Matthew Weiner's love affair with actors from '90s teen dramas continues. The lawyer who goes on a date with Peggy in that last episode was Brian on "My So-Called Life".
You just blew my goddamn mind.
But am I the only one who couldn't recall who Rachel Katz was?
Schlich wrote:shamelessly stolen from reddit. excuse the hyperbole.
If people found it underwhelming, you're not digging deep enough.
This was the breaking point of Jimmy turning to the darkside. Throughout this entire season, we saw him start as Slippin' Jimmy and work his way to becoming Jimmy McGill. To pay Chuck back for taking a chance on him. To make Chuck proud. To prove Hamlin wrong. To catch Kim's eye. To not become Marco on that barstool. To make something of himself.
But after finding out the reveal about Chuck...feeling lower than low...losing his case and worse, his own brother...it broke him down. He loses it with his amazing "Kitty Cat Notebooks for Everybody" monologue and goes back to his roots.
Here he revisits his Slippin' Jimmy and not 10 minutes in falls perfectly back in step with Marco. Skirting the law again. Hasn't missed a beat. Just as good as he always was....if not better. Marco and Jimmy in perfect harmony, making suckers out of 'em all. And then he loses Marco.
Chuck is gone. Marco is gone. Both sides of that coin...both of his brothers...for both there's now this emptiness.
But here comes Kim to save the day! There's hope! Everything might just turn out ok. In yet another brilliant piece of cinematography...we see a shot of Jimmy outside the courthouse...he stops dead in his tracks "Looking East." A perfect profile of what he'd look like on that Kennedy coin. A new dawn. JUST THEN....he feels Marco's pinky ring. A reminder that....ya know what?
He just had the best week of his life too.
Why fight this anymore? For who? Chuck? Kim? Hamlin? Maybe. But that rush...that feeling he had with Marco...
Why not both?
And thus, the seeds for Saul have been planted. It's not an ambiguous ending. It's the beginning of Saul Goodman.
I may be reading way too in to their cinematography (but to be fair...they're pretty deliberate with it.) The final shot is of Jimmy driving "west" if you will ...away from the promise of a new path at the courthouse. And we pan down to the exact middle of the road....
He may be straddling the line between Jimmy and Saul...but he's now on his way.
tl;dr - If you dig deeper, it's not an ambiguous / underwhelming ending. It's an emotionally powerful ballad on a Shakespearean level...and now I can't tell up from down because I think I may be starting to like Better Call Saul better than Breaking Bad.
I agree with most of this and thought it was pretty clear, I just didn't find it nearly as entertaining as the last several episodes. Last week's was the best of the season. This one I thought carried several things on way too long. I understand why the bingo scene went on so long and that should be simultaneously cringe-inducing and exhilarating, but mostly I was tired of it. Same with the Chicago stuff. And then I felt like the whole season has been showing us deep down what a decent guy Jimmy is, but then he makes this sudden hard turn that just seemed too drastic even if the motivation was clear.
BCS wasn't a big plot mover (that was more last week) which kind of makes it underwhelming as there is no big cliff hanger, but it was a big character mover. Slipping Jimmy --> Jimmy --> Slippin Jimmy --> Corporate Ji.... --> SAUL!!!
Howard went from an ass to a likable guy. Chuck is figuratively dead. Bingo/Slippin/Corporate Jimmy is figuratively dead. Marco is literally dead. Kim is just as easy to like as ever. Last week Mike gave that little soliloquy about either being good/bad (regardless of what side of the law your'e on) and the determining factor is keeping your word. He tells Jimmy he didn't take the money because he wanted to keep his word. Jimmy had no such qualms about doing the right thing anymore. And....
Justin Lin directed the first two eps of True Detective Season 2 per IMDB. So, like, adrenaline and cars crashing through trains? Fast/Furious meets True D?
