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Data Graham
Dec 28, 2009

📈📊🍪😋



HEY GUYS GUESS WHAT ISN'T CANCELLED FOREVER AFTER ALL!



The Breaking Bad-verse continues soldiering on through the New Mexico desert, with Season 4 picking up immediately after the shocking (but frankly long-expected) death by self-immolation of Chuck McGill. His brother Jimmy is hinted to begin in earnest his transition into the titular Saul Goodman this season, as catalyzed by this traumatic but hardly surprising (even to him) event.

Prequels are difficult poo poo to pull off, but this show has done a pretty dang good job of it so far. We have "Slippin' Jimmy" McGill:



Equal parts irrepressible con man and honest-to-God fast-thinking lawyer who has built himself up from his days scamming business owners out of their liability insurance by earning a shady law degree and taking increasingly prestigious jobs in public defense, high-profile partnerships, and most recently his own venture with love interest and fellow lawyer Kim Wexler:



Jimmy and Kim have been running their own small partnership in Santa Fe, specializing in elder law (a field in which Jimmy earned his cred in previous seasons by exposing the seedy machinations of an unscrupulous retirement home). Kim is trying her best to establish herself as a thoroughly respectable and independent legal advisor to big area banks and oil companies and in direct competition with her and Jimmy's previous firm, Hamlin Hamlin & McGill, run by Howard Hamlin:



Who by this point has spent about equal time as the villain of the series and the force keeping Jimmy and Kim down and, more recently, giving that title and role over to Jimmy's more successful but much more hosed-up-in-the-head brother Chuck, whom Jimmy has finally forced to reveal in court just how suspect his own sanity is and always has been:



Anyway. The series has like an almost entirely unrelated "B" plot going on featuring mega-fixer Mike Ehrmantraut and underground crime lord Gustavo Fring, whom Breaking Bad viewers will remember with much relish:



Mike has just been hired on as Gus' "security consultant", and has just proven his worth in a scheme involving a coup over the local drug cartel in which Gus has wrested control of Don Eladio's smuggling lines from Hector Salamanca, in whom Mike and Gus have just induced a heart attack (thanks to the quick pill-swapping work of Nacho Varga) that presumably will have him confined to his wheelchair for the rest of his career (as seen in BB).



With major long-running multi-season arcs now tied up in S3's conflagration of a finale, we can expect that S4 will see some fairly drastic changes in Jimmy's character and persona. Ever since the beginning of Season 1 we have all wondered what the tipping point was to be at which he was irrevocably Saul Goodman, the "criminal lawyer" who ultimately aids Walter White through his meth-dealing career and ends up living under an assumed identity as the grayscale manager of a Cinnabon in Omaha. Will this be the final season of Better Call Saul? What more of the story is there to tell?



BCS S4 drops on AMC on August 6.

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timp
Sep 19, 2007

Everything is in my control
Lipstick Apathy
- Good OP
- Thanks for the reminder
- *ding*

NowonSA
Jul 19, 2013

I am the sexiest poster in the world!

Data Graham posted:

Will this be the final season of Better Call Saul?

Renewed for season 5, so one less thing to worry about!

Nail Rat
Dec 29, 2000

You maniacs! You blew it up! God damn you! God damn you all to hell!!

NowonSA posted:

Renewed for season 5, so one less thing to worry about!

Phew. It took a long time for Season 4 to be greenlit so this is great news.

I really, really want to see the final season - whenever it may be - be entirely or mostly set in the post-BB future as it transitions to color finally, and Jimmy/Saul/Gene finally takes charge of his life again and stops living in fear, even if whatever happens after that isn't a happy ending.

SpiderHyphenMan
Apr 1, 2010

by Fluffdaddy
I'm super excited for this. Season 3 was great and with the major antagonists for both Jimmy and Mike out of the picture I'm excited to see where this goes.
I'm still not sure whether or not Kim is aware of what Jimmy did with Irene (the Sandpiper old lady) because in the finale he's talking with her about how he's trying to fix her social life, but there's no way that Kim would think he was doing that for any reason other than guilt.

SpiderHyphenMan
Apr 1, 2010

by Fluffdaddy
Michael McKean says something interesting in this video.
"I think Chuck went to his death thinking he had done everything the right way."
Chuck's suicide being motivated by "everybody betray me, I'M FED UP WITH THIS WORLD" makes it a lot less impactful for me.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Season 3 felt like such a good closer that I'm not sure I even want more of the show - the Chuck storyline and relationship will probably end up being forever more interesting to me than "how did Jimmy break bad!!???" but of course I'll give it the benefit of the doubt because of how good it's been so far.

SpiderHyphenMan
Apr 1, 2010

by Fluffdaddy

Hakkesshu posted:

Season 3 felt like such a good closer that I'm not sure I even want more of the show - the Chuck storyline and relationship will probably end up being forever more interesting to me than "how did Jimmy break bad!!???" but of course I'll give it the benefit of the doubt because of how good it's been so far.

We're gonna meet Lalo this season and I have high hopes that the writers can create another great antagonist.

fawning deference
Jul 4, 2018

SpiderHyphenMan posted:

Michael McKean says something interesting in this video.
"I think Chuck went to his death thinking he had done everything the right way."
Chuck's suicide being motivated by "everybody betray me, I'M FED UP WITH THIS WORLD" makes it a lot less impactful for me.

How else did you view it? Such a big reason why he resents Jimmy is because Jimmy cuts corners. But Chuck has always risen above, respected the law, put in the dues, etc. and he comes out of it all looking like a crazy guy who's past his prime who gets one-upped by his brother and is embarrassingly removed (by force essentially) from the profession he lives and breathes for. Thinking he did everything right is necessary for his inability to withstand the fall from grace.

SpiderHyphenMan
Apr 1, 2010

by Fluffdaddy

fawning deference posted:

How else did you view it? Such a big reason why he resents Jimmy is because Jimmy cuts corners. But Chuck has always risen above, respected the law, put in the dues, etc. and he comes out of it all looking like a crazy guy who's past his prime who gets one-upped by his brother and is embarrassingly removed (by force essentially) from the profession he lives and breathes for. Thinking he did everything right is necessary for his inability to withstand the fall from grace.
I had thought he had had at least a little sense of "I hosed up with Howard" and maybe a dash of "There's something wrong with me and I don't know how to fix it."

Tenzarin
Jul 24, 2007
.
Taco Defender
We find out chuck at the last minute jumped out a window and decided to live.

e.martin
Jun 22, 2018

Super excited for this to come back. I love how it becomes more and more like Breaking Bad every season.

NowonSA
Jul 19, 2013

I am the sexiest poster in the world!
I'm going to miss the "gently caress Chuck" posts this season, they were always welcome in the threads for past seasons.

Ein cooler Typ
Nov 26, 2013

by FactsAreUseless
this is my favorite show currently airing I love it

but I do hope in this season we get a little less montages of Mike doing stuff and more plot advancement

Fair Bear Maiden
Jun 17, 2013

Ein cooler Typ posted:

this is my favorite show currently airing I love it

but I do hope in this season we get a little less montages of Mike doing stuff and more plot advancement

I hope we get a very slow montage of Mike reading the script and narrating what he's doing.

MiddleOne
Feb 17, 2011

I hope Mike is just out of the show and no one comments about it or talks about him ever again.

SLICK GOKU BABY
Jun 12, 2001

Hey Hey Let's Go! 喧嘩する
大切な物を protect my balls


Mike deserves his own spinoff show.

SpiderHyphenMan
Apr 1, 2010

by Fluffdaddy

NowonSA posted:

I'm going to miss the "gently caress Chuck" posts this season, they were always welcome in the threads for past seasons.

lol if you don't think there's gonna be two pages of live shitposts at the funeral.

mallratcal
Sep 10, 2003


I'll be pissed if Mike doesn't confuse the hell out of people this season.

Big Piece O Shit
Jan 30, 2006

This isn't going to be the last season of BCS, but I do think this will be last season that occurs prior to the events of Breaking Bad. It will be interesting to see if the next one is set during the Breaking Bad time, or if it jumps ahead to Omaha.

SLICK GOKU BABY
Jun 12, 2001

Hey Hey Let's Go! 喧嘩する
大切な物を protect my balls


Big Piece O poo poo posted:

This isn't going to be the last season of BCS, but I do think this will be last season that occurs prior to the events of Breaking Bad. It will be interesting to see if the next one is set during the Breaking Bad time, or if it jumps ahead to Omaha.

I doubt it. There's just too much to go between now and Jimmy having an active law practice that he has in Breaking Bad. I mean currently he's a suspended lawyer without a practice, 10 episodes isn't enough to go from that and having an active criminal lawyer practice, even if it was the only story line they had going.

SpiderHyphenMan
Apr 1, 2010

by Fluffdaddy
If they're gonna do "Here's what Jimmy was up to during Breaking Bad" I hope they find a way to tie up the Mike & Gus side of things because Breaking Bad would be a lot less fun if we knew everything that was going on with those two while Walt was Waltering everything up.
Like my nightmare is that we get a scene of Gus and Mike talking about what they should do with Walt. I'm sure it would be some great written dialogue, I just absolutely don't want to see it.
Edit: Or finding out exactly what Gus did in Chile. I really, really don't ever want an actual answer because some things are more fun if you don't know.

SpiderHyphenMan fucked around with this message at 01:47 on Aug 6, 2018

Schlonged Again
Jan 30, 2016

This show is never going to venture into the Breaking Bad timeline because there's nothing interesting about rehashing story lines that have been done before. And even if they wanted to, there's no way to do it that would make any kind of narrative sense.

khwarezm
Oct 26, 2010

Deal with it.
They've dropped a lot of hints that Cranston will show up so I'm not so sure.

Personally I don't want them to get into Breaking Bad territory but I think it's a real possibility nonetheless.

Milo and POTUS
Sep 3, 2017

I will not shut up about the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I talk about them all the time and work them into every conversation I have. I built a shrine in my room for the yellow one who died because sadly no one noticed because she died around 9/11. Wanna see it?
You just see him driving by in one episode.

SLICK GOKU BABY
Jun 12, 2001

Hey Hey Let's Go! 喧嘩する
大切な物を protect my balls


khwarezm posted:

They've dropped a lot of hints that Cranston will show up so I'm not so sure.

Personally I don't want them to get into Breaking Bad territory but I think it's a real possibility nonetheless.

It'll probably be the series finale and he will walk through the door.

DOPE FIEND KILLA G
Jun 4, 2011

I think it could be interesting to see what Saul is doing only during Seaspn 5 specifically, I think there's substantially more open spots on the narrative there that they could fill in, what with all the time lapse montages, and the constantly changing sircimances within that season alone.
Like we know after poisoning the kid Saul freaked out and wanted to quit but was threatened by Walt into staying, that could be an interesting point for him to potentially reconcile with Kim and could be much more potent than if they were doing something on the side in BB's season 2 or whatever, there wouldn't be much tension or intrigue in that imo.

We could also see what's going on with Saul's personal life in the middle of that season during the time apse where Walt starts making the really obscene amounts of money. That's definitely way more money than Saul was expecting and I could see him trying to do something with it. Plus we could see whatever he does before visiting the disappearer, if he tried to tie up any loose ends, and then plus that would directly with all the season openers.

But the main reason to stick to season 5 would be that it's impossible to Aaron Paul to look as young as he in season. 2 at thus point, but maybe they could get him to what he looked like in season 5.

RJWaters2
Dec 16, 2011

It was not not not so great
All of the Breaking-Bad era scenes should be in sepia tone.

Chadzok
Apr 25, 2002

SpiderHyphenMan posted:

I had thought he had had at least a little sense of "I hosed up with Howard" and maybe a dash of "There's something wrong with me and I don't know how to fix it."

I don't think McKean's comment is the whole long and short of it. I felt he was probably utterly exhausted from dealing with the suffering which was very, very real to him and which he felt like Jimmy had tricked a bunch of people whose respect he had once held into thinking it wasn't real at all, completely humiliating him in the process. It was a dash of "I did everything right and still lose everything I care about" combined with being fed up with the improvement/regression cycle of his condition, combined with loneliness and a Chekhov's Lamp. I don't think he ever truly accepted his condition as being mental instead of physical, and if he ever had regrets about his actions I imagine him blaming them entirely on Jimmy, aka "Yeah I blew up in court, but slippin' Jimmy!!! GRRR"

I'll miss Chuck and their relationship, and I think Jimmy's love and caring for him against all opposition was a beautiful illustration of what many people have to deal with on a daily basis (I don't know from personal experience, but think family members with autism, schizophrenia, addictions, etc). Chuck was the only person whose respect Jimmy ever really wanted and even though there are still big gaps to fill in, if the show was already done I can completely understand Jimmy going off the rails from hereon - Chuck was the only person around him that consistently tried to steer him away from the scammy tacky bullshit that we all know leads him to a tragic end. Kim is often a participant and when she disapproves it's only because of how it will make her look by association. Hamlin thinks it's hilarious even if he wants nothing to do with it personally. Mike tolerates it, maybe sees it as useful. In the Breaking Bad era, it's the only think he's useful for at all to the point where the caring, considerate, thoughtful Jimmy is nowhere to be seen except maybe glimpses in a few scenes with Jesse.

And in the pathetic Gene era he has no use at all. No one to care for, no outlet for his slippin', not even self-respect. I hope for a redemption of some kind, but I hope for Jimmy, not Saul. I think I'm going to like him less this season. I hope they pull a Walter White "gently caress this guy" transformation, but I also hope we see a very different end to the show as a whole, maybe even to the point where he can acknowledge the truths that Chuck saw all along.

woah end rant

Chadzok fucked around with this message at 08:54 on Aug 6, 2018

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

It's very sad that the last thing Chuck said to Jimmy was that he didn't care about Jimmy as much as Jimmy cared for him.

Heartless.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

SpiderHyphenMan posted:

Edit: Or finding out exactly what Gus did in Chile. I really, really don't ever want an actual answer because some things are more fun if you don't know.

Same. I'm really curious as to what he did in Chile and why everyone fears/respects him, but I feel like it's better left as a mystery.

Kosmo Gallion
Sep 13, 2013

MightyJoe36 posted:

Same. I'm really curious as to what he did in Chile and why everyone fears/respects him, but I feel like it's better left as a mystery.

My head canon is that Gus is the son of a powerful military figure who was exiled for being homosexual. Gus must have had somebody very powerful behind him for Don Eladio of all people to be reluctant to kill him.

E: I also hope the real reasons are never revealed.

Rupert Buttermilk
Apr 15, 2007

🚣RowboatMan: ❄️Freezing time🕰️ is an old P.I. 🥧trick...

For everything that I love about Breaking Bad, the silly blood spurt from Gus' partner's head will always be just that: silly. I think I'd prefer not seeing anything to that.

Edit: this came back to me when I was watching a recap for BCS, and Gus' past was mentioned. Someone said "and then his partner was BRUTALLY murdered by Hector." I was thinking 'that's true", and then I was immediately reminded of (because they showed) the "pfffffffft" of the blood spraying out.

I don't need it to be gross or anything, but that was comical.

Rupert Buttermilk fucked around with this message at 13:54 on Aug 6, 2018

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

I was going to ask what the timeline was so far, but then I found a site that said we're 5 years out from the beginning of BB (BCS ends in 2003, BB starts in 2008 and ends in 2010).

The same site pointed out that there are clues that the Gene timeline takes place more than 50 years after Jimmy flees, which must be some sort of oversight.

Regy Rusty
Apr 26, 2010

Professor Shark posted:

I was going to ask what the timeline was so far, but then I found a site that said we're 5 years out from the beginning of BB (BCS ends in 2003, BB starts in 2008 and ends in 2010).

The same site pointed out that there are clues that the Gene timeline takes place more than 50 years after Jimmy flees, which must be some sort of oversight.

Lol wtf

Someone out there needs to work on their critical thinking skills

Timby
Dec 23, 2006

Your mother!

Professor Shark posted:

I was going to ask what the timeline was so far, but then I found a site that said we're 5 years out from the beginning of BB (BCS ends in 2003, BB starts in 2008 and ends in 2010).

The same site pointed out that there are clues that the Gene timeline takes place more than 50 years after Jimmy flees, which must be some sort of oversight.

Yeah, that doesn't make any sense, BCS begins in 2002 and the Gene timeline just looks like it takes place in our present-day, so 2015-ish.

The Ninth Layer
Jun 20, 2007

I wonder if we're going to get the Vamanos crew to show up at some point this season. Saul says in season 5 that he knew them as a b&e operation from a few years prior to Breaking Bad.

Rupert Buttermilk
Apr 15, 2007

🚣RowboatMan: ❄️Freezing time🕰️ is an old P.I. 🥧trick...

The Ninth Layer posted:

I wonder if we're going to get the Vamanos crew to show up at some point this season. Saul says in season 5 that he knew them as a b&e operation from a few years prior to Breaking Bad.

They'll absolutely be involved somehow, though maybe not yet. The BCS/BB writers have gone through every single reference Saul has ever made and at the very least considered them all. I would not be surprised in the least if the group Todd was working with shows back up.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

Regy Rusty posted:

Lol wtf

Someone out there needs to work on their critical thinking skills

From here

quote:

2057? (BCS, Seasons 1-3)

Several black-and-white flashbacks illustrate that Saul’s best-case scenario has become a reality. More than one shot of a state seal bearing the date of Omaha’s incorporation (1857) and the city's celebration of its 200th anniversary indicate that nearly 50 years have passed since Saul was spirited away from Albuquerque to take on the identity of Cinnabon-employed Gene. (Before you point out that Jimmy McGill, born circa 1962, would be roughly 95 years of age in 2057, bear in mind that BCS/BB's creators seem far less concerned with linear exactitude than many of their scavenging viewers, and then consider the anachronisms and black-and-white nature of those flash-forwards.) Last we saw of Gene in Season 3's premiere, he was lying in a heap on that Cinnabon floor after allowing the slightest glimpse of his old persona to surface.

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Wrex Ruckus
Aug 24, 2015

Can't wait to see season 5 with Gene working off his crimes by hunting replicants.

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