Just Peter Schuler, right? The head of their fast food division. Thanks for reminding me. I had to look that up. Not trying to be a contrarian to established BB history, I just think the point of BCS is everyone is different back then, including Lydia's role with Fring....who later break bad, just that they break bad before Walt does. Schuler seems like Lydia. Someone who ran legitimate business division and didn't get into illegal dealings until Fring starts manufacturing and they see the enormous money. Lydia's extreme nervousness and Sculer committing suicide sounds like fearful amateurs breaking bad to me....not people who would approach Fring, or ppl Fring would trust much at first, hence my whole original question: Lydia says to Mike that "Mr Fring must think highly of you, because he's never done this." Leading me to a simple question, what has she done for what seems like awhile to gain Fring's trust prior to him making a very risky move against "The Pool Man." Again, at this point he doesn't need money laundering beyond the original stores.
My bad... forgot he was just a division head. I look at that whole thing like an Enron situation. Either you think the guys who committed suicide and were immediately found guilty were acting alone... or Ken Lay knew exactly what was going on the entire time.
Fring has yet to legitimize any of his other henchmen... so he sees Mike as somebody with infinitely more potential. Lydia is simply part of the money behind Gus' operation... she's able to hide it better, move it around better, and in the end they have the resources to acquire equipment, expand, and further grow Gus' enterprise. Sure, the store itself can launder most of the money... but Gus obviously has his sights set on something much bigger, which requires more levels of security/covering.
Yeah sure, that's all pretty much future fact of the show. Oh well, I guess I'm doing a very poor job of framing my simple question about Lydia' backstory predating last ep. My question is how does Lydia break bad. i think you're voting that she's always been bad within the BB/BCS universe, as a middle manager in an evil, drug-dealing, global German conglomerate , and so it's natural they somehow find each other because they are both in the drug business in different capacities, and doesn't require anymore back story. My thoughts are more this is all Gus's brilliant and careful scheme of revenge, and Lydia started out legitimate with him, then changed later and broke bad...I.e., she's such a great character, I expect her back story is richer than just being Gus's handler within a criminal empire... Or I hope so....
I don't think I'm extrapolating very much... nor am I suggesting anybody has "always" been bad...I just don't think it matters as much as you would think it does, nor would I ever jump to any sort of conclusion that Lydia and Gus have some crazy Chilean mafia ties to the Pinochet regime. I've simply based my viewpoints on what is already explicitly stated in the show. 1. Gus has basically always been involved in the meth business... but also had the idea very early on for Los Pollos Hermanos as a dual partnership venture with his business partner/life partner. Once his partner was murdered, Gus was forced to comply with the Cartel's wishes (but obviously always held a grudge). 2. At the time of BCS, Gus has begun to make some moves to secure his place vs. the cartel. He's still not the top dog, but he's clearly earning more than any of the other factions and 3. Also at the time of BCS, Lydia is in a semi-high position at Madrigal (likely didn't get there overnight), AND she's got a deep-rooted connection with Gus, indicating the Madrigal-Los Pollos Hermanos connection is very much real. That's pretty much all that has been explained... and anything else further is not that intriguing, IMO. Lydia seems driven simply by money and making more and more of it. She likes nice things. Is largely materialistic. This was all likely the case prior to Gus... and if the Gus-Madrigal connection happened organically, perhaps she was smart enough to deduce what was really going on, and basically sold her ability to "make things happen" to Gus in order to help further grow the empire.
Interesting finale Spoiler - Gus is on to Nacho - I assume this is the event that made Hector the way he was in Breaking Bad - No Mike in the entire episode? -Is Chuck dead? (edit: watching talking Saul, it sounds like he is dead) I sometimes wish Nacho/Mike/Gus had their own show since their story is so disconnected from Jimmy/Chuck/Kim Nacho in particular was fantastic this season. I like that he has a bigger role now
Do you think if Chuck died he left some inheritance for Jimmy? Maybe that's how he's able to set up his own practice later?
I'm now convinced that we are never going to really see Saul Goodman in full form until the last episode of the series finale. This was the 3rd season and there is still plenty of personal storyline left before Jimmy's transformation. Remember Breaking Bad was only 5 seasons and felt like so much happened in those 5 seasons. Vince Gilligan has done this bait-and-switch every time it looks like Jimmy is going to finally take the leap. I wouldn't be surprised if season 4 is all about Jimmy and Kim's fallout. That is just the character arc required as Jimmy needs to lose everyone he ever cared about before he finally puts on the pastel suits and becomes the criminal lawyer Albuquerque truly deserves.
You had them all boiling, except for the one who actually did boil. Love following your take on the show, once again. Thanks for the all the posts.
You are welcome. I knew something would happen with McKean, for 4 reasons: (1) the title Lantern... and the foreshadowing in Season 1, with the physician saying about Chuck, to Jimmy, "He's not a danger? A Coleman lantern? He could burn his house down. (2) McKean said, in an interview, "I wouldn't get too close to Chuck..." (3) the song Smoke on the Water, which they referenced 4 times this season, is a song written about a building that burned down, and (4) the entire cast went to visit McKean when he opened on Broadway- all 4 major cast members (except Banks). They all flew from LA to NY to see him- I just thought it seemed strange.
The same fire took out Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention's gear valued around $30,000 and changed the course of music history forever.
Wouldn't make any sense to call this show Better Call Saul then, don't think they'll pull such a misleading stunt with this series.
