaving, Nacho gives Gus a lingering look, like he’s trying to figure something out. Nacho also, I would argue, is smart and patient and big picture-focused in a way that both Gus and Mike are, and Hector has proven himself again and again not to be. Is there anything to that look? Is Nacho maybe seeing some opportunity, or wondering if he’s hitched his wagon to the wrong star in this scenario?

Nacho is incredibly smart. As we saw right from the start of the series, he’s working outside of his own gang trying to get other things going, for what reasons we don’t know yet. In my mind, it was like sort of his first time seeing Gus. “Who is this manager of a chicken restaurant? What is his involvement?” And I think a little bit of that look is wondering what the hell is going on here. “How powerful is he? It’s pretty incredible that I’ve been a man working in this truck business, working with the Salamancas, for so long, and this guy is hiding in plain sight.” There’s a lot going on with that look.

Is there any part of Chuck — aside from this very specific thing that he wants to get out of this scenario — that still has some legitimate affection for Jimmy? That still wants Jimmy to have a decent life?

I absolutely believe he believes the things he says. In [“Sunk Costs”], when Chuck is talking to Jimmy outside of the house, he tells him he thinks this is really going to be for the better. And there’s an argument to be made, if you watched Breaking Bad, that the lawyer that Jimmy becomes is a bad, bad person, and Chuck was right about this. Chuck could have gone at Jimmy harder and sent him to jail and attacked him in a court of law, but he comes up with this other scenario, this PPD, which just simply states that Jimmy, you’re not going to jail. You’re going to sign this confession. But unless you commit another crime in the next year, you’re not going to jail. Again, I think that shows some affection right there, that Chuck’s sole goal right now is to get Jimmy disbarred and to stop him from being a lawyer, and not see him sent to prison. So in Chuck’s own messed up way, that is a form of affection in his crazy mind.

Is it the smugness? Is that why we can’t always see that Chuck is potentially right even more often than we’re willing to acknowledge?

Yeah, and again, he’s got other legal reasons to bring up the destroyed tape, and the amount it costs. But yeah, it just seems so petty, it just drives you crazy. Chuck just can drive you crazy.

 

[awesome_pants]

I think the thing in the address book was Chuck's private investigator's info. Jimmy's gonna set up a little intimidation to scare him off or change his testimony. Maybe Nacho or Mike will pay him a visit.

I'm starting to worry about Kim. Jimmy's going to get away relatively unscathed, of course, but I could see this shit landing Kim in some hot water. Don't think her law license will survive the series, unfortunately.

I'm thinking it's Rebecca, Chuck's ex-wife. I can see Jimmy and Kim trying to frame Chuck as mentally unstable and using her as a surprise witness which will ultimately drive Chuck mad. Thinking Jimmy will somehow obtain the original tape or destroy it and then focus on getting Chuck disbarred and admitted.

 

[Niraj]

- ‘Better Call Saul’ Postmortem: Director Tom Schnauz on the Importance of That $3.98 Tape

A few quotes:

I'd like to see the cut footage of Hector being a dick in the restaurant, that sounds great.

 

[GifGafIsTheBestGaf]

I'm liking BCS more than BB now. Cant wait for the next episode

 

[Sectorseven]

Is Gus somehow going to induce Hector's stroke?

 

[SuperStiltzkin]

I think Jimmy and Kim are gonna force Chuck to either admit he was entrapping Jimmy or admit that his brain doesn't work. The full original tape should have audio of Chuck saying that his brain doesn't work anymore and he goes full meltdown admitting that he shouldn't be a lawyer if he can't think straight. So it was either an act he played up for entrapment or a sincere confession of his mental condition.

 

[Sober]

What's the bingo thing about? Is the fact that Chuck has the original and Jimmy broke a duplicate tied into that extra $2 thing? I feel like something about that point, along with the pointed initialing of JMM is pointing toward Jimmy weaseling out of all of this somehow. I mean, aside from the fact that he must weasel out of it somehow.

Well since it's like legal document you must initial any changes to confirm you made it. That's actually part of the process. But I would imagine that might be a detail that comes back later on if it meant Jimmy and Kim meant to change "destroyed property" to "damaged property" and conceded to "destroying personal property" during the PPD.

Also funny detail, after Mike during the diner says it was nice to fix things for once the next scene he's reading a handyman magazine.

 

[El Daniel]

I'm in love with Kim

 

[Compsiox]

How did Jimmy know the papers were on the wall in that closet?

 

[Turin]

Kim's awesome. Pity the fool who says otherwise.

Gus and Mike are already perfect for each other. Can't deny nature, gentlemen.

 

[Tyaren]

Is Gus somehow going to induce Hector's stroke?

Seems fairly obvious, also by him stating that just a bullet to his head was far too humane for him. He wants him to suffer, which Hector was in Breaking Bad... The show might throw a curveball at us though.

 

[DeviantBoi]

There's more than the stroke, though.

Hector refused to look directly at Gus back in BB.

We still haven't gotten to the reason why. Can't just be the stroke. Must be something very, very serious.

 

[IggyChooChoo]

Well since it's like legal document you must initial any changes to confirm you made it. That's actually part of the process. But I would imagine that might be a detail that comes back later on if it meant Jimmy and Kim meant to change "destroyed property" to "damaged property" and conceded to "destroying personal property" during the PPD.

Also funny detail, after Mike during the diner says it was nice to fix things for once the next scene he's reading a handyman magazine.

It definitely felt like they were highlighting it like it would be important later.

Here's a question: do you think Fring actually likes his civilian employees, or is it just an act? Or is it genuine, but only important to him up to a point? Like, he does like them, but wouldn't hesitate to take a box cutter to their throats if they accidentally endangered his real enterprise?

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

It definitely felt like they were highlighting it like it would be important later.

Here's a question: do you think Fring actually likes his civilian employees, or is it just an act? Or is it genuine, but only important to him up to a point? Like, he does like them, but wouldn't hesitate to take a box cutter to their throats if they accidentally endangered his real enterprise?

I imagine they are like pets to him.

I think he'd kill any of them if he had to.

 

[Moff]

the show has become such a fan service in a good way that I have started to dread the jimmy segments, just give me more of Mike, Hector and Gus

 

[Cornballer]

- Podcast is up for this week

 

[SuperStiltzkin]

There's more than the stroke, though.

Hector refused to look directly at Gus back in BB.

We still haven't gotten to the reason why. Can't just be the stroke. Must be something very, very serious.

They already revealed that in Breaking Bad. Hector made Gus look at his dead partner's face by the pool. Hector looking at Gus at his command is his revenge. Gus wants to see Hector's eyes after he has taken everything from him, his family and his business.

It definitely felt like they were highlighting it like it would be important later.

Here's a question: do you think Fring actually likes his civilian employees, or is it just an act? Or is it genuine, but only important to him up to a point? Like, he does like them, but wouldn't hesitate to take a box cutter to their throats if they accidentally endangered his real enterprise?

I imagine he likes his revenge more. I predict that Lyle the assistant manager is gonna do some digging on the Salamancas and Gus will coldly shut it down with a box cutter to his neck.

 

[Daffy Duck]

This show is so good.

We're going to get to see how Hector ends up in the wheel chair aren't we.

And also it's going to be great to see how this trial unfolds and the fallout from it.

 

[Theorry]

Pretty weird. In BB i "hated" Gus and thought Hector was pretty oke. And now its the otherway arround haha.

 

[DoubleYou]

That first half felt like I was watching Breaking Bad again. Feels good man.

Great season so far.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Pretty weird. In BB i "hated" Gus and thought Hector was pretty oke. And now its the otherway arround haha.

They're both horrible people, but Gus doesn't seem capricious about it. He's just willing to grind people under him for a buck.

Hector, on the other hand, is all that and a bully.