Six month construction estimate, probably more like eight or ten months.
Takes a while to get the laundry up and running and established.

They could stretch this out a few seasons if they desire.

after all these vegetables, can we just have ten straight episodes of Saul dealing with and defending criminals

season 5 should be the last one according to VG, so the timing should be easy.
I wonder if season 5 will be in the BB timeline.

It feels like enough time has elapsed during this season that Kim should have gotten that cast off weeks ago

If they're going for "realism" I would discount the bolded. The background checks state bars put law school grads through before they can get licensed is like what you'd see if you wanted to work for the NSA. If she's been in trouble and didn't disclose it she'd have never gotten a license. I personally know a guy who got a DUI at 18, went through pre-trial intervention, after which the case was thrown out. He didn't disclose it to the Florida Bar, they ldo found out about it, and he had to wait 2 years to get a license for failure to disclose the arrest. If she did disclose it and got her license she has nothing to fear, at least as far as her license is concerned. You can still get a law license with a criminal record as long as you disclose everything to the state bar, hell one of those TV judges is a convicted felon. It just seems very un-Kimlike for her not to have done everything properly.

Of course that doesn't mean Mesa Verde knows all about her background. It also discounts Vince just completely ignoring the process of getting a law license, but I feel like he wouldn't be so sloppy. I really just think we've been overthinking it; she realizes she's in over her head trying to do all of this Mesa Verde stuff on her own (that + she really isn't into it), which is why she basically offered it up to BigLaw guy on a silver platter.

Heh whoever he is, he's about to be one Hummel figurine poorer.

I would remind you guys that Kim is not such a straight arrow. She is mischievous too, remember the restaurant scenes where she and Jimmy scammed some sucker.

Re: Kim

My opinion is that after her car accident and now Chuck's death, Kim has realised that life is short and wants to get back to who she was, going into law. Could be that she doesn't see Mesa as an honourable work load to take on, could simply be that she finds that area of law boring. Either way, she wants to focus on something that means more to her.

Jimmy is obv well on his way to becoming Saul, especially with the end of that ep. As far as their relationship is concerned, they seem to have always understood one another. I imagine working your way through law school, becoming an associate, taking on your own law practice, etc is a massive workload and Kim just doesn't have time to work on her personal life, hence making Jimmy a convenient 'partner.' I think Kim genuinely cares about Jimmy, but re-evaluating her work life is making her re-evaluate her personal life as well. You can see by the way she looks and acts around Jimmy, that she doesn't see him the same way she did anymore. The way Jimmy reacted to Chuck's death is just the icing on the cake.

Jimmy obv still loves her and rightly so. He admires her and aside from that, she's so far above him in morals, looks and professional standing, that he would hold onto that for dear life regardless.

As a side-note, I may be one of the few that doesn't find this season boring at all - when they were setting up the 'home' for the German's, I was thinking I could watch a whole season of them just working on the tunnel/cook room. Maybe I just enjoy tedium :shrug:

Re the bold. I think Jimmy does have a moral compass, and there have been several times in the series to date where we see he cares, has compassion, and does want to do the right thing.

I think the whole deal where he feels destined to be the shady lawyer is that Chuck (and other things) have taken a toll on him over the years and Jimmy does not believe he is smart enough, good enough, etc to make it as a legit lawyer. He keeps comparing himself to his brother and Kim and does not see himself at their level, so the only path he sees to success is through shortcuts.

He is a beaten man (literally and figuratively) and feels destined to be what Chuck said he would be. He is like a battered spouse, imo.. Very low self worth, mostly thanks to Chuck.

For whatever reason I was blessed with impeccable taste in tv shows and I've also enjoyed this season.

She's working as defense counsel, not for the prosecution. She might decide to defend him, but then cut him loose.

It seems pretty clear to me at this point that Kim's behavior we couldn't previously interpret - the looks on her face when viewing the bank models, not responding to Mesa Verde after the mistake, sitting in on municipal court sessions - wasn't because of some issue in her past but simply because she finds banking law mind numbingly boring. Criminal law is exciting and helps the disadvantaged and minorities; banking law is boring and helps the rich and powerful get richer and gain more power. I'm sure there is a political statement from Gilligan in this characterization. By joining the bigger firm, she's fulfilling her commitment to Mesa Verde while still doing work that she enjoys.

eh, I thought the idea of ****buddies is that its a situation where the couple arent particularly emotionally close but they are mutually attracted and enjoy a screw often enough. this seems the opposite of that where they jimmy and kim are close and do enjoy the same activities but maybe arent exactly into effing their brains out.

well, regardless of the super lab, breaking bad is still like 5 years in the future. and saul doesnt even know gus in breaking bad. remember he knows a guy who knows a guy.

we know the lab doesnt get up and running until season 2 of breaking bad. theres a scene where Gale is opening up all the boxes of equipment and Gus comes to talk to him. Gale tells Gus that he needs to find the guy who makes the blue meth.

so for whatever reason it takes 5-6 years to get running. maybe they build it and set up the laundry in 6months or a year and then just let it sit there for 4 years but I kinda doubt it. sure looks like there are gonna be some issues with the construction.

Yeah Kai is a mortal lock to **** something up

This...their relationship, right now, is not about sexy time, it's about support.

Kai is getting killed obviously and Mike will either be the one to do it or order it done which will be a transition point for him (similar to Jimmy's transformation) to someone who has absolutely no ****s left to give.

?? Who the hell is Kai? The new ******* construction worker?

Mike has already murdered cops (in Philadelphia) and is a critical member in building a secret super meth lab.

Mike already has no ***** to give.

the yutz who took his time getting a beer while Mike and all waited

WAT?

Killing the people responsible for your son's death is something many would do. And it's easy to rationalize the whole meth operation (or at least his part in it) as victimless.

The type of killing he does in BB is definitely in a different category and he hasn't done any of that yet.

He's certainly on the way, but he's not there yet.

Chekhov's Kai

mike was against indiscriminate killing in breaking bad. ya he took out the cartel guys and he wanted to kill walt, but he was strongly against taking out the potential flippers and preferred to pay them off than kill them.

No way they can kill Kai without either paying off the rest of the construction team or killing them as well.

So yeah, there's no way the lab gets built smoothly. The drama of construction hiccups!

Kim lied to Jimmy. She said Schweikart offered her a job. No mention that it was her that offered.

(just noticed while re-watching)