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canyonwalkerFirst of all, no, I haven't resumed watching Better Call Saul. I paused the series 2 episodes from the end in May and haven't picked it back up since then. This blog is just me catching up on the last 2 episodes I did watch. The fact that I'm just getting to writing about those 10 weeks later is both a measure of how backlogged I've been and how badly this series lost my attention right at the end.
What happened? What happened is that the series shifted gears for its last 4 episodes. Across the first 5½ seasons we'd seen occasionally flash-forwards to Jimmy McGill's life post Saul Goodman. These were a narrative device similar to flashbacks but instead of filling in details or color about the past they were teasing us with the future. In this case, the future some 6 years later, after the Breaking Series, to which Better Call Saul is a prequel. So it's like the prequel changed to the post-postquel.
In the life-after-Breaking-Bad timeline, Jimmy/Saul is on the lam. He's living under a new identity as Gene Takavic, who manages a Cinnabon store in Omaha. This situation is a nod to a seemingly throwaway line Jimmy/Saul makes in his last scene in Breaking Bad, where he tells Walter White, "With any luck by this time next year I'll be managing a Cinnabon in Omaha."
The brief flash-forwards sprinkled across the series show Jimmy living unhappily as Gene, the Cinnabon store manager. His job is a big letdown from his previously high flying career as a dirty lawyer, and he's constantly looking over his shoulder in fear that both people from his criminal past and law enforcement might figure out his true identity. He lives a quiet life going between home and work, doesn't socialize more than perfunctory greetings, and often drinks himself to sleep at night.
In episode 6.10 the show jumps full-time from Jimmy in 2004, right after Kim has left him, to Jimmy as Gene in 2010. Jimmy is panicking that someone from the past has recognized him. Jeff, a cab driver in Omaha who used to live in Albuquerque years earlier, recognizes him through his disguise. Jimmy then perpetrates a series of cons to ingratiate himself with Jeff and his family, starting with Jef's sweet but naive mom, Marion— played in a cameo by Carol Burnett that seems like an utter waste of the legendary comedienne's talent. Jimmy cons Jeff into committing a robbery he plans. The purpose isn't to profit from the loot but to get enough "dirt" on Jeff that he could go to jail for possibly decades if he rats out Jimmy. It's mutually assured destruction.
The thing is, Jimmy is not at all sympathetic in these cons. Younger Jimmy, "Slippin' Jimmy", was somewhat sympathetic when he was conning people because he was typically conning people who were jerks. He played on their greed and turned it against them. Here he's conning Jeff— and his innocent mother— just to protect himself.
Then the cons get worse.
Jimmy goes back to Jeff— after revealing that he conned him just to get "dirt" on him— with another crime proposal. They're going to drug wealthy men, copy their IDs and financial information, and sell it to an identity thief. Why is Jimmy doing this, though? It's not because he needs the money. The flash-forwards already established that Jimmy has a considerable stash of wealth in the form of diamonds. The only conclusion left is that Jimmy's doing it because he's evil.
The worst comes when Jimmy and his accomplices target a man whom they discover is a terminal cancer patient. The sedatives they use, in addition to the medications the man's already on, could be lethal. Jimmy's two accomplices tap out. But Jimmy is determined to see this particular con through, even if it directly kills someone. Evil.
And that's where I stopped watching, with only 2 episodes left in the series. Because why do I care about these characters anymore?
Yeah, I'll finish watching... at some point. But I'm just not that interested anymore.
What happened? What happened is that the series shifted gears for its last 4 episodes. Across the first 5½ seasons we'd seen occasionally flash-forwards to Jimmy McGill's life post Saul Goodman. These were a narrative device similar to flashbacks but instead of filling in details or color about the past they were teasing us with the future. In this case, the future some 6 years later, after the Breaking Series, to which Better Call Saul is a prequel. So it's like the prequel changed to the post-postquel.
In the life-after-Breaking-Bad timeline, Jimmy/Saul is on the lam. He's living under a new identity as Gene Takavic, who manages a Cinnabon store in Omaha. This situation is a nod to a seemingly throwaway line Jimmy/Saul makes in his last scene in Breaking Bad, where he tells Walter White, "With any luck by this time next year I'll be managing a Cinnabon in Omaha."
The brief flash-forwards sprinkled across the series show Jimmy living unhappily as Gene, the Cinnabon store manager. His job is a big letdown from his previously high flying career as a dirty lawyer, and he's constantly looking over his shoulder in fear that both people from his criminal past and law enforcement might figure out his true identity. He lives a quiet life going between home and work, doesn't socialize more than perfunctory greetings, and often drinks himself to sleep at night.
In episode 6.10 the show jumps full-time from Jimmy in 2004, right after Kim has left him, to Jimmy as Gene in 2010. Jimmy is panicking that someone from the past has recognized him. Jeff, a cab driver in Omaha who used to live in Albuquerque years earlier, recognizes him through his disguise. Jimmy then perpetrates a series of cons to ingratiate himself with Jeff and his family, starting with Jef's sweet but naive mom, Marion— played in a cameo by Carol Burnett that seems like an utter waste of the legendary comedienne's talent. Jimmy cons Jeff into committing a robbery he plans. The purpose isn't to profit from the loot but to get enough "dirt" on Jeff that he could go to jail for possibly decades if he rats out Jimmy. It's mutually assured destruction.
The thing is, Jimmy is not at all sympathetic in these cons. Younger Jimmy, "Slippin' Jimmy", was somewhat sympathetic when he was conning people because he was typically conning people who were jerks. He played on their greed and turned it against them. Here he's conning Jeff— and his innocent mother— just to protect himself.
Then the cons get worse.
Jimmy goes back to Jeff— after revealing that he conned him just to get "dirt" on him— with another crime proposal. They're going to drug wealthy men, copy their IDs and financial information, and sell it to an identity thief. Why is Jimmy doing this, though? It's not because he needs the money. The flash-forwards already established that Jimmy has a considerable stash of wealth in the form of diamonds. The only conclusion left is that Jimmy's doing it because he's evil.
The worst comes when Jimmy and his accomplices target a man whom they discover is a terminal cancer patient. The sedatives they use, in addition to the medications the man's already on, could be lethal. Jimmy's two accomplices tap out. But Jimmy is determined to see this particular con through, even if it directly kills someone. Evil.
And that's where I stopped watching, with only 2 episodes left in the series. Because why do I care about these characters anymore?
Yeah, I'll finish watching... at some point. But I'm just not that interested anymore.
