Better Call Saul

[Kev]

I said the same thing in 3 sentences

You didn't say anything about the cinematography or symbolism aspect of everything.

 

[GasX]

You didn't say anything about the cinematography or symbolism aspect of everything.

I don't wear knee pads when I watch tv

 

[Vdubchaos]

I love how so many of you guys are trying to make sense of some show that's been written with random BS to keep you coming back and watching.

Just enjoy it for what it is.

:biggrin:

 

[SMOGZINN]

The thing to remember is that Jimmy and Marco didn't scam honest people. Their scams set one of them up as a honest, but naive, person and waited for someone else to try to cheat them, and then they took them for all they were worth.

What Jimmy realized in that final scene is that he does not want to work for someone else, because they are just cheating him in the same way. They take his hard work and use it to help criminals make money. Jimmy wants to take money from criminals.

Jimmy is fine taking money from bad people, in fact he counts on it. That is what he means by he is never again going to be so stupid at to give the money back. He is not going to follow rules set up to scam the honest people, he is no longer naive. This is the overall theme of this season, and probably the entire series, that honest people that follow the rules are naive, while successful people cheat.

But Jimmy is basicly a good guy, so if you are an honest person, will will deal honestly with you. He will actually help those old ladies with their wills, because they have done nothing wrong. But when someone has stolen millions, Jimmy is going to take them for all he can. This will undoubtedly get him in some trouble as he learns the ropes of being a dirty lawyer, and will be our theme for next season.

 

[CZroe]

The thing to remember is that Jimmy and Marco didn't scam honest people. Their scams set one of them up as a honest, but naive, person and waited for someone else to try to cheat them, and then they took them for all they were worth.

What Jimmy realized in that final scene is that he does not want to work for someone else, because they are just cheating him in the same way. They take his hard work and use it to help criminals make money. Jimmy wants to take money from criminals.

Jimmy is fine taking money from bad people, in fact he counts on it. That is what he means by he is never again going to be so stupid at to give the money back. He is not going to follow rules set up to scam the honest people, he is no longer naive. This is the overall theme of this season, and probably the entire series, that honest people that follow the rules are naive, while successful people cheat.

But Jimmy is basicly a good guy, so if you are an honest person, will will deal honestly with you. He will actually help those old ladies with their wills, because they have done nothing wrong. But when someone has stolen millions, Jimmy is going to take them for all he can. This will undoubtedly get him in some trouble as he learns the ropes of being a dirty lawyer, and will be our theme for next season.

There's nothing dishonest about outbidding someone else on a presumably rare coin. The montage had many that would prey an people trying to help (Nigerian scam, for example).

Also, no indication of dishonesty for the kids Marco was playing parlor games with. Though I wouldn't call that a "scam," he wasn't freely sharing the secret to his trick ("Sure. Got another $20?").

 

[smackababy]

I love how so many of you guys are trying to make sense of some show that's been written with random BS to keep you coming back and watching.

Just enjoy it for what it is.

:biggrin:

I'm sure Shakespeare just wrong random stuff too...

There's nothing dishonest about outbidding someone else on a presumably rare coin. The montage had many that would prey an people trying to help (Nigerian scam, for example).

Also, no indication of dishonesty for the kids Marco was playing parlor games with. Though I wouldn't call that a "scam," he wasn't freely sharing the secret to his trick ("Sure. Got another $20?").

While not inherently dishonest, they did only scam people looking for an easy buck. The Nigerian scam works because people are expecting a payout for their charity. A truly "good" person would donate the money and not want anything in return. Jimmy is okay getting over on the quick buck people, but seems to have a moral compass when it comes to people who truly just want to get by. Chuck isn't what brought him back to New Mexico, it was all the voice mails from elderly (and their children) who genuinely needed his help. And, even in Breaking Bad, he might have been a sleazeball, but they never showed him doing anything against truly honest people. His code is similar to Mike's. Sure, he is a criminal, but a deal is a deal sorta thing.

 

[Perknose]

I love how so many of you guys are trying to make sense of some show that's been written with random BS to keep you coming back and watching.

Just enjoy it for what it is.

:biggrin:

 

[Exophase]

While not inherently dishonest, they did only scam people looking for an easy buck. The Nigerian scam works because people are expecting a payout for their charity. A truly "good" person would donate the money and not want anything in return. Jimmy is okay getting over on the quick buck people, but seems to have a moral compass when it comes to people who truly just want to get by. Chuck isn't what brought him back to New Mexico, it was all the voice mails from elderly (and their children) who genuinely needed his help. And, even in Breaking Bad, he might have been a sleazeball, but they never showed him doing anything against truly honest people. His code is similar to Mike's. Sure, he is a criminal, but a deal is a deal sorta thing.

The thing that gets me is he was bemoaning not keeping the money the Kettlemans stole. He said he was held back by doing the right thing (returning the money to the city) and wouldn't be held back again. That money was collected from tax payers to be used for their benefit, not merely greedy people looking for a payout.

 

[smackababy]

The thing that gets me is he was bemoaning not keeping the money the Kettlemans stole. He said he was held back by doing the right thing (returning the money to the city) and wouldn't be held back again. That money was collected from tax payers to be used for their benefit, not merely greedy people looking for a payout.

Yes, but he wasn't the one defrauding the tax payers by keeping. At least, in his mind. He was defrauding scumbags who stole from the tax payers.

 

[Perknose]

The thing to remember is that Jimmy and Marco didn't scam honest people.

Mostly. W.C. Fields said it in the title of one of his movies.

There's nothing dishonest about outbidding someone else on a presumably rare coin.

Greed. He played on that mark's greed. It's inherent in his phrase above.

Also, no indication of dishonesty for the kids Marco was playing parlor games with. Though I wouldn't call that a "scam," he wasn't freely sharing the secret to his trick ("Sure. Got another $20?").

Fields made a movie that addressed this situation as well.

The great man sums it all up in person.

 

[Exophase]

Yes, but he wasn't the one defrauding the tax payers by keeping. At least, in his mind. He was defrauding scumbags who stole from the tax payers.

That part he already did when he took the money. What he regretted was his decision to turn the money back to the city rather than keep it.

Mind you, had he kept it - assumed he would have gotten away without getting caught - he'd be screwing over the Kettlemans a lot more. Actually he was doing them a big favor by delivering it to the city. Nonetheless, I doubt his resentment in not keeping it had anything to do with missing an opportunity to screw them over more. When he said he was no longer going to let doing the right thing hold him back it doesn't sound like he was rationalizing the theft as no longer a bad thing but deciding he didn't care anymore.

 

[smackababy]

That part he already did when he took the money. What he regretted was his decision to turn the money back to the city rather than keep it.

Mind you, had he kept it - assumed he would have gotten away without getting caught - he'd be screwing over the Kettlemans a lot more. Actually he was doing them a big favor by delivering it to the city. Nonetheless, I doubt his resentment in not keeping it had anything to do with missing an opportunity to screw them over more. When he said he was no longer going to let doing the right thing hold him back it doesn't sound like he was rationalizing the theft as no longer a bad thing but deciding he didn't care anymore.

That is what I mean though. He was caught up in "doing the right thing" for reasons other than his own, rather than because he felt it to be the right thing. He knew the Kettleman's were scumbags and him keeping the money would screw them royally (at least, the husband, and I thought it was made clear it was the wife who either coerced the husband to take the money or took it herself). He cared about "making things right" and even included his take of the money.

Now, though, he no longer cares to look out for everyone else. The people he believed should have been looking out for him weren't (Chuck), despite his overwhelming efforts to look out for him.

 

[BoberFett]

The thing to remember is that Jimmy and Marco didn't scam honest people. Their scams set one of them up as a honest, but naive, person and waited for someone else to try to cheat them, and then they took them for all they were worth.

What Jimmy realized in that final scene is that he does not want to work for someone else, because they are just cheating him in the same way. They take his hard work and use it to help criminals make money. Jimmy wants to take money from criminals.

Jimmy is fine taking money from bad people, in fact he counts on it. That is what he means by he is never again going to be so stupid at to give the money back. He is not going to follow rules set up to scam the honest people, he is no longer naive. This is the overall theme of this season, and probably the entire series, that honest people that follow the rules are naive, while successful people cheat.

But Jimmy is basicly a good guy, so if you are an honest person, will will deal honestly with you. He will actually help those old ladies with their wills, because they have done nothing wrong. But when someone has stolen millions, Jimmy is going to take them for all he can. This will undoubtedly get him in some trouble as he learns the ropes of being a dirty lawyer, and will be our theme for next season.

I hadn't thought about that angle. Interesting...

 

[drquest]

OMG, if you like Saul and want a laugh you should give this number a call: 505-503-4455

Seriously....

 

[drquest]

The thing to remember is that Jimmy and Marco didn't scam honest people. Their scams set one of them up as a honest, but naive, person and waited for someone else to try to cheat them, and then they took them for all they were worth.

What Jimmy realized in that final scene is that he does not want to work for someone else, because they are just cheating him in the same way. They take his hard work and use it to help criminals make money. Jimmy wants to take money from criminals.

Jimmy is fine taking money from bad people, in fact he counts on it. That is what he means by he is never again going to be so stupid at to give the money back. He is not going to follow rules set up to scam the honest people, he is no longer naive. This is the overall theme of this season, and probably the entire series, that honest people that follow the rules are naive, while successful people cheat.

But Jimmy is basicly a good guy, so if you are an honest person, will will deal honestly with you. He will actually help those old ladies with their wills, because they have done nothing wrong. But when someone has stolen millions, Jimmy is going to take them for all he can. This will undoubtedly get him in some trouble as he learns the ropes of being a dirty lawyer, and will be our theme for next season.

This fits right into his feelings about wanting to keep the Kettleman money. They were dishonest, not good people, so scamming them and keeping their money wasn't a huge stretch for Jimmy.

 

[Mandres]

I enjoyed the finale, but I do think his decision to walk away from the job was poorly explained and inconsistent with his character. I don't think Jimmy would have left Kim out to dry after she vouched for him. That's very out of character.

There should have been one more confrontation - Jimmy should have gone to the meeting only to find that Chuck had already slammed the door shut on that opportunity too. Or that Gustavo Fring was a partner in this other firm

 

[Perknose]

OMG, if you like Saul and want a laugh you should give this number a call: 505-503-4455

Seriously....

:biggrin:

If you are currently under arrest or in custody, follow my three patented rules:

1. Keep your mouth shut

2. Keep your mouth shut

3. Don't make eye contact with anyone in the holding cell unless you're looking to make a love connection.



Drug Felonies, press 1

DUI, press 2

Slip and fall on government property, press 3

Illegal animal smuggling, press 4

Unreasonably hot fast food beverage action, press 5

Weight verified 15 victims [sic], press 6

To continue this message in Tagalog, press star

 

[Ichinisan]

OMG, if you like Saul and want a laugh you should give this number a call: 505-503-4455

Seriously....

Yeah. I think that one has been there since Breaking Bad.

This one is more recent: (505) 842-5662

Better call Jimmy: (505) 842-5662
Better call Saul: (505) 503-4455

 

[Rakehellion]

After skipping all the pages, this is all i need to begin watching the first season! I loved his character in Breaking Bad. Cant wait! :biggrin:

What did they do?

 

[mugs]

BTW check out this cool analysis of the finale on reddit:
http://www.reddit.com/r/betterCallSaul/comments/31rec1/why_marco_was_actually_a_brilliant_ending/

When someone calls something "brilliant" they're usually just patting themselves on the back for recognizing the brilliance. He didn't exactly notice anything non-obvious there, aside from the facing west/facing east thing which I'm pretty sure was not intended to convey meaning like he's assuming.

Yeah, all of the other stuff is true, it was a transformational episode for Jimmy/Saul. You can recognize that and still think the finale was underwhelming.

I'm still looking forward to season 2 though.

 

[Perknose]

Yeah. I think that one has been there since Breaking Bad.

This one is more recent: (505) 842-5662

That "Better Call Jimmy" one is lame. Sounds like it was done, unauthorized, by a fanboi. It doesn't even begin to compare with the "Better Call Saul" one.

 

[Ichinisan]

Yeah, all of the other stuff is true, it was a transformational episode for Jimmy/Saul. You can recognize that and still think the finale was underwhelming.

I'm still looking forward to season 2 though.

So much this.

 

[Ichinisan]

That "Better Call Jimmy" one is lame. Sounds like it was done, unauthorized, by a fanboi. It doesn't even begin to compare with the "Better Call Saul" one.

That's the number from the billboard in Better Call Saul. The other is the number from the billboard in Breaking Bad.

I don't know why Jimmy is doing the woman receptionist voice after his multiple cash infusions. I think he could get a real receptionist now.

 

[UNCjigga]

I thought the finale progressed the story and wrapped things up really well. Still, as finales go, it was a little underwhelming in that it did not grab you by the scruff of the neck and take you for a ride before the show disappears for a few months...

For anyone still complaining about the finale, after rewatching it a few days later I realized something. The finale was great, as season finales go. The real problem is that "Pimento" was one of the greatest things I've ever seen on television, and that's not hyperbole. It was difficult for the finale to be anything but underwhelming...and that's just typical Vince Gilligan.

 

[smackababy]

For anyone still complaining about the finale, after rewatching it a few days later I realized something. The finale was great, as season finales go. The real problem is that "Pimento" was one of the greatest things I've ever seen on television, and that's not hyperbole. It was difficult for the finale to be anything but underwhelming...and that's just typical Vince Gilligan.

I think the issue is not only does everyone have a very high standard for what this show should be, but that it was living up to it and the finale could have been above average to great and still missed the mark set by previous episodes.