this.

obv, Im gonna hate it.

but he did it for Kim, that was clear.

I took her line about there being no expiration date on her bar association card to mean that she is impersonating a lawyer to get in to see him, not that she is back to practicing law.

Regarding “saving” Kim - his final confession was all about setting up her defense in a possible civil lawsuit from Howard’s widow.

Also I bet she was wearing the earrings again in the last scene at the jail

Yeah she said her bar card doesn't expire, not her being a member - she still quit. And Montrose is in Colorado, she could just be visiting. I hope not and that she's left Florida and is volunteering at a legal aid somewhere else.

I thought it was an ok finale, not amazing, but satisfying. I think bigger than admitting the crimes and revealing info to potentially help Kim is that (I think?) this was the first time he's told anyone that he was the reason Chuck's insurance skyrocketed, forcing him out of law and ultimately suicide.

Marie was a wildcard, did not see an appearance from her coming at all. Walt cameo was pointless but I did enjoy that we didn't get scary Heisenberg, but bitter and obnoxious Walt ranting about Grey Matter and how the concept of time travel is stupid, making way more noise than the mild click he was complaining about. And gotta love Bill Oakley

This guy usually does pretty good recaps if anyone wants to relive the series in 30 minutes.

Meh, same sentiment I have had through a lot of BCS, the craft is better than the content.

BB puts a lot of distance between itself and BCS in my power rankings.

Yes same here, she wasn't readmitted to the bar... she just still had her card and used it to get in to see Jimmy.

The impression I got was that this was the last time they would ever see each other. She was heading back to Florida to slowly rebuild her life (the volunteer work at the legal aid place being step 1).

I think at heart this was a romance show, especially after Chuck died. Kim and Jimmy's connection wasn't really physical (they hardly ever showed them having sex or being physically intimate). You probably felt their connection more during the scenes where they stood outside and shared a cigarette in silence. So I thought the last scene, where they shared a final cigarette, was incredibly well done. Showing their connection one last time, before they never see each other again.

First impression, I have the same issue as with the BB finale. They spent all this time showing the descent of someone with basically good intentions into an evil caricature character, and then kind of wipe it all away at the end with a self sacrificial act.

Walt didn’t deserve to get the hero ending, and Saul didn’t either - although his was much more muted and internal than Nazi machine gun massacre.

Wish they did it like the Shield where he wins but doesn’t actually win. The craft and overall entertainment value are still top level though.

What did people think of the bus scene where they’re all chanting for Saul? Is he happy that he finally got some recognition? Sad he can’t get away from it? Was kinda weird.

I never felt like Walt got a hero ending. He was an evil person who masqueraded as a decent person for most of his life. Jimmy was at heart a decent person who was also impulsive and self-destructive, but he managed to regain some of that decency in the end by confessing and taking full responsibility. Had he gotten the 7 years, that would have been Saul winning, again.

Regarding the bus scene, I just took it to mean that these were Jimmy's people. He was always most at home among people others don't really want to deal with... criminals, druggies, elderly people, etc. It's why he could never have worked for Howard, why he couldn't work for Cliff Main, etc.

Agree that the Marie part was contrived just to get another BB character in the show.

Who was the lead attorney for the prosecution? Looked familiar, but couldn't place him.

I'm mostly sad that Blue Bell appears to be privately owned. Was hoping to pick some up and take advantage of the BCS bump.

Maybe “hero” is the wrong word. More along the lines of, they got to go out personally thinking that they had done something redemptive, or at peace with themselves.

I guess both had their penance in seeing the consequences of their actions before that though.

That’s a good thought about the bus scene, he’s sort of accepting that this is his crowd.

I took the bus scene to mean that he won’t be able to ever be Jimmy McGill again, despite his reclamation of the name in court.

I see Jimmy as mostly content in prison, making bread and trading on his fame as Saul to help inmates with their legal issues.

I do think him getting only 7 years - winning - but then being utterly alone might’ve been a better ending.

Still, wonderful show.

I took it to mean that Saul is always a major part of him despite trying to be Jimmy. Or in fact Saul and Jimmy are the same.

I think with Walt he had motives other than being a good guy at the end though, the nazis were still selling his blue meth and profiting off it and they also killed his brother in law (who walt never had any personal issues with until hank found him out and walt didn't want him dead as he is family)...It totally made sense that he wanted to kill them after all that. And he knew they were torturing Jessie, who despite their issues, he had a soft spot for obviously.

Jimmy taking life in some crappy prison over 7 at a madoff country club just to have "peace of mind" is a bit more of a leap

I see that as G&G telling us Saul won't be murdered in prison.

They have a branding problem with Blue Bunny. Even I can't remember which one I like.

It is a leap. I will say it was consistent because G&G always asked us to make leaps.

peter gould interview:
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movi...rview-1394766/

yeah i was confused about ppl saying jimmy did something there to take kim off the hook with cheryl, thought i missed something. glad to see that wasn't the case. agree that it would have undercut her story


and now that it's over i guess i can now say that i don't get what they were doing with the gus/mike stuff. throughout most of the series, and then especially towards the end, they gus was at odds with the angel on his shoulder, so to speak. mike kept counseling restraint, and gus kept ignoring him. they were at odds to the point that tyrus was sticking a gun in his face, and mike was outside the room when decisions were being made. i figured this was going somewhere and we'd get a major plot point (probably getting lalo) where gus would listen to mike, and they'd bond themselves to each other to the breaking bad point where mike is gus' undisputed right-hand man. but ... nah. gus ignored mike, again, but got lalo. they still seemed mad at each other. ok

yeah there is no fork in the road for Gus/Mike, just kinda a tense relationship with mutual respect where they both know the other is as good as anyone at what they do

I'll say this, I've watched a lot of other TV shows and there are only a handful all-time that are on the same level as BB and BCS. What these guys created is pretty amazing. In a way BCS was even more of a magic act, since Saul was a one-dimensional, primarily comic relief character in Breaking Bad. The fact that they were able to craft a backstory around him that was this good, was really quite an accomplishment.

Read somewhere that they are the Godfather I and II of television... I think there is some truth to that, right down to the fact that people will be debating for a long time which one was better.

Godfather II was obviously better

gus wasn't really respecting mike tho
the whole time he was just like you're my soldier bitch, so stfu and do what i say

and mike's ass seemed chapped that gus was being such a stupid piece of ****


it's a living, i guess. mike made his peace with it and just doing it for the money? for his family. ok
= basically walt's rationale

could have changed to a different path...

What story?

She saves herself, how?

There is no story and that is why people are making narrative leaps to Jimmy did something to save her because they are filling in a blank, a vacuum.

Which to me only magnifies how unbelievable I found her whole mini arc with the fake mayo etc.

I watched the finale again with another family member who could not make the first viewing and I am going to say its probably one of my favourite episodes of BCS just because it is so well crafted, so much effort went into each frame, each shot, its elite level craftmanship.

But, and I am starting sentence with a but so suck it, the actual story being told was to me unsatisfying and hate to say it, seemed lazy and contrived at times.

the whole confessing and being accountable for what she's done thing

if jimmy lies about a bunch of stuff to "save" her, it should be pretty obvious to see how that's a problem

even if you didn't already know that kim isn't someone who wants to be "saved" by anyone else

marie wasn't even an option, lol!