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March 28, 2024, 08:07:20 AM

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Better Call Saul - the sixth (and final) season

Started by Blue Jam, February 24, 2021, 12:26:37 PM

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Neville Chamberlain

I love how this episode evolved from 'comedy caper' to 'bleak as fuck'.

NoSleep

Nice to see Bob Odenkirk's old Mr Show buddy, John Ennis, in this (last spotted in a casino in Twin Peaks 3). I didn't recognise him with the moustache last week.

The Guppy

Quote from: druss on May 25, 2022, 08:42:02 AMStressful situations also bring about the "Fight, flight or freeze" response, so even if he wasn't drunk, not legging it would be a perfectly believable reaction.
Yeah if I saw a fella pull a gun I'd try to become invisible.

I wonder what Lalo's plan is. It's got to involve Mike. Mike is what connects Jimmy and Gus.

I'm going to buy a tin of Fanta at lunchtime, shake it up and see if Howard's method works.

Incredible episode. Up there with Ozymandias.

jobotic

I didn't read any spoilers on here but got that something big was going to happen and guessed that it probably meant a death of a major character. As their plan started working so well I thought it would be Howard but that it would be at his own hand. He's such a ball of tension and they totally destroyed him - I really thought he was going kill himself in their flat, or try and kill Jimmy and accidentally hurt Kim. Found the whole plan coming together painful to watch. For his assholery I did like Howard - great character, great actor.

As soon as I realised Lalo was there I knew he'd shoot Hoard and how he would do it - like he wasn't even there.

We see all these people get killed, in this show and many others, and never know who they are other than "innocent by-stander who gets in the way". Just no one to the people who kill them. Now we see someone whose story we have followed for years, and who is going through something huge and terrible in his life, just get snuffed out instantly because he's in the way. He's just some bloke to Lalo, nothing.

Chilling stuff.

I guess the guilt will crush kim and she'll be repulsed by it not doing the same to Jimmy. If that happens and she leaves him it'll be heart breaking but a happy ending compared to what else could happen.

poo

Poor Howard. Am I supposed to be rooting for Howard and Lalo? Cos I am.

Blue Jam

Quote from: NoSleep on May 25, 2022, 09:16:23 AMNice to see Bob Odenkirk's old Mr Show buddy, John Ennis, in this (last spotted in a casino in Twin Peaks 3). I didn't recognise him with the moustache last week.

Was weird to see the CEO of Globo-Chem pushing trolleys in a supermarket carpark. Maybe Globo-Chem's rivals pulled the ol' Fairsley Difference trick and put them out of business. Good thing his daughter is so skilled at hosting conference calls.

Quote from: Neville Chamberlain on May 25, 2022, 09:03:40 AMI love how this episode evolved from 'comedy caper' to 'bleak as fuck'.

It was like 49 minutes of The Big Lebowski followed by 1 minute of No Country For Old Men. Masterful stuff. Those BrBa fans who find it "boring" and didn't stick with it? I feel sorry for them.

Blue Jam

Quote from: druss on May 25, 2022, 07:44:41 AMHoward was drunk though, can completely see him not properly computing what was happening.

Jimmy had also said "You're too drunk to drive, I'm calling you a cab" which Howard angrily dismissed as fake concern, so perhaps it's not surprising that he ignored Kim's advice to get the fuck out. For a few seconds it even seemed like he was on Lalo's side- he seemed to think Lalo was just another client, another of Kim and Jimmy's poor dupes who needed some honest advice.

Also Howard calling Kim and Jimmy sociopaths, only to run into sociopath numero uno mere seconds later? No Howard, this is what a sociopath looks like... so heartbreakingly cruel.

Not a scrap of fat on this script, wonderful stuff.

Elderly Sumo Prophecy

It reminded me a bit of Jules dispatching Flock of Seagulls. Just casually getting rid of an inconvenience in order to invoke terror in the person he really came to see.

Petey Pate

Quote from: Neville Chamberlain on May 25, 2022, 09:03:40 AMI love how this episode evolved from 'comedy caper' to 'bleak as fuck'.

Like the earlier scam on Mesa Verde, they did a great job of making a sequence that could have been played as comedy into something that was awful and stressful to watch. Similarly, seeing Jim and Kimmy have sex while listening to a man's life being ruined was not cute or arousing but repulsive. I also loved how much misdirection there was, in the references to non-caffeine tea, Howard touching all of Irene's stuff and shaking hands... I didn't actually expect their plot to succeed as it did.

Come to think of it, the association being scamming people and sex in Jimmy's mind would go some way to explain the Viagra seen in Saul's mansion at the start of the season.

Blue Jam

Quote from: Petey Pate on May 25, 2022, 01:16:35 PMseeing Jim and Kimmy have sex while listening to a man's life being ruined was not cute or arousing but repulsive.

Oh god yes, that was nasty, almost up there with The Kevin Costner Incident. I used to find Kim and Jimmy utterly adorable together but that was just plain ugly. I was dreading the episode when they inevitably break up and I find it utterly heartbreaking, but now I'm feeling like they don't deserve happiness, even if they do deserve each other. Both of them are scumbags who could badly do with a civilising influence but instead have chosen the worst possible person for them. I've realised I haven't found them cute at all this season, and I think it began with Kim's finger guns at the end of the last season, and they have seemed steadily less cute from there.

In Saul's office as well, and after what Spooge had used it for, properly sleazy. I was doubting that Kim would stick around with someone as sleazy as Saul Goodman eventually becomes, living in that tacky Trump mansion and throwing her pink thong off in the bathroom- who knows, maybe she would.

A really horrible bit of contrast there too: the underserving scumbags Kim and Jimmy are in love and at it like rabbits, while Howard- whose only crime is being a bit of a smarmy prick- is trapped in a sexless marriage and sleeping in the guesthouse. Poor sod, life is cruel.

QuoteI also loved how much misdirection there was, in the references to non-caffeine tea, Howard touching all of Irene's stuff and shaking hands... I didn't actually expect their plot to succeed as it did.

I caught a little spoiler on here while stupidly playing chicken with the spoiler tags: "I knew Howard was fucked when..." and I quickly closed the spoiler again and watched the episode. All through it I was wondering "Fucked? Does that mean he dies or just loses everyone's trust and gets put on gardening leave?". Then all through the episode I was wondering: Does he have a heart attack? No, the drug's already worn off. That arty overhead shot of the HHM staircase which conveniently shows us how high it is- is he going to jump? Nope... now he's at Kim and Jimmy's place, is he going to jump off the balcony? Swallow a load of pills with that Macallan? Now the candle has flickered- is Mike outside the open window with a sniper rifle... and then the very last thing I expected happened, Lalo appeared and it became all too obvious how things were going to go down, 60 seconds of dread at a horrific sense of inevitability.

"This isn't going to go down the way you think it is" once again.

grainger

Spoiler alert
Am I the only one who thought that Howard's knock at the door was Lalo? I was expecting him to show up when Mike called all the inessential guards back to protect Gus. The fact that it was Howard threw me.

I kind of called it a few weeks back, that Howard would get wrapped up in the cartel thread somehow. I thought his PI was going to lead him into it somehow, of course not knowing that the PI wasn't his. So it got where I expected, more or less, but not by the route I expected.
[close]

The Guppy

Jimmy and Kim were expecting Howard, but I thought the knock would turn out to be Lalo. So when it was Howard after all, I relaxed a bit. Then that CUNT CANDLE did its thing.

niat

Quote from: grainger on May 25, 2022, 02:14:17 PM
Spoiler alert
Am I the only one who thought that Howard's knock at the door was Lalo? I was expecting him to show up when Mike called all the inessential guards back to protect Gus. The fact that it was Howard threw me.
[close]

Spoiler alert
As soon as it cut back to their apartment I thought Lalo must be heading there, so I thought it was him at the door until I saw Jimmy's lack of reaction on opening it.
[close]

beanheadmcginty

So what was the bottle of expensive tequila for? Was it part of the plan that they had to change because of the judge's cast and that's why it wasn't used? Or did I somehow miss it being used?

selectivememory

Quote from: beanheadmcginty on May 25, 2022, 03:52:53 PMSo what was the bottle of expensive tequila for? Was it part of the plan that they had to change because of the judge's cast and that's why it wasn't used? Or did I somehow miss it being used?

No, I think that's just like a sentimental/meaningful thing between them, as it reminds them of the first time they scammed someone together. So Jimmy was just buying it in anticipation of a celebration that evening.

Old Thrashbarg

#976
Quote from: Petey Pate on May 25, 2022, 01:16:35 PMI also loved how much misdirection there was, in the references to non-caffeine tea, Howard touching all of Irene's stuff and shaking hands... I didn't actually expect their plot to succeed as it did.

Yeah, I was cowering every time Howard touched someone or something that others then touched, expectating him to wipe out the whole room with whatever drug-gone-wrong he'd been dosed with. And it was a big relief to find out that there were no unintended effects and it probably was something perfectly safe that Jimmy and Kim weren't endangering anyone with. Directly...

And the way the plot played out, with Cliff explaining to Howard (and the viewer) about the judge, with the viewer knowing what was to come once Howard saw him enter the room, but Howard obviously being completely content at that time, was wonderfully done. A rare example of exposition being used to enhance the viewing experience. And then Howard's face when the judge walks in was absolutely perfect. Such a good cast who are always believable in often unbelievable situations.

Bently Sheds

Fucking hell, Slippin Jimmy looks like a steaming pile of shite.

kalowski

I've just been thinking about this all day. The
Spoiler alert
way the two plots have tied together was exquisite. The whole Howard scam has been slowly clicking up week on week, but I've thought it nothing more than a prank (to use Howard's phrase). But the latest one was a bit nasty, and i waited and waited for it to go wrong: the caffeine, Irene or something. I was waiting for a heart attack as Howard said, "Is anybody else hot?"
Despite the hideous nature of the scam, and I don't think Howard deserved that, I breathed a sigh of relief when I thought he'd at least avoided death. Until that fucking candle flickered.
What an episode.
[close]

up_the_hampipe

It was so weird and exciting seeing Lalo and Howard in the same shot. Like the day and night of the show colliding. It almost looked photoshopped. Fabian played it so perfectly, from who dis to lol client to oh shit.

gmoney

#980
Patrick Fabian plays that character so brilliantly, it's a standout performance in a show (or shows) with a lot of them. He's really made his mark.

JamesTC

I'm hoping Howie and Chuck make an appearance in one of the last six episodes in a flashback.

neveragain

What keeps going through my mind is... if Howard had made to leave when he could, do you think Lalo would have let him survive?

JamesTC

If he did straight away without making a fuss, I don't think Lalo would have decided to make the point of brazenly killing him yet. Basically, if he left in the few seconds before Lalo decided to pull out the gun.

Old Thrashbarg

Quote from: neveragain on May 25, 2022, 07:32:39 PMWhat keeps going through my mind is... if Howard had made to leave when he could, do you think Lalo would have let him survive?

Absolutely not. Lalo is still supposed to be dead, even if Gus and his associates now know otherwise.

JamesTC

Quote from: Old Thrashbarg on May 25, 2022, 07:42:09 PMAbsolutely not. Lalo is still supposed to be dead, even if Gus and his associates now know otherwise.

Yeah but is pretty brazen. Just waltzes around the place like it is nobodies business.

Blue Jam

Quote from: Petey Pate on May 24, 2022, 10:14:01 AM
Spoiler alert
He didn't exactly give a shit when he killed Fred at the Travel Wire, just burnt the place down.
[close]

Lalo also once burnt down a hotel- the bell Hector uses to communicate with is a grisly souvenir he swiped from the reception desk.

I'm sure Lalo wouldn't be above torching a residential building and killing all the innocent inhabitants/potential witnesses, but the fact that the painting Kim and Jimmy were using as a Big Board for their plot against Howard is seen later in the timeline, being carried out of Saul's house by the repo men and apparently unharmed, suggests the place wasn't torched.

Looks like Saul cleaned Howard's blood and brains off it first though- Kim and Jimmy will now have to look at that painting and see a grim reminder of how their plan went so right, and then so horrifically wrong.

Frances Found

Had to wait an extra day to watch this but God, it was worth the wait. Just pure horror.

All series I've been liking Kim and Jimmy less and less.
After their smug faces and them fucking while Howard's getting humiliated, I really don't see how I can root for them again.
Which is exactly how I felt with season 5a of BrBa and I still ended up wanting Walt to have a little victory at the end, so I expect the same will happen after the BCS break.

At least Irene was OK though.

Off to try that trick with a fizzy drink can now.

Blue Jam

Not my observation, but I have seen it pointed out that Howard carefully rotating the ginger ale can foreshadowed Lalo patiently screwing the silencer onto his pistol. It also represented Howard's futile attempt to try and contain an explosive situation. The chat with Gary Cary wasn't smalltalk, everything in this show points towards something.

Also just check out the ghost of Chuck watching over proceedings, forgotten by the young 'uns just as Howard will be. Ah, maybe there are more important things:


Frances Found

#989
Quote from: Blue Jam on May 25, 2022, 08:27:56 PMNot my observation, but I have seen it pointed out that Howard carefully rotating the ginger ale can foreshadowed Lalo patiently screwing the silencer onto his pistol.

There were a lot of circles and spirals in the episode: the circling around at the ad shoot, the staircase, Kim winding on the bandage. Pushing it to include Howard's pupils and  the manhole grate maybe. I'm sure I spotted more too.

Edit: the Frisbee in the replacement photos too.