# Better Call Saul | "Bagman" | S05E08 | 4/6/20 *spoilers*



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

What an amazing episode! So reminiscent of some of the desert episodes of Breaking Bad. In fact, this episode was filmed in To'hajiilee, roughly the same area as some of the last episodes of BB, including "To'hajiilee" and "Ozymandias." According to the Insider podcast, this episode took 18 days of shooting, and just the shootout scene took five full days. And they were filming it in July 2019 so you know it was blazing hot out there.

Obviously it was a cool reveal to have Jimmy about to get shot and then suddenly his shirt gets splattered with blood. But I really would have liked to see how Mike was able to be in the right place at the right time. Was he tailing Jimmy all the way to the meet up with the Cousins? Was he set up to protect Jimmy at that point? Or did he drive the route beforehand, realize that bend in the road was the logical place to stage a heist, and he gambled that this would be the spot where he should be set up? It's not like there was another parallel road Mike could be driving to be tailing Jimmy without being seen.

How did Jimmy think he could drag those bags across the desert without getting a hole. I'm surprised he went as long as he did before he started to leak money.

Also, it was kind of odd that they knew that guy was looking for them, yet they just wandered across vast open desert in broad daylight. It seems like if that guy was smart, he should have just climbed one of the highest bluffs near where he found the Suzuki Esteem with some binoculars and just watched all the open land until he saw people moving. Seems like a much better plan than just driving up and down the road at full speed.

I was so confused about the rear-mounted spare tire on the Cousins' Porsche Cayenne, but apparently it was a factory option for the first couple years that car was offered.

Finally, I had one gripe about the episode, and that was the final shot, with Mike stepping on the space blanket and leaving it behind as he walked away. That doesn't seem like something Mike would do. He had no way to know whether they were going to have to spend another night out there so he'd definitely want to keep it with them, plus he wouldn't want to litter and/or leave any evidence in the area, since the murder of all those guys at the shootout was sure to be discovered and investigated at some point.


----------



## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

Only 2 eps left. I hope they don't make us wait another 2 years for the next season.

I already had a bad feeling about Kim's fate in this show and that has now been cranked up to 11.


----------



## kaszeta (Jun 11, 2004)

I'm wondering if Jimmy's going to be several $k short next week because of the leak.

I also have to suspend disbelief, but gopher holes be damned, that's way, way less risky than hiking in the day with no water.

Random chuckle observation during the episode: the pee bottle was from Davis and Main[sp?].


----------



## series5orpremier (Jul 6, 2013)

It will be fun how the delay is explained to Lalo. If he finds out about an ambush, how could Saul have reasonably escaped it without Lalo finding out that Gus helped? Say he was helped from Nacho instead?


----------



## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

DevdogAZ said:


> But I really would have liked to see how Mike was able to be in the right place at the right time.
> 
> Finally, I had one gripe about the episode, and that was the final shot, with Mike stepping on the space blanket and leaving it behind as he walked away. That doesn't seem like something Mike would do.


The gas cap had a GPS in it. They also did that in BB. used that same trick in an earlier episode of BCS.

The space blanket reminded Jimmy of the one his brother used to use. That's why he turned it down that first night. Other than using it for the bait trap, he wanted nothing to do with it.

_
[credit: both these ideas came from Alan Sepinwall's column.]_


----------



## kaszeta (Jun 11, 2004)

I thought the gas cap was earlier in BCS. Did we see it in BB?


----------



## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

Always fun to see the cousins


----------



## hefe (Dec 5, 2000)

"She's in the game."

/shiver


----------



## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

kaszeta said:


> I thought the gas cap was earlier in BCS. Did we see it in BB?


You're right, it was BCS. I'll correct my post.


----------



## hummingbird_206 (Aug 23, 2007)

I was hoping they'd show the prairie dogs. They are so cute!

I think the cartel involvement will cause Kim to leave Saul. She's going to realize that Jimmy is dead and that she doesn't want to be with Saul. I don't think they will kill her off. Please, don't kill her!

I hope they show us how Mike got into position to help Saul.

I still love the show, but this episode showcased why I'm not much of a fan of prequels. Knowing that Saul and Mike were going to be ok took the suspense out of it for me.


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

hummingbird_206 said:


> I still love the show, but this episode showcased why I'm not much of a fan of prequels. Knowing that Saul and Mike were going to be ok took the suspense out of it for me.


But the suspense of not knowing how they get rejuvenated by the time BB starts is absolutely KILLING me!


----------



## hummingbird_206 (Aug 23, 2007)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> But the suspense of not knowing how they get rejuvenated by the time BB starts is absolutely KILLING me!


It's pretty obvious to me. They are making so much money that they can afford good surgeons.


----------



## Tony_T (Nov 2, 2017)

We know from BB that Saul is no longer working for the Salamanca's, and is working for Gus, so he is being protected. My _guess_ is that Saul will get that protection extended to Kim, and that she then leaves AZ (and that we see her again in a BCS flash forward in the finale)


----------



## tivotvaddict (Aug 11, 2005)

Jimmy "wasting" water in the beginning as he cleaned his shoe was cruel foreshadowing.


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

astrohip said:


> The gas cap had a GPS in it. They also did that in BB. used that same trick in an earlier episode of BCS.


But even though Mike was able to track the position of Jimmy's car, he still had to keep himself unseen (by Jimmy, the Cousins, and the ambushers) which is hard to do in an open desert like that with only one dirt road. And he had to get himself in position to save Jimmy from the ambush. There wasn't time for Mike to see the ambush and then get into position, so he had to already have anticipated it would happen at that location and be in position. That's pretty much deus ex machina as far as I'm concerned.


----------



## Tony_T (Nov 2, 2017)

I think he was really just keeping an eye on Saul. While Mike was prepared for trouble, as he said, had he expected that level of an ambush, he would have brought help with him.


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

Tony_T said:


> I think he was really just keeping an eye on Saul. While Mike was prepared for trouble, as he said, had he expected that level of an ambush, he would have brought help with him.


But then it makes no sense that he was in position to save Jimmy from the ambush if Mike wasn't anticipating it. They can't have it both ways.


----------



## Tony_T (Nov 2, 2017)

DevdogAZ said:


> But then it makes no sense that he was in position to save Jimmy from the ambush if Mike wasn't anticipating it. They can't have it both ways.


Then he only anticipated the ambush after he was on the road and too late to call for backup.

But who did the guy at the money room call to tip off about the $7 million in transit?


----------



## mooseAndSquirrel (Aug 31, 2001)

I love this show, but this was another episode that was so drawn out. In a rewatch, there are a lot of episodes that I would FF through - the bingo, the true crime montage in Chicago, the 30 minutes wandering in the desert.

And as said upthread, it's ludicrous to say walking in the desert at night is more dangerous than under the blazing sun, especially with bad guys looking for you.


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

kaszeta said:


> I'm wondering if Jimmy's going to be several $k short next week because of the leak.


Even if he lost some money, the drop was supposed to have an extra $100k that Jimmy could keep for his services, so even if he did lose a few thousand, he'd still have enough to cover Lalo's bail.


----------



## getreal (Sep 29, 2003)

hummingbird_206 said:


> It's pretty obvious to me. They are making so much money that they can afford good surgeons.


And by "good surgeons" you mean "versatile veterinarians" ...


----------



## teknikel (Jan 27, 2002)

If the bail is $7M, don't they only need $700K?

Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk


----------



## dwatt (Jan 11, 2007)

teknikel said:


> If the bail is $7M, don't they only need $700K?
> 
> Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk


I think it was stated as "cash" bail. In other words "no bond" 
Difference Between Bail and Bond: The Beginner's Guide


> The biggest difference between cash bail and bail bond is cost. A bail bond generally has a _lower_ upfront cost, but a _higher_ long-term cost. Let's see why.
> 
> To post cash bail, the family must post the _full_ cash bail amount set by the judge. To get a bond, the family must only pay a _percentage_ of the bond's face value.


----------



## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

Probably would be tough finding a bondsman willing to risk seven million.


----------



## markymark_ctown (Oct 11, 2004)

So how much does $7M in hundred dollar bills weigh?


----------



## gersh49 (Feb 1, 2003)

markymark_ctown said:


> So how much does $7M in hundred dollar bills weigh?


154 lbs.


----------



## mooseAndSquirrel (Aug 31, 2001)

Imagine doing "farmer's walk" with 154 pounds, business shoes, no water, through the desert. You might make it 20 yards, once.


----------



## Tony_T (Nov 2, 2017)

'Better Call Saul' Review: 'Bagman' Is About as Good as This Show Has Ever Been


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

I agree that there were a lot of good things in this episode, but I felt it was very drawn out, _especially_ with only two episodes left. I think they could have interjected more of the other story lines (Gus, Nacho, etc). I also wouldn't call it 'as good as it gets'... this felt more like "The Fly" to me (but with better cinematography).


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

mooseAndSquirrel said:


> Imagine doing "farmer's walk" with 154 pounds, business shoes, no water, through the desert. You might make it 20 yards, once.


On the Insider podcast, they said that although the actual weight of $7 million in cash would be about 150 lbs, or 75 lbs in each bag, they played it more like 100 lbs (50 lbs each) so Bob would actually be able to walk with the bags yet still make it look very difficult.


----------



## dbranco (Nov 20, 2003)

Behind the scenes, filming this episode:


----------



## MacThor (Feb 7, 2002)

Tony_T said:


> But who did the guy at the money room call to tip off about the $7 million in transit?


"I got something for him, if he's still interested" - That's what I want to know, too. Who is "he?" 
My BB history is a little rusty but I don't remember rival cartels being willing to brazenly take on the Juarez Cartel (Eladio-Salamanca-Bolsa).


----------



## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

Kim is so far into it now. Thus far Jimmy hadn't told the cartel anything about Kim, but now that they know, they have that to hold over him. Kim is either dead or she got out with a new identity from the vacuum cleaner guy.


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

I'm crossing my fingers that the writers knew before they started shooting this season that Kim would need to be "vacuumed" and they were able to film a scene with Kim and Robert Forster at the same time they filmed Forster talking to Gene for the season premiere. But realistically, I don't think they'd resolve Kim's story this early. I suspect whatever happens to her will happen toward the end of next season so there won't be any way for Forster to appear if the decision is for her to get disappeared.


----------



## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

DevdogAZ said:


> I'm crossing my fingers that the writers knew before they started shooting this season that Kim would need to be "vacuumed" and they were able to film a scene with Kim and Robert Forster at the same time they filmed Forster talking to Gene for the season premiere. But realistically, I don't think they'd resolve Kim's story this early. I suspect whatever happens to her will happen toward the end of next season so there won't be any way for Forster to appear if the decision is for her to get disappeared.


Honestly, at this point it's just Lalo that knows about her, right? If the plan is to release him from jail and kill him, nobody else will ever know about Kim.


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

Seriously, I don't think Kim and/or Jimmy can afford a new dust filter for a Hoover Max Extract Pressure Pro model 60 -- even if he does get paid by Lalo, which he obviously won't. Also, Saul's not to the point where he'd even know about Best Quality Vacuum (or Mike for that matter). The only person who has the funds and the contacts at this point would be Gus (who also has the $7m). So why would Gus pay for Kim to disappear? My personal opinion is that Kim does disappear, but not via Best Quality Vacuum, if you know what I mean.


----------



## MacThor (Feb 7, 2002)

Hank said:


> Seriously, I don't think Kim and/or Jimmy can afford a new dust filter for a Hoover Max Extract Pressure Pro model 60 -- even if he does get paid by Lalo, which he obviously won't. Also, Saul's not to the point where he'd even know about Best Quality Vacuum (or Mike for that matter). The only person who has the funds and the contacts at this point would be Gus (who also has the $7m). So why would Gus pay for Kim to disappear? My personal opinion is that Kim does disappear, but not via Best Quality Vacuum, if you know what I mean.


How does Gus have the $7M? Saul is still schlepping it through the desert (but at least they're on the road now).


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

MacThor said:


> How does Gus have the $7M? Saul is still schlepping it through the desert (but at least they're on the road now).


I'm assuming Mike gives it to Gus (which is why Mike was following Saul).


----------



## milo99 (Oct 14, 2002)

that doesn't make sense. Mike said something about getting that money where it's supposed to go. Remember he wants Lalo out on bail. NOw, why they want him out on bail is the real curiosity, since Gus has mentioned that if anything happens to him in the US, they'll blame Gus.


----------



## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

milo99 said:


> that doesn't make sense. Mike said something about getting that money where it's supposed to go. Remember he wants Lalo out on bail. NOw, why they want him out on bail is the real curiosity, since Gus has mentioned that if anything happens to him in the US, they'll blame Gus.


Or maybe they are hoping he'll skip bail and return home?


----------



## MacThor (Feb 7, 2002)

Mike is making sure Saul bails Lalo out. He's not taking the money.


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

milo99 said:


> Remember he wants Lalo out on bail.


I don't remember this part. Why does Mike (Gus) want him out on bail? They set Lalo up to get pinched and out of the picture. Why release him? You think he'll just go back to Mexico to escape conviction and be out of the picture?


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

I thought it was Lalo and his superiors who arranged for the bail, using their new "friend" Saul to be the, ahem, bagman.


----------



## milo99 (Oct 14, 2002)

you all don't remember an episode or 2 ago (forget which one) where Mike went to Saul's apartment to give him the info he needed to get Lalo out on bail?

They want him out because even from prison he was running things and putting in orders, like to firebomb the Pollos Hermanos. So he was i suppose too safe in prison and they want to get him out to take care of him. it was a change of plans.

THe question is how are they planning to do that.


----------



## Tony_T (Nov 2, 2017)

So..... who were the ambushers connected with?


----------



## milo99 (Oct 14, 2002)

Tony_T said:


> So..... who were the ambushers connected with?


another big question for which we have no answer.


----------



## milo99 (Oct 14, 2002)

photoshopgrl said:


> Or maybe they are hoping he'll skip bail and return home?


i thought about that, but Lalo seems too dedicated to ruining Gus for him to do that. Especially with the evidence they provided to get him out of jail, the witness being tampered with means he'll likely not get convicted.


----------



## mooseAndSquirrel (Aug 31, 2001)

I made the mistake of watching Ozark at the same time, so my Navarro-Salamanca-Lagunas-Don Eladio cartels are all confused.


----------



## dwatt (Jan 11, 2007)

Aren't there three families part of this cartel? If it wasn't Gus and it wasn't the salamanca's they could be the third family. Or a different rival cartel who has an inside man at the money house for the salamanca's.


----------



## MacThor (Feb 7, 2002)

I wonder if any of it is Mike going off the reservation a bit, because he's trying to help competing interests (Gus, Ignacio, and Saul).

It's very convoluted:
Mike put things in motion to get Lalo incarcerated.
Then, he gave Saul all the evidence he needed to get Lalo out. (Which was basically the witness tampering that _he_ committed) He explicitly told Saul that he "represented someone who needs Lalo out on bail."
Gus knows that Lalo is trying to make him a "financial liability" to the cartel. It's the money Gus brings in that makes him so valuable to Eladio and Bolsa.
I'm not sure what Gus's (and Mike's) endgame is for Lalo, but I expect it will be revealed. Putting him in and out of jail doesn't seem to accomplish much.

Perhaps Gus tipped off a rival cartel about the $7M crossing the border. The cartel is going to feel $7MM going to a rival, and now Lalo becomes a liability. It's a straight turning-the-tables financially. Then somehow Mike found out Saul was the bagman (?) and didn't want him killed? Maybe the dirt-road bandits were expecting the Porsche with the cousins.
If those were Gus's men, there's no way for Mike to explain his way out of killing 6 of them.
Or Gus tipped off the rivals, thinking Mike would take them out (but they underestimated the size of the crew). Now the Salamancas will be blamed for taking them out, and they have another war to fight instead of their "civil war" against Gus.


----------



## MacThor (Feb 7, 2002)

dwatt said:


> Aren't there three families part of this cartel? If it wasn't Gus and it wasn't the salamanca's they could be the third family. Or a different rival cartel who has an inside man at the money house for the salamanca's.


The three families are Eladio, Salamanca, and Bolsa. (Though I always thought Juan Bolsa was more of a consigliere). Gus works for them - he's high up, but he's not one of the three. He "reports to Juan Bolsa" (from his confrontation with Hector at Los Pollos Hermanos).


----------



## Tony_T (Nov 2, 2017)

IIRC, Bolsa belongs to the Salamanca Family.


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

MacThor said:


> Putting him in and out of jail doesn't seem to accomplish much.


Except that Lalo can now escape to Mexico to avoid going to court/prison. That leaves Nacho to run things for the Salamancas, at least temporarily. And gets Lalo off of threatening Nacho's father.


----------



## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

Hank said:


> Except that Lalo can now escape to Mexico to avoid going to court/prison. That leaves Nacho to run things for the Salamancas, at least temporarily. And gets Lalo off of threatening Nacho's father.


This was my thought behind my post earlier. I think he may run or be told to return and they send another or allow Nacho to run things since he showed them he's the man.


----------



## MacThor (Feb 7, 2002)

Lalo doesn't strike me as a runner.

Gus can't have him running back to the cartel in Mexico - he's too obsessed with Gus's secret underground project

I think it's more likely Gus is either trying to get him into a war with a different cartel, or make Lalo a liability to the Juarez cartel.

The more I think about it, the more the idea that Gus tipped off a rival makes sense. He could have even told them where best to ambush the bagman - which would make Mike's appearance at that location more plausible, too.


----------



## Tony_T (Nov 2, 2017)

photoshopgrl said:


> This was my thought behind my post earlier. I think he may run or be told to return and they send another or allow Nacho to run things since he showed them he's the man.


Maybe Saul intentionality blows the case in order to have Lalo skip bail and run to Mexico to protect Kim (and convincing Kim to also run). This would fit with Saul thinking Lalo was trying to kill him in Breaking Bad (when Walt and Jessie took Saul to the desert to get him to convince Badger not to take a plea deal)


----------



## MacThor (Feb 7, 2002)

Tony_T said:


> IIRC, Bolsa belongs to the Salamanca Family.


No.


----------



## Tony_T (Nov 2, 2017)

MacThor said:


> No.


Sorry, meant that the Salamanca's belong to the Family that Bolsa belongs to. (Juan Bolsa was a high-level member of the Juárez drug cartel which the Salamanca family belongs to).
My point being that Bolsa's Family _probably_ didn't plan the ambush.


----------



## dwatt (Jan 11, 2007)

MacThor said:


> No.


If I recall correctly. Eladio is the big boss, that is why he is referred to as "Don" Eladio. The Salamanca family works for Eladio. Juan Bolsa works for Eladio. Gus works for Bolsa. So I retract my previous three family comment.


----------



## dwatt (Jan 11, 2007)

Tony_T said:


> Sorry, meant that the Salamanca's belong to the Family that Bolsa belongs to. (Juan Bolsa was a high-level member of the Juárez drug cartel which the Salamanca family belongs to).
> My point being that Bolsa's Family _probably_ didn't plan the ambush.


I think Gus has a mole in the Salamaca money compound and he placed the call to someone in Gus's organization. Gus arranged for or passed along info to a third party to have the money mule hit. This does two things, it makes the Salamanca's look weak or vulnerable and puts them on a war footing with another cartel or gang. This lessens their focus on Gus's operations. With that plan in motion Mike was dispatched to keep Saul safe and still get the bail money to the court for Lalo.


----------



## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

Tony_T said:


> Maybe Saul intentionality blows the case in order to have Lalo skip bail and run to Mexico to protect Kim (and convincing Kim to also run). This would fit with Saul thinking Lalo was trying to kill him in Breaking Bad (when Walt and Jessie took Saul to the desert to get him to convince Badger not to take a plea deal)


If we were in the final episodes I might agree with this but since I don't believe there's any way Kim exits left this early, I'm going to say no.


----------



## Tony_T (Nov 2, 2017)

...but having a character “exit” early is something Gilligan would do.


----------



## zyzzx (Jan 22, 2002)

Tony_T said:


> ...but having a character "exit" early is something Gilligan would do.


Maybe, but Gilligan is barely involved with the show at all now.


----------



## kaszeta (Jun 11, 2004)

Tony_T said:


> ...but having a character "exit" early is something Gilligan would do.


She'll just go on a trip to Belize.


----------



## photoshopgrl (Nov 22, 2008)

Tony_T said:


> ...but having a character "exit" early is something Gilligan would do.


shhhhhhh :hand:


----------



## MacThor (Feb 7, 2002)

Gus also referred to Hector Salamanca as "Don Hector" and Bolsa was referred to as a "Don" at some point (I believe that was on BB).

I agree that Bolsa is unlikely to be involved in this. What's his motive for hitting the Salamancas?

Gus's schemes are very complex. Remember when he first met Mike (after preventing Mike's assassination attempt) on Hector Salamanca. He hates Hector ("It's Personal") but Hector's death does not serve his purposes ("at this time.") He has a very specific ideal outcome for Lalo, but I'm not seeing it yet. Perhaps it's having a rival cartel take him out, but it's probably not that simple.


----------



## MacThor (Feb 7, 2002)

zyzzx said:


> Maybe, but Gilligan is barely involved with the show at all now.


He's not writing episodes, but he still writes the outline for the seasons, and directs one episode each season. "Bagman" was his episode for Season 5. 
He and Gould are still running the show.


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

dwatt said:


> With that plan in motion Mike was dispatched to keep Saul safe and still get the bail money to the court for Lalo.


The only thing is, that only Saul (and Kim) knew Saul was going on a bag run. He likely didn't tell Mike or Gus. Mike might have been following Saul around, but how did they even know that Saul was going to be the bagman and meet the twins? Was Mike just randomly following Saul? The tipster in the money room only saw the twins take the cash, he didn't know the meet up point or the bagman (really, only Lalo knew that besides Saul and Kim). Unless it's just by pure coincidence that Saul was the bagman and Mike/Gus had no idea and Mike as just following the money. I'm sure it will be answered.


----------



## MacThor (Feb 7, 2002)

Hank said:


> The only thing is, that only Saul (and Kim) knew Saul was going on a bag run. He likely didn't tell Mike or Gus. Mike might have been following Saul around, but how did they even know that Saul was going to be the bagman and meet the twins? Was Mike just randomly following Saul? The tipster in the money room only saw the twins take the cash, he didn't know the meet up point or the bagman (really, only Lalo knew that besides Saul and Kim). Unless it's just by pure coincidence that Saul was the bagman and Mike/Gus had no idea and Mike as just following the money. I'm sure it will be answered.


Yes, that's why I think Gus tipped off the "bandits" - they just underestimated the number and did not realize Saul would be the bagman. (Gus doesn't care about Saul, anyway, yet) It's a lot more likely that Mike was set up with his sniper rifle at that location because that's where they put them, than he got there just by randomly following Saul around.
Gus (and Mike) are willing to tee up some sacrificial bad guys, since they're "in the game."


----------



## dwatt (Jan 11, 2007)

Hank said:


> The only thing is, that only Saul (and Kim) knew Saul was going on a bag run. He likely didn't tell Mike or Gus. Mike might have been following Saul around, but how did they even know that Saul was going to be the bagman and meet the twins? Was Mike just randomly following Saul? The tipster in the money room only saw the twins take the cash, he didn't know the meet up point or the bagman (really, only Lalo knew that besides Saul and Kim). Unless it's just by pure coincidence that Saul was the bagman and Mike/Gus had no idea and Mike as just following the money. I'm sure it will be answered.


Mike knew exactly where Saul was since he had the tracker in the gas cap. Maybe once he saw him heading that far out of town towards the border he followed him. Depending how long Saul was stopped waiting for the twins Mike could have found a good sniper position and waited.


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

dwatt said:


> Mike knew exactly where Saul was since he had the tracker in the gas cap. Maybe once he saw him heading that far out of town towards the border he followed him. Depending how long Saul was stopped waiting for the twins Mike could have found a good sniper position and waited.


Right, I forgot about the gas cap. But still, there are a lot of "ifs" here.. in that how long was Mike following Saul; why was Mike tracking Saul; Gus set up the exact point of the ambush (over a 30+ mile span- really?); Mike was already in place to snipe, etc, etc etc. And if Mike was expecting an ambush, he himself said he would have brought more men. The best laid plans can fail -- this one had so many unknowns, it's almost unbelievable it was a plan at all. I can believe Mike was tracking Saul "for good measures" and then got into the mess they did. Clearly he didn't prepare to lose all transport or bring enough food/water to hike it out of there. And if say Gus tipped off a rival cartel, don't you think they'd pick their own ambush spot, why would they take Gus's advice? Trust no one.


----------



## dwatt (Jan 11, 2007)

I agree too many ifs.


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

We need to work in some ands and buts.


----------



## dwatt (Jan 11, 2007)

Jimmy's butt was in the episode if I recall.


----------



## Mabes (Jan 12, 2001)

Hank said:


> Right, I forgot about the gas cap. But still, there are a lot of "ifs" here.. in that how long was Mike following Saul; why was Mike tracking Saul; Gus set up the exact point of the ambush (over a 30+ mile span- really?); Mike was already in place to snipe, etc, etc etc. And if Mike was expecting an ambush, he himself said he would have brought more men. The best laid plans can fail -- this one had so many unknowns, it's almost unbelievable it was a plan at all. I can believe Mike was tracking Saul "for good measures" and then got into the mess they did. Clearly he didn't prepare to lose all transport or bring enough food/water to hike it out of there. And if say Gus tipped off a rival cartel, don't you think they'd pick their own ambush spot, why would they take Gus's advice? Trust no one.


Agreed. Another question is that if Gus wasn't involved, why are he and Mike and Saul keeping what happened a secret?


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

Mabes said:


> Agreed. Another question is that if Gus wasn't involved, why are he and Mike and Saul keeping what happened a secret?


Gus was involved. Mike is working for Gus and was making sure that the $7 million in bail money made it to the courthouse so Lalo could get bailed out and then skip bail and go back to Mexico. If Lalo is in the US (whether in or out of jail), he's going to be making trouble for Gus, so Gus devised a way where he'd basically have to flee the US and wouldn't be able to return.

Saul doesn't want Lalo to know about the attack and attempted robbery because A) that means Saul had help from someone to get away from the attackers, and it would be pretty easy for Lalo to figure out where that help came from, and 2) the attack had to come from a leak within the Salamanca organization, and they don't want Lalo to find out about the leak or he could create more problems that would make things more difficult for Gus.


----------



## ellinj (Feb 26, 2002)

Just binging this now and haven’t read through the thread. Maybe I missed something but why did i am assuming is the cartel order a hit on the Lalo’s bail money and why did Fring have Mike protect Saul? I thought Fring and the Cartel were at odds.


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

ellinj said:


> Just binging this now and haven't read through the thread. Maybe I missed something but why did i am assuming is the cartel order a hit on the Lalo's bail money and why did Fring have Mike protect Saul? I thought Fring and the Cartel were at odds.


Fring and the Salamancas are at odds. But both are part of the same Cartel. So Fring isn't at odds with the Cartel. At the close of this episode, we don't know who ordered the ambush so I'd suggest to just keep bingeing.


----------

