Better Call Saul

popsicledeath_sl said:

If you think about it, he didn't compromise his morals for the money at all. He did it because Mike convinced Matt he knew dirty cops because he was one and the only way to appease the other dirty cops and not end up dead was to look like you were in on it.

You only get one shot to be unblemished, so you should try to extort dirty cops or criminals for more money? Is that what people are thinking?

Matty wasn't trying to be dirty, he was trying to not get killed for being clean.

I don't get why this is being discussed, I guess.

Not to mention, that's plenty of money for a murdered cop's widow to get worried and call the cops because she just found 6k cash hidden in a family suitcase after they'd been living paycheck to paycheck.

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I don't think it had anything to do with Matty's desire to not be killed. Mike had his whole speech about "What is a cop's biggest fear? Being locked up in prison with the people you put away." Mike, being a dirty cop himself, was saving his own ass when he was trying to convince his son not to report it to IA. Mike was insistent that his son would have done the right thing and reported it, had Mike not put his son in a positon of potentially sending his own father to prison once the investigation led back to Mike too.

If Matty reported it, the guys would be under intense scrutiny and the deed would have been done. They would have little to gain by killing him, other than adding murder in the 1st to their rap sheets. The cops felt the hesitation from him ONLY because Mike convinced him to take the money at a later point in time. He wasn't to be trusted from the dirty cops' persepective.

I think Matty was protecting himself, Mike, and his family, whether it was fear of retribution or prison, the end result is pretty well the same. And I don't think Mike was just trying to protect his ass, though self-preservation is always a factor in motivation, but trying to protect his son that he knew was better than he, but was going to get himself, Mike and his family hurt if he ratted. Either way, discussing the semantics of murder vs. dying in prison doesn't change the fact that it was a no win situation and Mike understood this because he knew the full reality of the situation. In Mike's mind, understanding the world of dirty cops, his only chance was to convince his son to be dirty, even if just a little, or even if just to appear to be, which he seemed torn up about. In part because Matty died anyways, and without even the honor of being a good cop due, but also there's clear love and respect that Mike had for his son for being a better man.

Cops dirty enough to kill two other cops to keep their dirt secret are certainly dirty enough to kill a cop that rats on them and gives them nothing to lose by retaliating, because remember, cops in jail doesn't go well, nor does cops who bring attention to systemic corruption.

I don't think the cops felt hesitation from Matty because of Mike, but because he hesitated in the first place. Didn't Mike say they'd already gone to Matty to cut him in on the deal? Mike was trying to band-aid a situation the only way he knew how. Right or wrong, Matty was in for a world of shit the second he wasn't on the take like everyone else. You don't just get to say "No thanks, you guys keep being dirty, I won't tell" and live in peace. Matty probably didn't understand this as well as Mike did who realized how deep the corruption went.

I was always going to watch but this has quickly climbed its way to my #1 want to watch show currently. It started a little slow but not detrimentally so and for how much they tried to say BCS wasn't another BB the Mike episode feltexactlylike a BB episode. The comedy is there though, even though I saw it coming from a mile away I about died when the secessionist tried to pay Jimmy/Saul with his own currency, mainly because of the way Bob Odenkirk acted it out. That whole sequence of him visiting the crazy potential clients was great.

and just like breaking bad, both shows were promoted as black comedies and both started out quite funny. BB ditched that concept by season 2 with drama in the foreground and comedy taking a backseat. after mike's episode, i wonder if BCS will follow suit.

Maester Chuk_sl said:

and just like breaking bad, both shows were promoted as black comedies and both started out quite funny. BB ditched that concept by season 2 with drama in the foreground and comedy taking a backseat. after mike's episode, i wonder if BCS will follow suit.

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Oh, you!

If they did, they'd have to completely gut and change Saul from the charming, funny, oddly optimistic character he was even in Breaking Bad. Instead of heavy Drama with Saul as relief, they seem to be going more toward the quirky charm of Saul with Mike providing heavy drama relief.

Maybe some point very far down the line when Saul is the flash-forward character working at the Cinabon it'll be a more somber, heavy drama... but I don't think that's the show. The show is somewhat goofy, hapless, charming Saul navigating a lot of real drama in the quirky way he is. Why ruin that?

as i posted, i was comparing the two shows and wondering if BCS would do the same thing. i do think its possible that they do change the tone of the show gradually. its easier to gain acclaim with a drama than it is with a comedy. this show is funny, but its obviously as much a drama as it is comedy. no complaints, just an observation.

lol, was that the third dude in the wanted posters taking a piss in that diner?

Ladies And Gentelmen, Vince Gilligan is no fluke. This show is excellent so far.

Agreed. It's amazing how (to me, anyway) it's completely out of BB's shadow. I really didn't think that was going to be possible.

Edited for spoilers

do non BB watchers wonder who saul is on this show?

I assume Jimmy needed the embezzlement money to rent the offices, so he lost it? Pretty fascinating to see the Jimmy side of Saul and him trying so hard to do the right thing, Mike is still a cold silent bad ass but he plays a lot more broken and vulnerable here.

The writers kind of fuck with you, I thought for sure Jimmy would have some complicated plan with the money (swap it with the $TeaPartyBux$ he got or something) or he'd realize the big corporate offices are not his style, gotta love the fast duck n bobbing this show does.

I really like this show. I'm had pretty low expectations for this show, and right now, I'm enjoying it at least as much as BB.

Tarrant_sl said:

There are people here who haven't seen Breaking Bad, lets try to keep plot points from that show out of the discussion here as those would then be spoilers.

Thanks.

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I'll agree but I still think people who post the "ehh I never really got into the first couple episodes" are just bad people in general.


Poor Jimmy at the end. Right in the feels.

kind of hard to tell but the guy pissing behind jimmy when he meets the flanders at the diner seems to be the same guy who was on the 3d wanted poster at the beginning. maybe setup for next episode?

spronk_sl said:

kind of hard to tell but the guy pissing behind jimmy when he meets the flanders at the diner seems to be the same guy who was on the 3d wanted poster at the beginning. maybe setup for next episode?

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yeah. spotted that too. probably just an easter egg.

This show is fantastic.