Better Call Saul

Filler episode to tell us Gene-Saul is going to get cocky and fuck up? This was one of the most bizarre episodes to say the least.

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I think it's better than Fly but it doesn't say much. I mean, who knows, maybe the Gene timeline bookends with the Walt-Jesse cameo rewind? I'm more vexed about the fact there's nothing worth watching after this universe is closed. Just throw out the larger idiot box and be content with my crappy monitor and crappy desktop. There is nothing I'm anticipating after the series finale.
 
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This episode is getting mixed reviews. In its defense it seemingly dispenses with the Jeff threat while building Gene back up to Slipping Jimmy, at least to some extent. I am a. ittle hesitant to write Jeff of though because of Carol Burnett's comments about Jeff falling in with the wrong crowd in Albuquerque.
Not every episode can pack the same punch as the last three. This moves the pieces j the Gene timeline,.and was also captivating while watching. It is almost an inverse of Five-0, but is a Gene specific sorry looking forward (compared to a Mile episode looking just a little bit back).
 
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That's it?

Also the Jeff recasting really throws me off, I keep thinking how it'd play out with the original actor and it feels so weird.
 
View attachment 3529852
That's it?

Also the Jeff recasting really throws me off, I keep thinking how it'd play out with the original actor and it feels so weird.
If they kept the original actor they’d have to craft an actual thrilling story. That guy was super sinister and the comic relief bullshit they had his replacement do would have been even worse with him.

I suspect the original actor got the script and said “lol no thanks” and made up the scheduling conflict story.

I am seeing way too much positive feedback for this episode in other places online. I feel like they’re all doing an inside joke that I’m not privy to. I can’t fathom how anyone sees this episode other than a filler waste of precious remaining screen time they had left.
 
I at least liked the department store caper story more than the "'Gene' will just shoot/poison Jeff" theory that was floating around online prior to this episode.

The biggest problem I had with this episode was that it was supposed to be winter in Omaha yet, even in monochrome, you could clearly see that all the leaves were still on the trees. If they couldn't fake a Nebraska winter in Albuquerque (maybe by adding CGI leafless trees), why set the episode in winter at all?
 
sorry everyone, that was kino lol. i thought it lagged a bit in the middle but i think everyone shitting on it set such low expectations that i ended up really liking it. i feel like i like other people was really hyped for the end of the gene storyline and thinking it'd be some dark tragedy. I feel like this episode does have its place right before the end of the story in order to let the audience breath a bit after the prequel stuff ends, but they definitely built it up too much. I was expecting Gene to get some sort of redemption or tragic ending, instead he gets off scot free which i dont agree with if this is meant to wrap up everything. however, if this is a start of a gene arc that ends everything off I think it could end up really good once we see how it ends. because what made me like the episode was it was a seasons 1-5 style scam, and i really didnt expect that yet it does just make sense. as threatening as Jeff was in magic man's opening, he obviously didn't want to hurt Gene because he was an autist startstruck he met a cool celebrity. so everything that happens in this episode, Gene having to become Jimmy again to entrap this guy in order to earn his freedom and in turn becoming more open as a person to the rest of the people he works with all is good stuff and I enjoyed it. What I didnt enjoy is the acting of Jeff's recast, the fact this could've been sprinkled in cold opens at the first half of the season and the fact it ends Gene's story in a way he doesn't deserve. However the fact it could open up Jimmy to doing more and more bad things as his character often does and then leading to a bad end does make me hope they follow thru with it
View attachment 3529852
That's it?

Also the Jeff recasting really throws me off, I keep thinking how it'd play out with the original actor and it feels so weird.

If they kept the original actor they’d have to craft an actual thrilling story. That guy was super sinister and the comic relief bullshit they had his replacement do would have been even worse with him.

I suspect the original actor got the script and said “lol no thanks” and made up the scheduling conflict story.

I am seeing way too much positive feedback for this episode in other places online. I feel like they’re all doing an inside joke that I’m not privy to. I can’t fathom how anyone sees this episode other than a filler waste of precious remaining screen time they had left.
I feel like the recasting was distracting, I was half right that you can kinda explain it in lore. A less threatening actor after Gene becomes less scared. However I feel the old guy would've sold everything more though because he'd have played the idiotic loser wannabe criminal a lot better. because that was always what made Jeff an intriguing plot hook, he could be threatening or he could be harmless it's just Gene's paranoia and now Gene has developed past that we dont need him and could do new things with him. However, if they dont theyll need to do some really great inbetween episodes in order to get me onboard with this episode. I enjoyed it in the moment but it's a potential 7/10 if it does pay off later, and more of a 5/10 if this is the last we see of Gene
 
This is typical hack writing from BB and BCS. Stringing the show on forever with filler. Meandering nonsense with fake deep meanings that the fans invent and then masturbate over. More montages. Last minute saves and horror movie level dumb characters. Like security guards who eat with their backs to the monitors rather than sit on the other side of the table. Are you kidding me? And this is one week after a security guard just HAPPENED to need a bathroom break when Lalo was breaking in to the laundromat? Are all cops, DEA agents, and security guards without brains in the Breaking Bad universe?

Bravo Vince. Bravo fags who like this style of writing.
Are you telling me a man just happens to eat a cinnabon away from the monitor? He orchestrated it! It was Jimmy!
 
I liked the direction Vince went with this episode, and I was glad the writers took the time to explore Gene's character more, rather than doing muh "JESSER WE NEED 2 COCK METHÉ" like everyone was expecting. We got to see Saul go through catharsis, realization and ego-death throughout the episode, reverting back to his slippin jimmy persona with the clothing store robbery, and alternating back-and-forth between "good guy Saul" (getting chatty with the security guard) and "mean Saul" (straight up threatening his partners in crime with a suicide bomber's gambit in conspiracy and grand theft charges), not really content with who he is on the inside until he has his realization with the shirt and tie at the end.

It was a nice inside look on Jimmy's state-of-mind post-Breaking Bad, some good worldbuilding for the Gene timeline, and an expected subversion of everyone's expectations.

Tbh, I'd watch an entire series on Gene, the small-town, black-and-white feel is very charming
 
It was a nice inside look on Jimmy's state-of-mind post-Breaking Bad, some good worldbuilding for the Gene timeline, and an expected subversion of everyone's expectations.

Tbh, I'd watch an entire series on Gene, the small-town, black-and-white feel is very charming
honestly it kind of didnt even subvert expectations, Jeff being some loser is the most logical option. we were all just as fans expecting to get our expectations subverted and actually Gene kills him/he kills Gene/Gene turns himself in. to get a scheme with the charm of the pre-season six eps was a pleasant surprise, even if I dont think its a satisfying ending for the Breaking Bad universe if this is it. Because Gene doesn't deserve to go free after getting Howard killed, just like if how Walt doesn't deserve to go free after getting Hank killed
 
honestly it kind of didnt even subvert expectations, Jeff being some loser is the most logical option. we were all just as fans expecting to get our expectations subverted and actually Gene kills him/he kills Gene/Gene turns himself in. to get a scheme with the charm of the pre-season six eps was a pleasant surprise, even if I dont think its a satisfying ending for the Breaking Bad universe if this is it. Because Gene doesn't deserve to go free after getting Howard killed, just like if how Walt doesn't deserve to go free after getting Hank killed
Seeing that he's already spent a good chunk of the past year withering away in self-pity, without any family, friends or loved ones by his side? I wouldn't call that freedom. Even though his little spiel about his dead family members was nothing more than crocodile tears, it's clear that Saul's already in hell
 
Seeing that he's already spent a good chunk of the past year withering away in self-pity, without any family, friends or loved ones by his side? I wouldn't call that freedom. Even though his little spiel about his dead family members was nothing more than crocodile tears, it's clear that Saul's already in hell
Maybe but I feel like at that point we didnt need to set up a new storyline just to tell us that. They could've just had one Gene scene at the start of the series and one at the end. We'll see where they go with it
 
The fact that there's a Gene episode at all where he's slippin' again makes me think there might be another movie about Gene/Saul's post Breaking Bad, post Better Call Saul timeline, or they're thinking about it.

The plot was thin. How can Gene/Saul credibly rat on the cab driver? He has no proof.
 
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I think the next episode at least partially takes place in the Gene timeline since the scene they showed was in black and white and there was snow all over the intersection.
 
The fact that there's a Gene episode at all where he's slippin' again makes me think there might be another movie about Gene/Saul's post Breaking Bad, post Better Call Saul timeline, or they're thinking about it.

The plot was thin. How can Gene/Saul credibly rat on the cab driver? He has no proof.
Just from what we saw we know the store manager knows he was communicating with the younger guy.
 
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