Better Call Saul 4x10 | Watch Along
Added 2025-02-04 16:01:01 +0000 UTC
Comments
I don't agree with Maple's interpretation of Jimmy's speech because it removes his complexity and simplifies what the show has always been. I think the speech was the truth and sincere but it was about him finally embracing what Chuck always saw him as. He feels liberated after it because he isn't pretending or half/in, half/out. It wasn't a manufactured performance but a genuine speech with hidden subtext and meaning
Zane Platt
2025-03-20 10:18:29 +0000 UTCI feel like Jimmy mourned the loss of his brother before Chuck died. That's why Chuck's death didn't hit him as hard.
Joe Blankenship
2025-03-09 02:04:38 +0000 UTCHopefully some day we can get the Ladies to dip into the Christopher Guest/ Michael McKean Mockumentary antics of Spinal Tap and Best in Show/A Mighty Wind. And I would ❤️ to see them watch Clue (an insanely underated comedic cult classic).
deadlogo
2025-02-06 21:08:44 +0000 UTCI love it! Also, what a cool upright bass. but, if I may: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLNPCqzRVU0
Daymee
2025-02-06 03:04:18 +0000 UTChttps://youtu.be/2VeLb9M38IQ?si=y2qM4mOvBbPF_Xu-
james repka
2025-02-06 02:46:48 +0000 UTCI love watching Arianna's face just slowly twist and contort there at the end as she realizes the grift. I agree that it was probably half and half but it's always fun to see people's reactions to that part. We finally arrive to the moment people have been waiting to see for four seasons and it comes right after him espousing his love of Chuck and his family name, how ironic. Also, Lalo is definitely a fan favorite character and you guys will absolutely love him.
Dustin
2025-02-06 01:49:05 +0000 UTCThe creators always describe Mike and Jimmy (and Kim by this point) as the "leads" of the show yeah. It's a two/three hander for sure.
Kara
2025-02-05 16:34:28 +0000 UTCI completely agree. IMO Mike has to think like that because the alternative is that he's just a deeply evil person who is self aware he's evil. His philosophy is in minimizing damage to people only in "the game" where possible, because "they chose this". It's a bad philosophy but it's the only way you do this sort of evil labor without being a psychopath or having your brain break. Just like you say, the code is a psychological shield that tanks some (but not all) of the damage. He doesn't think he's a Good person, but thinks he's on the "Good" end of the "Evil Criminal" spectrum. His code also brings him a lot of harm - it created the Werner situation, it gets his Son killed, it puts him on this seemingly inescapable path, and arguably it results in some of the events of BB (not just capping Walt on the spot etc). We also don't know much about Mike's history outside a few hints. We know he was a dirty cop during a time where being an honest cop got you killed. We know he was dipped in the shit in vietnam, and the one line we get about his parentage is grim. His 'code', his "morality" (barely) crawls out of presumably horrible formative experiences in his teens and 20s, and 20s and 30s 'on the job' in Philly, and eventually his son's death at the hands of the rot he willingly participated in. A deeply complicated character whichever way you cut it.
Kara
2025-02-05 16:31:01 +0000 UTCThis season was the first time I felt Mike's side of the story really lifted the show, at least since S1 (with S2 and 3 being a bit like filling in gaps and giving BB cameos until Mike's at a certain place), and it was this ending that really sealed it. I caught onto the parallels with Walt on my own - got to love a prequel that actually enhances the understanding of the original show, rather than undermining it - but then someone pointed out the Matty connection, that he too was killed because corrupt men thought him untrustworthy, and it hit three times as hard. Love this show, sometimes even more than BB.
Martin Heron
2025-02-05 13:36:31 +0000 UTCWell McKean is also a professional musician so that helps ^^
Christophe
2025-02-05 08:22:59 +0000 UTCLooking more critically at Mike, I think you can once again see his tendency to remove himself from the blame. "It was never up to me." That's kind of true, if Mike didn't kill Werner, one of Gus' other henchmen would have done it. But you can use that reasoning to excuse a lot of crazy shit. It's basically the same reasoning Gale uses in Breaking Bad, paraphrased "if they didn't get the drugs from me, they'd get it from someone else". But obviously, that thinking is extremely flawed. An immoral action doesn't become moral or even morally neutral just because the consequence would occur even if you abstained. It's kind of a reverse ends-justifying-means logic; instead of thinking that if the ends are good enough, they justify the means, it's thinking that if the ends are bad enough (and inevitable), the means don't really matter. And especially with someone like Mike, it's kind of insane that he thinks like that. He is extremely instrumental in Gus' plans and his ability to proceed with them specifically because he is so uniquely competent. Gus hires Mike despite Mike's moral reservations and his tendency to not be unquestionably loyal to Gus because of Mike's specific abilities and there aren't a lot of other people that could do this job as well as Mike. But Mike doesn't think like that, he constantly thinks "if it wasn't me, it'd be someone else" but seeing his role in Gus' empire expand, it's increasingly hard to convingly make that argument. I saw a video essay once, I can't remember which one, that said that Mike confuses morality with a moral code, and they are not the same, and I think that is spot on. Mike thinks if he has a code of some sort, keeps to his word and has certain things he isn't willing to do, then it's all okay. It's reflected in his "good criminals, bad cops" speech. And you can see from his dirty-cop background why he develops that view of the world. But while Chuck was an example of why legality doesn't equal morality, Mike is kind of the other side of the coin of that; Chuck thought that as long as something is legal, it's moral (and vice versa) but while Mike thinks he knows better, his thinking is ultimately kind of the same, he just makes up the law (his moral code) himself.
Christophe
2025-02-05 07:53:39 +0000 UTCMike thinking he was dealing with another Ziegler when ordered to kill Walt at the laundromat. Also Mike killing Werner for the same reason his own son was killed, sad. And Jimmy feeling he needs to lie to be taken seriously.
MarisoL
2025-02-05 07:17:28 +0000 UTCActually, Bob Odenkirk is truly tone deaf. He has said in commentary tracks for Mr. Show that he was actually doing his best to sing and he just has no musical ear. Michael McKean on the other hand, does have great pitch and tonality. And it worked perfectly for the scene.
Daymee
2025-02-05 05:49:52 +0000 UTCSuch a great finale. The reality hitting Kim. Rhea Seehorn just all time great performance.
Kevin
2025-02-05 03:49:29 +0000 UTCThe thing about Jimmy is I think sometimes he even cons himself
Sara Something
2025-02-05 03:21:15 +0000 UTCI think the final scene is similar to how Jimmy went to the insurance company to get Chucks rates raised. He used his feelings as part of crafting a story to meet his ends. I don't doubt he feels many of the things he said about Chuck, but he doesn't want to acknowledge them to himself.
Joshua Luzania
2025-02-05 02:01:57 +0000 UTCI'm of the mind that the reason Jimmy's lies always have that kernel of truth to them isn't just because he is a mastermind and planned it that way, but because he can't handle the emotional punch of actually being sincere. I think it's a defense mechanism that makes him reflexively find an impromptu escape route every time he gets overwhelmed by his feelings like when Howard presented him an easy out to blaming himself for Chuck's death before. I think Jimmy did mean to genuinely honor Chuck when he went into that courtroom, but couldn't follow through because he likely felt too much like the sheep in his core "wolves and sheep" mentality. His love for his brother isn't just gone in a poof like he says it did, he just buried it so deep because he can't confront it.
Tom McTernan
2025-02-05 00:07:34 +0000 UTCI completely forgot about the opening scene, and now here I am crying.
Bany
2025-02-04 23:56:20 +0000 UTCwhen Jimmy talks about "those suckers" who believed him, you realize, right along with Kim, that she is one of those suckers...God, this is such a great show!!!! Also, I firmly believe that Mike killing Werner is his breaking bad "watching jane die" moment--you don't come back from that.
Chris Bruneau
2025-02-04 21:59:28 +0000 UTCThere are shots/sequences in this show I think about all the time and that's one of them. The 'realistic' sound delay of the gunshot. 2 figures then 1 framed against a starlit sky.
Kara
2025-02-04 21:13:46 +0000 UTCGreat reaction, great ep! I always enjoy seeing who gets got by the ending speech... honestly like 80% reactors buy into it + get "tricked". I definitely did when I first watched. And then the switch, you just feel like Kim does, like one of his scam victims... yeuck. Good writing, the whole season is really primed for this moment. "There are so many stars visible in New Mexico. I will walk out there to get a better look." I think this is the first "good" person Mike kills in the on-screen chronology of the BB shows (he probably killed people as a cop and definitely in Vietnam obviously). I think you can draw a lot of parallels between Mike + Werner and Mike + Walt, like when Walt comes alone Mike treats him a lot like Werner (mild-mannered expert goof) and that's part of what gets them. Parallels between Werner and Mike's deaths too, they both die undignified deaths but with some reclaimed dignity ("Shut the fuck up Walter and let me die in peace"). Lalo is 100% the funniest character show. He hasn't even said his funniest lines yet lmfao, I quote him all the time. [edit] on "has anyone watched BCS before BB" there's a great video essay from a guy who did this, HUGE SPOILERS FOR BOTH SHOWS obviously but search "I Watched Breaking Bad After Better Call Saul" on YouTube.
Kara
2025-02-04 21:07:40 +0000 UTComg Saul got Arianna so good, that look of betrayal
Dani
2025-02-04 20:07:04 +0000 UTCA recent (transphobic) US EO chose to define "women" as "anyone who from conception has the ability to produce the large reproductive cell"... a lot of doctors and biologists pointed out the same fact as you, which means the EO basically defined EVERYONE as a woman haha.
Kara
2025-02-04 19:50:25 +0000 UTCOoh yay another opportunity for my favorite developmental biology fun fact :D men have nipples basically because genes directing male development in babies don't kick in until some time after embryonic development and the initial blueprint for the embryo is female ^^ biologically, you can make the argument that the female body is like the default and the male body is like a modification of the female one. And while men don't need nipples, it's also not like they're a huge hinderance, so there was no evolutionary pressure to get rid of them in embryonic development of boys. As to why we have two nipples instead of just one in the middle, that's more to do with the general symmetric body plan of all vertebrates (and even a lot of non-vertebrates) and it's more complicated evolutionarily, I'm no expert on that ^^'
Christophe
2025-02-04 18:19:34 +0000 UTCI love Lalo because it's so funny how an innocent looking Hispanic dude turns out to be a psychopath killer drug dealer. You'd take one look at him and you'll think the highlight of his week is getting the latest model of a steak & carnitas grill. Looking at his suave personality and demeanor while also being a ninja assassin who moves with an incredible amount of stealth is incredible
Tteaal
2025-02-04 18:03:36 +0000 UTCI wanted to echo Arianna's comments about the framing of the "shot". I saw this episode when it was live, and I have been thinking about that shot ever since. It is done in such a haunting but beautiful way. The color choice, choreography, cutting, sound design, and then the final frame of when he shoots him. Just beautifully done.
BobJ
2025-02-04 17:25:44 +0000 UTC
