Better Call Saul ***Spoilers***

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119108874#Comment_119108874

It's about showing his dedication, his sheer force of will. He will spend days in a sewer just watching and waiting. Taking maybe 2 hours in the middle of the night to get supplies, shower and take a short sleep, and then back to the sewer. It's not so much the reveal of the laundry itself, but just showing Lalo is back, he's gotten all the info he needed from the Germans, and is inching closer to striking at Gus.

It also shows how similar he is to Gus (and Mike). He is incredibly patient, meticulous and cautious. He will plan, he will wait, he will sit in a sewer for 5 days, and a bit of static on a phone is enough to know he needs to switch his plans. We're not just seeing 5 minutes of Lalo taking a shower and sitting in a sewer. We're seeing a Salamanca unlike any other who is the perfect counter to Gus & Mike.

Better Call Saul is without a doubt one of the most enjoyable television experiences I've had.

I get that people's tastes are unique to them, but if they've seen better call Saul and didn't enjoy it, then I can't in all honesty respect their opinion on anything!!!!!!

Fucking bravo to all involved.

Mid season break is already killing me, but also saving me because I don't want this to end.

Spon Farmer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119108955#Comment_119108955

Yes you are right. I guess I was just impatient because I already knew what he was doing and I wanted to get to the Sandpiper plot.

However I did also mean that of those sequences are very drawn out.

Anyway, I didn’t know there was going to be a break for a few weeks so glad I posted and saw that.

RickBlaine

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119108960#Comment_119108960

I completely agree. Everything is top notch: the memorable characters, engaging acting, fantastic writing, and a real cinematic and often innovative visual style. And to top it off, it gives us a lot more time and back story for some of the best supporting characters from Breaking Bad.

Spon Farmer

Back in early July, yes?

el Fenomeno

I hate to be that guy, but binge watching box sets has ruined my ability to follow a show week to week.

Can someone remind me why Lalo is out to get Jimmy/Kim or why they're afraid of him?

I remember Jimmy got the money to bail him out, but lied about being ambushed in the desert. Lalo found the car and knows Jimmy lied....but I'm struggling to remember the rest or why Lalo is now after them.

Edit: also, how does Lalo know who Mike is? Did they meet? I can't recall.

Spon Farmer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119108999#Comment_119108999

That is exactly why I don’t binge. Everything gets jumbled up.

Lalo isn’t out to get them. Kim convinced him it was his own house that needed a cleaning out.

I was guessing that he came to the apartment to use them somehow to get to Fring.

Spon Farmer

I really like how seeing the cockroach out a plan to use the couple in his head.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119108999#Comment_119108999

Kim went to see Lalo in prison when Jimmy hadn't come back due to the money. When Lalo suspected Jimmy lied about what happened, he confronted Jimmy and Kim in their apartment. Kim managed to convince him that Jimmy was telling the truth. Lalo left. He may still have had his suspicions, but he decided to leave.

However, Jimmy and Kim believed he was dead. We don't know what Lalo wants with them, but they know they lied to him (whether Lalo knows that or not), they know he's now showed up which means he wants something which isn't going to be good, and I think they were even more scared because Howard was there, and a slightly drunk angry Howard could make things go incredibly badly. They were as afraid for Howard's safety as they were for their own.

They were right.

Hannibal_Smith

Oh man. Was not expecting that.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119108999#Comment_119108999

Yes, Lalo met Mike. Gus gave Lalo and Juan Bolsa (I think) a short tour of some other construction work at the chicken farm to try throw Lalo off the scent as he had suspicions. Lalo already knew someone called Mike was working for Gus and was a key man, so asked to meet him. Mike was posing as a kind of manager overseeing some of the construction and security.

(I rewatched the last season of BCS before the start of this season due to how long it had been)

Hego Damask

About to rewatch with Mrs Damask on 4K ....

ixoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119105293#Comment_119105293

One of the few times watching TV where I actually did exclaim, "Jesus!" I had thought Kim would be a goner but no, I wasn't expecting that. So cold and brutal but so very very well done. I presume this is breaking point for Kim and she'll be looking into vacuum cleaners in the very near future.

Spon Farmer

I did think Kim would have a breaking point with regards Jimmy but I think Howard was right and that for her it was fun taking his life apart for the scam.

I don’t believe she was asking for Howard to leave for his well being. I think she saw how Howard’s presence made the situation more dangerous and I think she thought that if Lalo left him leave then he could be reasoned with.

Eduard Khil

Mr H.O. Ward was in the wrong place at the wrong time Lalo wouldn't have wanted any loose ends maybe he is/was just there to talk

Howard is drunk but he's also oblivious to who Lalo is HHM doesn't do criminal justice law they do cushy class action and high end banking and business law not the down and dirty stuff. Howard wouldn't know a cartel man if he met one. It shows the effect not being in the rat race can have and its not even the fact that Howard was born a lawyer it's that he hasn't gotten his hands dirty ever really and not knowing how an evil suave ruthless mutha fucker like Lalo thinks is what separates Kim and Saul from Howard.

It's gonna be a long 7 weeks until we find out what happens next.

The Black Oil

I can't add much to what's already been said. There was a lot of set up, in the set up (photo shenanigans, and Jimmy still wearing gloves in the handover, scene of the crime, I guess) and so well-handled, as usual. Thinking back over it - from Howard preparing the room, the Chuck reference and how another initial in HHM has now been extinguished. I was reminded too, of Saul being Howard with the tan/make up and all, when the camera focused on Howard's face in the big meeting.

I did enjoy the parallel between Lalo being in the gutter by choice and Howard ending up there. There is an ugliness to watching someone disintegrate like this, particularly when we see Saul and Kim listening in, coupled with that ending and the head smack, Chuck walloped his too. Feck. It's all deeply uncomfortable and damn fine TV.

Eduard Khil

Mike has pulled the guys from the not too important sites to all convey on Gus I still think he will have cameras or something watching Jimmy and Kim but same as Gale scenario in Breaking Bad the cavalry will arrive too late and Lalo will be gone.

EltonJohn69

FAAACCCKKKKINNGG HEELLL !!!!!

EltonJohn69

I liked the way Jimmy said “How…” when he sees Lalo…. at first it sounded like he was compassionately saying “How…ard” but he is actually asking Lalo “How?”

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119108960#Comment_119108960

I know plenty who gave up after s1 was too slow etc. I can get why - as most tv series would have regular- crash bang wallop. And little or no slow build. Not for everyone have to be patient.

murpho999

All I can say after the shock of the end that this was probably the greatest and most perfect episode of any TV show I have ever seen.

ILikeBoats

How did he know the phone was tapped? Seemed like the hold music triggered it?

rob316

I was expecting Lalo to show up but I jumped out of my seat when he did that. Holy ****

murpho999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119109841#Comment_119109841

He heard clicking/tapping on the line whilst on hold. Very obvious on each call.

Snake Plisken

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119109841#Comment_119109841

There was a little clicking noise when he was on hold he knew it was tapped .

Mad_maxx

While he didn't die by his own hand , I saw parallels with Nachos death whereby Howard also delivered home truths and dropped truth bombs before exiting

artvanderlay

I can see Jimmy and Kim having to dispose of Howards body. Lalo is officially dead so even if they called the police when he leaves, after agreeing to whatever he wants from them, the cops won't buy their story plus Howard's body showing up dead in Jimmy's apartment after his allegations against them to Ed Begley Jnr will heap suspicion on them. They'll have to make it look like suicide (his depression, marriage break up and supposed drug and hooker problem) or else hide the body. It's not going to be a fun episode for them after the break!

I'm still waiting to see which way Kim flops. She could still end up Bonnie to Lalo's Clyde. Jimmy will only go so far but Lalo will go all the way over the line. Kim might take that excitement over a life of regrets and guilt over Howard and other decisions she made. Maybe the vacuum cleaner disappears Lalo and Kim with a payoff from Gus to get him out of his life. Maybe Lalo is tired of dealing with insane Salamancas and crooked partners, and fakes his death to escape a life in prison on murder charges.

Snake Plisken

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119108960#Comment_119108960

It's been a great couple of years living in the Breaking Bad universe yeah BCS was slower paced but I enjoyed it more, I can't believe we have only 6 episodes left and I will miss it when it's gone.

I look forward to what Peter Gould and Vince Gilligan will create after this bell if be down for a 6 season show with Gene as a cinnabon manager

ThePentagon

That was mind-blowing! 😄

Seriously though, I don't think I've ever been so shocked and devastated by a character's death in BB/BCS. Howard really became more and more sympathetic as the show progressed - I felt he was destined for an unhappy ending....but not like this!

And the way the story was executed (pardon the pun) was masterly. The showdown between HH and Jimmy/Kim already made for an intense scene but you could sense as it continued (with the increasingly abrupt camera shot changes and that damn candle) that something was not right. And the look on Jimmy's face when he saw Lalo enter the room was like he saw a ghost. The minute between when Lalo showed up and when he pulled the trigger was like watching a car crash in slow motion - just the incongruousness of seeing Lalo and Howard in the same room added to the horror of it.

I'm gonna need a day or two to recover from that 😄

nullzero

Insane end to the first half of the season.

Lalo will obviously be taken out by Gus/Mike before he can report to Don Eladio.

Gus confidently tells Hector that all of his family are dead in Breaking Bad, Jimmy and Kim won't have a clue it's happened but you'd expect he'll have a fitting ending a la Face Off.

Poor auld Howard got a raw deal.