Can't get over how bad this was. An utterly ridiculous premise with so many gaping plot holes, wooden acting and an ending that's telegraphed from the start. A major blot on Finchers portfolio, certainly his worst film and 3 hrs of my life I won't get back.
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Interesting. What are those plotholes? This review is so short and so unexplanative yet it got so many likes.
Review by Andrew Bloom
VIP9[9.5/10] They got me. They really did. I believed that Saul would do it, that he would find a way to lie, cheat, and steal out of suffering any real consequences for all the pain and losses he is responsible for. I believed that he would trade in Kim's freedom and chance to make a clean break after baring her soul in exchange for a damn pint of ice cream. I have long clocked Better Call Saul as a tragedy, about a man who could have been good, and yet, through both circumstance and choice, lists inexorably toward becoming a terrible, arguably evil person. I thought this would be the final thud of his descent, selling out the one person on this Earth who loved him to feather his own nest.
Maybe Walt was right when he said that Jimmy was "always like this." Maybe Chuck was right that there something inherently corrupt and untrustworthy in the heart of his little brother. This post-Breaking Bad epilogue has been an object lesson in the depths to which Gene Takovic will stoop in order to feed his addiction and get what he wants. There would be no greater affirmation of the completeness of his craven selfishness and cruelty than throwing Kim under the bus to save himself.
Only, in the end, that's the feint, that's the trick, that's the con, on the feds and the audience. When Saul hears that Kim took his words to heart and turned herself in, facing the punishments that come with it, he can't sit idly by and profit from his own lies and bullshit. He doesn't want to sell her out; he wants to fall on the sword in front of her, make sure she knows that he knows what he did wrong.Despite his earlier protestations that his only regret was not making more money or avoiding knee damage, he wants to confess in a court of law that he regrets the choices that led him here and the pain he caused, and most of all he regrets that they led to losing her.
In that final act of showmanship and grace, he lives up to the advice Chuck gives him in the flashback scene here, that if he doesn't like the road that his bad choices have led him, there's no shame in taking a different path. Much as Walt did, at the end of the line, Saul admits his genuine motives, he accepts responsibility for his choices after years of blame and evasion. Most of all, he takes his name back, a conscious return to being the person that Kim once knew, in form and substance. It is late, very late, when it happens, but after so much, Jimmy uses his incredible skills to accept his consequences, rather than sidestep them, and he finds the better path that Kim always believed he could walk, one that she motivates him to tread.
It is a wonderful finale to this all-time great show. I had long believed that this series was a tragedy. It had to be, given where Jimmy started and where the audience knew Saul ended. But as it was always so good at doing, Better Call Saul surprised me, with a measured bit of earned redemption for its protagonist, and moving suggestion that with someone we care for and who cares of us, even the worst of us can become someone and something better. In its final episode, the series offered one more transformation -- from a tale of tragedy, to a story of hope.
(On a personal note, I just want to say thank you to everyone who read and commented on my reviews here over the years. There is truly no show that's been as rewarding for me to write about than Better Call Saul, and so much of that owes to the community of people who offered me the time and consideration to share my thoughts, offered their kind words, and helped me look at the series in new ways with their thoughtful comments. I don't know what the future holds, but I am so grateful to have been so fortunate as to share this time and these words with you.)
EDIT: One last time, here is my usual, extended review of the finale in case anyone's interested --
https://thespool.net/reviews/better-call-saul-series-finale-recap-saul-gone/loading replies
@andrewbloom It's been a pleasure and a joy to read your thoughts episode after episode. It was you who helped me getting thorough details and insights, I've gotten used to it so much it became part of the watching and I just want to say that as I'm going to miss the show I'm going to miss these reviews as well. Sincerely, thank you!
What the fuck did I just watch? The writers are diving way too deep into these characters. Can we just go back to Rick and Morty going on adventures. In and out, a quick 30 mins!
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@abstractlegend Oh, they went in-and-out all right!
Shout by Lucas Melo
VIP8Absolutely incredible, one of the most heartbreaking moments in the Breaking Bad universe. Never in a million years I'd have expected something like this - always thought Howard was the safest character.
Nacho's death was sort of easy to process since there was so much vindication and control about it, but this was the polar opposite - Howard gets ridiculed, only to then get offed basically for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
When Lalo looked at the cockroach, I instantly knew he'd look for Jimmy, just never expected it being so soon. Visual storytelling at its finest.
With this episode, I realized I also changed my perspective on Saul's future as Gene - where I used to feel sort of sorry for him after seeing how he thrives in his heyday, it more and more seems like where things were headed all along. Best character development on TV as always, and masterful storytellers all around.
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Also, I can't get over how Howard's head hit the table counter exactly like Chuck's did back when he fainted at the photocopying place. Both men "fall" after having the worst day of their professional lives (manufactured by Jimmy). Can't get over this episode!
A highly enjoyable no-bullshit action movie. Fast paced, great action, funny one liners without turning to slapstick. I’d love to see Guy Ritchie doing a Bond movie!
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@michelsmaxx there is, it’s „Codename U.N.C.L.E.“
This episode was frustratingly annoying. 10 minutes worth of plot stretched out over an hour. It's hard to sympathize with someone so naive.
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@tabbylover She tried the lawyer. He was gone except for emergencies so the fed hung up. She was a 23 yr old girl and they were feds. She was also afraid of the Clinton's reactions. Might have well been the Gestapo. Then the mother fell for it too.
