Better Call Saul. Not coming back until 2020

[Quagmire 2147]

The actor who plays Tuco is almost 60 and has publicly said the character is too draining for him to play full time.  I doubt we see anything with him for more than a scene or two.

Draining ? Does he actually have to snort meth off a Bowie knife ?

[Lurch 5930]

God DAMMIT!!!

[WithoutAClue 15344]

the best laid plans...

[Horn80 6118]

Nacho fucked now?  And what’s going on with Kim?  Is she just testing Jimmy or serious?

Edited April 21, 2020 by Horn80

[billfromlaketravis 11460]

I think Nacho and his pops will be tragic deaths in Better Call Saul. 

Kim is steaming towards a date with the Vacuum Man. Jimmy left unsupervised becomes full Saul.

Lalo murders enough of Gus' men to scare the shit of people and prop up Tuco in time for the Breaking Bad storyline. Tony Dalton on the rampage will be fun to watch. 

Edited April 21, 2020 by billfromlaketravis

[Yev Kassem 1031]

3 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I think Nacho and his pops will be tragic deaths in Better Call Saul. 

Kim is steaming towards a date with the Vacuum Man. Jimmy left unsupervised becomes full Saul.

Lalo murders enough of Gus' men to scare the shit of people and prop up Tuco in time for the Breaking Bad storyline. Tony Dalton on the rampage will be fun to watch. 

Nacho won’t die. He is referenced in Saul’s first episode in Breaking Bad even though he never appears in the series (https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Nacho_Varga).

I’m guessing he takes out Lalo by the end of next season and replaces him in the Cartel. 

[billfromlaketravis 11460]

1 minute ago, Yev Kassem said:

Nacho won’t die. He is referenced in Saul’s first episode in Breaking Bad even though he never appears in the series (https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Nacho_Varga).

I’m guessing he takes out Lalo by the end of next season and replaces him in the Cartel. 

Lalo is referenced by Saul in Breaking Bad. 

[TexasMan 10891]

 

[pepper brooks 580]

2 hours ago, Lurch said:

3 hours ago, PilotsError said:

The actor who plays Tuco is almost 60 and has publicly said the character is too draining for him to play full time.  I doubt we see anything with him for more than a scene or two.

Yeah. He was ding chavez in clear and present danger. Saw him in the cast credits when watching that earlier. Born in 1961

[Player 4575]

The actor who plays Tuco is almost 60 and has publicly said the character is too draining for him to play full time.  I doubt we see anything with him for more than a scene or two.

If Jonathan Banks can schlep his ancient ass around the desert, then Raymond Cruz can damn well show up to shoot in ABQ.

It’s not like he’s got a ton of prior commitments, right?

[hornian 5213]

On 4/17/2020 at 2:11 PM, UTCzech III said:

It occurred to me last night that with next week being the season finale, we should get some action on the Gene/cab driver story.  No way they would bring that up in S5E1 and then not touch it again for the rest of the season.  So we got that to look forward to.

Swing and a miss. 

[Yev Kassem 1031]

1 hour ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Lalo is referenced by Saul in Breaking Bad. 

Haha!  I didn’t know that. And around and around we go!

[Brian Fantana 6685]

27 minutes ago, Player said:

If Jonathan Banks can schlep his ancient ass around the desert, then Raymond Cruz can damn well show up to shoot in ABQ.

It’s not like he’s got a ton of prior commitments, right?

 

Cruz grew up around some pretty hardcore latino gangs in LA, had many family members involved and saw a lot of violence growing up which is part of the reason he's so good at playing the character. He has said in many interviews that playing Tuco is really hard for him physically and mentally. I don't blame him if he doesn't want to do it.

Banks is old af but he hasn't exactly had a hard life. I seriously doubt playing Mike has the same impact on him that playing Tuco has on Cruz.

[tx 3 putt 76906]

well, damn that was a good cliff hanger

[notre dame joe 187]

Where were all of Don Eladio's guards?

[tx 3 putt 76906]

12 minutes ago, notre dame joe said:

Where were all of Don Eladio's guards?

It was Lalo's house. very slick escape tunnel 

[RPM 26318]

I only saw 2 guards, the kid that Lalo used as a human shield and the older guy they showed capped. The only ones that escaped were Lalo and (for now) Nacho.

I think escape tunnels are as common in Mexican drug lord estates as basements are in Cleveland. I was expecting some Claymores for the followers, but his way worked, too.

[Bama Llama 1450]

1. I concede!  Lalo is too charismatic to die until next season.

2. Okay, telecom wonders, tell me how Gus pulled off the "mere technical matter" of creating a temporary mobile phone signal for the call to Nacho.

Edited April 21, 2020 by Bama Llama

[kevwun 15774]

TV magic.  If there's no service where the house is, nothing can be done remotely to fix that.

[Red Five 40853]

Pajamas.

[Lurch 5930]

TV magic.  If there's no service where the house is, nothing can be done remotely to fix that.

Don’t remember when it came into existence, but you can buy a local radio for your service provider that uses an internet connection rather than towers. Your phone doesn’t know the difference.

[kevwun 15774]

Right, but the hit squad would have had to been at the house already to do something like that.

[Jerry Callo 8700]

9 hours ago, Yev Kassem said:

Haha!  I didn’t know that. And around and around we go!

Just watched the BB episode when Saul was kidnapped.  Here are the references to Nacho and Lalo:

"it wasn't me, it was Ignacio, he was the one"

"Lalo didn't send you, no Lalo?"

[jeevsie 3733]

9 hours ago, Brian Fantana said:

Cruz grew up around some pretty hardcore latino gangs in LA, had many family members involved and saw a lot of violence growing up which is part of the reason he's so good at playing the character. He has said in many interviews that playing Tuco is really hard for him physically and mentally. I don't blame him if he doesn't want to do it.

Banks is old af but he hasn't exactly had a hard life. I seriously doubt playing Mike has the same impact on him that playing Tuco has on Cruz.

[4th&Five 41525]

 

[WithoutAClue 15344]

13 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

 

the good news is the final season will be 13 episodes.

the bad news it won't be for another 18 months or so. 

[Brian Fantana 6685]

47 minutes ago, kevwun said:

TV magic.  If there's no service where the house is, nothing can be done remotely to fix that.

 

38 minutes ago, kevwun said:

Right, but the hit squad would have had to been at the house already to do something like that.

Wrong. This can be done with the right equipment fairly easily. With a powerful enough radio transceiver being fed a signal from say, a laptop with some specialized software, you could most certainly spoof a cell tower from a distance and do exactly what they did in the show.

Source: I work in RF and have done things similar to this at work many times to test wireless applications.

It's not a solution I would ever expect to see in a TV show, but there we have it.

[Goo Punch 4275]

i thought it was a good episode, but it didn't feel like a season finale to me, it just felt like it moved the story forward, like there should still be another episode next week. and i didn't like that it ended in a cliff hanger, especially because of how notoriously long BCS's off seasons are. oh well. 

[Lat22 4010]

4 hours ago, Bama Llama said:

1. I concede!  Lalo is too charismatic to die until next season.

2. Okay, telecom wonders, tell me how Gus pulled off the "mere technical matter" of creating a temporary mobile phone signal for the call to Nacho.

Maybe a King Air circling overhead ala Centra Spike?

[kevwun 15774]

17 minutes ago, Brian Fantana said:

 

Wrong. This can be done with the right equipment fairly easily. With a powerful enough radio transceiver being fed a signal from say, a laptop with some specialized software, you could most certainly spoof a cell tower from a distance and do exactly what they did in the show.

Source: I work in RF and have done things similar to this at work many times to test wireless applications.

It's not a solution I would ever expect to see in a TV show, but there we have it.

Wrong on the distance, but someone would still have to be somewhere in the area.  What kind of range could you do that from?  Not arguing, just curious.

[HouTex 1866]

Those were the world's worst assassins.

[Guest Lobo]

1 minute ago, HouTex said:

Those were the world's worst assassins.

They really were.  I think the 'middleman' sold Gus Fring a bill of goods.  I get they needed an inside guy to give them a point of penetration.  But first thing they did would be to get to another gate to let other team members approach from a different access point.  Or if that would give away what they were doing, then at least spread out to different ingress points around the house.  The first four guys just meandered in through the same door, single file like idiots and they start shooting anyone they see be they abuelitas or armed guards.  The two dipshits who go down the tunnel single-file are also A-1 fuckups.  Nobody thought to stay behind at the access point or meet the guy at the end of the tunnel wherever it may end?  And you brought the sat phone with you onto the property?  Leave it back in the vehicle.  What're you, calling in air support you moron?  If something goes south, Lalo can use the phone to mine intel.  Nothing those guys did would match up with the expectations of Gus or Mike.  Almost everything they did was a comedy of errors, right down to the last guy's mask---you worried the media is gonna be outside the gates afterwards trying to get a video of you leaving the crime scene?  

Tl; dr.  Another setup I think from some other nemesis of Gus.  And i've never been more attracted to Kim than last night.  

[gsoda3 3254]

kim breaking bad would be a fabulous way to end the series.

[Lurch 5930]

https://uproxx.com/tv/better-call-saul-season-finale-recap/

[kevwun 15774]

They shot at Lalo in the kitchen and then proceeded to not search the kitchen.

[Goo Punch 4275]

38 minutes ago, Lobo said:

They really were.  I think the 'middleman' sold Gus Fring a bill of goods.  I get they needed an inside guy to give them a point of penetration.  But first thing they did would be to get to another gate to let other team members approach from a different access point.  Or if that would give away what they were doing, then at least spread out to different ingress points around the house.  The first four guys just meandered in through the same door, single file like idiots and they start shooting anyone they see be they abuelitas or armed guards.  The two dipshits who go down the tunnel single-file are also A-1 fuckups.  Nobody thought to stay behind at the access point or meet the guy at the end of the tunnel wherever it may end?  And you brought the sat phone with you onto the property?  Leave it back in the vehicle.  What're you, calling in air support you moron?  If something goes south, Lalo can use the phone to mine intel.  Nothing those guys did would match up with the expectations of Gus or Mike.  Almost everything they did was a comedy of errors, right down to the last guy's mask---you worried the media is gonna be outside the gates afterwards trying to get a video of you leaving the crime scene?  

Tl; dr.  Another setup I think from some other nemesis of Gus.  And i've never been more attracted to Kim than last night.  

the fact that Lalo left the secret bathtub door wide open should have been a pretty big clue for the bad guys. 

[Lurch 5930]

Nobody thought to stay behind at the access point or meet the guy at the end of the tunnel wherever it may end? 

One did and was surprised by a returning Lalo, which was pretty awesome, by the way. He used an escape tunnel, then fucking RETURNED to kick ass

[Brian Fantana 6685]

1 hour ago, kevwun said:

Wrong on the distance, but someone would still have to be somewhere in the area.  What kind of range could you do that from?  Not arguing, just curious.

That's a good question. I've only done things similar to that between buildings (couple hundred yards or so), but you could do it from some miles away. It would entirely depend on how powerful a signal you were able to transmit given the equipment you have on hand out in the field. And yeah, they'd have to be in the area which I assume they already were when they made the call.

[Brian Fantana 6685]

54 minutes ago, Lobo said:

They really were.  I think the 'middleman' sold Gus Fring a bill of goods.  I get they needed an inside guy to give them a point of penetration.  But first thing they did would be to get to another gate to let other team members approach from a different access point.  Or if that would give away what they were doing, then at least spread out to different ingress points around the house.  The first four guys just meandered in through the same door, single file like idiots and they start shooting anyone they see be they abuelitas or armed guards.  The two dipshits who go down the tunnel single-file are also A-1 fuckups.  Nobody thought to stay behind at the access point or meet the guy at the end of the tunnel wherever it may end?  And you brought the sat phone with you onto the property?  Leave it back in the vehicle.  What're you, calling in air support you moron?  If something goes south, Lalo can use the phone to mine intel.  Nothing those guys did would match up with the expectations of Gus or Mike.  Almost everything they did was a comedy of errors, right down to the last guy's mask---you worried the media is gonna be outside the gates afterwards trying to get a video of you leaving the crime scene?  

Tl; dr.  Another setup I think from some other nemesis of Gus.  And i've never been more attracted to Kim than last night.  

I'm interested to know if it's the same outfit Gus hired to kill Juan Bolsa in BB. I know that he thought they were federales but I don't think we ever actually see them so who knows.

[Red Five 40853]

[HoffaJimmy 316]

Mexican Cell phone service talk not going away.........

 

Decent episode but was kind of meh as a season finale. Looking forward to the last season whenever the hell that is. 

[Jerry Callo 8700]

El Chapo used a bathtub tunnel at one point, probably got the idea from Lalo.

[HoustonFrog 368]

I’ll be honest - thought it sucked.

 

13 final episodes need to be jam packed. That finale was borderline boring and the final fight was dumb. One unexpecting guy killing six guys who are very well armed and trained? Come on. It would have been fine if Lalo had bolted after the escape tunnel, but him coming back and then blindly shooting a machine gun 70 yards down a tunnel was absurd.

 

Biggest issue was just how little happened. We wasted so much time on random shit... what was the purpose of Kim choosing case files? And the entire Howard thing is weird.

 

Anyways - loved most of the scenes in Mexico. Lalo, Nacho, Don Eladio are awesome... especially Lalo, he wins every scene.

[Moby Ric 2058]

Great cliffhanger

Worst assassins ever

Lalo is great

More Kim in tank tops

Emmy winning season on several levels this year

 

 

 

[Lurch 5930]

Reminder: Gus walks out with half his face blown off and adjusts his tie. Set expectations for “realistic” in this universe around that anchor.

[Goo Punch 4275]

and that scene was met with the jlaw.gif reaction that it deserved. in general it's the BB Universe's dedication to realness and at least plausible believability that helps separate these shows from other inferior shows (like when i was reading the Ozark thread yesterday and i was reminded of the scene where some cartel guys fill an SUV with like 300 rounds of ammo and nobody died).

[Player 4575]

Don Eladio throws some hellacious pool parties.

[Guest Lobo]

35 minutes ago, Lurch said:

Reminder: Gus walks out with half his face blown off and adjusts his tie. Set expectations for “realistic” in this universe around that anchor.

Totally agree, except that Gus made it an obnoxiously poignant conversation point to tell Mike about how badass these guys are/were.  Gus doesn't usually over-indulge his minions, nor is he easily impressed, nor does he want Mike to have a false sense of security.  He brags to Mike about how awesome the guys he found are/were, then asks Mike for the one bit of help-getting Nacho to help.  Mike obviously has taken a shine to Nacho, or at least sees him as being treated unfairly.  Mike is not going to go out on a limb and see if Nacho can help them breach the compound if it's gonna be 5 incompetent shitheads storming the gates.  So maybe Gus was over-selling their tactical prowess to Mike for a reason?  I dunno,  I suspend belief all the time with this show and I love it.  Just seems curious that Gus thought these guys were Seal Team 6 when they were in fact Sea World Team 3.  Why have Gus brag about them, he's the last guy in the world that needs his decisions validated.  The last scene doesn't so much scream "Lalo is a badass" as it screams "Gus' guys make one mistake after another, very unlike him." 

Edited April 21, 2020 by Lobo

[Goo Punch 4275]

Don Eladio has aged quite poorly over the years. 

[Guest Lobo]

Well he is 63 in real life trying to play a 53 year old drug lord in the previous BB universe.  Instead he looks like a coked-up Mexican version of Zack Morris.