I could see it coming from a mile away as soon as I saw Wachtell. Then when he was pretending he didn't recognize Wachtell, it was really obvious what was coming. I'd thought he was surprised at first. If he actually was, that was brilliant improvisation, but I think it was planned from the start. "This is about my name, isn't it?"
They didn't say that about the finale, they said something about being the final episodes in the plural, or season, don't remember but they were being very clear about it. It wasn't about spoiling the last fucking episode.
I think half and half myself. I don't think Jimmy even factored in Kevin getting a sneaky round in, he would have asked Kim for intel after all. But he had the bit prepared in case of any resistance from management or looky-loos telling him he can't be where he needed to be.
I think we're going to get a full Gene episode (or more) at the end.
Also it was this. He's given a gun and told explicitly " (iirc more than once) shoot whoever comes through the door". The idea was that he'd immediately start blasting and, as a result, be killed- regardless of whether or not the original plan was to take him alive.
It kind of pissed me off they're using Clifford Main for this. He's one of the few genuinely nice guys in this even though he is also apparently a bloodthirsty mesothelioma lawyer. Don't let that fool you, though. Most asbestos litigation is long settled and it's an administrative law process where you file your claim and based on the factors of the settlement, you put them on a grid and that's your payout. It's nearly mechanical at this point, and is just to give people what the parties have already decided they're entitled to.
See that's why I'm leaning towards him being wise to the plot; he already knows Hamlin and, given his age, would probably be more familiar with who's a coke head and who isn't. My line of thinking is since the Kettlemans "went to every lawyer in town and nobody took it!" that Clifford is going to take it upon himself to poke around and either he or Hamlin himself will connect with Kevin, who will bring up Jimmy making an asshole of himself as publicly as possible at the gold club. Making an asshole of himself on purpose the same way he did at Cliff's practice in order to get fired and keep his sign on bonus. Howard starts making the connections (and given what we know of Howard and Cliff, likely immediately handed off "the cocaine" to the authorities almost immediately. A disgraced client associated with Jimmy started accusing Hamlin of being a coke head immediately after "cocaine" shows up at the clud, the same day Saul drew as much attention to himself as possible.
Maybe something bigger: the feds or the DEA. That car looked very government-like.
You might notice he rather quickly said "I've seen this stuff before." Or something of the sort. I bet you have, Cliffy. I bet you have.
That shit Kim did was horrible. Just absolutely Salamanca-level ruthless. She is probably also the only person who basically told Lalo to go fuck himself to his face who is still alive.
I disagree. Her objective was to get what she needs to ruin the life of an innocent man. The carrot wasn't working so she used a stick to get what she needs to ruin the life of an innocent man, not because intimidating them would cure baby cancer.
I think she has abandoned reason and replaced it with rationale. She's elevated personal slight to the level of criminality to inflate her ego and sense of power.
I like this idea, because I like Cliff and he saw right through the Slippin' Jimmy-tier scam to keep his bonus.
I don't think she is at that point. That's why they had to emphasize so very strongly that the reason why she pressed on those two crooks so hard was because they were absolute cunts who robbed the elderly and that's why she was fine doing what she was doing.
Kim is a lawyer and the success she is because of Howard and his father. They've done nothing but be gracious to her and she's never forgiven them for it.
Every character has dug their own grave with a series of conscious choices they made propelled by revenge, hubris, pride, greed. All of them. Walt, Hank, Gus, Sky, Saul, Chuck, even Jesse. I don't think Kim will be the exception. She's going all in.
These two things don't have to be mutually exclusive.
