Better Call Saul: Season 6

[Guadaloopy 10,960]

He obviously misses being Saul, but he only did the department store scam to get leverage over Jeff.  He doesn’t miss the stress and danger - you could see that in his reaction after leaving the security room.  He’s still in survival mode.

It was a nice call back to Walt’s “we’re done when I say we’re done” moment when Saul made Jeff say “we’re done.”

[notre dame joe 186]

That reminded me of some comments I read on the IMDB before they destroyed their board.  IT was on the film Nebraska, which had Odenkirk playing the brother. Basically a poster said that black and white filming was a lost art.   Directors who just film in b&w on a scene set for color wind up with poor contrast.  While last night's episode was better than that movie it still pales to the Twilight Zones and Untouchables of old. 

Edited July 26, 2022 by notre dame joe

[Al_4_ISU 12,451]

I was at that 2010 game.  I did see a bunch of fat pasty people in red so perhaps I ran into the security guard. 
Cottonwood mall is in ABQ.  Not like these show runners to mess up something like that so I must be missing something.

Urbandale is also 2 hours from Omaha, not 4.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,508]

8 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Yeah, not what I was expecting for an entire Gene episode. They shouldn’t have recast Jeff. I know scheduling blah, blah, but Don Harvey’s Jeff was pretty intimidating. The new Jeff is just a goofy pussy that lives with his mom. 
 

I didn’t love the Bad Santa style heist either. Gould/Gilligan can do better. 
 

Oh well. Three episodes left. 

I assume the move to make Jeff be less intimidating was intentional. Everyone and everything was scary to Saul. Like if you started a new school as a kid.  Then he realized that Jeff wasn’t anything. Why would Saul Goodman be afraid of a taxi driver from Omaha? 

We may not be done with Jeff, Marion and the large friend. Saul/Jimmy liked to collect oddball characters to help him with his capers. The only other people in his life are his forgettable co-workers and the security guards. Just a guess especially since he accepted the invite to go back inside with her.

we still must have another big scam left. How else can jimmy get Kim back, who must be in Omaha. 

[Not a cat 5,652]

1 hour ago, Al_4_ISU said:

Urbandale is also 2 hours from Omaha, not 4.

I noticed that too and figured he was talking round trip.  But the manager's reaction was clearly that she wasn't going to wait 4 hours for him to get there.

[Al_4_ISU 12,451]

I noticed that too and figured he was talking round trip.  But the manager's reaction was clearly that she wasn't going to wait 4 hours for him to get there.

Even the best get some of these minor details wrong.

[miguelito 11,254]

"Texas wasn't even ranked!"

 

 

 

 

 

[Al_4_ISU 12,451]

I’m also really thankful they didn’t touch on the 2010 ISU/Nebraska game. An all time Cyclone nut kick

[Al_4_ISU 12,451]

The most egregious error was all the leaves on the trees weeks into winter

[GTX Horn 1,707]

I posted this in another BCS thread, but the Texas-Nebraska game in 2010 was on October 16. Then the Ok State-Nebraska game (I think that was the last one they mentioned?) was on October 23. In the flash forward cold opening of “Quite a Ride,” Saul tells Franchesca to answer a phone call on November 12 at “3 on the dot.” So based on this timeline, maybe we’ll find out what that call was about next week.

[HoustonFrog 368]

That was boring as shit. I assume there’s going to be a significant payoff but pretty painful for the 4th to last episode ever

[Al_4_ISU 12,451]

For the record, the fall of 2010 was absolutely spectacular in the western Midwest. I was living in Des Moines at the time (very similar weather to Omaha) and there weren’t any surprise blizzards in October. It was 60-70 and sunny for weeks.

My first visit to Austin was that October too.

[miguelito 11,254]

12 minutes ago, HoustonFrog said:

That was boring as shit. I assume there’s going to be a significant payoff but pretty painful for the 4th to last episode ever

Next week Gene chases a fly around the Cinnabon kitchen for an hour. 

[RPM 26,316]

36 minutes ago, miguelito said:

Next week Gene chases a fly around the Cinnabon kitchen for an hour. 

In 2 weeks a huge man buys a Cinnabon. He stares Gene. He has no Idea it's Taylor Martinez.

[4th&Five 41,510]

I think we’re done with Gene. 

[PantsTent 2,002]

So is Walt dead yet in October of 2010?  Gene finding out about that could be done.  I don't think we're done with Gene...him looking at a shirt and tie seems pretty lame chronological ending to the whole thing.

[henrygandorf 29,189]

so i get the mutually assured destruction angle and all that, but do those cameras not feed to tape?  and if not, does jimmy/saul/gene know that?  because even with the silly misdirection (yes, i've been on the record that i think most of saul's antics are silly and stupid), if the store takes inventory and figures out shit is missing, they're going to investigate.  the first thing they'll do is look at their tapes (do they have their own cameras?) and look at mall security tapes, if they exist.  remember, this is 2010, not 1978.

the minute they see jeffy (if they can identify him), they'll bring him in and he'll sing like a canary.  either way, the store manager could certainly identify the driver, who she spoke to for a while and would know was obviously in on it.  either one of those could rat out saul in an instant, when it appeared he was relatively safe before.  and if he wasn't safe, he could've relocated again, as he had no clear ties to omaha.

and for all that, now he has to go watch jerry eat cinnabon and talk husker football every day for the rest of ever.

c- episode.  i wasn't worried about saul's safety and now i still don't really care.  still wondering why he's such hot property after bouncing from abq.  yeah, maybe some bad people are interested in his whereabouts, but someone like jeffy wouldn't know that.

[SizzleChest 8,283]

3 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

so i get the mutually assured destruction angle and all that, but do those cameras not feed to tape?  and if not, does jimmy/saul/gene know that?  because even with the silly misdirection (yes, i've been on the record that i think most of saul's antics are silly and stupid), if the store takes inventory and figures out shit is missing, they're going to investigate.  the first thing they'll do is look at their tapes (do they have their own cameras?) and look at mall security tapes, if they exist.  remember, this is 2010, not 1978.

the minute they see jeffy (if they can identify him), they'll bring him in and he'll sing like a canary.  either way, the store manager could certainly identify the driver, who she spoke to for a while and would know was obviously in on it.  either one of those could rat out saul in an instant, when it appeared he was relatively safe before.  and if he wasn't safe, he could've relocated again, as he had no clear ties to omaha.

and for all that, now he has to go watch jerry eat cinnabon and talk husker football every day for the rest of ever.

c- episode.  i wasn't worried about saul's safety and now i still don't really care.  still wondering why he's such hot property after bouncing from abq.  yeah, maybe some bad people are interested in his whereabouts, but someone like jeffy wouldn't know that.

He said in the episode that they erase the tapes (record over them) every 72 hours.  This and the timing when it would be caught in inventory was actual dialogue in the show and the whole entire premise for just taking "three things".

[henrygandorf 29,189]

1 minute ago, SizzleChest said:

He said in the episode that they erase the tapes (record over them) every 72 hours.  This and the timing when it would be caught in inventory was actual dialogue in the show and the whole entire premise for just taking "three things".

gotcha.  thanks for clarifying.

[SizzleChest 8,283]

2 hours ago, Al_4_ISU said:

The most egregious error was all the leaves on the trees weeks into winter

mid-October is weeks into winter?  It's not even winter.

[SizzleChest 8,283]

The whole "Urbandale is really just 2 hours from Omaha" shit is kinda weak.  I think Gene wanted to make sure she wasn't going to hang around.  If he said 2, she might.  Saying 4 lessens the likelihood that she would stay at the store  He stated "I can be there in 4 hours"  like he wasn't just going to jump in a truck and leave immediately.

C'mon, man.

[PantsTent 2,002]

16 minutes ago, PantsTent said:

So is Walt dead yet in October of 2010?  Gene finding out about that could be done.  I don't think we're done with Gene...him looking at a shirt and tie seems pretty lame chronological ending to the whole thing.

Why don't I just google it.  According to fan wiki, Walt dies Sept 7, 2010.

https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline#Season_5B

[HornPhD 1,368]

On 7/24/2022 at 2:03 PM, tbone_ said:

Has anything ever ended happily in the BB/BCS world?

 

12 hours ago, Not a cat said:

Other than Jane overdosing, Andrea bring murdered in front of him, Brock being poisoned and his family disowning him, Jesse has it pretty good.

Despite the horrible things that occurred, things ended happily for Jesse. Sure, he’ll have PTSD-related issues; however, at the moment he is safe and has the chance for a  fresh start. 

[Red Five 40,838]

Not sure if this warrants spoiler tags, but just in case.

Spoiler

I figured we'd see WW and Jesse at the end of the Gene timeline, as opposed to back in the Breaking Bad timeline. I guess they can pretty much go wherever they want at this point, but just physically for the actors it would make sense to make it in 2010. But if WW is dead in September 2010, prior to that legendary Texas Nebraska game, then maybe not.

 

[Augustus 3,061]

57 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

still wondering why he's such hot property after bouncing from abq.  

 

There aren't any bad people interested in his whereabouts.  The feds are interested in his whereabouts, because they've got Skylar White explaining to them that Saul was a money launderer/co-conspirator for the biggest meth kingpin in the southwestern US.

[Al_4_ISU 12,451]

59 minutes ago, SizzleChest said:

mid-October is weeks into winter?  It's not even winter.

There's been snow on the ground for at least two weeks in the episode.

That's what I mean by winter.  I've never seen snow last for more than maybe 36 hours in October.

[notre dame joe 186]

4 hours ago, miguelito said:

"Texas wasn't even ranked!"

 

 

 

 

 

I was curious too.  Wasn't this right after Texas played Bama for the national championship mostly with a backup qb?  Not that the guard could have known the next 12 years...

[Tom 2,959]

2 minutes ago, notre dame joe said:

I was curious too.  Wasn't this right after Texas played Bama for the national championship mostly with a backup qb?  Not that the guard could have known the next 12 years...

My memory is hazy because that year was awful, but I’m pretty sure we already knew that team was terrible by the Nebraska game.  Nobody expected us to win.  

[irishtexan 11,515]

I'm probably wrong, but I wonder if our time with Jimmy/Saul is over, and we don't see the introduction to Jesse/Walt. Technically, we saw Saul living the Saul life with his hookers, mansion, and xanax guy. They have a whole Gene side-story to flesh out in three episodes. It may be all Gene from here on out. 

[SizzleChest 8,283]

1 hour ago, Al_4_ISU said:

There's been snow on the ground for at least two weeks in the episode.

That's what I mean by winter.  I've never seen snow last for more than maybe 36 hours in October.

The thing that writers and show runners could not predict at the time the prior season Gene scenes were shot was the specific month and year they occurred.  I think they just went with "bleak, cold, hardscrabble Midwestern winter" because it lent itself better to describing the misery of Jimmy / Saul / Gene's life.

When they planned for S6, my guess is they saw an opportunity to wrap the Gene timeline up in a way that need temporal context with the end of BB, the death of Walter White, and Jesse's escape to Alaska.  Based on "Nippy", these events in Omaha occurred just a month and few weeks apart.  Maybe that will have meaning in the final three episodes, maybe not.  

These writers are not lazy, but they will use creative license in an effort to set the feel they want.  And to end the series, I can see where they had to just deal with decisions made way back in Seasons 1-5.  So, yes snow on the ground in October.  Rare, but plausible.  The "OMG, it was 60 degrees and sunny that week according the Weather Underground!!!!" takes are just kinda silly.  Just nit picky crap that doesn't matter.

[shadow_operative 15,932]

listening to jerry larry terry garry gingerch gergich talking about taylor martinez and bo pelini was hilarious. never ever did i think that i would see this:

as canon in the BB/BCS universe. 

thag said, the episode was pretty damned underwhelming with such little time left, and the recast on jeff was confusing as hell. last two episodes have been pretty damned "meh."

[SizzleChest 8,283]

I'll also add that from a cinematography perspective, having snow in the shots just enhances / clarifies the black and white effect.  So, if they chose snow to help with that, that makes sense to me.  Going for that Fargo feel, I guess.

[shadow_operative 15,932]

2 hours ago, SizzleChest said:

The whole "Urbandale is really just 2 hours from Omaha" shit is kinda weak.  I think Gene wanted to make sure she wasn't going to hang around.  If he said 2, she might.  Saying 4 lessens the likelihood that she would stay at the store  He stated "I can be there in 4 hours"  like he wasn't just going to jump in a truck and leave immediately.

C'mon, man.

didn't he say, "if i leave right. now i can be there in four hours?"

[SizzleChest 8,283]

3 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

didn't he say, "if i leave right. now i can be there in four hours?"

Again, maybe he had something else to do first, but his goal was to make sure the manager left and didn't hang around waiting because then the whole plan goes tits up.

If this is the kind of stuff that made you feel the episode was underwhelming, fine.  I'm reserving judgment until I see if this is it for the Gene / Omaha / Cinnabon timeline or not.  It seemed to me the main goal of this episode was to tie up how Jimmy / Saul / Gene was going to deal with Jeff the Cab Driver.  And it did that.  Each of the last three episodes have clearly closed the door on key storylines within the timelines they existed.

Also, Jeff was not recast just for the hell of it.  The actor that played him originally was not available.  I think the writers had to make the best of it and pieced a story together that closed the Jeff threat loop and blended it with a Slippin' Jimmy reprise.  Kinda happy they didn't jump around to other timelines within last night's episode.  It makes me think we're mostly done with Gene.  There's not much more story to tell there.

[shadow_operative 15,932]

i was just recapping the episode to my mom, and i kept finding myself saying, "this caper is silly", and "i can't really explain how that happened, but whatever." example: how in the hell could gene have possibly known that carole burnett's rascal scooter was going to get stuck in the snow in that exact spot? makes absolutely no sense. and why was it necessary for him to have the missing dog backstory? again, it makes no sense.

sloppy episode, silly caper, way too high risk/reward factor, not very entertaining, not really advancing the storyline, and, at the risk being accused of being nit picky, there's no way it only took Jerry 3:15 to eat that cinnabon while blathering on and on and on about college football. 

last week this thread was creaming itself over how gilligan and co handled kim's exit "perfectly", literally just based on the fact that none of y'all predicted how she would leave. i kept my mouth shut then, because people on this site have absolute mental breakdowns when you're critical of a show they like, but this season has been a big time letdown. kim just suddenly being gone was anticlimactic as hell, and this hour long montage of an episode last night didn't move the needle either. this show is grinding to a halt, and it is in no way even remotely close to being as good or as well handled as BB.

[shadow_operative 15,932]

50 minutes ago, SizzleChest said:

Again, maybe he had something else to do first, but his goal was to make sure the manager left and didn't hang around waiting because then the whole plan goes tits up.

yeah im aware of what his goal was, but that doesn't change anything. "if i leave now then i'll be there in four hours" he says concerning a two hour drive. why you feel the need to posts paragraphs trying to justify or explain this, i have no idea. it was as simple as just naming a different city, or having the two hour time period be too long for marla daniels to wait. the show isn't perfect; you don't have to passionately defend it every time they make a small mistake. 

Edited July 26, 2022 by shadow_operative
because this goddamn iphone will incorrectly auto correct anything

[4th&Five 41,510]

8 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

i was just recapping the episode to my mom, and i kept finding myself saying, "this caper is silly", and "i can't really explain how that happened, but whatever." example: how in the hell could gene have possibly known that carole burnett's rascal scooter was going to get stuck in the snow in that exact spot? makes absolutely no sense. and why was it necessary for him to have the missing dog backstory? again, it makes no sense.

sloppy episode, silly caper, way too high risk/reward factor, not very entertaining, not really advancing the storyline, and, at the risk being accused of being nit picky, there's no way it only took Jerry 3:15 to eat that cinnabon while blathering on and on and on about college football. 

last week this thread was creaming itself over how gilligan and co handled kim's exit "perfectly", literally just based on the fact that none of y'all predicted how she would leave. i kept my mouth shut then, because people on this site have absolute mental breakdowns when you're critical of a show they like, but this season has been a big time letdown. kim just suddenly being gone was anticlimactic as hell, and this hour long montage of an episode last night didn't move the needle either. this show is grinding to a halt, and it is in no way even remotely close to being as good or as well handled as BB.

I assume he put the snow there so she would get stuck.  That's why she said it wasn't there when she went to the store. I think the missing dog makes him more sympathetic to an old lady.  It was his way in.

[PilotsError 2,286]

11 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

I assume he put the snow there so she would get stuck.  That's why she said it wasn't there when she went to the store. I think the missing dog makes him more sympathetic to an old lady.  It was his way in.

 

This is obvious to anyone to actually watched and doesn't just have the show on in the background.

[PantsTent 2,002]

11 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

I assume he put the snow there so she would get stuck.  That's why she said it wasn't there when she went to the store. I think the missing dog makes him more sympathetic to an old lady.  It was his way in.

Ding, ding  (no Hector)

[PilotsError 2,286]

Having said that...dumb fucking episode. 

[SizzleChest 8,283]

[shadow_operative 15,932]

17 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

I assume he put the snow there so she would get stuck.  That's why she said it wasn't there when she went to the store. I think the missing dog makes him more sympathetic to an old lady.  It was his way in.

that doesn't sound silly and sloppy to you? he's, what, stalking her, waiting to put some extra snow in her path? that's logical to you? no, i don't think i can get on board with that. jimmy's plots and schemes have been way too convoluted, sloppy, and risky for him to be batting 1.000 ever since Tuco's abuelita ran over the regard twins. you can't just explain away every little thing like this by saying, "well he planned that."

[Go Pokes 979]

25 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

yeah im aware of what his goal was, but that doesn't change anything. "if i leave now then i'll be there in four hours" he says concerning a two hour drive. why you feel the need to posts paragraphs trying to justify or explain this, i have no idea. it was as simple as just naming a different city, or having the two hour time period be too long for marla daniels to wait. the show isn't perfect; you don't have to passionately defend it every time they make a small mistake. 

Don't you hate when posters do that?  

[shadow_operative 15,932]

10 minutes ago, PilotsError said:

 

This is obvious to anyone to actually watched and doesn't just have the show on in the background.

shut the fuck up you whiny pussy. @henrygandorf missed something much more obvious just a few posts back and you weren't making any gay little snipes at him. leave your childish feelings about me at the door you dramatic, whingey twat.

Edited July 26, 2022 by shadow_operative

[shadow_operative 15,932]

i can't believe that i have to keep posting this year after year, thread after thread, show after show:

1)your show is not perfect

2)people are allowed to criticize your show. this is not your safe space. 

if you can't handle any criticisms of your show then put me on ignore or just simply grow the fuck up and get over it, move on, don't care. christ. 

[pepper brooks 580]

that was a cheap slippin jimmy episode not even a saul episode.  it was ceratinly the BCS version of "the fly"

[Pam Cummings 9,639]

7 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

i can't believe that i have to keep posting this year after year, thread after thread, show after show:

1)your show is not perfect

2)people are allowed to criticize your show. this is not your safe space. 

if you can't handle any criticisms of your show then put me on ignore or just simply grow the fuck up and get over it, move on, don't care. christ. 

Yeah no show is perfect. But damn you sure do like to nitpick.

 

Same show creators gave us this:

 

 

 

None of that is believable. It would never happen. But its a show.....

 

 

[Trey3216 15,344]

44 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

i was just recapping the episode to my mom, and i kept finding myself saying, "this caper is silly", and "i can't really explain how that happened, but whatever." example: how in the hell could gene have possibly known that carole burnett's rascal scooter was going to get stuck in the snow in that exact spot? makes absolutely no sense. and why was it necessary for him to have the missing dog backstory? again, it makes no sense.

sloppy episode, silly caper, way too high risk/reward factor, not very entertaining, not really advancing the storyline, and, at the risk being accused of being nit picky, there's no way it only took Jerry 3:15 to eat that cinnabon while blathering on and on and on about college football. 

last week this thread was creaming itself over how gilligan and co handled kim's exit "perfectly", literally just based on the fact that none of y'all predicted how she would leave. i kept my mouth shut then, because people on this site have absolute mental breakdowns when you're critical of a show they like, but this season has been a big time letdown. kim just suddenly being gone was anticlimactic as hell, and this hour long montage of an episode last night didn't move the needle either. this show is grinding to a halt, and it is in no way even remotely close to being as good or as well handled as BB.

It makes perfect sense.  Carol Burnett said the snow wasn't there when she went to the store.  Jimmy put the snow there to make her stop so he could "help her".  The missing dog back story???  Jimmy is a pathological liar/grifter.  He'll use any sympathetic means necessary to get an in.  

[shadow_operative 15,932]

Just now, Trey3216 said:

It makes perfect sense.  Carol Burnett said the snow wasn't there when she went to the store.  Jimmy put the snow there to make her stop so he could "help her".  The missing dog back story???  Jimmy is a pathological liar/grifter.  He'll use any sympathetic means necessary to get an in.  

so how did he find carol burnett? how did he have such a grasp of her routine that he was able to be lying in wait with his extra snow? and why do all of his "extra snow" type capers always go off without a hitch? it does not "make perfect sense". 

[Quagmire 2,147]

i can't believe that i have to keep posting this year after year, thread after thread, show after show:
1)your show is not perfect
2)people are allowed to criticize your show. this is not your safe space. 
if you can't handle any criticisms of your show then put me on ignore or just simply grow the fuck up and get over it, move on, don't care. christ. 

Seems like maybe you should take your own advice .

Alot of people said they didn’t like the episode, but man you are being weird about a scooter getting stuck and dog posters .