I’m Saul Goodman.
Pow!
I fight for you.
I’ll fight for you, huh?
Yeah.
Down goes Goodman! 0:00:20.217,1193:02:47.295 Down goes Goodman!
Down goes Goodman!
It’s over!
Slippin’ Jimmy Goodman has just be knocked out by Big Howard Hamlin!
Better Call Saul, Season 6, Episode 5, Black and Blue - this episode was almost like a
brilliant blend of Rocky Balboa meets James Bond.
The way Big Howie battered Jimmy around the ring the way Clubber Lang bludgeoned Balboa
in their first encounter, and the way Lalo Salamanca, international man of mystery creeping
around Europe like 007 himself - Black and Blue exuded strong vibes from those powerhouse
franchise movie series.
So Howard wound up putting up a fight after all, and he actually tricked Jimmy into boxing
him, where Howard proceeded to kick his ass.
Down goes Goodman!
But prior to that, Howard already marched out of the gate prepared for war.
Apparently Cliff is the real moron in all of this, the dupe whom Kimmy Corleone played
like a cello!
Howard didn’t even bother explaining things to that half-wit Cliff, he immediately identified
the culprit as Jimmy, and I think McGill has a huge problem now!
A big time problem that goes beyond being schooled by Big Howard Hamlin inside the squared
circle, where it looked like Foreman-Frazier in there.
Incidentally, even inside the ring, Jimmy tried to fight dirty like the little weasel
he is.
Even prior to Howard going on the war path, he was already fighting the good fight.
He swooped in with his cape and saved the day when Erin lost control, and it was his
charming personality and incredible salesmanship that eased tensions with a meeting of Sandpiper
clients.
After he schooled Goodman in a one-sided mismatch, Howard also has a private investigator keeping
an eye on him, which is interesting, because we already know that Mike has some of his
guys watching Kim and Jimmy on the off chance that Lalo reaches out to them.
Mike believes chances of this are slim, but I think most suspect that is a near certainty
at this point.
Poor Goodman is the only one who doesn’t know that Lalo is alive.
Even when he brought it up, Kim says NOTHING!
Kimmy Corleone only informs Saul on a need to know basis on her own terms.
But she is clearly rattled by the looming threat posed by Lalo.
Gus is likewise uncharacteristically paranoid as far as I can tell.
Not that he’s never been stressed or unsatisfied previously, but he seems frightened to no
end.
He knows Lalo is alive because Hector’s poker face sucks out loud, and he likewise
knows that Lalo took out an entire team of highly trained killed assassins, despite the
assist from Nacho in helping the team infiltrate the estate.
But from everything we have been shown, Kimmy Corleone and Gustavo Fring have reason to
be concerned.
Not only did Lalo take out an entire team single handedly, but he also had a fail safe
measure in place to fake his own death.
This exhibits long terms strategic thinking, as his dentist gave Lalo’s unwitting double
a pair that must have matched Lalo’s long before this threat took shape.
Which all boils back to what Kim scolded Lalo about last time, when she called him out that
he has nobody he can trust in his own house.
That’s why he needed Goodman, and Lalo knew she was right, obviously longe before she
called him out, because the fake dental scam must have predated that.
Now Lalo is creeping around Germany like an international spy, and he is quite the smooth
operator.
He barely knew her a minute, and Lalo already easily got Ziegler’s wife telling him exactly
what he needs to know.
I got the hunch Lalo was going to kill poor Mrs Ziegler, but he instead remained a true
gentleman, and he waited her out before trying to find the information he needed.
We see the ceremonial plaque from the opening montage here, he got what he needed, and he
moved on without harming Ziegler’s wife.
A true gentleman.
Roger Moore himself would have been proud.
Lalo Salamanca is like the Mexican cartel equivalent of 007, and honestly, he is not
like any of the other hot headed Salamancas.
It’s a wonder that Lalo wasn’t previously named the King of the Salamncas, because he
is easily the most formdiable, the most patient and calculating, and the most charming, where
yes - his charm enables him to succeed in areas where Hector and Tuco would fail and
fail miserably.
Can you even imagine if, instead of Lalo, it was the well dressed Salamanca brothers
trying to get the information they needed from the widowed Mrs Ziegler?
Compared to Lalo, the rest of the Salamancas come across like a bunch of psychotic hot
headed amateurs.
And if Lalo is like the Mexican Cartel equivalent of 007, then Gus Fring is is like a blend
of Blofeld and Goldfinger, with secret passage ways, intricate surveillance systems, and
a great abundance of henchmen for Lalo to eventually kill.
A lot of fans have long wondered about Francesa having a major attitude shift by the time
Breaking Bad rolls around, and I think that was largely explained in this episode when
she appeared dissatisfied at the change from elderly to degenerate clients.
She even managed to strongarm for him some money, something we’ve seen her do previously
both with Goodman and also with Walter White.
Fracnesca wants a say in the decorating, but I suspect the final say will go to Kimmy Corleone.
She is once again further shaping the Goodman persona to her specifications.
And it’s interesting that as she explains her new slogan to Saul while sitting on a
toilet, his new scummy office still has an old toilet just sitting there right in the
middle of the room.
It’s almost as if Kim is literally dumping her dirty designs for the future Saul Goodman
right on his office floor - Saul Goodman is gonna be a disgusting dirty despisable dirtbag
lawyer.
And she is fine tuning this character and dumping her designs on McGill to the dirtiest
detail.
It makes you think back to all of the previous clues suggesting the possibility that Kimmy
Corleone survived into the Breaking Bad timeline as a player.
The evidence in this episode just adds another clue fueling this possibility.
The most interesting thing for me is at this point in Better Call Saul, is that I now find
myself firmly rooting for Howard and even Lalo.
Which is disappointing to the extent that, we know that Gus and Mike will neutralize
Lalo, and we even know that the lab is safe from the wrath of Lalo.
We also know the ultimate fate of Goodman, at least through the current Gene timeline,
so we know he survives.
So the winners take it all, and we know Gus, Mike, and Saul are winners.
But we don’t know exactly what happens to Howard or Kim or Lalo, and that’s where
this all seems to be heading.
Given we know that Kimmy and Jim have a next phase in their scheme against Howard, and
we know Howard has hired eyes on Jimmy’s every move, and we know Mike and Gus have
guys on Kim and Jimmy, and we know Kim and Gus are very paranoid about Lalo, and we know
Lalo will be ready to pounce once he finishes his mission in Germany - this feels like a
perfect storm in the making, where all of these worlds are going to collide in explosive
fashion.
I for one am thoroughly enjoying the Season, and I cannot wait to see these last 2 episodes
prior to the break.
To quote our pal Tuco, thus far this season is feeling tight!
Tight, tight!
Tight!
Thanks for watching everyone, I hope you enjoyed, and have a wonderful night.
All roads lead back to you.
It’s Psych 101.
No I don’t hate Balboa.
But I pity the fool.
And I will destroy any man who tries to take what I got.
Down goes Goodman!
In my country Major, the condemned men is usually allowed a final request.
Granted.
Let’s get out of these wet things.
I’d like to invite you in, but I have work in the morning.
Of course.
I threw a woman out of my car in the middle of the street, and I zip, I just drive right
past you?
You had your reasons?
I did?
Like what?
I do have a problem, just not the problem you think.
I have a Jimmy McGill problem.
Jimmy McGill?
You’ll have to excuse me.
Howard!
I need to know everything he does, and everyone he talks to.
I know?
You know what’s coming next.
Down goes Goodman!
What?
That?
That’s garbagio.
It’s on it’s way to the dumpster.
I’m Saul Goodman.
Pow!
I fight for you.
I’ll fight for you, huh?
Yeah.
What is this?
That my friend is Albuquerque's public enemy #1.
Hey woman!
Listen here.
Since your old man ain’t got no heart, maybe you’d like to see a real man.
You must have gotten into a few good scrapes in the old neighborhood.
Yeah right, I could have been a contender.
Indulge me.
I’ll tell you what.
Bring your pretty little self over to my apartment tonight, and I’ll show you a real man.
You want it, you got it!
You got it!
Uncle June, how was Boca?
Wonderful.
I don’t go down enough.
That’s not what I heard.
Down goes Go–
You’re done, you are done!