Better Call Saul 1.10
Apr. 7th, 2015 02:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which Jimmy drives into a Saulian future, and the first season ends.
The overall feeling reminds me of Farscape which did the big showdown episode as the last but one, whereas the last episode of s2 and s3 felt more elegic, an emotional epilogue to what happened and a prologue for the next season. Though I suspect in the case of BCS the finale also was written with an eye to two conflicting agendas, i.e. on the one hand if there hadn't been another season to wrap up enough to make one prequel question - where did Saul Goodman come from? - clear, but on the other not to wrap up too much so there'd be a reason to tune in again next year. And tune in I will! This season has certainly exceeded my expectations.
Before I get to the final twist, letting Jimmy respond to recent revelations by going on an epic conman bender back in his old Cicero surroundings for a week meant the other show regulars were only in the episode for brief scenes, but brief as they were, they each said something about the characters: Howard Hamlin sort of apologized (mind you, Hamlin was an ass to Kim in the episode where the Kettlemans fired her which had nothing to do with Chuck, so I'm not buying him as a completely misunderstood champion, but I do buy he would have hired Jimmy if not for Chuck) and Jimmy sort of forgave him, Kim really was a champ not only for giving Jimmy that much needed hug but also for organizing the dream job I(though alas, too late, more about this in a moment), Mike recided his professional credo and Chuck by the oh so surface polite but ultra condescending way he lectured Ernesto (whom Jimmy knows well enough to call him Ernie - he was one of the guys celebrating with Jimmy and Kim in the mailroom two eps ago) through the grocery list showed himself as the jerk who thinks he's a good man. Then there were the Bingo crowd, whom we probably saw for the last time, the audience to Jimmy's meltdown (B for betrayal, brother and Belize - that's what a call a neat nod to the mother show without making it hard for the newbies). (That was an excruciating scene to watch, btw. Not in a badly acted or written way, just emotion wise. Though Bob Odenkirk was fabulous and we finally found out what exactly Jimmy had been arrested for when Chuck bailed him out several flashbacks ago.)
Jimmy's main opposite to interact with in this episode, though, was the Marco of the title, aka his partner from the con we saw him pull in one of those flashbacks mid season. The two men cons they pulled reminded me of American Gods for obvious (if you've read the novel) reasons (there even was a fiddle in the montage, as in the one Mr. Wednesday called his favourite!) , to the point where I want a crossover where Jimmy and Marco learned their cons from Wednesday and Low Keye, aka you know who. They also were a clever mislead, because I was totally expected them to end in Jimmy getting arrested, or in a mark turning out to be one of the cops who met Jimmy while interrogating Mike, or in one of the marks later turning out to be one of the lawyers in the firm who via Kim has expressed interest in hiring Jimmy. I thought this would be how Jimmy loses his last chance at legitimacy. But not in this fictional universe, where misfortune and circumstance might inform against you, but in the end, you do choose your own fate. No. They don't get caught, though Jimmy is reminded of the joy of conning, how easily it comes to him, and Marco's affection, pride in and admiration for him are of course a marked contrast to Chuck's low regard. And he's not sabotaged by a mark recognizing him, either.
If you're a lawyer and don't make the big bucks, you're doing something wrong, Marco tells Jimmy after Jimmy told him he'll go back to Albucerque to his (elderly) clients. Before Marco dies, happily, during one last con. Before Jimmy gets offered the chance he's been waiting for all season long - a legitimate gig in a big firm, based on his merit and due to his hard work (and likeability with the clients), a prospect of a partnership even. But the question of identity has been asked all season, and here Jimmy realises that if he's not Slippin' Jimmy anymore, he doesn't want to be Honest Jimmy anymore, either. Undoubtedly because the honest version of himself was created for his brother, but still: Jimmy here makes an active choice, he didn't just react anymore (as would have been the case had the last episode been the end of the season), and like Walter White in Grey Matter, he made it after being given an alternative that would have allowed everything he thought he wanted in a lawful way. When he tells Mike that what used to hold him back isn't holding him back anymore, it also says something about his code of ethics during the previous decade: doing the right thing for approval (from Chuck, from Kim to a lesser degree) is different from doing it because you believe in it yourself.
Which isn't to say Jimmy is now Saul already. Saul, comic relief character that he was, was still in his very first episodes ready to suggest getting Badger killed as a solution to Walt and Jesse's dilemma du jour, a very far cry from the Jimmy who argued in the desert for the lives of two idiots. At this point, even with his new resolution to say goodbye to legitimacy, Jimmy is far from capable of this yet. But he's definitely started his way there yet, and the greatest trick this show pulled was to take a reasonably popular supporting character from one show, declare the premise of the spin-off to be "how he got to be that guy" and then managed to endear his previous self so much to the audience (at least this audience) that you DON'T want this to happen. But you'll watch. Oh yes.
Trivia: Jimmy and Marco reciting Auda Abu Tai's big speech from Lawrence of Arabia together was golden. And the sole reason why Kim's later "is this Ferris Bueller speaking?" didn't make favourite movie allusion of the hour. (Incidentally, I hated Ferris. The character, not the film.) See, this was how we should have known Chuck was Up To No Good - as opposed to Kim and Marco, he didn't share Jimmy's passion for movies and tv shows.
That ring of Marco's had me checking, and yes indeed - Saul wears it throughout Breaking Bad.
Seriously, though: an American Gods crossover begs to be written. Jimmy, both as Jimmy McGill and as Saul Goodman, is so the type of character Mr. Wednesday and Shadow would encounter, and Slippin' Jimmy definitely used to be a Wednesday protegé.
The overall feeling reminds me of Farscape which did the big showdown episode as the last but one, whereas the last episode of s2 and s3 felt more elegic, an emotional epilogue to what happened and a prologue for the next season. Though I suspect in the case of BCS the finale also was written with an eye to two conflicting agendas, i.e. on the one hand if there hadn't been another season to wrap up enough to make one prequel question - where did Saul Goodman come from? - clear, but on the other not to wrap up too much so there'd be a reason to tune in again next year. And tune in I will! This season has certainly exceeded my expectations.
Before I get to the final twist, letting Jimmy respond to recent revelations by going on an epic conman bender back in his old Cicero surroundings for a week meant the other show regulars were only in the episode for brief scenes, but brief as they were, they each said something about the characters: Howard Hamlin sort of apologized (mind you, Hamlin was an ass to Kim in the episode where the Kettlemans fired her which had nothing to do with Chuck, so I'm not buying him as a completely misunderstood champion, but I do buy he would have hired Jimmy if not for Chuck) and Jimmy sort of forgave him, Kim really was a champ not only for giving Jimmy that much needed hug but also for organizing the dream job I(though alas, too late, more about this in a moment), Mike recided his professional credo and Chuck by the oh so surface polite but ultra condescending way he lectured Ernesto (whom Jimmy knows well enough to call him Ernie - he was one of the guys celebrating with Jimmy and Kim in the mailroom two eps ago) through the grocery list showed himself as the jerk who thinks he's a good man. Then there were the Bingo crowd, whom we probably saw for the last time, the audience to Jimmy's meltdown (B for betrayal, brother and Belize - that's what a call a neat nod to the mother show without making it hard for the newbies). (That was an excruciating scene to watch, btw. Not in a badly acted or written way, just emotion wise. Though Bob Odenkirk was fabulous and we finally found out what exactly Jimmy had been arrested for when Chuck bailed him out several flashbacks ago.)
Jimmy's main opposite to interact with in this episode, though, was the Marco of the title, aka his partner from the con we saw him pull in one of those flashbacks mid season. The two men cons they pulled reminded me of American Gods for obvious (if you've read the novel) reasons (there even was a fiddle in the montage, as in the one Mr. Wednesday called his favourite!) , to the point where I want a crossover where Jimmy and Marco learned their cons from Wednesday and Low Keye, aka you know who. They also were a clever mislead, because I was totally expected them to end in Jimmy getting arrested, or in a mark turning out to be one of the cops who met Jimmy while interrogating Mike, or in one of the marks later turning out to be one of the lawyers in the firm who via Kim has expressed interest in hiring Jimmy. I thought this would be how Jimmy loses his last chance at legitimacy. But not in this fictional universe, where misfortune and circumstance might inform against you, but in the end, you do choose your own fate. No. They don't get caught, though Jimmy is reminded of the joy of conning, how easily it comes to him, and Marco's affection, pride in and admiration for him are of course a marked contrast to Chuck's low regard. And he's not sabotaged by a mark recognizing him, either.
If you're a lawyer and don't make the big bucks, you're doing something wrong, Marco tells Jimmy after Jimmy told him he'll go back to Albucerque to his (elderly) clients. Before Marco dies, happily, during one last con. Before Jimmy gets offered the chance he's been waiting for all season long - a legitimate gig in a big firm, based on his merit and due to his hard work (and likeability with the clients), a prospect of a partnership even. But the question of identity has been asked all season, and here Jimmy realises that if he's not Slippin' Jimmy anymore, he doesn't want to be Honest Jimmy anymore, either. Undoubtedly because the honest version of himself was created for his brother, but still: Jimmy here makes an active choice, he didn't just react anymore (as would have been the case had the last episode been the end of the season), and like Walter White in Grey Matter, he made it after being given an alternative that would have allowed everything he thought he wanted in a lawful way. When he tells Mike that what used to hold him back isn't holding him back anymore, it also says something about his code of ethics during the previous decade: doing the right thing for approval (from Chuck, from Kim to a lesser degree) is different from doing it because you believe in it yourself.
Which isn't to say Jimmy is now Saul already. Saul, comic relief character that he was, was still in his very first episodes ready to suggest getting Badger killed as a solution to Walt and Jesse's dilemma du jour, a very far cry from the Jimmy who argued in the desert for the lives of two idiots. At this point, even with his new resolution to say goodbye to legitimacy, Jimmy is far from capable of this yet. But he's definitely started his way there yet, and the greatest trick this show pulled was to take a reasonably popular supporting character from one show, declare the premise of the spin-off to be "how he got to be that guy" and then managed to endear his previous self so much to the audience (at least this audience) that you DON'T want this to happen. But you'll watch. Oh yes.
Trivia: Jimmy and Marco reciting Auda Abu Tai's big speech from Lawrence of Arabia together was golden. And the sole reason why Kim's later "is this Ferris Bueller speaking?" didn't make favourite movie allusion of the hour. (Incidentally, I hated Ferris. The character, not the film.) See, this was how we should have known Chuck was Up To No Good - as opposed to Kim and Marco, he didn't share Jimmy's passion for movies and tv shows.
That ring of Marco's had me checking, and yes indeed - Saul wears it throughout Breaking Bad.
Seriously, though: an American Gods crossover begs to be written. Jimmy, both as Jimmy McGill and as Saul Goodman, is so the type of character Mr. Wednesday and Shadow would encounter, and Slippin' Jimmy definitely used to be a Wednesday protegé.
no subject
Date: 2015-04-08 07:45 pm (UTC)I figured nothing too horrible (of a legal nature) would (or will) happen to Jimmy (at least he doesn't get caught doing anything too horrible) because he does keep his license and practice law in Albuquerque, even if under a different name. And though I saw it coming, it was sad that Marco died.
Interesting that Jimmy has the ring in Breaking Bad. I can't see it in the first episode of BCS, when he's Mr. Cinnabon Manager.
Keep asking for the American Gods crossover. Fandom usually provides.
no subject
Date: 2015-04-09 06:05 am (UTC)I think he must have shed the ring along with everything else associated with his Saul Goodman persona - he's been photographed and filmed for his website with it quite often, so it would be recognizable, and that ultra careful guy who got both him and Walt out probably insisted.
no subject
Date: 2015-04-10 02:49 pm (UTC)Good point. I wonder if Jimmy let it go also because he has abandoned that life as a con artist/criminal-criminal lawyer completely. He works at Cinnabon; maybe he thinks that he doesn't deserve Marco's ring. Witnessing as he drinks and watches his old Better Call Saul commercials - ow. He's a sad panda.
no subject
Date: 2015-04-10 03:05 pm (UTC)BTW, I've come across someone else's optimistic future headcanon: we know the Sandpiper case will take years to conclude. And Jimmy's entitled to a percentage of the final profit. Breaking Bad, the show, takes place only within a time span of two years (Walt's birthdays marking the beginning and the end). So in theory, it could be the Sandpiper Crossing case is still running throughout Breaking Bad, and won't conclude until a year or so afterwards. At which point Jimmy could still get that money, representing his best honest effort as a lawyer. Of course, the obvious problem there is that he's entitled to it only as Jimmy McGill, and the cops are bound to know that's Saul Goodman's real name, so resurfacing as Jimmy McGill to collect is out, unless he's willing to go to prison. I wonder what can be proven againt him? Some involvement in money laundering for Walt, presumably, but not the cover up of murders. I don't know what the prison sentence for that one would be.
Anyway, my own future headcanon remains the reunion with Kim. And/or an American Gods crossover set at multiple times during Jimmy's life, including the post BB era. :)
no subject
Date: 2015-04-13 10:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-04-13 12:29 pm (UTC)