Kind of like this other showBreaking Bad.
Despite being its own story,Better Call Saulis not shy about itsBreaking Badhomages and history.
As a matter of fact, its not shy about any pop culutre references or shoutouts.
Mike breaks ties with a former associate.
The two have worked together onThe X-Files,The Lone GunmenandBreaking Bad.
Hes been tapped to write a revisionist take on Jack and the Beanstalk to be produced by Vince Gilligan.
The season begins with another black and white flash forward to Sauls life in Omaha as a Cinnabon.
Instead, he just sits down, dejected, until a janitor arrives and lets him out.
Saul Goodman sure was here but hes not anymore.
This version of Jimmy/Saul is someone different entirely.
Also on the wall behind Jimmy is the graffiti tag Skribe.
Thats appeared in bothBreaking BadandBetter Call Saulseason one.
Whats the significance of Skribe?
Well apparently someone in the art department likes it.
Vince Gilligans assistant Jenn Carroll declaresyoure probably okay not obsessing over that one.
Well be keeping track of each episodes credit sequences iconography.
This time around we get a creepy inflatable statue of liberty that adorned the outside of Saul Goodmans offices.
The post-credits sequences picks up almost immediately where season 1 left off.
Ironically Jimmy quits moments after being called that.
Charlie Hustle was also the nickname of famous baseball player and even more famous gambler Pete Rose.
I know what stopped me and you know what?
This is a carbon copy of the final moments of season 1.
This time Wormald turns up in a hilariously gaudy yellow Hummer with rims, causing Mike to quit.
Wormalds vanity license plate on the Hummer reads Playuh.
Vince Gilligan is a huge Quentin Tarantino fan and wears his influence on his sleeve.
Thats the sunk cost fallacy, Jimmy replies Its what gamblers do.
Throw good money after bad.
Theres no reward at the end of this game.
The sunk cost fallacy essentially means that a cost has already been incurred and cannot be gotten back.
So it shouldnt factor in at all into your decision to continue or not.
Ken Wins (played by Kyle Bornheimer) is back!
Of course, the characters name is not named Ken Wins but just Ken.
Ken Wins is an obnoxious stock broker who first appeared inBreaking Badseason 1.
By the way, there is a Ken Wins New Mexico license plate in real life.
It has a 6% on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed $24 million.
The expensive tequila that Kim and Jimmy swindle Ken into buying is Zafiro Anejo.
Its the same brand that Gus Fring presented to Don Eladio.
Of course, that bottle was poisoned and wiped out Don Eladios entire crew.
Kim wears a Kansas City Royals shirt for pajamas.
Presumably she was excited in 2015 when the Royals won the World Series.
Jimmy has tied some red string on Marcos ring to make it fit better.
Marco was a much larger man after all.
Perhaps because it depicts a figure tumbling backward and it reminds me of his Slippin Jimmy nature.
The painting is titled Geometric Abductions and was created by a Sante Fe artist named Miles Toland.
you’re able to check out somemore of his work here.
Hey do you think?
Do we get a choice of desks?
Is it possible….can we do cocobolo?
A cocobolo desk is Jimmys only request for his new office.
Cocobolo is a hardwood of Central American trees.
Jimmy expressed his desire to have one in season 1 as the ultimate sign of success.
The episode title takes its name from the switch in Jimmys office that says do not turn off.
Jimmy turns it off anyway and nothing happens.
So he turns it back on.
What does this symbolize?
Maybe Jimmy will fail in changing himself into a new person?
Speaking of titles, pay close attention to each for a reason well reveal in the final episode.
CREDIT SEQUENCE UPDATE: Sauls LWYR UP license plate.
Yes, there is a LWYR UP license plate in New Mexico.
Corrales is roughly 18 miles from Albuquerque and 56 miles from Santa Fe.
Clearly Jimmy wants to be closer to Kim in ABQ despite his job being in Santa Fe.
Kim gets Jimmy a coffee container that says Worlds 2nd Best Lawyer.
InBreaking Bad, Saul Goodman has a mug that says Worlds Best Lawyer.
It expires in 2005 and its a new car so its reasonable to assume we are somewhere in 2004.
Jimmys new car is a 2003 Mercedes-Benz C 240.
And did you know there was a Internet Movie Car Database?
Jimmys new coffee container doesnt fit in the new cars cup holder.
Bro, do you even symbolism?
Daniel very foolishly decides to report his missing baseball card collection to the ABQ police.
This opens the door for the re-entrance of the busiest cop in theBreaking Bad/Better Call Sauluniverse.
For now, its this baseball card collection nonsense.
Shades of the T-Rex approaching inJurassic Park.
The level of danger is about the same in each case.
In real life, Ed Begley Jr. appreciates some guitar playing.
When hes not busy stealing baseball cards, Nacho works at A-Z Fine Upholstery for his father.
One of the cops who is interrogating Daniel says his uncle had a Ty Cobb tobacco card.
If hes referring to the T206, hes talking about one of the most valuable baseball cards in existence.
One most recentlysold for $154,050 in 2014
Jimmys Squat Cobbler explanation is so masterful.
He definitely makes the shocker in this scene.
Heres his full list of other names for Squat Cobbler: Full Moon Moon Pie.
Simple Simon the Ass Man.
Kim wearing a University of American Samoa sweatshirt.
This, of course, is where Jimmy received his law degree.
Mike begins an investigation.
Scott Winants career in directing and producing television is truly staggering.
He won an Emmy for directing back in 1989 for an episode ofThirtysomething.
The song that opens the episode is Ernest Tubb Waltz Waltz Across Texas.
Its a cheerful little ditty and similar to another importantBreaking Baduniverse song Felina.
Jimmy is wearing a white-ish hat.
Its kind of tan but is certainly closer to white than black.
White hats and black hats in literature and pop culture are often associated with good guys and bad guys.
The bus full of Sandpiper senior citizens stops at Birdies Homestyle Buffet.
In real life, this shooting location isCopper Canyon Cafein Albuquerque.
When you dial it, you get the voicemail of Davis and Main.
The film students return!
These nerds helped Jimmy helped Jimmy film his viral marketing stunt in season one.
Teamwork makes the dream work Jimmy tells his team.
Im ready for my close up, Mr. McGill, Mrs. Strauss tells him.
Jimmy wants to know why fancy-looking corporate housing always comes with a bowl full of twine balls.
Id like to know myself.
you could find the worlds biggest ball of twine inDarwin, Minnesotathough.
Theres been another murder in Cabot Cove??
Jimmy knows a lot aboutMurder, She Wrote.
The film students let Jimmy know that they did not bring a dolly.
Thankfully, Mrs. Strauss has a makeshift dolly of her own: her elevating wheelchair apparatus on her stairs.
-After Jimmys commercial airs, he waits in his office for the phone to ring.
As he waits, he tries doing his magic finger routine on the phone to get it to ring.
He would do this in his old office at the nail salon before checking his voicemail.
Jimmy and Kim are watching Rock Hudson submarine movieIce Station Zebra.
Ice Station Zebra will become and important recurring phrase for Jimmy.
See episode 6 for more details.
Mike makes a deal with Nacho in regards to his newest job offer.
This episode is directed by Adam Bernstein, who has an impressive TV resume.
He then moved into directing TV and won and Emmy for his direction of an episode of30 Rock.
This episode begins with another flash forward, a favorite narrative convention of bothBreaking BadandBetter Call Saul.
In it, one side of Mikes face is viciously destroyed.
You know, kinda like Gus Fring in his final moments.
Mike also now has Tucos boxing glove necklace.
Just look at this beautiful Motorola C115 from Kim.
Crank does not bring out the best in people.
Nacho describes the Tuco that we will come to know and love.
Nacho also mentions that Tuco killed his associate Dawg Paulson in a paranoid fit of rage.
is who Hanks mentions the Dawg Paulson murder on Tucos rap sheet inBreaking Badseason 2.
What and call him a pigfucker again?
Kim asks Jimmy about how hell get her back in Howards good graces.
Here is one of AMCs precious fucks.
They only had out a few to Vince Gilligan for TV season.
This one references a moment last season in which Jimmy told Howard how he really feels.
Mike is meeting with Lawson, the gun dealer played by Jim Beaver.
Lawson is a big part ofBreaking Badhistory.
Beyond Lawsons history onBreaking Bad, actor Jim Beaver has a lot of history on television in general.
Hes appeared inDeadwood, Justified, 3rd Rock from the Sunand many other shows.
You seem to know this one, Lawson says about a rifle to Mike.
Someone probably should have thought of that before they sent it into the a jungle, Mike says.
Mike was definitely in the Vietnam War.
Lets just point out as well that this is a remarkable scene.
Life is not one big game ofLets Make a Deal.
Jimmy, ever the daytime TV enthusiast responds with: Yes it is!
Whats behind door #2?
Tuco is meeting with his drug dealer Domingo Gallardo Molina a.k.a.Krazy-8.
Krazy-8 would go on to be the first casualty of Walter Whites descent into the criminal life.
Krazy has a Tampico shirt on.
Thats his fathers furniture company.
Walter White bought a couch from them.
This episode is directed by John Shiban, anotherEmmy-nominatedX-Files, Lone GunmenandBreaking Badvet.
We didnt know why this episode was called Rebecca at the time.
And we still kind of dont know.
But the reason why it had to start with an R will be clear soon enough.
This was a message to her grandmother saying Hello, I love you.
Heres Jimmys full list of lawyer jokes.
Whats the difference between a vacuum cleaner and a lawyer?
The vacuum cleaners dirtbag is on the inside.
What do you get when you cross the Godfather with a lawyer?
An offer you cant understand.
Why do they bury lawyers under 20 feet of dirt?
Because deep down theyre very good people.
What do you call a lawyer with an IQ of 60?
Whats the difference between a tick and a lawyer?
The tick falls off when youre dead.
How many lawyers does it take to change a lightbulb?
One to go up a ladder, one to shake it and one to sue the ladder company.
Rebeccas lawyer joke: What do lawyers and sperm have in common?
One in three million have a chance of becoming a human being.
Chucks lawyer joke: What do you call 25 attorneys buried up to their chins in cement?
CREDIT SEQUENCE UPDATE:Bench with Sauls ad.
This isnt an easter egg or fun factoid or anything but just know that that drives me freaking crazy.
People, one space is fine.
Jimmy explains away his ducking out on Erin as saying he suffers from GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease).
Jimmy likely doesnt have this.
Hes just an asshole.
First rule of fight club, Jimmy tells Mike after seeing his smashed up face.
We know the first rule of fight club but cant tell you.
Jimmy gives a court clerk a Beanie Baby to bribe her.
The trend had almost completely subsided by 2004 but hey, the clerk still likes them.
Kim gets Mesa Verde bank to bring on HHM as legal counsel.
There is a lot going on in the final scene of this episode.
The waitress is also the same waitress who serves Mike in season 5 ofBreaking Badbefore his death.
Then theres the return (or first appearance chronologically) of another bigBreaking Badcharacter.
Don Hector Salamanca (played by Mark Margolis).
Just in time to run into Walter White.
This is veteran TV director Michael Slovis first episode ofBetter Call Saul.
He directedBreaking Badepisodes Kafkaesque, Cornered, Live Free or Die, and Confessions.
He also served as the cinematographer on 30 episodes and director of photography on another 20 episodes ofBreaking Bad.
Slovis has had a huge influence on the look of theBreaking Baduniverse.
While watching TV late night, Jimmy sees a commercial for Chia Pets.
Senator of Native Hawaiian ancestry, is called on.
Akaka served in the Senate from 1990 to 2013.
The South Pacific-inspired episode title likely inspired his inclusion.
The last channel shows a channel sign-off showing the United States National Anthem and the flag.
None of the likely participants for this class action suit would be awake at this hour.
CREDIT SEQUENCE UPDATE:Payphone with a phonebook opened to Saul Goodman ad.
Jimmy is seen wearing a sweatshirt from his alma mater, University of American Samoa.
Kim has a poster for the movieThe Thrill Hunter(1933) starring Buck Jones on her wall.
The movie is about a habitual liar who crafts tall tales to impress a film star.
Who else do we know that is always coming up with stories?
Jimmy sings Bali Hai, a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musicalSouth Pacificon Kims answering machine.
Mikes jacket and polo say SMQ Parking.
SMQ are the initials of Steven Michael Quezada, who played Steve Gomez onBreaking Bad.
Vincent Fuentes plays Arturo, the actor sitting on Mikes porch.
Fuentes has been inFrom Dusk Till Dawn: The SeriesandSin City: A Dame to Kill For.
Richard Schweikart is played by veteran TV actor Dennis Boutsikaris, who can currently be seen on ABCsQuantico.
Mike sees The Cousins while watching Kaylee on a rooftop nearby.
When Kim returns to the bar, she orders a Moscow Mule, same as Schwikart earlier.
Dale is played by journeyman TV actor Steven Flynn, who played Emmitt Arnett onJustified.
The bar that theyre drinking in referred to as the bar at Forque.
The Forque Kitchen and Bar is located inside the Hyatt Regency Albuquerque.
Jimmy makes a joke about Dale being like Casey Jones.
Throughout their encounter with Dale, Musettas Red Star can be heard playing.
Mike goes to meet Hector Salamanca at El Griego Guinador.
He uses multiple times throughout the series.
The movie itself appeared in the episode Amarillo.
Kim is seen wearing a Kansas City Royals shir againt.
In 2002 the Royals went 62-100.
Heres to rooting for the underdog.
The last song heard is The Bombay Royales Henna Henna.
Many of the bands tracks appear in the video gameFar Cry 4.
Director Colin Bucksey has been directing TV for quite some time.
Theres also aMad MagazineNo.
Another gem is aSupermanNo.
266 from Aug. 73, where Superman faces off against the Abominable Snowman.
Lastly, theres aNational Lampoonfrom the same year and month featuring the cover Strange Beliefs, by Frank Frazetta.
For sale in the store, eagle eyed viewers can see a Chicago Cubs pennant.
It was recently used in the trailer for the video game MarvelsGuardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series.
The song was covered in 2000 by English rock band Toploader.
While with Mike, Jimmy references being hogtied by Tuco, while witnessing legs being broken.
Hes referring to the events that took place in the episode Mijo (Season 1, Episode 2).
This episode marks the introduction of the future Saul Goodmans flashy suits, inspired by an inflatable arm guy.
During the montage, Scorpio by Dennis Coffey plays.
Now when you see GPF on a toilet, youll know what it means!
Jimmy hits a can of Hansens Diet Tangerine Lime soda out of Erins hand.
Hansens was founded in 1935.
Kims desktop has files for both of her big cases, Mesa Verde and Sandpiper, but no others.
Hasty has also appeared in TV shows such asBunheadsandSelfie.
The phone number on Stephanies realty sign, 505-255-5609, does not work.
Between Jimmy setting up his new voicemail and Kims big meeting, Crucial Musics Noches Triste can be heard.
Lynne is played by Esodie Geiger, known for playing Nurse Mollie onThe Night Shift.
Kim studied at the UNM School of Law, ranked 60th by U.S. News & World Report.
Hinky Dinky was a supermarket chain based in Omaha, Nebraska.
Started in 1925, at its peak Hinky Dinky operated approximately 50 stores.
Hinky Dinky is seen as a pioneer in partnering with banks to open in-store banking offices.
Its from the albumBella Italia: A Musical Postcard from Italy, released in 2014.
Director Larysa Kondracki also directed season one, episode seven, Bingo.
Regalo Helado gives the impression of a brand created for the show.
The music in the opening tracking shot was created specifically for the show.
The Santa Teresa Border Station is located off of Interstate 10 in New Mexico.
CREDIT SEQUENCE UPDATE:Colorful ties in the dessert while a tarantula crawls over them.
The Dog House located at 1216 Central Ave SW, Albuquerque, NM.
Chuck calls Jimmy a Svengali, a fictional character from George du Mauriers 1895 novelTrilby.
In the story, Svengali is a manipulative exploiter who makes a young English girl famous.
Thats Robert Grossman as Theodore Fudge Talbot, who doesnt have very man film credits.
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress known as FIFI is the only B-29 thats currently still flying.
A Kleinfeld Commercial Brokerage appears to exist in Albuquerque, but their website is currently down.
Valiant Printing opened in Albuquerque in 1918 and just recently closed its doors in December of 2016 for good.
The building is located at 615 Gold Ave SW, Albuquerque, NM.
The song playing while Jimmy doctors the legal documents is Why Dont You Do It?
They also perform the main title song for the show.
Mike is watchingHis Girl Friday(1940).
Better Call Saulco-creator and executive producer Peter Gould directed this episode.
This particular song is about nice butts.
Sir Mix-a-lot would approve!
CREDIT SEQUENCE UPDATE: Saul Goodman-branded matches in a urinal
1261 Rosella Drive doesnt exist in real life.
The number 1216 is actually the address that can be seen on The Dog House in the previous episode.
Jimmy can make a quick buck selling those dental patient chairs.
They retail between $2000 and $4000.
Mozart was four or five years old when he created his first musical compositions.
Saul and his commercial crew parody The Beatles Abbey Road cover when walking across the street.
Hayley Holmes plays the make-up girl.
Shes done a few episodes of DisneysGood Luck Charlieand the new90210.
Jimmys Rupert Holmes lie was too off base.
Elisha Yaffe plays Lance, who voiced Jimmy Olsen in the animated short series Tales of Metropolis.
Jimmy is reference a recurring sketch onThe Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Carnac the Magnificent.
Series creator andBreaking Badmastermind Vince Gilligan directed the episode.
Jimmy goes to pick up food from Chicagos Novis Beef, located at 6746 Ogden Ave in Berwyn.
Patty Figel plays Chuck and Jimmys mom, Ruth.
Her only other credit is 2007 comedySkills Like This.
This is the same hospital where the floor tiles mirror theBreaking Badlogo.
CREDIT SEQUENCE UPDATE:Worlds Best Lawyer mug falling to the ground and smashing.
The intro is almost entirely in color now.
Just two brief flashes of black and white.
Jimmy is granted Temporary Emergency Guardianship over Chuck, which usually lasts for about 60 days.
Could this factor into the upcoming war between the brothers McGill?
Chuck refers to Jimmy as Johnny on the Spot.
This is actually not a part of the oath is a common misconception.
Ironically, a commercial for the Garden Weasel runs right after Jimmys commercial.
Jim Beaver is back as the arms dealer Lawson, who last appeared in the episode Gloves Off.
By now its obvious, but the note DONT left on Mikes car comes courtesy of Gustavo Fring.
Take a look at those episode titles again.
Why were there weird titles like Klick and Rebecca?
Well take the first letter of each, rearrange them and you get Frings Back.
