The Argonaut wrote:I don't agree either, g2t. The real Jimmy was always hiding behind the goofy Saul Goodman cartoon. You would see him break character in moments of stress and be a real person. Also, if I'm not mistaken, very few if any of the major problems Walt got into were because of a fuck-up on Saul's part. He was good at what he did, even if Walt sometimes didn't listen to him or he got in over his head by the end
And I think by Breaking Bad he's.. given up on anything that's not just personal gain. He's lost his brother, he's lost Kim, he's lost his self respect. He functions entirely out of greed.. and with nothing left to lose he is going to be slightly more wreckless in what he's willing to do, which isn't "bright".
Steve Albini wrote:Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Sun January 11, 2026 6:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
Steve Albini wrote:Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Sun January 11, 2026 6:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
Hello Michael! Do you have an opinion on whether the shootout in the last episode (S04E04) was the very first time that Nacho killed someone? Your acting and shocked expression seemed to indicate that it was.
That's a great question and I believe, even though he has seen a lot of violence in his life (especially when Tuco was around), this was the first time he has ever killed anyone (this is just my opinion, not a fact in the show - however, Heather Marion (our wonderful writer of the episode) and I had that talk and felt it would be adequate to play it as such)... it's tragic because it's something he naively believed he would never have to do.
Anders wrote:I do not have a «neoliberal assessment of geopolitics», so please stop writing that I do.
I believe so. Not sure why we saw it, though. Just as a reminder?
It also raises an interesting question: could one thoroughly enjoy, appreciate, and understand this show if they know nothing about BB?
Steve Albini wrote:Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Sun January 11, 2026 5:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
The Argonaut wrote:I believe so. Not sure why we saw it, though. Just as a reminder?
This show never plays with its chronology just because, it's always meant to illuminate or recontextualize something we're about to see or have seen before. This flash forward to start the episode was meant to contrast with the very end of the episode, as well as draw a bunch of thematic and plot parallels not just with this episode but with what we've seen in the show so far. I really loved that it seemed to be shot Breaking Bad style -- it felt like Breaking Bad, texturally, and if I didn't know any better I'd say it might have even been shot on film. Nice little touch by the production team.
Anders wrote:I do not have a «neoliberal assessment of geopolitics», so please stop writing that I do.
If you don’t know Breaking Bad, as a viewer I think you’re pretty damn confused about dedicating half the episode to Mike interviewing excavation architects.
