Decker

He didn't go there alone to confront Lalo. He just had all his henchmen killed once he got there.

Geofferson

I too didn't expect the Gus/Lalo story to conclude in this episode. I assumed it would draw out over two, maybe three, episodes. Gus' plan worked out perfectly and agree it was dependent on so many variables that went his way. It was executed nicely though.

Here's hoping we get multiple episodes of Gene in the post-BB world.

Coral

Saul and Kim have to know that Lalo is dead. Mike said that "he's not coming back" and then reiterated clearly "you understand me.. he is not. coming. back". No other way for that to be interpreted other than "Lalo is dead".
Now Nacho, Saul still doesn't know about his fate.

This episode was great, but it didn't feel tense. We know Gus, Mike, and Jimmy are still alive. I was 99.9% sure Kim would make it to the end of this timeline - as they hinted at the Ed's vaccum store earlier. Also they're probably going to re-unite her with Gene in some way in the future timeline. Plus, as I said before - if Kim were killed, I think Saul wouldn't be the character he was in BB.

I'm glad they killed off Lalo quick... I didn't want to see that dragged out any further.

johnnysd

Even this late, Saul is still not really the Saul we seen in BB. The Saul in BB casually recommends murder. I still expect there to be some montage or something that brings it up to the BB timeline where we see him slowly becoming more and more evil.

Also, it would seem to be hugely contrived at this point for Kim to die.. Gus is not going to kill her. It makes no narrative sense. He would kill them both or neither. The Howard thing is neatly tied off so no jail for her. However, Jimmy certainly does not trust Gus and Mike and remember that Jimmy still thinks Lalo might be alive in BB, so maybe Jimmy convinces her somehow to start a new life, one without the looming possibility that Gus changes his mind. Maybe Jimmy even gets closer to Gus and Mike to insure that he is valuable so they never go looking for her. That could work.

However, this episode brings up another possibility that maybe Kim is there all the time. After all it also brings into possibility that Gus might be more involved with Walt and Jesse right from the beginning than we realize. In this scenario we may see much more of Jesse and Walt than people think. Kim still being married to Saul brings up the issue of Saul being relocated without her, since we see Walt and Saul together in the vacuum basement without Kim. Have we seen Gene in his Nebraska home?

I thought this episode was solid but the whole gun thing seems so contrived. I sort of wish they had shown something dangerous in the lab, maybe like a nail gun or something Gus could use as a weapon in a pinch and then the scene in the lab would feel more organic. Remember Gus was likely a soldier or enforcer in Chile so he may be much more combat ready than his outside appearance suggests..

I also do think that BCS will end on a happy note with Saul back with Kim.

Tons to cover in 5 Episodes even if they are supersized.

Bill Needle

The wife and I have discussed this several times and go back and forth. Kim alive or dead: Which explains Saul's cynical, unapologetically sleazy attitude in the Breaking Bad universe? I can see a good case made for either. At this point I'm fairly certain she survives to the Gene universe, so "alive" is my answer. I think a lot of the later/worst version of Saul may be driven by his unrelenting urge to do anything to protect her. He was going to take a bullet for her in last night's episode.

Josh-da-man

Earlier in the series we saw him at home watching old videotapes of himself.

philo

Thinking on how the show ends. Walt died, Jesse escaped to a brighter future. I wonder if Jimmy ends up turning himself in or facing accountability. He is a lawyer after all so maybe its fitting he faces things in a court of law instead of his usual scheming. Not that the courts aren't full of schemers but just a thought.

dex14

Maybe "Gene" will just be reunited with Huell instead of Kim.

Jason

The big issue for the rest of the series is what happens with Kim. I think we're going to have a "six months later" scenario in the next episode. Saul is happily defending the downtrodden while Kim continues to struggle with the events of the last episodes. Professionally and personally, she's a mess. Saul/Jimmy is the kind of guy who can rationalize anything so after the initial shock wears off, he'll see it as ancient history. But not Kim, The disintegration of their relationship will be what turns Saul from a criminal lawyer into a CRIMINAL lawyer.

I rewatched the last couple of episodes of the breaking bad marathon after work yesterday afternoon leading up to last night's premiere. I'm confident BCS will have a great ending, but I cannot imagine it being anywhere near as intense as those episodes of BB. And it doesn't have to be.

JZ1276

Are you making this statement after seeing Gus planting the gun and counting the amount of footsteps to the gun during the last episode or did you miss that? This was his plan all along. To cut the power, retrieve the gun in darkness and shoot Lalo.

Jason

I know this is probably the end of the road for this universe, but I'd really like to see at least a movie that gives some insight into Gus Fring's past.

Jason

Maybe the whole thing is a graveyard? I wouldn't be surprised if Werner Zeigler is down there somewhere, at the very least.

Gus's guys are street thugs. I'm sure they were discreetly buried in the desert, but if someone comes across them it's no big deal. Now if someone finds Howard in the desert, especially after he is declared dead by suicide...

johnnysd

Yes I know it was his plan but it is just so so contrived. He has to wind up face to face with Lalo in a secret lab for it to work and having not been shot already and able to manouver to the gun. It would have been better if Gus outwitted him on the spot, just my opinion.

johnnysd

I am sure there will be a scene or too with Ed Begley to completely close out that entire thread.

New Lurker

Setting yourself up for heartbreak here my man. This writing team has been very consistent with the payoffs for characters that have done bad things. Saul is guilty of a lot of things, even if we got to see his perspective of why those things needed to happen. He's the root of Chuck's death. He's the root of Howard's death. He factored into Nacho's death. He factored into Lalo's death. And that's just the BCS timeline. How much death was he a party to in BB? There's no way this show ends with a happy ending.

Maybe I'm alone in this because I haven't seen it touched on. But isn't Kim going to have major resentment towards Jimmy now? He pulled some silver tongue salesmanship to put Kim in the position of murderer so he wasn't. It's a bit open ended at this point, maybe he thought Lalo would kill her if he left her there. Maybe he thought he was giving her a chance to escape by running. But from the way it was played, Kim was mortified the task got passed off to her. It's not out of the realm of possibility that causes a rift between the two she can't get over. Maybe she uses the vacuum service as soon as they get through the Howard spin to just get away.

I expect us to get some time jumps next episode. The last 5 episodes have a lot of possibilities to spin the story off. A lot of the board has been cleared and they can really take this story in a lot of directions. I love this show so much.

Geofferson

My take was Saul's motive was to get Kim out of the apartment and away from Lalo at any cost. I re-watched the episode again today and there is a brief exchange between Saul and Kim on the sofa where he is pleading for her to go. The reaction on his face is all but saying goodbye to her -- he's assuming he may not survive the night with Lalo. I don't think Kim will respond with resentment towards Saul but anything is possible. Kim was clearly jarred and shook the entire episode and may have finally come to the realization that she is in over her head and that Saul's world is too violent and dangerous. If she does have a response, I'd expect it to be regarding this.

johnnysd

Umm she actually go to the doorway to assassinate someone largely because he got her to go instead of her. At that moment the person staying is pretty much 100% dying, but the person leaving could go to the police, just drive away, etc... Jimmy was giving up his life for her. And she was completely overwhelmed about the entire situation.

I get what you are saying about Saul getting his come uppance but I do believe that they have laid many many many breadcrumbs that Jimmy and Kim will meet up again in Nebraska. And Jesse did get a happy ending as well so not unprecedented.

DJariya

I don't really have much to add from what's been said already. Great and tense episode. Glad it picked up moments after the previous episode.

The scene with Gus and Lalo was super tense.

Coral

Well, I wouldn't exactly say that Jesse got a happy ending. I think the best that can be said is that given his circumstances, he got the least shitty outcome he could've gotten.
He's still a wanted man and is living in Alaska always watching over his shoulder. He also has to live with the guilt of all the shit he's been through and the death of a few important people in his life.

johnnysd

Fair enough.They did a whole movie on it though, which I actually did not like.

Josh-da-man

That was my interpretation as well.

I think he was basically sacrificing himself to save her.

He knows what Lalo is capable of, and I think he really believed that they were both going to end up dead after he killed the unnamed target. By sending her out of their condo he was giving her a chance to escape, go to the police, and at least save herself. If he went off to kill Gus, then, in his mind, Kim dies if he completes the mission, fails the mission, or goes directly to the police for help.

The question is, though, if Kim will see it this way. They had no way of knowing that Lalo was just using them as decoys and was probably sending one of them to their death on an assassination attempt that was doomed to fail. It was fortunate that Kim was intercepted by Mike rather than one of Gus' other men.

jpcamb

So far the show is doing an amazing job wrapping things up. let's not forget they did not plan a mid-season finale it only worked out that they had a convenient breaking point to allow production time to finish the last episodes without making us wait for the pre-heart attach episodes much longer. This series is gold.

Dan

if we don't get at least one more scene with Lyle -- working his extended shifts at the restaurant -- then this show has failed us all.

dex14

From the writer of the episode:

Did Jimmy have a plan beyond getting Kim out of the apartment? Did he think she was actually going to try to shoot a stranger, or did he assume she would go running to a police station or someplace else safe?
I think the latter. I think he knows whoever stays in this place dies. However it plays out, he just thinks there’s no chance, and if he leaves Kim here with Lalo, she’s dead. I think he’s just, like, “Get out. I don’t care where you go. You go to the cops, that’s fine.” I think it’s a testament to how much Kim loves him that she makes it all the way to that door with a gun in her hand. Whether she could pull that trigger, I don’t know. I don’t know if she knows. It’s a situation of, “I don’t have to make a decision until the door is open,” and you just push those terrible decisions off as long as you possibly can. I think she made it way further than Jimmy would have expected.

Also? That walk up to the door, obviously we did echo the shot of Walt walking up to that door [in the [i]Breaking Bad episode “Thirty-Eight Snub”], and we had to figure out the high angle looking down on her. That was fun.

Coral

It's obvious Kim was aware that Jimmy was trying to save her. She knew that going to the cops was an option as she almost did when she rolled down the window when the cop car pulled up beside her at the stop light . So she wasn't exactly forced to go through with shooting anyone - she just figured that going through with killing gives Jimmy a chance at survival whereas going to the cops guarantees his death.