Better Call Saul - The Final Season (untagged spoilers!)

[Brumerican]

2 hours ago, BOF said:

You're talking to one of the few people (of my age) who watched Star Wars in story order  

How long before you realised C3PO was Gay ?

[PieFacE]

21 hours ago, Mark Albrighton said:

I know there’s no hiding spoilers in this thread, but just in case this guess is correct (it probably isn’t), I’ll spoiler it. Fwiw, a quick look online suggests the thought has been made before.

  Reveal hidden contents

Are we going to see Saul being the one that poisons Brock? It was Walt’s idea of course, but did he get Saul to do the dirty work? Saul had a bit of a dynamic with Andrea and Brock, delivering cheques on behalf of Jesse so he’d be reasonably well placed to do it. 

It’s arguably the biggest off screen moment in Breaking Bad that I don’t believe was ever fully answered. We know Saul got Huell to pickpocket the ricin from Jesse, but we don’t know how Walt got Brock to take the poison.

Just a thought, I’m most likely wrong. A big part of me really hopes I am.

 

Interesting theory and would make a lot of sense for that to happen imo. 

[Mark Albrighton]

6 hours ago, BOF said:

On the subject of spoilering a 9 year old plot point, I wonder how many people are watching Better Call Saul who've never seen Breaking Bad. I'm sure they exist, but I'd say the numbers are miniscule.

Just for the record, my main reason (really, only reason) for spoilering it was in the unlikely outcome that my speculation would be correct. 

So as not to potentially ruin it for others who are reading this thread to comment on what has actually happened in the show, not what might happen. My assumption is there are some who would like to go into the remaining episodes with no preconceived ideas.

Edited July 28, 2022 by Mark Albrighton

[TheAuthority]

19 hours ago, a m ole said:

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Ah ok got it, I just wonder since he didn’t actually die, and the flower isn’t lethal, whether it really matters. Obviously the incident itself was highly significant, but if it was Saul he would at least know it wasn’t going to kill Brock so while it might be interesting, I don’t think it says anything about Saul’s character.

 

Great episode, and a question about the spoilered discussion

Spoiler

One thing I've never worked out is if Walt used Lilly of the Valley, why when Jesse told them the Doctors to check for Ricin poisoning did it mean they could then save Brock? Are they close in chemical compound? The police definitely questioned Jesse about it. 

 

[Stevo985]

Apparently the next episode is titled “Breaking Bad”

Doesnt necessarily mean we’re going to see some Breaking Bad influences. After all “breaking bad” could describe what Saul is doing too. 
 

But it’s a fairly big hint

[Mark Albrighton]

59 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

Apparently the next episode is titled “Breaking Bad”

Doesnt necessarily mean we’re going to see some Breaking Bad influences. After all “breaking bad” could describe what Saul is doing too. 
 

But it’s a fairly big hint

The episode of Breaking Bad that Saul first appeared in was called “Better Call Saul”, so for purposes of symmetry I’d be surprised if we didn’t see some more overlap with Breaking Bad, characters et all.
 

4 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

Great episode, and a question about the spoilered discussion

  Reveal hidden contents

One thing I've never worked out is if Walt used Lilly of the Valley, why when Jesse told them the Doctors to check for Ricin poisoning did it mean they could then save Brock? Are they close in chemical compound? The police definitely questioned Jesse about it. 

 

Ok, this is the last spoiler box from me. Probably. 
 

Spoiler

I think they have some similar symptoms, though ricin is more severe. I’ve had a little look and yeah there are a few similarities, depending on whether the ricin has been inhaled or ingested. 

When Jesse says to Walt (and us) it wasn’t ricin, he adds that the doctors said kids eat them by accident, so I guess the idea is that this isn’t the first case they’ve come across.

I guess the doctors could either test for ricin quite quickly or they dismissed the notion because of how rare it is to have been poisoned by it. When Jesse was being interrogated by the police about why he suggested it could be ricin, they intimate that it looks like it IS ricin. I dare say this was a tactic to scare Jesse into making a confession.

 

Edited July 28, 2022 by Mark Albrighton

[TheAuthority]

4 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

Apparently the next episode is titled “Breaking Bad”

Doesnt necessarily mean we’re going to see some Breaking Bad influences. After all “breaking bad” could describe what Saul is doing too. 
 

But it’s a fairly big hint

Quite honestly I hope we don't see them. Or we just see them leaving a scene we know about from BB and they don't speak. We then follow Saul and see some sort of off-screen portion of the BB story.

It would sort of spoil it for me if there was just a big ol' reunion for nostalgia sake.

BB is done - it was great - BCS doesn't need them to be great. It's arguably already better.

[Stevo985]

3 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

Quite honestly I hope we don't see them. Or we just see them leaving a scene we know about from BB and they don't speak. We then follow Saul and see some sort of off-screen portion of the BB story.

It would sort of spoil it for me if there was just a big ol' reunion for nostalgia sake.

BB is done - it was great - BCS doesn't need them to be great. It's arguably already better.

Nah I want to see them. And I trust Gilligan to do it well. I’m sure it won’t be a big part of the story but I’m sure they’ll feature

[Mark Albrighton]

My main concern is really just cosmetic, what a 42 year old Aaron Paul will look like playing a 25 year old Jesse Pinkman.

Nothing against Paul, I love him and I’m ok with a 60 something playing a 50 something. It easier to get away with it. But the younger you try to play it the harder it is.

I also didn’t have my heart set on a reunion with Walt and Jesse, kinda ambivalent about it. But I know Gilligan and Gould and all concerned will have nailed it.

Incidentally, I hadn’t realised that Gilligan hasn’t been in the writing team for BCS since season three. He’s back on it now for season six, and he’s directed an episode here and there in the meantime, but it sounds like he’s been a bit more hands off for a couple of years. 

[BOF]

I'll be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of the last episode. I'm much more interested in every other storyline, and because this one exclusively deprived me of all of them I guess I found it a little bit dull.  Yeah I got all the hat tips and symbolism, and it all had to be done at some point. The scam probably did need to be completed in one episode so in that sense they've at least mercifully got it out of the way and given us the next 3 uninterrupted. But for me it was the filler episode of the season so far.

[a m ole]

Dunno if anyones familiar but there’s a subreddit dedicated to satirising BCS/BB fans. It’s made me laugh so hard it hurt, might not be everyone’s taste but here’s a flavour:
 

Spoiler

spoilered swear words 

 

 

Edited July 29, 2022 by a m ole

[chappy]

Really enjoyed the black and white episode. Cottoned on that we were supposed to know who Jeff is but still couldn’t quite place him. Didn’t detract from it anyhow. Still think there’s more Gene to come.

[Demitri_C]

HOLY SHIT !!!

Spoiler

Walter white + Jessie !!!

**** mental

This weeks episode 

Edited August 2, 2022 by Demitri_C

[TheAuthority]

Did anyone feel that used some CGI on Saul (in color) to make him look less thin.

Spoiler

Also Jessie looked nothing like he did at that point BB!

 

[Mark Albrighton]

I don’t think that’s the last we’ve seen of Walt and Jesse. 

The playing younger despite being older wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Handled it fairly well with the ski masks, it generally being kinda dark in the RV. Will see how it goes with later appearances (if there is).

Really felt a Walter White vibe off Gene this episode. Doing his scam in front of those being conned, he was like how Walter was, but when barking orders to his cohorts he was more like how Walter became.

My guess (normally wrong*) is that it’s pretty much this BB era stuff/Gene scam storyline for the final two episodes with Kim appearing somewhere, not sure how. 

 

*Although it does appear like my gut feeling about Kim making it through in one piece was right, at least through the BCS/BB time line to the “present”. Anyone’s guess what happens now. Will resist learning how to lip read to extract what Gene was saying during that heated phone call. 

[a m ole]

1 hour ago, Mark Albrighton said:

I don’t think that’s the last we’ve seen of Walt and Jesse. 

The playing younger despite being older wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Handled it fairly well with the ski masks, it generally being kinda dark in the RV. Will see how it goes with later appearances (if there is).

Really felt a Walter White vibe off Gene this episode. Doing his scam in front of those being conned, he was like how Walter was, but when barking orders to his cohorts he was more like how Walter became.

My guess (normally wrong*) is that it’s pretty much this BB era stuff/Gene scam storyline for the final two episodes with Kim appearing somewhere, not sure how. 

 

*Although it does appear like my gut feeling about Kim making it through in one piece was right, at least through the BCS/BB time line to the “present”. Anyone’s guess what happens now. Will resist learning how to lip read to extract what Gene was saying during that heated phone call. 

Yeah the parallel of Saul getting involved with Walter despite Mike advising him not to and Gene slipping into Saul and then getting reckless - making the mistake of opening the door at the school and the mark’s house - something seriously bad is about to happen for Gene.

I don’t think we’ll see Walter or Jesse again, I think their purpose was to show how much influence on them at the very beginning Saul had as he saw an opportunity to make big cash on the dying meth dealer and pounced on it. Maybe if we do it will be to further that.

For me we’re just coming to a tragic ending story for Jimmy McGill.

Edited August 2, 2022 by a m ole

[TheAuthority]

4 hours ago, a m ole said:

Yeah the parallel of Saul getting involved with Walter despite Mike advising him not to and Gene slipping into Saul and then getting reckless - making the mistake of opening the door at the school and the mark’s house - something seriously bad is about to happen for Gene.

I don’t think we’ll see Walter or Jesse again, I think their purpose was to show how much influence on them at the very beginning Saul had as he saw an opportunity to make big cash on the dying meth dealer and pounced on it. Maybe if we do it will be to further that.

For me we’re just coming to a tragic ending story for Jimmy McGill.

Were we expecting a nice happy ending with Kim? I just realized I was in a weird way even though I know the whole Goodman story.

Is it possible Gene pulls himself back form the brink and finds a way back to her?

[Demitri_C]

8 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

Did anyone feel that used some CGI on Saul (in color) to make him look less thin.

  Hide contents

Also Jessie looked nothing like he did at that point BB!

 

Spoiler

I completely agree. Jessie seemed older and his voice was different.  I was just buzzing to see them do new scenes 

 

[Mark Albrighton]

Did you notice two of the marks that were scammed by Gene?

The first one, the obnoxious one is Buzz out of Home Alone. The last one, the one with cancer is Stuart from the Big Bang theory.

[Mark Albrighton]

This is me being completely oblivious to what I’ve been watching, so apologies but I hadn’t noticed the deterioration of the opening credits for each season (episode one of each season is apparently always the inflatable Statue of Liberty, see the season by season comparison). 

The idea it seems is Jimmy rewatching/reliving his glory days, I think the first ever episode began with him putting on a vhs tape of one of his adverts. I think it’s also meant to represent Jimmy turning into Saul.

Of course there’s 3 more episodes this season than the previous 5 seasons, so that’s why the opening credits have basically gone to shit for these final few episodes. There’s the theory that Jimmy/Saul/Gene can’t let it go despite it being over.

Love these details.