I feel that.
Thing is, that wouldn't crush moral Jimmy's spirit.
The show is Breaking Bad:Saul and to a lesser degree Breaking Bad:Mike, and we're now taking the circular journey with them and how they broke bad. Basically the only twist is Saul is kind of born again moral. He was once Slippin Jimmy, then he finds inspiration in his brother, and when this show picks up we find a generally moral Jimmy trying to fight the good fight and wonder how he gets from A to B, because we already know what B is. Mike has the exact same arc. Like Slippin Jimmy, he was no angel, but what turns him from shady shake-down cop to killer? That's basically the show, same as BB.
You get the first glimpse with the crazy lady telling Saul he's the type of lawyer guilty people hire. But she's nuts, and part of him knows it's true and shes recognizing that he's a fellow hustler, but he's able to shake it off and generally do the right thing. He needs something to really skew his world, and his brother's approval is about the only thing we see him really care about, thus it has to be his betrayal to complete the loop.
For Mike, he got his son whacked.
Gilligan clearly wants to pound into our heads that anyone can be any of these guys with a bad break. For Walt-terminal cancer, for Mike- causing son's death, for Jimmy- his brother's betrayal. His brother sitting him down and giving him a pragmatic talk about the relative value of his degree wouldn't complete Gilligan's formulaic loop even if it's way more plausible. He wrote himself into a corner and you either abandon the formula or its the brother that has to fuck him.
My guess is that Gilligan is now quite rich, and he isn't going to have some junior writer freestyling with his characters, but as long as they keep it formulaic, he can simply peruse and rubberstamp the script. He doesn't have to live the show. It's as can't miss of a hit as possible with how good the actors are.
Reply With Quote