It's his vulnerability and humanity that sells it.

a great actor playing a good actor playing a bad actor

@@FlymanMS that kinda also works in nobody during some parts

Along with James gandolfini, Jon hamm, Bryan Cranston and mcconaghuey as rust cohle. All were born for those roles

@@nighTmareCSGO True Detective is such an underated show, and Matt McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are a combination made in heaven

That's why it sucks that Jeff is recast

@@Kigoz4Life the cab driver who makes Gene

I fail to believe this is just a show. This is a real story from a parallel universe for me.

The sopranos for me is still the GOAT!!!!....but BCS is Up there for sure....Also not forget the first 2 seasons of hannibal (a forgotten gem in today's overpopulated market)

@@taopaille-paille4992 the original Jeff actor sucked. However the new Jeff looks way too "nice"

So crazy that Bob Odenkrik can actually shoot lightning!! Saul Goodman truly was made for this actor

Compared to many other actors, he can!!

Same dynamic as Anakin (Jimmy) and Obi-wan (Chuck), only if Obi-wan is a sith

Yeah. I feel like they killed Chuck too early. He was just too important to the show.

Spot on. I honestly was astonished with myself the moment I realized Chuck was actually the antagonist all along. But I also partly cared for his struggle the same way Jimmy did. Such wonderful gray areas of writing. I also truly believe they were brothers.

Yeah and they feel like real brothers

This is a pretty late reply but part of what I think makes this show so great is how far its range is. I personally love this show but not because of anything to do with Chuck or those first few seasons. The only episode I really like is when Chuck somewhat "proves" himself crazy in the courtroom. I enjoyed watching those seasons but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as when I watched Breaking Bad. However in this last few seasons I feel like I am watching a show I would almost call better than Breaking Bad. The premise has slowly shifted away from Jimmy and become more about Saul. But he is still there and you see him very often. But the way it's all woven together and Chuck contributes to him getting there is masterfully written.

The fact they still had it in the direction too during the silent scene, when we see him denied by Hamlin in season 1.

I think being able to show repressed or mixed emotion is a true mark of good acting. It should be subtle enough that we believe other characters wouldnt pick up on it, but clear enough that the audience can tell. Bob nails it through the whole show, so much so that it recontextualises the Breaking Bad era Saul into a being a flawless disguise for a broken lonely man.

"As if he is swallowing a razor blade." That's brilliant.

You can almost feel his disappointments, regrets, anger and shame through his facial expressions.

You mean Kevin Costner. :-)

I just want you to know how much I love character actors. You guys are ground on which excellent films are made. I pay a lot of attention to you guys. The Amazon Prime series Bosch had some of the finest character actors ever. Law & Order had a lot of excellent character actors too. What was neat about Law & Order they recast the same character actors in very different roles over the whole series. They kept them working and eligible for SAG/AFTRA benefits. They showed their range. I hope you keep working and have a long fruitful career.

Actually, he plays 4 different characters - the young Slippin' Jimmy, older Jimmy McGill, Saul Goodman, and Gene Takovic.

Could be both, they say the best way to tell a lie is to use the truth. It's very in character for Jimmy to have already thought of revealing Chuck's illness to the insurance company, and also be distressed about his own insurance going up and ripping him off. He's crying about his own problems and at the same time using those genuine emotions as a tool to lie and manipulate others.

It was confirmed by the writers that it was improvised.

I think he’s smart enough to know he wouldn’t get a refund

@@ethanbuttimer6438 My problem with the theory that this premeditated is that it doesn’t explain why he goes to the insurers at all. Jimmy could make an anonymous phone call to the insurance company. He could post them the transcripts. He could go in, say “Chuck McGill is crazy, i thought you ought to know,” and be gone. I imagine people will assume that it was for the joy of the scheme - but you can see it in Odenkirk’s performance. This is not comfortable for him. He’s desperate to get his insurance cancelled. He cries real tears when he finds out his insurance is going up 150%! The very final moment of the episode says it all - his frown contorts and twists for a moment, even he isn’t sure what he’s done is a good idea, but he gives himself a self reassured nod of “no, that was fair game.” But, your interpretation is your interpretation. The show is packed with moments like this and I’m sure there are many more that we would disagree on.

I agree. If Jimmy had gotten a refund on his insurance, he wouldn't have tried to get Chuck's insurance cancelled.

Love that shot

Thank you very much!

@@JustanObservation Completely concur. Wow. I suspect Jimmy's initial intention in the meeting with the insurance agent was to hope against hope that he would get a refund but then realised his opportunity to get back at Chuck. In any event, the scene is brilliantly written. If one listens to the insider podcast one is astonished at the amount of preparation the writers, directors and actors put into the show. A true labour of love.

Honestly one of my favorite things in video essays is the conciseness. It shows someone really knows what they are trying to say!

Bravo observation

Thank you brother!

Not to mention how he died on set and came back to life to finish filming the show.

Surely he has to!

@@JustanObservation I beg to differ. He won’t but Rhea Seehorn will because Saul in 6A really took a backseat and was Kim’s puppet at that point while Kim got to show all of her acting prowess. And we all know that Emmy loves show(wo)manship.

@@nont18411 tbh rhea seehorn emmy is just as deserved if not more

@@Sigmamale1289 A LOT MORE because in case of Saul, we still know that he’s a bad guy from the beginning. But Kim, she fooled us into thinking she’s a hero for five and a half seasons thanks to her writing and Rhea’s performance.

@@nont18411 Rhea’s performance is so overrated. She’s great but I don’t know why so many people put her at the level of Odenkirk and Cranston, doesn’t have nearly the amount of layers. People overall are too obsessed with her, and her feet

yup Micheal mando was a stand out for me. Everyone is perfect in this show tho

you win. great shoe

You like it but it’s unfortunate?

@@DeepfriedBeans4492 it’s unfortunate because I don’t want to have to correct someone.

He took advantage of the increased insurance

Sopranos over BB? Interesting I’m half way through it and can see where you’re coming from

also based guts pfp

@@depthsofabjection thank you, fellow struggler

Yes. I started re- watching season 1 and I'm relishing each and every scene that i found frustrating to watch the first time round. It was something that was unlike anything I'd seen packed with so much complexity with germane plot points that I thought were not very interesting. But here I am 7 years later.... On the good choice road to becoming a better call saul nerd. Finally getting over the breaking bad loyalty.

Exactly the same feeling.... I never thought it was as slow as others seemed to... but on my rewatch I loved it even more than the first time around... And definitely prefer it over Breaking Bad. I tried to do a BB rewatch, but actually found it.. lacking something... It was a great ride the first time around, but the ride was all about the intensity of it, and not knowing the direction. Once I actually knew the story, I found it nowhere near as captivating as BCS. I feel as though many folk found it so slow, because of the comparison to the rollercoaster of BB. BCS has the character development, the subtelties, is visually brilliant.... and I find Saul so much more interesting/enjoyable/endearing than Walt. Plus Kim.. Nacho and more Mike.. Hands down win...... for me....!

Truly fantastic. Lets enjoy it while it lasts.

I think Dwayne The Rock Johnson would be so awesome as Saul

Steve Carell is the only person i can remotely imagine but even then, Bob owns this role

Kevin Costner

I can't tell if a spam bot wrote this or a human, ironically

@@slashpointo Well, it surely does feel a little bot-like looking back at it :P But these words in that combination just summarized my thoughts for some reason. Let me assure you - This guy here is an admirer of BCS and filmmaking in general! Looking forward to next week...

Thanks Deepak!

Yep far better than Bob Odenkirk

@@nont18411 Let's not overexaggerate

@@nicoffee777 Bob doesn’t deserve Emmy, let alone a nomination. Rhea’s acting is another level compared to him. Like Jimmy, Bob is always below level of Rhea.

@@nont18411 It's kind of difficult to apples and oranges the two because Bob has so much more screen time, and so much more opportunities to get it not quite perfect. Rhea is 100% consistent, but I think part of what makes her performance seem so flawless is that there's simply less of it. Don't get me wrong - I think Rhea is the best actor in BCS. But she's also got the advantage in that her characters fate is unknown and none of her scenes are padded out. Others have argued that BCS is Kim's story, and I don't have a good argument against that assertion. All that said, there are some moments where Bob is less than convincing... but that's often also true of Saul in-universe. It's like Tropic Thunder - he's a guy, playing a guy, disguised as another guy. The con artist turned lawyer wouldn't really work if he was convincing all the time, as Jimmy clearly has a different understanding of other people's motivations and expectations than he does of his own. Bob deserves a nomination, or at least I suspect he will by the time the series is concluded, but yeah, Rhea deserves the win. Absolutely flawless. I can think of a few times Bob didn't quite sell it. I can't think of a single time she didn't hit it out of the park.

oh she is absolutely amazing. no one else could do kim like she does.

Yeah, that's how I always read it. The first tear is a real crack in the facade, but the moment his hand comes up to cover his face he's made the decision to run from that emotion and turn it into a performance instead. You can see the sudden switch to insincerity in his eyes.

Next week