re: tOfficial Better Call Saul S09E10 “Nippy” Thread

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left to live a miserable existence alone with nothing but the past to remember. In effect Jimmy will be incarcerated living a life with no excitement and a desire and drive that can no longer be satisfied

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Well that's sad AF

I want saul to have a positive ending.

Sure he's done some shady shite, but he's already lost everything. Thats already happened.

He has never hurt anyone else more than he has himself. I think at his core, he is a good man. He's just a great con man because he has had to be one.

Had Chuck been a legit loving brother who wanted to support him and encourage him, and not treat him like an outsider who interrupted the family by being born..things would have been a lot different.

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Howard Hamlin and Charles McGill beg to disagree.

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Lalo killed Howard and Chuck killed himself.

Jimmy fully believed he was just going to frick with Howard and he'd bounce back. And with Chuck, he was going out of his way to help Kim because she deserved it.

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Hey, dude. Spoilers.

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Come on, “dude.”

These threads by their very nature are filled with spoilers. My posts for sure are. You don’t want spoilers, don’t read these threads.

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Jimmy fully believed he was just going to frick with Howard and he'd bounce back. And with Chuck, he was going out of his way to help Kim because she deserved it.

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I love rationalizations.

Giving Jimmy and Kim the credit that they looked beyond their scams is far more credit than they deserve. Their actions directly led to Howard coming to their apartment.
No scam, Howard is in his guest house, and Lalo still uses Kim & Jimmy to get to Fring.

Same with Chuck. Jimmy either didn't know or didn't care what effect he and Kim's little game would have on his brother. Stealing Mesa Verde for Kim was all that mattered, consequences be damned.

ETA - these are my opinions, keeping in mind that we're arguing about the motivations of fictional characters on a television show, whose sole purpose is to deliver whatever message the writers have in mind.

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Had Chuck been a legit loving brother who wanted to support him and encourage him, and not treat him like an outsider who interrupted the family by being born..things would have been a lot different.

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I must have missed the episode that showed Chuck and Jimmy's childhood.

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I want saul to have a positive ending.

Sure he's done some shady shite, but he's already lost everything. Thats already happened.

He has never hurt anyone else more than he has himself. I think at his core, he is a good man. He's just a great con man because he has had to be one.

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I’m with you. But I’m admittedly a fanboi of not only the show’s entire creative team (the insider’s podcast is incredibly insightful and gives me a deeper appreciation of the show—everything, and I do mean everything, is so well thought out and filtered by people at the very top of their craft; the lot of them, no matter their “title,” are amazing storytellers), but also Bob Odenkirk. He has developed into an incredible overall actor, but also has an innate likability. Better Call Saul would not exist had they casted a different actor for him in Breaking Bad.

Speaking of casting and different actors, I wonder when they realized they were gonna have to re-cast the Jeff role. Because I think the re-casting changed the way they wrote character. The original guy had his shite too much together to play the Jeffie of this episode. Remember, he first showed up in Season 2 or 3, which was 4 or 5 years ago.

They likely didn’t know what they were going to do with that character when he was introduced, or as it got closer to the end, had a better idea, but knew they had to close that loop and just turned him into a loser, mamma’s boy. I just don’t think we have that episode with the original actor. Which may wind up being for the better. Because, either that situation is over with and we have 3 more episodes left where we have absolutely zero idea what’s going to happen, or his running with the “wrong crowd” in ABQ may somehow send Gene/Saul back there for something.

Again, I love Bob Odenkirk and thought he made Saul likable even in BB, so my perception may be off, but I never thought he was a “bad” person. Shady, sure. Got caught up with “the wrong crowd?” Of course. Broke the law? Absolutely. But was he “bad?” I never thought so—I saw glimpses of Jimmy in there even before I knew he existed. And now we have 6 seasons of Jimmy and his motivations, I don’t think Jimmy/Saul/Gene “deserves” a depressing ending. He certainly doesn’t deserve a happy one, where he and Kim re-unite and live happily ever after, but I don’t think he deserves to live in the prison that it his existence as Gene in Omaha. Constantly looking over his shoulder for the next “Jeffie” that will inevitably enter his life.

But to get anything more, he’ll have to find some redemption somewhere. And he can’t find redemption without some sort of sacrifice. The one thing I can think of is Howard. He can go back to Albuquerque, explain his death (minus Kim’s involvement), and restore his legacy. He’ll do some time, but still get out with time left, time to do whatever he wants without the worry of Walter White, Gus, the cartel, the police, or anyone else out to get him. He’ll have a clean slate, and will be able to be whoever he wants to be. Whoever he really is.

Close, but not quite.

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Again, I love Bob Odenkirk and thought he made Saul likable even in BB, so my perception may be off, but I never thought he was a “bad” person. Shady, sure. Got caught up with “the wrong crowd?” Of course. Broke the law? Absolutely. But was he “bad?” I never thought so—I saw glimpses of Jimmy in there even before I knew he existed. And now we have 6 seasons of Jimmy and his motivations, I don’t think Jimmy/Saul/Gene “deserves” a depressing ending. He certainly doesn’t deserve a happy one, where he and Kim re-unite and live happily ever after, but I don’t think he deserves to live in the prison that it his existence as Gene in Omaha. Constantly looking over his shoulder for the next “Jeffie” that will inevitably enter his life.

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100% with you on this. We saw the backstory of how he bacame Saul, and it's sympathetic. He is not the megalomaniac that Walt had become, and Walt got his sentimental ending with his initial goal of taking care of his family apparently accomplished. Jimmy deserves at minimum an emotionally uplifting or at least "optimistic" view towards the future in the last shot. Some people seem to think that he needs to die or end up in prison. Although I'd like to see a reunion with Kim, she has already declared that they as a couple are "toxic," so for this storyline to work, the writers would have to protray the end as "Jimmy and Kim resuming their toxic adventures" as a good thing. I really don't know how they are going to be able to end this on the heartwarming, upbeat note that I'm expecting (perhaps foolishly).