BGL’s Better Call Saul
On the left top, there is Chuck’s lamp. Chuck, Jimmy’s older brother, was perennially resentful of Jimmy because of Jimmy’s ongoing exploits, swindles and Jimmy’s energetic rizz. The only way to stop a rule breaker is to break some rules yourself. Chuck does. One kerosene lamp on the edge of Chuck’s table will end the need for space blankets, constant hypersensitivity and Chuck’s on the money conspiracy theories. Forced into retirement, Chuck will no longer teeter on the edge of sanity. Chuck may not have been lovable and Jimmy did care for him; but Jimmy was well aware that his responsibilities to his brother went beyond grocery shopping.
Above both Kim and Saul, is an inflatable Statue of Liberty, a lodestar to Saul’s thronging lonely, lost clients. Remarkably the resurrected, hoodwinking Betsy and Craig Kettleman animated their tax assistance office with a suspiciously similar and apparently equally supple memorial. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses …“ Blah, blah, blah.
On the right, the rear view mirror, introduced in the show by an Albuquerque air freshener, reveals Jeff’s eyes. Jeffie could spot a Saul on the lam when he saw one. Marion’s son easily put aside the denials of Gene Tacovic who knew too well that his heels were being nipped at.
On the lower left, comfort for large swaths of America, the cinnabon. Is there such a thing as too much dough? Saul loved making jokes about donuts and authority figures. Well thanks to Ed, the joke was on Saul. Saul had hoovered up what remained of his Albuquerque life and committed himself to a black and white Omaha life of frosting, drudgery and frigid fear as Gene.
To the left of the cinnabon is Hector’s finger and bell about to summon all to hell. The Salamancas believe in family values. Sorry, Gus. Sorry, Nacho. Their family values: nobody else’s. Their family includes Tuco, the twins and Lalo.
Howard’s vanity plate on his green Jag (akin to Saul’s LWYRUP plate) takes center bottom on the stained glass window:
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Howard (Patrick Fabian) is a perfect foil for Jimmy. He is the truth-teller to both Kim and Jimmy. But like so many Cassandras before him, he is ignored. So be it. But in Saul’s world, not so fast. Saul … and Kim … have to punish him for both perceived and vague wrongs. It is all good fun, until it isn’t.