Bail is paid in cash or a cash substitute. It is not illegal to possess any amount of cash. It may raise suspicions, but having it is not evidence of criminal activity (unless of course it is traceable to a crime). Also the court only holds the money until you make required appearances and then it is returned to you. The government does not keep it unless you fail to appear in which case it is forfeit. Simplified for sake of discussion.

Why didn’t they use bigger bills though.
Plus the whole thing seemed to set Saul up to fall.

He was supposed to drive it so it shouldn't have mattered. And larger bills aren't in circulation. Saul even mentions this.

$7 million in $100 bills is about 150 pounds if anyone is wondering. That's a pretty good chunk of weight to lug around the desert.

$100 is the biggest bills made in the US. Saul makes a joke about why did they stop making the Thousand. They estimate that $7M in hundreds would weigh about 150 lb. They said they cheated a little and those duffel bags were about 100 lbs total. Most fake money they've ever used -- the money mattress in BB was built around a huge wooden box.
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Sneak Peek of Episode 9 (Not the trailer - I think this is part of the opening pre-credits scene):



These colors ain't running!

Fun fact:

Raj Rajaratnam was been released on $100 million bail on criminal charges in an alleged $20 million insider-trading scheme. It is the highest bail ever set in the United States.

Highest Bail In US History

Last week they said this would be a $7M Bond, cash. Does that make it a $7M bail or is it a $70M bail with $7M bond?

With this being the penultimate season, do you think we're getting another black & white segment at the end?

Cash bond and bail are the same thing, so $7 million.

The 10% number is typical for a surety bond, which is often called just 'bond.' That is similar to the insurance premium on a policy for the bail amount (cash bond). It is paid to a third party (bail bondsman) and is not returned to the payer even if the defendant does show up. The bondsman pays out the full cash bail amount if the defendant does not show up, which is why they employ bounty hunters to find skips.

I think we learn in this series how Jimmy met the Hoover vacuum guy. He needs him to get Kim out of there. I don't think Kim dies. She grew up in Nebraska (A Cinnabon in Omaha) and we will see her again at the end of BCS when we find out what's going on with Gene.

I've been thinking that "Gene" would bump into Kim in Omaha ever since she mentioned that she was from Nebraska. But I figured that she might just move back there to set up a practice after getting tired of all of the Mesa Verde and HHM bullshit she was part of, not because Ed made her disappear.

I'm not sure if Kim would have Ed disappear her to the state she grew up in. It kind of defeats the purpose of bugging out when you go to a place where a lot of people might recognize you.

I've also been thinking that Nacho -- and maybe his father -- would be the one from BCS would be the one to utilize Ed's service.

I wonder how they'd handle the Hoover guy with Robert Forster being dead.

Well, Forster shot his scene at the same time as El Camino. Assuming he had more, they might have shot that at the same time. But who knows? And I doubt they would be going back to him after the definitive way "Gene" dismissed that idea.

My idle speculation: My view is that Kim doesn't die but is still alive post-BCS and that she just leaves Jimmy and Albuquerque. So I think the show linking Kim with growing up in Nebraska - the same state where "Gene" lives in hiding while working at a Cinnabon in an Omaha mall - is to set up her return in the post-BB "Gene" storyline sometime in Season 6. Maybe she leaves Albuquerque due to fear of the Cartel, maybe Jimmy pushes her away to get her to leave because he's afraid of what the Cartel might do to her, maybe she gets disbarred in New Mexico due to Slippin' Jimmy shananagins - whatever the reason, I think she breaks off from Jimmy and returns to Nebraska. And then, at some point in Season 6, I think "Gene" will reluctantly seek her out when he runs out of other options due to having his cover blown, a situation which I think only gets worse from what we've seen so far, making him desperate enough to involve Kim.

(Of course, that's all just my probably wrong speculation)

I just watched this ep. back-to-back with ep. 9. One thing I didn't get: What was the motive for Mike to shadow Jimmy in the desert? Why would Gus even care about protecting Lalo's $7 Million in the first place? Finally, wouldn't Gus have sent out his guys after Mike didn't show up in a reasonable amount of time?

Gus wanted Lalo to get out of jail and have to return to Mexico.

Yeah, I agree. No way a suspect on a murder rap posts $7 Million in cash and just walks. Alarm bells would be ringing at any number of state and federal offices.

Where I live, some rich guy was recently accused of murdering his wife. He posted the $1 Million in bail, but had to wear an ankle bracelet because of the seriousness of the charges and the fact that he had family connections outside the US.

Wouldn't it be better for Gus if Lalo was holed up at MDC on a murder rap, represented by a lawyer with no experience on a Capital case?

The German guy from Madrigal basically asked that a couple of episodes ago in "JMM" . Gus indicated that having him killed in prison would be viewed as his fault and be a problem for the cartel. I agree the change in plans was abrupt and confusing.