Neil M.

I think the point of the entire season was to show that Jimmy was always Saul. There isn't any transformation, just a full embrace of who he is. He was a con artist...now he's a con artist with a law degree.

rennervision

You guys act like the bingo scene lasted 25 minutes. I liked seeing Jimmy literally come apart in public while sharing how that "Chicago sunroof" led him to this point in his life. It's like the pivotal moment with Walter White when he sold his share of Gray Matter. It's an event that forever changed Jimmy's destiny.

It was a little depressing to see him fall off the wagon and make the wrong choice in the end. Now that I realize he was never forced to become "Saul Goodman" - that he did it of his own free will - it makes me a little less sympathetic to his fate of managing a Cinnabon in the future.

Mike86

I didn't think it was a really sudden turn. We know by the end of last night's episode that Jimmy most likely will be Saul next season. As far as what that means for his character at this point who really knows. Like I've said I doubt that Saul starting out with is going to be the same character who we meet on Breaking Bad and he'll probably gradually become more of that character as Better Call Saul continues on.

I think the entire season we saw Jimmy jump back and forth to an extent though. We've seen that he's been trying to do the right thing but has also done some sort of shady things too (using the skater guys to try and sway the Kettleman's into taking him on as their lawyer, the billboard incident, using Mike to break into the Kettleman's home to steal back the money they stole, etc.).

Chuck betraying him was the straw the broke the camel's back as it was what was keeping him from going back to his old ways. He cared about Chuck's opinion of him but losing that and realizing that Chuck just thinks he's scum basically sunk him and now I think he just doesn't give a crap really.

DthRdrX

And they set that feeling up perfectly when Mike made his statement in episode 9 regarding good people choosing to break the law. Saul is on the run because he was a criminal.

dhmac

My interpretation of this 1st season is Jimmy was attempting to leave his con man past behind and become a respectable lawyer, just like his brother Chuck. How Chuck viewed him was crucial to this desire so the last thing he wanted to do was to ever disappoint Chuck. That's why he hid the newspaper so that Chuck wouldn't see the "local hero" story and figure out that it was a publicity scheme by Jimmy. That's why he returned the $1.6 million dollars that the Kettlemans embezzled because it's what a respectable lawyer like Chuck would've done.

However finding out that Chuck saw him as still basically a con man, only now being a lawyer was his game, destroyed this desire to be respectable within Jimmy. Chuck was always going to be disappointed in Jimmy no matter what he did. This crushed his world, so he left to get away from it for a while. Jimmy's week back home in Cicero, Illinois reliving his con man past with Marco was probably the most fun Jimmy has had in years. After a week of this "con man vacation", his voicemail messages made him realize it couldn't last and he needed to return to Albuquerque due to his growing law practice.

But Marco's final words to Jimmy before dying that this was the best week of his life meant something to him. So even the offer to return and be a respectable lawyer in Santa Fe didn't mean much to Jimmy. Not only does he not care what Chuck thinks of him anymore, Chuck also was no longer his role model for how to be a lawyer. He was going to be a lawyer on his own terms, "Slippin' Jimmy" and all, and with Marco as more of a role model for him than Chuck.

Nth Power

I really liked the first season. I think I liked the first season of Breaking Bad better, but BCS was pretty solid throughout and I'm glad it can stand on it's own.

Agree with the finale being on the weak side. The Mike-centric episode was the best with the rest falling somewhere in between. Looking forward to next season.

BuckNaked2k

The finale left me a little flat. That said, I hope we get more Chuck and Kim in next season's episodes. They are good characters.

Decker

Kim's phenomenal. I'm not a fan of Chuck -- not because of last week's heel turn, but the whole time he's been on the show and a prisoner of some psychosomatic condition. The only time i've enjoyed his character was when he was working the nursing home case with Jimmy in RICO. Outside of that, I've been annoyed with all his scenes, which is a big surprise for me since I've always enjoyed Michael McKean since Used Cars and Spinal Tap days.

fumanstan

I saw this on another forum, but all this time I never realized that the actor playing Hamlin was Prof. Laskey from Saved by the Bell The College Years. I know he's done other stuff since, but still

Along with the other callbacks to Breaking Bad, I saw someone mention Saul wearing the ring on his pinky in Breaking Bad as well.

Troy Stiffler

Damn. Where did the episode end? Mine cut off when Chuck's helper was talking to Jimmy outside the house.

cungar

Well let's face it, he's an old(er) man now and he played an unlikeable character sitting around a dark house in a sweater having psychosomatic fits. I'm not sure anyone could have made him a sympathetic character.

Troy Stiffler

Also: RIP, Todd.

BuckNaked2k

I didn't like those weird dark scenes inside his house either. I thought he might be coping with his lunacy and emerging more into an outside role where we'll see him as a lawyer at HHM. Agreed, don't want any more of his nut-job-syndrome stuff.

dhmac

You can watch it online for the next few weeks at the AMC website to see what you missed:
[ LINK to "Marco" episode ]

RoyalTea

if you're going to watch any AMC videos online, make sure any adblocking software is turned off.

dhmac

My favorite scene in this episode when Chuck peeked out through his curtains to see Jimmy in his car parked across the street from Chuck's house. Then Chuck started to try to open the door to presumably go outside to talk to Jimmy and try to reconcile with him. But Jimmy started his car up and drove away before Chuck could build up the mental fortitude over his illness to get the door open on his own. It was a poignant scene of a missed opportunity that may never happen again.

CPA-ESQ.

Well I didn't like the sudden turn Jimmy did at the end walking into the court house.

I can see this is on par with Walter turning down the money from Gray Matter - and choosing to go it alone... but I think I just didn't 'get' the choice at that moment.

For me - it would have had more impact if he went in and they were treating him like a charity case, and this was a 'favor' to HHM.

Then I can see Jimmy feeling like no one respects him, they are just keeping him around as a favor, his time at that firm was limited to the duration of the case, and they don't trust him on any real cases.

Then the Chuck betrayal, the time in Chicago would have provided Jimmy with another avenue - (just like Walter had when presented with free treatment from his old partners).

Overall - the turn was too quick and stuffed into the last 2 minutes of a long episode.

majorjoe23

I'd be curious to find out when the disorder started taking hold. Clearly it happened sometime after Jimmy got his degree.

I wonder if it might relate to Jimmy becoming more self-sufficient and being a way of subconsciously controlling him a bit more with a huge list of daily tasks. Hamlin seemed pretty shocked with how much Jimmy was doing every day.

CPA-ESQ.

Hmm.. good theory. I took Hamlin's comment to mean he was surprised on how responsible, compassionate, caring, and detail oriented Jimmy was - and he was not just a punk (probably what Chuck told him)

So I do kind of think that Hamlin pushed for Jimmy to join the other firm.

movieking

I agree with what seems to be the consensus of most - it was an underwhelming finale to a fantastic season. The bingo scene definitely went on too long, as did a couple of others, but it wasn't a bad episode - it just wasn't as good as previous ones.

mphtrilogy

Chicago sunroof?
You learn something new every day

Loved the season, loved the show, easily my favorite show of the year.. Wish we had more episodes, but looking forward to hopefully at least 5 seasons of exploring jimmy, Saul and Cinnabon....

Mike86

This. Not really getting the posts with people saying the turn was too quick. Jimmy was always a somewhat sketchy guy and was only doing the right thing for Chuck's approval. He lost that and in turn that led to him going back to the path he was previously on.

Shady12

I was also a bit disappointed in the finale. Not that it was good, just probably the worst episode of the season IMO and I'd expect a finale to be one of the better episodes. The final scene really stuck out to me as just not working for some reason. Ham-fisted or something. I do wish he'd taken that job. Still a great season and can't wait for season two.

boss429

Loved every episode up until the finale. Didn't hate it, but thought it was flat. I guess because I expected to say "DAAAMMN!" and have to pick my jaw up off the floor like with most episodes and finales of BB.

tasha99

For me, the bingo scene was possibly the best bit of television I've seen in years. I couldn't stop laughing at his public revelation about those cub scouts and the Chicago sunroof. Hilarious and tragic at the same time.