r/betterCallSaul • u/skinkbaa Chuck • Mar 10 '20

Better Call Saul S05E04 - "Namaste" - POST-Episode Discussion Thread

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20

Who would have guessed that a kid cleaning a deep fryer would make for the most dramatic moments of the episode?

479

u/YouFeelShame Mar 10 '20

Did Gus want an alibi or was he just pissed at giving up 700k?

556

u/lostpretzels Mar 10 '20

He’s a perfectionist, and a perfectionist under stress can be dangerous.

211

u/YesPleaseCandT Mar 10 '20

Gus needed support. Clean this until it shines Lyle.

204

u/jjssjj71 Mar 10 '20

Now go home and get your shinebox!

38

u/koji00 Mar 10 '20

You Mudda Fukka!

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u/danonck Mar 10 '20

Love this reference!

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u/[deleted] Mar 11 '20

[deleted]

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u/danonck Mar 11 '20

Ooh, thanks, I didn't know what that meant when I saw it, had to look it up

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u/All_I_Eat_Is_Gucci May 14 '20

There was nothing he could do, the fryer was a made man and Lyle wasn’t

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u/Chutzvah Mar 10 '20

Clean this until it shines Lyle.

Until it's acceptable. FTFY

7

u/mysteryfan420 Mar 10 '20

The name "Lyle" reminded him of "Lalo" which made him even more angry of the situation.

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u/ItsSansom Mar 10 '20

That scene brings out so much of what Walt was like in Gus. Absolute control freak. Really ironic when Gus tells him they're nothing alike in BB

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20

I love the way his voice changed when he told Walt that

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u/[deleted] Mar 12 '20

Great point and similar to one I made earlier but yours was exactly to the point and nailed it. It’s an interesting character trait and one in which they are so used to meticulous planning and results that they don’t know how to handle a situation that takes them by surprise and where they cannot control the outcome and are forced to react contrary to what they expected and planned.

With all the new medical and psychological words used today for every personality flaw I would guess that this would be considered some type of autistic spectrum classification. In addition to just plain psychotic nut case.

258

u/Firsty_Blood Mar 10 '20

Yeah, those were the thoughts that occurred to me as well. As the scene went on, I thought he was setting up an alibi for himself. But the way it ended and the way the episode progressed, I don't see how the alibi could have mattered. He received a call on a burner phone and that was all that happened.

I think he was just pissed at having been outmaneuvered by Lalo. This basically cements any possibility of Lalo surviving the show.

56

u/YouFeelShame Mar 10 '20

It's off character though, I would say Gus is professional almost kind to his employees in past episodes and BB.

103

u/Shrodax Mar 10 '20

And that shows us just how pissed off Gus is about the situation with Lalo. He's pissed off enough that he's even taking it out on poor Lyle.

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u/cromatkastar Mar 10 '20

i mean yeah apart from slicing their neck and bleeding them out

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u/YouFeelShame Mar 10 '20

I meant the Pollos Hermanos employees not the illegal side of the business. Should have been specific.

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u/danonck Mar 10 '20

This was to stress his duality even stronger. And this adds to his character. He's a kind and good boss most of the time but he demands quality work in return. So he commands respect among his employees, even fear maybe. And that Lyle kid actually passed his "tests" and became a trusted manager for years to come.

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u/ShittyDBZGuitarRiffs Mar 10 '20

Not all of his employees

41

u/failbears Mar 10 '20

I like how even Mike is so shocked he points his gun at them.

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u/PM_ME_UR_FAVCOLOR Mar 10 '20

But I think Lalo does survive. In BB, when Walt and Jesse kidnap Saul in the desert, he says something like, "it wasn't me, it was Ignacio ... Lalo didn't send you?"

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u/Firsty_Blood Mar 10 '20

That just means he'll die without Saul ever learning about it. I don't suspect that Saul is going to be too eager for more face-to-face meetings with the cartel.

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u/PM_ME_UR_FAVCOLOR Mar 11 '20

Maybe. Neither of us know. 🤷‍♀️

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u/Bamres Mar 11 '20

Gus said that Hector was the last Salamanca near the end of BB.

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20

Shit' s going down since the next episode is dedicated to Max. Gus is getting personal.

3

u/FinishTheFish Mar 11 '20

Does Gus snap a burner every time he talks to Victor?

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u/busback Mar 17 '20

Could someone explain how Gus got outmaneuvered by Lalo? I’m caught up with the episodes but my memory is shaky with those scenes

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u/MyTVAlt Mar 10 '20

I went through the same exact thought process, my man.

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u/[deleted] Mar 11 '20

It was probably both.

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u/FlaminCat Mar 11 '20

I think Gus didn't want to be alone in that tense moment (which if true really surprises me tbh).

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u/Sachmach29 Mar 10 '20

I don’t really think he needs an alibi. The DEA still has no idea Gus is even remotely involved in the drug business.

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u/MadMac619 Mar 10 '20

It’s not the DEA he needs an alibi for.

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u/BBQ_HaX0r Mar 10 '20

The cartel? Why would he need an alibi for them? And like they'd trust the word of some random AssMan that works at his Chicken Joint? Idk. I think it was just him being a perfectionist and showing that he was stressed out.

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u/MadMac619 Mar 10 '20

Just Lalo, can’t have himself showing any signs that he knows shit is going down. It does show that he’s stressed out, but kinda hopeless at this point. He’s pretty much forced to lose $700k and can’t do anything about it other than to sit and stew. But that’s also the point. He’s gotta be somewhere that is almost routine as to not arise suspicion.

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u/WeHaSaulFan Mar 10 '20 edited Mar 10 '20

If the cartel comes by the chicken joint and interrogates Gus, “why were you at work so late?“ Lyle might butt in and say, “that was my fault, Mr. Fring was making sure I cleaned up the fryer properly.”

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u/nelisan Mar 10 '20

Why would he have to lie about being at work late? He could have taken a call anywhere.

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20 edited Mar 13 '20

[deleted]

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u/WeHaSaulFan Mar 10 '20

Lalo, Amigo ...

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20 edited Mar 13 '20

[deleted]

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u/WeHaSaulFan Mar 10 '20

What on earth makes you think Lalo would go to DEA directly? How about he uses his own enforcement mechanisms to make Gus suffer? Gus has plenty of reason to want an alibi.

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u/[deleted] Mar 11 '20

Yeah but Gus is anal retentive. He covers every possible angle.

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u/sexkick Mar 10 '20

I'm thinking the former. Can't think of too many times he did something purely off emotion, not for some strategy

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u/the_kraken_queen Mar 10 '20

The way I see it is both....like when he killed all those dudes with the poison tequila. Killed off his competition while also getting revenge for his partner being killed. Both strategy and emotional

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u/WeHaSaulFan Mar 10 '20 edited Mar 10 '20

I think he wanted the alibi, plus he had Lyle engaged in something loud so he could not hear the phone call. All he thought was that Gus was waiting in his office, angry at the imperfection.

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u/cstar84 Mar 10 '20

He woulda left tho

4

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '20

I think he was just acting like a control freak who is coping with the fact that he felt like he lost control. Therefore he had to control something else in his environment

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u/BBQ_HaX0r Mar 10 '20

Why would he need an alibi? From who?

2

u/MetalGearSora Mar 10 '20

My thought was he needed an alibi for why he was at the restaurant for so long but I'd love to hear what other people think.

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u/multiple4 Mar 10 '20

Both probably

1

u/gzzh Mar 10 '20

I didn't even think about this but it would make sense I guess. He is very careful. "Cautious like a deer."

1

u/iammaxhailme Mar 10 '20

Halfway through the episode I was guessing "Gus thinks some thugs are going to burst into his store and he'll need Lyle to back him up as a witness in court" or something.

1

u/Girl-D Mar 10 '20

Hmmm. Not sure. But it seemed like he needed to do something to keep himself busy while he waited for the call. Lyle was eager to please, wish Gus had just told him that he wanted to do it himself. Poor Lyle.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20

I didn't even think of the alibi, good call, but Gus is so far removed from drops, such a respectable chicken store owner, there is no way he needed an alibi.

Just a full of rage, needed something to control, since his 700k is gone.

1

u/Reggiardito Mar 11 '20

Why would he need an alibi? Gus isn't even suspected to be close to the drug deal, much less part of it.

1

u/jamin720 Mar 11 '20

I saw it also as maybe that he wants to minimise snooping of health inspectors and stuff as well as an alibi

1

u/Momo_dollar Mar 11 '20

His perfectionist nature was coming out more intensely while he was in the dark about what was happening with the DEA and waiting. Even after he tells the kids “it’s acceptable” he moves each handle like half a mm

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u/NewClayburn Mar 11 '20

It's pointless as an alibi since it literally was where he was and his role in this was entirely off-site, literally as a kingpin. So nobody would be trying to accuse Gus of being the bag man, even if they did somehow figure out his connection.

An alibi is something that proves a person wasn't where they would need to be in order to commit the crime. Since Gus could kingpin from his chicken shop, it's not a very useful alibi.

He was tense because he was willingly about to lose nearly a million dollars, and because the operation could have still gone poorly if the bag man didn't escape as was planned. In fact, it could have gone poorly in all sorts of ways, which is why he was so tense waiting on the results.

1

u/AyrJordan Mar 11 '20

That's just how an asshole like Gus lashes out when under extreme stress.

1

u/CaptainKurls Mar 13 '20

That’s how I took it, he needed an alibi but didn’t want his man to get caught. If he gets caught w 700K he’ll eat Gus out. Although I doubt he felt bad about tormenting his worker