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[stenbumling]

Why has it not been renewed for a fourth season yet? That makes me scared, especially since it was renewed pretty early last year

If they can renew Halt and Catch Fire for a fourth season, you better believe Better Call Saul will get one. I wouldn't worry.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Yeah, I'm still team impromptu. Not having a policy number memorized is common human behavior, stretching that into a premeditated act is a bit much. The biggest problem I have with the idea is, why did he have to be there in person if it was preplanned? You think the insurance company cares about how they get the info? I think a phone tip would have done the same thing if he planned it.

I mean it all makes sense. He gave his name, and she pulled the bigger of the two brothers, because Chuck would be more important to the company, or his name would appear first alphabetically, or he's had insurance for longer than Jimmy, whichever way you look at it. Then he spun it back on Chuck, after the refund was denied totally. He probably knew about the premium increase(maybe not the percentage exactly), but that double whammy of insurance punch caused him to turn it around.

A good chunk of the episode was about his money troubles, this got him to take the extra step for the refund, which caused this to happen. I assume this event will have echoes in the next three episodes, and even possibly spur a final confrontation with Chuck.

I've changed my mind. I thought it was off the cuff, but why would Jimmy(a lawyer) go to the office without a copy of his policy? I'm sure he's been over it with a fine tooth comb and I am sure he knows exactly where it is.

I'm sure he channeled some genuine pain to get those tears flowing, but now I am sure the whole thing was planned.

 

[Veelk]

I've changed my mind. I thought it was off the cuff, but why would Jimmy(a lawyer) go to the office without a copy of his policy? I'm sure he's been over it with a fine tooth comb and I am sure he knows exactly where it is.

Because he assumed they could just look him up. Which they could and did.

Also, why do you think Jimmy would be familiar with the fine print of his policy?

Remember this is the guy that almost lost his considerable sign-on bonus because he didn't thoroughly read the stipulation in his own contract before trying to quit.

 

[SporeCrawler]

didnt jimmy make good money while at davis and maine. he also seemed to be full of clients when he opened his venue..

 

[Robdraggoo]

didnt jimmy make good money while at davis and maine. he also seemed to be full of clients when he opened his venue..

Most of not all his clients were wills. Pro ably not a lot of money in that. He probably spent a lot of his Davis money in that building and starting up the practice

 

[Morrigan Stark]

By the smile Jimmy made when walked out it could onlye be PLANNED.

1) It wasn't even a smile really, more like a smirk or even a grimace. He seemed boiling with anger rather than happy. That face was a "Fuck you, Chuck", not "tee hee, nailed it".
2) Why? Even if it was a smile, it could just be a "oh wow, sometimes I surprise myself with my own cleverness" kind of smile.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Fair points, I did imagine he'd at least have his argument in order if that's why he went in there.

 

[br3wnor]

Most of not all his clients were wills. Pro ably not a lot of money in that. He probably spent a lot of his Davis money in that building and starting up the practice

Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's earlier episodes where he's charging a few hundred bucks to do the wills. Yeah, he has a lot of clients but he's not making a ton of money off of them.

He also spent a lot of money WHILE working at Davis, remember all the shit he bought? Whatever he had left he sunk into opening the office, I'd say he's real close to being completely broke at this point.

Can't believe there's only 3 episodes left, have loved this season but did not realize how far into it we were already.

 

[UltimaPooh]

I don't think it was planned.


Jimmy isn't calculating like Walt. He improvises a lot and is a grifter not some chess genius.

 

[SporeCrawler]

Most of not all his clients were wills. Pro ably not a lot of money in that. He probably spent a lot of his Davis money in that building and starting up the practice

depends how he gets paid. if he bills by hour he definately seemed like he is full all day every day. if he asks for a flat fee for one will... well the clients usually take their time so it is not going to be easy to make much money. in any case drafting wills will not cost that much time and effort and there may be some follow up issues too (maybe nothing major like the sandpiper stuff).

 

[Veelk]

It should be noted that Jimmy's money problems are partially self inflicted.

He wouldn't be as desperate for money if he didn't do dumb shit like keep on a secretary they have no use for and keep paying for a two person building that only one of them is using. It's like an overcompensation response, where the more financially frivolous he should be, the more he spends money on shit he doesn't need. Shit, he ordered chinese on his own dollar and then took Kim to a bar where they spent even more money.

Pride is a bitch.

 

[The Horror the horror]

By the smile Jimmy made when walked out it could onlye be PLANNED. There isn't really any other option. Maybe there has been some time/days between that and Jimmy and Kim being in that bar?

I don't think it was planned at all.

Jimmy was done with Chuck and was content with forgetting his existence altogether despite his brother being responsible for the 12-month suspension and Jimmy's present struggles. Jimmy loses his license for a year, Chuck would be without the help/love of his brother indefinitely. They were square. It was when Jimmy learned that the actions perpetuated by his brother would have a residual effect even outside of that 12-month punishment, in the form of hiked premiums, that Jimmy broke down and felt he had to answer to the excessive penalty with reconciliatory malice.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

#TeamNotPlanned

Jimmy doesn't really have a reason to bury Chuck anymore. They won. He went to the office to get his money back, which makes sense given how strapped for cash he is. I think there were two turning points in the conversation. The first was when he gave his name but she brought up Chuck. It's always about Chuck. I think that irks Jimmy a bit. The second was when he realized he wasn't getting the money back and his rates would go up. It's at that point that he lashes out.

 

[Cornballer]

- Inside Better Call Saul Ep 7 (AMC vid)
- AMC Q&A: Mark Proksch (Daniel Wormald/Pryce)
- AMC Q&A: Tom Schnauz (Executive Producer)

Q: With Episode 7 (and the commercial at the end of episode 6), we’re seeing Jimmy playing the early stages of the Saul Goodman character. What beats are most important at this point in that persona’s creation?

A: He’s just dipping his toe into the Saul Goodman persona, even though he used it back in Cicero when he said, “S’all good, man.” It’s far away from the lawyer we know on Breaking Bad. For me, right now it’s just about testing the waters. What I love about this episode with Jimmy and everything that Bob [Odenkirk] does is there’s such desperation in this episode. [Laughs] He very badly needs money and to keep up the persona that everything’s going fine. We keep seeing him get beat down over and over again with this community service and the guitar store owners who he had a handshake deal with to do a commercial and then they pull out. He’s just desperately trying so many things. That’s where I feel like Saul emerges from – this desperation of needing to get things done. The Jimmy magic isn’t really working for him this episode and things aren’t clicking the way they normally do with Kim. I think the real Saul Goodman moment is at the end of the episode when he breaks down and uses that to get back at Chuck, and we don’t fully understand the consequences of that.

Q: Although it turns into a con to get Chuck back, do you think there is some truth in Jimmy’s emotional release?

A: In my opinion, he actually breaks down. There’s too many bad things going against him, and he doesn’t need to hear that his insurance rates are going up 150 percent. He comes in like Mr. Smooth to put the charm on and solve the problem, but it doesn’t work for him. He gets hit with this news about more money he needs to pay that he doesn’t have. I think he genuinely cracks. Chuck doesn’t appear in the episode, but his spirit is hovering over this whole episode. Kim has a breakdown at work because of Chuck, and [Jimmy] has the same kind of breakdown. This thing that they did, even though he believes they were right, is itching at him. He doesn’t want to take any blame. Like, “It’s that son of a bitch’s fault. I’m sitting here, crying, and I can unload a little payback.” And he takes that opportunity.

Q: Why do you think Mike ultimately changes his mind about brokering the deal between Pryce and Nacho?

A: There’s something about Anita’s story about losing someone. He lost his son and that’s painful enough, but there’s an added layer of pain and destruction in your life when you lose someone in your life and have zero details about what happened to them. It’s clicking in his head. There’s some relief that he can help answer a question in someone else’s life. I don’t know how self-aware he is that doing one thing will cause another thing. Something is nagging at him that he needs to fix, and that’s what this season is about for him. He’s carrying something with him since Season 2 that’s been with him and he has to reconcile and find a way to settle it inside of him. I don’t know that he’s fully aware of what’s going on, but something’s bothering him that he needs to repair.

 

[____]

Q: Although it turns into a con to get Chuck back, do you think there is some truth in Jimmy's emotional release?

A: In my opinion, he actually breaks down. There's too many bad things going against him, and he doesn't need to hear that his insurance rates are going up 150 percent. He comes in like Mr. Smooth to put the charm on and solve the problem, but it doesn't work for him. He gets hit with this news about more money he needs to pay that he doesn't have. I think he genuinely cracks. Chuck doesn't appear in the episode, but his spirit is hovering over this whole episode. Kim has a breakdown at work because of Chuck, and [Jimmy] has the same kind of breakdown. This thing that they did, even though he believes they were right, is itching at him. He doesn't want to take any blame. Like, ”It's that son of a bitch's fault. I'm sitting here, crying, and I can unload a little payback." And he takes that opportunity.

 

[Sane_Man]

Seemed obvious to me it wasn't planned ahead. The thing with him not having a policy was there so she'd mistake him for his brother to explain to the audience how his later plan works.

 

[Fuu]

For real, it would have been pretty out there for him to have planned the entire ruse. There were easier ways to make Chuck's mental condition known to that company without having to carefully stitch a conversation like that. They also set it up with Jimmy being unable to solve the situation over the phone and always being put on hold, which is why he had to go there personally to deal with it. He was there to solve his business, but things got derailed.

On the other hand, I'm a bit lost in regards to where they're going with Mike. We know how the character ends up, and so far his arc has been taking him opposite of that. Kaylee and her mother are invulnerable as far as BCS goes, so I'm curious about how they'll make the shift to "just kill the witnesses" Mike.

 

[SpaceWolf]

Q: Is it difficult to write/direct a softer side of the usually gruff Mike Ehrmantraut?

A: I hate to admit this, but the press relationship that Jonathan and I have is greatly exaggerated, and I have tremendous love and respect for the man.

What's the story here?

 

[Cornballer]

What's the story here?

Schnauz and Banks give each other a tooooon of shit on the podcast. He's just joking around.

 

[Cornballer]

- Warming Glow: Reading Too Much Into ‘Better Call Saul’: A Look At What’s Really At Stake Here

 

[Socreges]

- Warming Glow: Reading Too Much Into ‘Better Call Saul’: A Look At What’s Really At Stake Here

Apropos.

 

[Einchy]

I knew it! Wouldn't have made any sense for it to have been con from the start.

 

[Reckless Abandon]

Was pretty meh on this episode, but the Nacho/Mike conversation was a cool moment. Really falling in love with Nacho as a character, but since

Spoiler

he doesn't show up in Breaking Bad (at least as far as I remember)

, something bad will probably happen to him. Even foreshadowed that a bith with Mike warning him several times to check all his bases.

If they can renew Halt and Catch Fire for a fourth season, you better believe Better Call Saul will get one. I wouldn't worry.

Halt and Catch Fire is a great show, and I would recommend it to any fan of character-based dramas like Saul. I am very happy to get a proper final season despite utterly shit ratings it has gotten. Someone up high at AMC must love it.

 

[PantherLotus]

Well I appear to have been wrong in my interpretation! Let me think about what this means in terms of his actual anguish.

 

[Human Trashcan]

Halt and Catch Fire is a great show, and I would recommend it to any fan of character-based dramas like Saul. I am very happy to get a proper final season despite utterly shit ratings it has gotten. Someone up high at AMC must love it.

There are dozens of us! Yeah Halt is a fucking great show after the shaky first season (last few eps of season 1 were fantastic tho), it really deserves to be watched by a lot more people.

 

[duckroll]

Well I appear to have been wrong in my interpretation! Let me think about what this means in terms of his actual anguish.

I think what it means is that knowing what Saul eventually becomes, there is room to overestimate his cunning now, and underestimate his capacity for real personal grief. That's actually what makes the show so interesting to watch. These are mostly morally ambiguous people, but goddamn, they feel like actual -people-. Which is important.

 

[The Driver]

For real, it would have been pretty out there for him to have planned the entire ruse. There were easier ways to make Chuck's mental condition known to that company without having to carefully stitch a conversation like that. They also set it up with Jimmy being unable to solve the situation over the phone and always being put on hold, which is why he had to go there personally to deal with it. He was there to solve his business, but things got derailed.

On the other hand, I'm a bit lost in regards to where they're going with Mike. We know how the character ends up, and so far his arc has been taking him opposite of that. Kaylee and her mother are invulnerable as far as BCS goes, so I'm curious about how they'll make the shift to "just kill the witnesses" Mike.

Definitely, this is supposed to get 5 seasons also right? I don't know if they have somekind of catalyst planned this season that sets him on that path but this Mike is a far cry from the guy who in his first appearance is cleaning up the body of a girl who has choked on her own vomit.

 

[big ander]

HACF is amazing in seasons 2 and 3 and honestly pretty similar in tone to BCS. it similarly tracks the gradual shifts in relationships that lead to conflict. also this is mainly my partiality towards 80s post-punk/etc. music but the music selection in HACF is somehow even better than that of BCS/BB.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

There are dozens of us! Yeah Halt is a fucking great show after the shaky first season (last few eps of season 1 were fantastic tho), it really deserves to be watched by a lot more people.

This is hilarious to me because I quit HaCF right before the last few episodes of Season 1.

Guess I might go back to that!

 

[SpaceWolf]

Oh man, rewatching the very first episode of the first season, and knowing how attached we've gotten to Jimmy....that first Cinnabon flashforward is just devastating.

Jimmy is just leading the most lonely, hellish existence.

 

[Einchy]

I sorta want the last season to be only Gene stuff but I also sorta don't cus I'd hate to see the show outside of New Mexico.

 

[SpaceWolf]

I sorta want the last season to be only Gene stuff but I also sorta don't cus I'd hate to see the show outside of New Mexico.

Two or three episodes of the last season to give us some post-BB resolution would do it for me. Making it a whole season would probably be pushing it, unless the story revolved around Gene turning himself in and going to trial in hopes of redeeming himself, only to find himself defended by Kim, or something.

 

[stenbumling]

It will be a separate spin-off called Cinnabon Gene. Season 1 will be him figuring out he wants to leave, season 2 him planning to leave, season 3 him leaving, season 4 him forgetting his keys, season 5 him leaving for real. Will win 100 emmys

 

[Lord of Castamere]

I would be fine with a season of Gene, if anything just to contrast the rushed finale of BB.

 

[jesu]

Two or three episodes of the last season to give us some post-BB resolution would do it for me. Making it a whole season would probably be pushing it, unless the story revolved around Gene turning himself in and going to trial in hopes of redeeming himself, only to find himself defended by Kim, or something.

Nah Kim will be married to Chuck by that point and they'll be tracking him down to bring him to justice.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

Man I really hope Pryce gets shot. Been a while since a fictional character irritated me so intensely.

 

[SpaceWolf]

Man I really hope Pryce gets shot. Been a while since a fictional character irritated me so intensely.

I mean, how can you hate Pryce?

 

[PizzaFace]

Oh man, rewatching the very first episode of the first season, and knowing how attached we've gotten to Jimmy....that first Cinnabon flashforward is just devastating.

Jimmy is just leading the most lonely, hellish existence.

I really wonder what the endgame for the flash forwards are

 

[SpaceWolf]

I really wonder what the endgame for the flash forwards are

I'm sure the writers are wondering the same thing, honestly.

 

[LotusHD]

I really wonder what the endgame for the flash forwards are

Invite the audience to a big Cinnabon party of course

 

[Human Trashcan]

I'm gonna be surprised if the frame narrative ever takes center stage. I just don't think this is that show or will be that show. I think some of you guys are really setting yourselves up for disappointment there. I could be wrong, it's just my gut feeling based on what this show has been about up to this point.

 

[big ander]

yeah I doubt we'll ever reach cinnabon gene for full stories or anything. in fact I wouldn't be surprised if s4 started with another cinnabon gene scene that doesn't even acknowledge his fainting at the start of 3. they're just there to illustrate how low jimmy succumbing to his worst qualities will eventually take him.

 

[HardRojo]

Is there no new episode next week? For some reason Netflix in my area is skipping it and the next one arrives on June 6th.

 

[TheSinkingKnight]

Is there no new episode next week? For some reason Netflix in my area is skipping it and the next one arrives on June 6th.

Yeah, no new episode. Many networks are foregoing new content as it's Memorial Day Monday in the US.

 

[RangerX]

I'm gonna be surprised if the frame narrative ever takes center stage. I just don't think this is that show or will be that show. I think some of you guys are really setting yourselves up for disappointment there. I could be wrong, it's just my gut feeling based on what this show has been about up to this point.

I'd be surprised if they don't cover it for one season in the final season. I have this feeling that Kim is still around at that point and Jimmy will try to contact her to make amends for whatever happens between them.

 

[Parch]

I almost wish this wasn't connected to Breaking Bad so they didn't have to turn Jimmy into Saul.

I dunno, I like the connection. The references to Breaking Bad are what make the show interesting. I don't think Better Call Saul would be as popular if it was stand alone.

There are plenty of spin off shows that have been sequels, but I was trying to think of other shows that were/are a prequel? Fear the Walking Dead. Star Trek Enterprise. Probably a lot more, but it's not a format that has been done successfully a lot.

 

[Grinchy]

Man I really hope Pryce gets shot. Been a while since a fictional character irritated me so intensely.

hahaha, I hope we see a ton of him

I love that guy who played the character. He's kinda down on his luck. He has to work part-time at a horribly-run movie theater.

 

[SpaceWolf]

Rewatched Saul's introductory episode in Breaking Bad today.

Saul is a completely different person, literally to such an extent I almost feel it's almost going to be impossible for this show to get the character to that point in any kind of convincing way. At one point, he literally comes on to Francesca by offering to follow her home and then mentions how he has an obsession with her ass. The dude is a straight up amoral creep, who cheerfully discusses offing Badger and boasting about getting handjobs from masseuses.

How far can this character possibly fall in the space of six years?

 

[big ander]

the show's status as prequel is interesting some of the time—and I like that together Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad basically make for an epic-length coen bros movie, with BCS being the simmering first half and BB being the second half where everything goes to shit—but I doubt most fans of this show would say the connection is what makes the show interesting. like, the worst parts of this show have probably been the moments in this season where it's just teasing that gus exists, referencing what's to come in a shallow way.

 

[Lothar]

Rewatched Saul's introductory episode in Breaking Bad today.

Saul is a completely different person, literally to such an extent I almost feel it's almost going to be impossible for this show to get the character to that point in any kind of convincing way. At one point, he literally comes on to Francesca by offering to follow her home and then mentions how he has an obsession with her ass. The dude is a straight up amoral creep, who cheerfully discusses offing Badger and boasting about getting handjobs from masseuses.

How far can this character possibly fall in the space of six years?

Same thing with Mike and Francesca. Mike has to go from someone who's distraught over the killing of an innocent man to thinking it's no big deal to kill them while robbing a train. Francesca has to go from being nice, shy, and nervous to standing up to Heisinberg and ordering him to give her 25k.