Damn, i cant believe all the negativity im seeing about this episode. My first thought after it ended was how great a show this is. However, i also felt the end conversation with Mike was also out of place. What would make him change his mind about "doing the right thing"? In the end, he still ended up with a position with the other firm so whats he bitter about? His brother screwing him over I guess?

I think the conversation with the friend did it. It's not about the money, it's that he's doing what he loves. Being a lawyer on Chuck's level was always about getting Chuck's approval. No more of that.

when does the next season air?

It sure did. Didnt care for much of that scene. Not the greatest of finales but that is pretty much expected these days.

I liked the episode overall, but the bingo scene went on too long. The con with the coin was beautiful and hilarious.

Great first season. I never thought it would be bad and just milking the BB cash cow, but it was much better than I expected as well.

It was fine but not great, I thought. So, Kim basically hands him a partner-track job at a good law firm, which he decides to reject in favor of being a sleazy attorney? Why again? Because his brother was mean to him? I guess it's sort of interesting that he chose it rather than somehow being forced into it, but it didn't quite work for me. Still, better than most things on network TV and a great overall first season.

I interpreted it as Jimmy coming to the realization that he would never fit in with or be accepted by the blue blood attorney community.

Satisfying finale. Loved the Jimmy and Marco stuff back in Illinois. The coin con went on a bit long as well, but it practically had to in order for it to play out. I thought it worked out fine in the end.

Agree about the bingo sequence - a bit longer than it needed to be, but it still worked. I knew Marco was going to bite it when we first saw him cough in the bar; sealed the deal when he coughed again in the alley.

The final sequence in the parking lot seemed perhaps a little too heavy-handed (Jimmy has the revelation while walking in the parking lot and twirling Marco's ring), but it worked.

Also, was it just me or was there a ton of yellow in this episode. There's a scene outside the church at Marco's funeral where a yellow line is strategically placed. Shows up a few other times throughout the episode as well. Maybe nothing or maybe something.

Weakest episode of the season but nonetheless it was an outstanding freshman effort. It's gonna be a long 10 months...

On the Better Call Saul Insider Podcast they called it the "Bob Barker microphone" and mention how they insisted on getting that specific long and narrow style of microphone.

I think it was a combination of a few things. I think he was pissed at Chuck was the main thing that set him off. You could tell that he was really upset that Chuck would screw him over and that he still can't trust him after he's worked hard to try and change his image and also helped him out all this time. That set him off to going back to Chicago and meeting up with Marco which gave him that appetite to be "Slippin' Jimmy" again. Then I think at the end when he got that call from Kim he felt like HHM was backpedalling a bit and feeling sorry for him trying to get him a position at the other firm and I think he just thought to himself that he didn't need their sympathy so he just decided to go his own way.

Here's what I don't buy : it's a shit-ton of work to become a bar-certified attorney. It was especially difficult for Jimmy. I don't doubt that he was upset after the Chuck thing last week, and might go back to Cicero to hang out and slip a bit. But there's no way he saw enough upside to put his law license at risk to run some petty cons for old time's sake. On BB we saw him do lots of unethical things, but always he tried to maintain plausible deniability even if it meant plugging his ears and humming or making up colorful metaphors like Beliez. I just do not believe for a second that the hard working, struggling, caring guy we've seen all season suddenly dives head first into the low con game knowing that could easily result in his disbarment.

He didn't become a lawyer for himself. He did it because of his brother. His sinking back into the con game made him realize what he was good at and that's why he chooses to be a crooked lawyer instead of an honest one. It's like Marco (aka friggin Todd) said, "if you're just making a living as a lawyer, you're doing it wrong."

I think at that point he just wasn't giving a shit about anything. I think he just went back to see Marco with the intent of re-living his glory days so to speak. He needed something to make himself feel better after being put down by Chuck who was one of the biggest influences in his life. I think Marco was another big influence to him and he wanted approval from someone again that he was something. I think it was really the voicemails on his phone from his clients that kind of snapped him out of things and made him feel responsible to go back to Albuquerque.

This episode was fantastic. It was a brilliant season of TV and an excellent origin story. If, for some reason, the show never came back, I'd still be satisfied with what we got. Not getting the negativity at all.

Yeah, I forgot that Bob Barker also used it. He didn't usually have it extended as far as Gene Rayburn did.

Well, you know, at least not on camera....

I will admit I was slightly let down that he didn't turn into Saul in the finale, but the more I think about why they didn't, the more it makes sense. The can basically milk a full season out of his slow transformation into Saul, which is what I think they do next year.

glad i'm not the only one with mixed feelings about this episode. i still thought he would have taken the big job and see how that played out next season, but great season overall and this one doesn't tarnish it at all. i hope Odenkirk gets nominated and dare i say win. he was that good!

I think they had already negotiated the second season by the time they mapped out the first (that is likely part of the reason it got an early 2nd season renewal). So yeah, makes sense.

That's funny -- I was kind of disappointed that they did seem to suddenly and abruptly turn Jimmy into Saul in the finale (and did it in a very obvious, expositional manner to boot)

I do wonder if he'll slip back and forth for a while, like most people that go through changes like that.

Agreed.

I guess Jimmy could have added "oh, by the way, please don't call me 'Jimmy' anymore, I'm now 'Saul Goodman'" at the end of his conversation with Mike before driving off, but I thought it was pretty clear that Jimmy isn't Jimmy anymore.

Yeah, it would've been cool had he taken the job at the big firm, and they could've gotten a few episodes out of that, with Jimmy realizing how he doesn't fit in there and then finally breaking out on his own as Saul. But I'm sure whatever they do will be good.

The Bingo scene and the bar scam scene were complete wastes of time.