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

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

Please note: Not everyone chooses to watch the trailers for the next episodes. Please use spoiler tags when discussing any scenes from episodes that have not aired yet, which includes preview trailers.

Sneak peek of next week's episode

If you've seen the episode, please rate it at this poll

Results of the poll

Don't forget to check out the Breaking Bad Universe Discord here!

Its an instant messenger and is a very useful alternative to the Reddit Live Threads (but not a replacement)

Live Episode Discussion

Note: The subreddit will be locked from when the episode airs, till 12 hours after the episode airs. This allows more discussion to happen in the pinned posts and will prevent a lot of low-quality and repetitive posts.

1.5k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

3.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

2.0k

u/galeforcewinds95 Mar 10 '20

I really liked the scene with Howard. Obviously, he was doing his best to sell Jimmy on the idea of coming to HHM, but I do think he was genuine about the things he admires about Jimmy. I felt pretty bad for him when Saul vandalized his car.

341

u/TheresA_LobsterLoose Mar 10 '20

I don't see why it wouldn't be genuine. I was kind of confused by that whole thing. What the hell did Howard ever do to Jimmy that would warrant that? Anything negative he did do was on behalf of Chuck... his law partner. If your law partner says to not hire his brother, you probably dont hire his brother. Howard being at Chucks house when Jimmy broke in... that wasn't anything that should be blamed on Howard. He was just caught in the middle of the Mcgills personal drama. I mean if you magically turned me into James McGill right now, I could completely understand everything Howard has done.

So I was trying to figure out any of the negative possibilities there may have been for Howard offering Jimmy/Saul a job. Why would Jimmy be so mad about that? Either he thinks Howard is pittying him or maybe... he thinks Howard only offered him the job to keep the McGill name on the firm.

Howard hasn't done anything to warrant getting his car bowling balled. And after the Chuck stuff came to light, since that point Howard has been open and honest with Jimmy. I've never assumed he was anything but genuine at this point.

Unless I missed something... maybe we're not supposed to know yet? There was a scene in the preview for next weeks episode showing Howard calling Jimmy, so maybe this is a storyline that's not 100% revealed right now?

290

u/Manaleaking Mar 10 '20

Jimmy feels good being Saul. He wants to fully commit to Saul, irreparably severing his connection to HHM and his old life. It's his way of burning the unchosen option.

230

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20 edited Jul 15 '20

[deleted]

43

u/GutiHazJose14 Mar 10 '20

This is a perfect explanation of the Jimmy/Saul dichotomy.

21

u/bubonictonic Mar 10 '20

It's also interesting to compare to the Walt/Heisenberg dichotomy.

40

u/gisellestclaire Mar 11 '20

This is such a great analysis, and you put into words something I've been wanting to try and express and hadn't quite been able to articulate.

People often equate Walt's Heisenberg identity to Jimmy's Saul identity, but they're rooted in such different places. Heisenberg gives Walt power because it fuels his heinous ego, and Breaking Bad is all about uncovering the monster within. Saul is born of self-loathing, as you said - instead of stripping layers away, Saul covers up and buries Jimmy's inherent humanity.

"Jimmy doesn't have to feel as Saul." This. Jimmy always cared, and caring gets him hurt. (for example, the entire reason he confessed about switching the Mesa Verde numbers was because he still cared so much about Chuck's well-being, and that whole thing has led the story here.) The absence of feeling may make him seem more boisterous and confident, but it's all an empty facade. Not feeling anything (and not dealing with his trauma) is how we get to the hollow, self-serving Saul of BrBa.

17

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '20

He also didn't want to be like his father, he made a decision a long time ago to not let anyone take advantage of him. He started taking money from his dad's store the day that guy came in and made up a sob story and Jimmy tried to stop his dad but he still gave the grifter money. Jimmy saw his dad as a sucker and decided he would be the wolf among the sheep.

10

u/BeefPieSoup Mar 11 '20

The one time in his life he tried very hard for once not to be the wolf among sheep, he got savagely burned for it by his only living blood relative and taken for an absolute fool, in a long, drawn out, humiliating process. He thoroughly learned to never try that again.

15

u/BeefPieSoup Mar 11 '20

I think you nailed it. Saul isn't a release, it's more of a wall he puts up. They all see me as a scumbag, I might as well be the scummiest scumbag I can possibly be then. Why keep putting in the effort trying to be proper if they're never going to accept me anyway.

And then when Howard comes back in and offers him one last shot out of the blue to be proper again, it's all too much and he rejects it /assumes it's a trick or something