They were waiting for him to leave the bar and were already parked right behind it. Mike knew they would come after him once he left the bar after it closed.
I think he figured once he tipped them off they'd be waiting for him because they knew he'd be drunk and alone.
I think by the end of the series, Jim/Saul will somehow get money to Mike's granddaughter. This would be one way for Jim to redeem himself.
Some pictures I took of BCS locations- well, one was a brewery where I watched the BCS show in Albuquerque.
The character of Stacey (the kid's mom) made a small appearance in BrBa: http://breakingbad.wikia.com/wiki/Stacey different actress though. In the episode Full Measure she can be seen in the background while Mike is visiting his granddaughter, it's a small/short stop that he makes while mike is watching Jesse closely during routine pick-ups (iirc). While the granddaughter was in BrBa mike never actually had full custody. I know I'm a BrBa junky...
I see why they chose that as a spot to film regularly- there's nothing there. Except for the business next to that salon, the rest are all closed down and there's a huge parking lot of a shut-down Family Dollar across from it- so you can literally film for hours without anybody bothering you. Some of the other areas present logistical challenges- like that booth that Mike works in, it's behind the Convention center in downtown ABQ, in the most congested area- pain in the ass, couldn't get to it. It's interesting to see the difference between how something is filmed and how it appears in real life- and since I'm relatively close to ABQ, it's easy to visit. Plus, since Texas doesn't have casinos, that's my place for No Limit Texas Hold Em. There's irony- I have to go to New Mexico to play Texas Hold Em.
I didn't mean Jim has to "payback" Mike because he owes Mike something. From the relationship they had in BB, I didn't see Jim owing Mike anything. What I meant is Jim broke bad before the BB timeframe which led him to the current cinnabon life. Now that he realize his wrong ways and wanting to "redeem" himself to become Jim again, what is a better way to do it than finding a way to get Mike's grand daughter the money? But as Phreak3 has noted, the FBI has the money (I don't recall this part), so I don't know how Jim can pull that off. This is just my speculation and fan dream. I think it would be great that if Jim can pull this off. To me, it always kind of bothered me that Mike wasn't able to finish what he started, which was to get money to his loved ones; just like what Walt wanted. In my mind, this would close the chapter on Mike as well.
The money question at the end of BB was purposely left unclear. It is assumed it was recovered by the DEA/FBI but there could always be a twist.
In BB, after the Feds took Mike's money, Mike said he stashed money in a car at the airport and wanted Saul to go get it. Walter then agreed that he'd get the money, but things turned ugly and he killed Mike. The thing people'd like to see is Saul recovering the money from the car and giving it to the granddaughter.
What happened to Mike's son kind of makes the whole Mike/Jesse father/son bond thing kind of make more sense.
The bar scene from Monday night's episode was filmed at Two Fools Tavern in ABQ. Moestavern...Two Fools Tavern....coincidence?? And the skate park from the first episode:
