Chris Nicholson joins me to discuss the latest episode of Better Call Saul, Fun and Games. Where do the last four episodes go, given the limited number of loose ends that remain? We discuss the ways in which the Breaking Bad universe does a good job of showing “men being really into stuff,” and how we got the homosexual version of that here. Chris and I are on the same page in being confounded regarding where the show plans to go in the final few episodes, which is where we want to be as viewers.
The DEA already discovered Gus's old lab. There's a whole scene where Hank investigates the burned-out lab (after Jessie and Walt incinerated it to get rid of evidence). They don't discover Lalo and Howard's bodies (obviously because they didn't exist yet Gilligan's mind), but that's not unrealistic, since the bodies were buried beneath however many feet of concrete. I assume they'd only find the bodies if they basically demolished the whole building, which no one did in Breaking Bad at least.
I am with Chris here regarding the oddness surrounding Cliff's role. Recall the details of the final prank pulled on Howard. Cliff had set up a super important meeting for Kim to attend with persons who may bankroll the project she pitched to Cliff - an idea that Cliff also loved. She just blew that meeting off at the last moment in order to participate in the final prank. Furthermore, when Cliff is in Howard's office after the prank, Cliff seems open to the case Howard makes about being set up by Saul - Howard cited a fair bit of evidence that Cliff was at least considering and Howard was coherent in that moment.
Add to that, the people who Kim was to have met with *had to* complain to Cliff about her blowing them off. Furthermore, Cliff knows Kim runs with Saul *and* would (after being notified) also know that she blew off an important meeting coinciding in time with the final prank. And yet Cliff, a very bright guy concerned about image (he would not tolerate someone just blowing off a meeting), has NO questions for Kim about blowing off a meeting that he set up for her? And doesn't at least also consider the "coincidence" of the timing? Not buying it.
One thing I think you guys missed is in this ep and the last one is how spectacularly bad Mike is at his job. Not only did Gus and Jimmy nearly get killed under his watch, but so did Nacho. There are excuses that could be made for all three but it was ultimately his responsibility. The fact that Lalo managed to kill four of his men before any of of them got a shot off shows that Mike isn’t great on finding talent either.
Its also pretty clear that Gus has a better security instinct than him. In an earlier episode Mike tried to calm Gus down by saying something like “he’d be here by now if he wanted to get you” but Gus stays vigilant. He also knew that he went to the laundromat in e8 and realises (too late) his point of entry. Mike, on the other hand, was busy chasing down a trap laid by Lalo at Jimmy’s apartment.
As a slight side note, I have also found Mike’s character arc to be pretty disappointing. There isn’t really much development over the whole series beyond the fact that he needs to support his family, replete with loving shots of him spending quality time with his granddaughter. Perhaps that’s why it’s rarely returned to. I’ll be curious to see how the next few episodes handle this.
Walt arranged for his family to get what remained of the one barrel of money he was allowed to keep. However, it comes in the guise of being from Gretchen & Elliot because he knew his family would refuse to accept anything from Walt. Earlier he had refused G&E's help, and also shut down Walter Jr's charity site he was funneling his own money through.
The DEA already discovered Gus's old lab. There's a whole scene where Hank investigates the burned-out lab (after Jessie and Walt incinerated it to get rid of evidence). They don't discover Lalo and Howard's bodies (obviously because they didn't exist yet Gilligan's mind), but that's not unrealistic, since the bodies were buried beneath however many feet of concrete. I assume they'd only find the bodies if they basically demolished the whole building, which no one did in Breaking Bad at least.
I am with Chris here regarding the oddness surrounding Cliff's role. Recall the details of the final prank pulled on Howard. Cliff had set up a super important meeting for Kim to attend with persons who may bankroll the project she pitched to Cliff - an idea that Cliff also loved. She just blew that meeting off at the last moment in order to participate in the final prank. Furthermore, when Cliff is in Howard's office after the prank, Cliff seems open to the case Howard makes about being set up by Saul - Howard cited a fair bit of evidence that Cliff was at least considering and Howard was coherent in that moment.
Add to that, the people who Kim was to have met with *had to* complain to Cliff about her blowing them off. Furthermore, Cliff knows Kim runs with Saul *and* would (after being notified) also know that she blew off an important meeting coinciding in time with the final prank. And yet Cliff, a very bright guy concerned about image (he would not tolerate someone just blowing off a meeting), has NO questions for Kim about blowing off a meeting that he set up for her? And doesn't at least also consider the "coincidence" of the timing? Not buying it.
One thing I think you guys missed is in this ep and the last one is how spectacularly bad Mike is at his job. Not only did Gus and Jimmy nearly get killed under his watch, but so did Nacho. There are excuses that could be made for all three but it was ultimately his responsibility. The fact that Lalo managed to kill four of his men before any of of them got a shot off shows that Mike isn’t great on finding talent either.
Its also pretty clear that Gus has a better security instinct than him. In an earlier episode Mike tried to calm Gus down by saying something like “he’d be here by now if he wanted to get you” but Gus stays vigilant. He also knew that he went to the laundromat in e8 and realises (too late) his point of entry. Mike, on the other hand, was busy chasing down a trap laid by Lalo at Jimmy’s apartment.
As a slight side note, I have also found Mike’s character arc to be pretty disappointing. There isn’t really much development over the whole series beyond the fact that he needs to support his family, replete with loving shots of him spending quality time with his granddaughter. Perhaps that’s why it’s rarely returned to. I’ll be curious to see how the next few episodes handle this.
Walt arranged for his family to get what remained of the one barrel of money he was allowed to keep. However, it comes in the guise of being from Gretchen & Elliot because he knew his family would refuse to accept anything from Walt. Earlier he had refused G&E's help, and also shut down Walter Jr's charity site he was funneling his own money through.