Uh Oh - Better Call Saul (Sunday)

[CanDB]

For those who have been watching, it appears each of these final weeks has a very notable outcome. Without spoiling, lets just say we got another major answer (well who knows for sure) as of this week. At this point I will just say....I'm good with it.

[CanDB]

Well, we're down to the finale. Hard to believe The Breaking Bad / Better Call Saul era is coming to an end.

I am open to discuss my take on the show, but will wait to see how it ends.

At least we did not lose Kim going into the final show of the series. Her character was too valuable. Little "concerned" about Jimmy (or whatever name he is going by) though.

[samparnell]

Who would have thought that it would be Carol Burnett as Marion who would bring down Saul Goodman aka Gene Takovic? Jimmy/Saul/Gene just had too many bad habits and got greedy. We'll see how it ends.

[DenverBlood]

We caught up on these second half episodes tonight. I’ll say the wife and I are completely disappointed with this decision for direction in these last 3 episodes.

This might be up there for me with one of the worst ways to close out a show ever.

[samparnell]

We caught up on these second half episodes tonight. I’ll say the wife and I are completely disappointed with this decision for direction in these last 3 episodes.

This might be up there for me with one of the worst ways to close out a show ever.

Could it be because of the way the ending of Better Call Saul is shaping up in comparison to Breaking Bad or El Camino? If so, keep in mind that the conclusions revolve around the resolution of conflict surrounding main characters. In this case Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman/Gene Takavic and Kim Wexler.

As a character, Jimmy McGill is totally different from Walter White. Their motivations for doing the things they did which drove the plots of their stories are like night and day. Walter's journey began as a way of solving the problem his health posed for his family, while Jimmy was a born con-man and shyster who had been in trouble since childhood and was disdained even by his own brother, Chuck, a prominent attorney.

Walter became darker as a result of the path he chose. In the end he sacrificed himself for Jesse and his family. It could reasonably be concluded that Jimmy's character never changed much, evidence of that being how he seemed to effortlessly move on from Kim who was the best thing that had ever happened for him. After being made by Jeff in Omaha, Jimmy/Saul/Gene realized who he really was and slipped easily back into his old ways like putting on a familiar article of clothing.

Kim's reaction to the contact from "Viktor St. Claire" is stark contrast to Jimmy since she has the capacity to regret the murder of Howard Hamlin, and wants to reveal the truth so that those who knew him can have the correct closure. Jimmy/Saul/Gene/Viktor doesn't seem to care and considers Howard's demise collateral damage.

[DenverBlood]

Could it be because of the way the ending of Better Call Saul is shaping up in comparison to Breaking Bad or El Camino? If so, keep in mind that the conclusions revolve around the resolution of conflict surrounding main characters. In this case Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman/Gene Takavic and Kim Wexler.

As a character, Jimmy McGill is totally different from Walter White. Their motivations for doing the things they did which drove the plots of their stories are like night and day. Walter's journey began as a way of solving the problem his health posed for his family, while Jimmy was a born con-man and shyster who had been in trouble since childhood and was disdained even by his own brother, Chuck, a prominent attorney.

Walter became darker as a result of the path he chose. In the end he sacrificed himself for Jesse and his family. It could reasonably be concluded that Jimmy's character never changed much, evidence of that being how he seemed to effortlessly move on from Kim who was the best thing that had ever happened for him. After being made by Jeff in Omaha, Jimmy/Saul/Gene realized who he really was and slipped easily back into his old ways like putting on a familiar article of clothing.

Kim's reaction to the contact from "Viktor St. Claire" is stark contrast to Jimmy since she has the capacity to regret the murder of Howard Hamlin, and wants to reveal the truth so that those who knew him can have the correct closure. Jimmy/Saul/Gene/Viktor doesn't seem to care and considers Howard's demise collateral damage.

No I’ve always known the shows were about two completely different lifestyles. But the major excitement for me was always the tie ins to the breaking bad world. We feel like they wrapped that portion of the show up a bit too soon. It’s a bit boring watching several episodes of slow small cons that really don’t have much to do with the rest of the history of the show. This most recent episode was a little better detailing the fallout between Jimmy and Kim but its still too much time investment in his cons. I just don’t see the need for these remaining episodes to be 90 minutes in length to spend that much time in this stuff.

It probably would’ve been better to have the Lalo and Gus completion be the penultimate episode and maybe 1 more episode of fallout of Jimmy and Kim. But this is too drawn out.

Im not even looking forward to the finale Monday anymore. Will just finish it to complete the series.

[samparnell]

No I’ve always known the shows were about two completely different lifestyles. But the major excitement for me was always the tie ins to the breaking bad world. We feel like they wrapped that portion of the show up a bit too soon. It’s a bit boring watching several episodes of slow small cons that really don’t have much to do with the rest of the history of the show. This most recent episode was a little better detailing the fallout between Jimmy and Kim but its still too much time investment in his cons. I just don’t see the need for these remaining episodes to be 90 minutes in length to spend that much time in this stuff.

It probably would’ve been better to have the Lalo and Gus completion be the penultimate episode and maybe 1 more episode of fallout of Jimmy and Kim. But this is too drawn out.

Im not even looking forward to the finale Monday anymore. Will just finish it to complete the series.

Jimmy/Saul/Gene/Viktor could end up in prison which would resolve the plot conflict of the series' main character. All of the Breaking Bad stuff happened after Jimmy et al. split with Kim, so she isn't on the hook for that stuff. What she was involved in is pretty minor in comparison. She might get in some trouble, but nothing to compare with what bone(s) a number of federal and state agencies have to pick with Saul Goodman.

Jimmy was never in the same league as Walter White. He didn't engineer criminal enterprises. He profited as a shyster representing them and helping them escape justice. The recent capers in "Omaha" were typical of the cons and scams he perpetrated most of his life.

Heisenberg's death was a proper resolution of that character's conflict. It wasn't necessary for him to kill Mike. He watched Jane choke on her vomit lying next to a passed out Jesse. He had succumbed to the dark side, and redeemed himself by frightening Elliot and Gretchen Schwartz into guaranteeing the financial security of his family and rescuing Jesse from the nazis.

There would be no suitable conclusion, if Jimmy McGill and aliases escape some form of justice. We shall see.

Did you ever see the movie The Irishman? It has an all-star cast and is well written, directed and produced. It's almost four hours long. When it ended, I said to my wife that we just watched a long tale about a brutal, heartless, unrepentant murderer. When Better Call Saul ends, we can say we watched 62 episodes over 6 seasons about a con man.

[DenverBlood]

Solid finale.

[samparnell]

Solid finale.

Loved it. Regrets, repentance, accountability. Better late than never.

[DenverBlood]

Loved it. Regrets, repentance, accountability. Better late than never.

I wasn’t sure he had it in him. I was kind of thinking all week his character always seemed to have a little good in him and concern for others despite his constant attempt to lie and con people. But he always seemed to kind of want to take care of people he actually liked that treated him well.

That’s part of why I didn’t like the last two episodes that appeared to have taken him to full con man with no regard for anyone he hurt including Kim. So I didn’t quite expect the full 180 in the final 10 minutes but it was good to see.

[CanDB]

We watched the finale this evening. I think it was a very fitting ending. I do like happy endings, and though he did not deserve much given his nasty ways, there was a lot to be happy about in terms of his final good act to protect Kim, to rectify some things, and even via his thoughts towards his brother. I really did not want to see him get killed or kill someone, or see Kim get hurt. And ironically he gets to be the featuring act in court one more time...the bakery guy in prison (bread for sure, maybe some cinnamon buns too!)...and apparently an appreciated inmate based on his reputation with the prisoners.

For a long time I and many others have wondered about the fate of Kim, given she was not on Breaking Bad. Not only did she endear herself to most if not all of us, but I feel like the amazing creators of these 2 shows figured out at some point that Kim had to be there, as far as she could go. And she sure did go far! Very touching ending and I think they nailed it. Though separated, together in heart.

[roushmartin6]

The finale was great, I'm just sad it's over now

[dizzolve]

Who would have thought that it would be Carol Burnett as Marion who would bring down Saul Goodman aka Gene Takovic? Jimmy/Saul/Gene just had too many bad habits and got greedy. We'll see how it ends.

That was hillarious ....... I did recognize her and had to google if she was still around and if that was her ... yep