Better Call Saul 2.02.
Feb. 23rd, 2016 10:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which our hero invents new kinks on the spot to get his client off the hook, because he's just that kind of guy.
Also, I note with great relief Chuck's back (I was a bit afraid we'd seen the last of him, which would be a shame because I do live for spectacularly messed up family relationships, especially if they're sibling relatinoships), and we get more canon fodder for just how screwed up Chuck's feelings re: his younger brother are.
On the one hand, he still can't bring himself to believe Jimmy's actually a good lawyer (note the "as what?" again when Howard mentions Jimmy's current state of employ), or rather he doesn't want to believe it. Otoh, he's clearly missing him, and not for the shopping (which Ernesto/Ernie does), fishing for news with Howard and having the photographs of Jimmy and himself as kids on the shelf. (Incidentally, I'm wondering yet again how old Chuck and Jimmy are supposed to be, and with how much of an age difference. I mean, clearly Jimmy is supposed to be much younger than Bob Odenkirk is now, what with the setting of the show pre Breaking Bad, but just how old, exactly? Also, those two boys look five years apart at best, whereas with Chuck and Jimmy I had the impression we're talking at least a decade part, never mind the actors' ages.) And of course he shows up at the firm at the same time he knows Jimmy is there. When having to choose whether he wants to undermine him or to seee him again because he's missing him, I would vote BOTH every time.
The conference scene, with Jimmy losing confidence as soon as Chuck enters and regaining it when Kim touches him in support was a great example of how much it means to him that she believes in him (as opposed to Chuck), but the episode also showcases, in the final scene, why they're doomed as a couple. As I guessed, Kim sees a big difference between the scam last week which was rule breaking and fun but not illegal and Jimmy actually doing something that is illegal (and could cost him the so hard worked for lawyer career) - and Jimmy just doesn't see it. It's all the same type of fun rule breaking and being cleverer than the opposition to him. Now, the show is careful not to present Kim as unbelievably pure here, or incapable of blurring the lines. She's still amused and admiring when it's just Jimmy lying for the benefit of his client. It's when the the falsification of physical evidence comes in that she draws the line, and presumably that is as much about the fact such a falsification could be proven through a later investigation in a way Jimmy's story could not (after all, in theory Jimmy could have been told all of this by his client and repeated it in good faith). Morever, she makes the first step towards moral compromise when she says "I can't hear about this", because that implies she knows Jimmy will keep doing it. Conversely, in case Jimmy had still the idea that he could keep sharing this part of him with her, that reaction puts an end to it. And yet they care about each other so much that it's heartbreaking to know they're currently living on borrowed time.
Meanwhile, chez Mike: I knew he'd contact Jimmy to represent Wormard the idiot, but before that happens, we get another illustration of Mike's calm competence both at being a detective and at being a criminal. That scene with Nacho (himself far more competent than his boss Tuco, and with a "civilian" double life) was great. As for Wormad, I'm glad his story is over now (as I said last week, any longer and he's past comic relief into annoyance), but I have to admit it was worth keeping him around that long for the display of Jimmy's inventiveness. Selling the cops on Daniel Wormard, secret porn producer of pie kink videos has to be outstanding even for Jimmy. I kept giggling through that scene and into the next one with Kim until she realised the full implication of the evidence falsification.
Trivia:
- on a more somber note, I bet Mike made the mistake of underestimating Walt because he initially took him for a slightly smarter edition of Daniel Wormard
- figures Chuck would play piano to a metronom; I note the hand written female name on the music sheet, and based on the s1 audio commentaries where Michael Kean says re: Chuck's and Jimmy's mother that Chuck made her proud but Jimmy made her happy, and Chuck knew this, I surmise those music sheets might have belonged to her (and that's also why Chuck can't finish playing the music each time he tries)
- Jimmy's mixed reaction to Kim's gag gift, the "World's 2nd Best Lawyer" mug, makes me wonder whether another thing that will split them apart will be professional rivalry?
Also, I note with great relief Chuck's back (I was a bit afraid we'd seen the last of him, which would be a shame because I do live for spectacularly messed up family relationships, especially if they're sibling relatinoships), and we get more canon fodder for just how screwed up Chuck's feelings re: his younger brother are.
On the one hand, he still can't bring himself to believe Jimmy's actually a good lawyer (note the "as what?" again when Howard mentions Jimmy's current state of employ), or rather he doesn't want to believe it. Otoh, he's clearly missing him, and not for the shopping (which Ernesto/Ernie does), fishing for news with Howard and having the photographs of Jimmy and himself as kids on the shelf. (Incidentally, I'm wondering yet again how old Chuck and Jimmy are supposed to be, and with how much of an age difference. I mean, clearly Jimmy is supposed to be much younger than Bob Odenkirk is now, what with the setting of the show pre Breaking Bad, but just how old, exactly? Also, those two boys look five years apart at best, whereas with Chuck and Jimmy I had the impression we're talking at least a decade part, never mind the actors' ages.) And of course he shows up at the firm at the same time he knows Jimmy is there. When having to choose whether he wants to undermine him or to seee him again because he's missing him, I would vote BOTH every time.
The conference scene, with Jimmy losing confidence as soon as Chuck enters and regaining it when Kim touches him in support was a great example of how much it means to him that she believes in him (as opposed to Chuck), but the episode also showcases, in the final scene, why they're doomed as a couple. As I guessed, Kim sees a big difference between the scam last week which was rule breaking and fun but not illegal and Jimmy actually doing something that is illegal (and could cost him the so hard worked for lawyer career) - and Jimmy just doesn't see it. It's all the same type of fun rule breaking and being cleverer than the opposition to him. Now, the show is careful not to present Kim as unbelievably pure here, or incapable of blurring the lines. She's still amused and admiring when it's just Jimmy lying for the benefit of his client. It's when the the falsification of physical evidence comes in that she draws the line, and presumably that is as much about the fact such a falsification could be proven through a later investigation in a way Jimmy's story could not (after all, in theory Jimmy could have been told all of this by his client and repeated it in good faith). Morever, she makes the first step towards moral compromise when she says "I can't hear about this", because that implies she knows Jimmy will keep doing it. Conversely, in case Jimmy had still the idea that he could keep sharing this part of him with her, that reaction puts an end to it. And yet they care about each other so much that it's heartbreaking to know they're currently living on borrowed time.
Meanwhile, chez Mike: I knew he'd contact Jimmy to represent Wormard the idiot, but before that happens, we get another illustration of Mike's calm competence both at being a detective and at being a criminal. That scene with Nacho (himself far more competent than his boss Tuco, and with a "civilian" double life) was great. As for Wormad, I'm glad his story is over now (as I said last week, any longer and he's past comic relief into annoyance), but I have to admit it was worth keeping him around that long for the display of Jimmy's inventiveness. Selling the cops on Daniel Wormard, secret porn producer of pie kink videos has to be outstanding even for Jimmy. I kept giggling through that scene and into the next one with Kim until she realised the full implication of the evidence falsification.
Trivia:
- on a more somber note, I bet Mike made the mistake of underestimating Walt because he initially took him for a slightly smarter edition of Daniel Wormard
- figures Chuck would play piano to a metronom; I note the hand written female name on the music sheet, and based on the s1 audio commentaries where Michael Kean says re: Chuck's and Jimmy's mother that Chuck made her proud but Jimmy made her happy, and Chuck knew this, I surmise those music sheets might have belonged to her (and that's also why Chuck can't finish playing the music each time he tries)
- Jimmy's mixed reaction to Kim's gag gift, the "World's 2nd Best Lawyer" mug, makes me wonder whether another thing that will split them apart will be professional rivalry?
