The Brilliance of Better Call Saul: Rock and Hard Place

[@That0therGeorge]

Nacho really was the best.

[@ninogamingvariety6594]

He really was

[@That0therGeorge]

@@ninogamingvariety6594 It's a polarising connection I have with this episode where I think "wow what a fantastic character arc he went on" whilst also seeing his end as extremely sad.

[@ninogamingvariety6594]

@@That0therGeorge that was my favourite BCS episode, as you said, a brilliant character arc coming to a tragic end

[@That0therGeorge]

@@ninogamingvariety6594 It's a great choice! A close 2nd for me personally, I would still put 'Bagman' as my number 1

[@ninogamingvariety6594]

@@That0therGeorge bagman was my previous number 1 before a rock and a hard place so yeah, pretty close

[@Lowkas]

Nachos "You think of me" to hector has such a guttural growl to it, fuckin amazing

[@That0therGeorge]

It was a very powerful speech in general.

[@GooseMcBruce]

And Nacho looked at those surrounding him in the desert, and realises his fateful miscalculation Everyone else with him was in Breaking Bad.

[@That0therGeorge]

Lmao yeah, it is amusing to think about it in that way with it being a prequel, but in all seriousness I still think the scene is phenomenal with building tension - and Nacho didn't *necessarily* have to meet his fate just because he wasn't in 'Breaking Bad'

[@aldwyck7177]

"I've know good criminals and bad cops, bad priests, honorable thieves. You can be on one side of the law or the other." -Mike

[@VladimirPackard]

I'm not sure if I'm 100% correct, since I do not speak Spanish and won't pretend like I do, but my friend who's a native Spanish speaker once told me that 'adios' is only ever said when you're saying farewell to a person either forever or for a long/uncertain amount of time. Nacho's father said 'adios' as in 'I'll see you when I'll see you, whenever that'll be.' whereas Nacho said 'adios' as in 'goodbye forever.' Knowing that context makes the scene a hundred times more heartbreaking.

[@That0therGeorge]

Aww yeah that is incredibly sad. The scene was already sad enough on its own.

[@isvyred]

you could mirror adios to "goodbye" the closest, everything else would be as saying "see you later/soon/tomrrow" etc

[@C.Robertson]

i don’t speak spanish either but from what i do know, “adios” is goodbye for a short time, “hasta luego” is see you later, and “hasta la vista” is goodbye forever or for an unknown time

[@baL88537]

@@C.Robertson yeah only your comment is right

[@thelegendaryqwerty]

Native speaker here and the first comment is correct that how we use "adios" we also use "nos vemos" as see you later; and one more thing we don't use "hasta la vista" LMAO so cringe.

[@Shojikinaai]

For me personally, Nacho was the greatest written and most tragic character in this universe. Was so sad to see him go.

[@That0therGeorge]

It's between him and Saul for me, I really love both for different reasons. But you're absolutely correct that he was incredibly well written and his ending was rather tragic. Thank you for watching by the way, really appreciate it.

[@myvu889]

That time when Michael Mando was snuffed by the Emmys.

[@That0therGeorge]

Yep!

[@thelasthunter3123]

I have a headcanon that part of Mike and Jesse's bond is because Jesse reminds Mike of Nacho, and he doesn't want Jesse's fate to be the same, hence him nudging Jesse in the direction he did, get out while you still can. That and he saw Jesse as a younger version of himself when it wasn't too late to get away from everything. Obviously, one was made before the other, but it's a headcanon that doesn't really contradict anything in either show, so it works. I loved Nacho, and I understood why he chose to take his own life in that moment. I get it. That phone call with his dad still makes me tear up. Made me cry the first time I watched it in the show. I know what it's like just wanting to hear the voice of that parent that's like a best friend to you. Even if nothing important is said, just hearing their voice and maybe some advice feels like it could move mountains. Also, it was the moment I knew for certain Nacho wasn't going to survive. Otherwise, the writers wouldn't have put that scene there.

[@That0therGeorge]

I don't think it's your headcanon, I think it was intentional on the writers' part. And yeah, it is the most powerful episode of the series for many reasons.

[@Xehanort10]

24:57 Hector unintentionally gets Lalo killed because in the meeting Bolsa sets up Hector shakes Gus's hand and smiles at him because he was looking forward to Lalo killing Gus when he least expected it which tips off Gus that Lalo's alive because Hector would rather break Gus's hand than shake it.

[@VladimirPackard]

6:22 I've always loved how Tuco just goes' Ah!' for no reason ahahaha

[@That0therGeorge]

Yeah it was funny. He is a tad more "goofy" at the beginning of BCS and I love that.

[@sketchysketchu]

Seeing the rain in the opening invoked such a strange foreboding feeling for me, I think because there's so little rain in either series. I wonder if it was intentional.

[@That0therGeorge]

It rains a lot in the episode 'Rebecca' (the one where Kim gets Mesa Verde) & the flashback with with Kim & Jesse (obviously wasn't until after this episode though) But aside from those I can't think of many

[@RennsReviews]

Stellar job as always George! I don't know why but YT isn't pushing this video as hard as your others in this series, sometimes that happens. Could turn around any day though, it's always helpful to remember that. The only reason I checked in here was because while editing my upcoming video, I had your editing style in the back of my mind!

[@That0therGeorge]

Thank you so much Renn, it's always super motivating to read the nice comments from you. Yeah it's obviously not performering as well as the previous ones, but it is what it is! As you said, there's always a chance that can turn & even if it doesn't, I'd still like to keep up with this series because of how much I enjoy making it. Thanks again man, it was so nice to read this and very surreal to see you taking motivation from my editing style

[@uncertaindaisy]

i’m watching bcs at the moment, halfway through season 3 and can safely say it’s probably the most well-made show that i’ve ever seen, and that i love it so dearly already

[@That0therGeorge]

Glad you're enjoying it so far, Daisy! Let me know what you think once you've finished it

[@Moniiiunda]

Breaking bad and the sopranos still better but this my 3rd fav

[@uncertaindaisy]

@@That0therGeorge forgot to reply at the time but i loved it, such a brilliant ending! hope you are doing well btw george!

[@That0therGeorge]

@@uncertaindaisy No problem, I'm happy you loved it! I'm doing good thank you, hope you're as well.

[@robertcaldwell273]

Love the Far Cry 3 reference with Michael Mando of all people

[@That0therGeorge]

Haha, thank you!

[@donperegrine922]

"There are good deaths, and there are bad deaths" Nacho chose the best death.

[@That0therGeorge]

Absolutely.

[@Nomadic_Budgie]

I love all of these analysis videos. I hope you continue to do more of them!

[@That0therGeorge]

Thank you so much! I absolutely will. There are at least 10 episodes in this show that I would consider perfect & would like to get around to covering 'Breaking Bad' eventually as well. Any particular episodes you would like to see an analysis on?

[@Nomadic_Budgie]

@@That0therGeorge My favorite episode of the entire series is Winner from Season 4, but I think Season 6 has plenty of masterpieces too, like Plan and Execution, Point and Shoot, Waterworks, etc.

[@That0therGeorge]

@@Nomadic_Budgie 'Winner' is a great choice! Real satisfying, yet kind of sad episode to wrap up the Jimmy v Chuck saga. Yeah I think Season 6 might be the most consistent across the board, despite my personal fav being from Season 5.

[@ellicel]

Although never established, I imagine that Nacho likely started down this road as a very young boy doing such minor things that he could never understand where he’d end up. By the time he realized his error, there was no way to get out without hurting his family. He reminds me of Jesse in BB, and perhaps that’s why my head canon has him getting entangled while he’s too young to fully understand.

[@That0therGeorge]

I can see that too.

[@JamesCasatelli]

This was the best episode of the entire series.

[@That0therGeorge]

Think I might agree with you on that.

[@rhanimation4123]

YOOOOOO i came in at the perfect time, i was just watching ur other bcs vids side note: there all amazing, i can’t wait to see more :)

[@That0therGeorge]

Thank you I'm really happy that you're enjoying them! Have you got a particular favourite episode of the show?

[@rhanimation4123]

@@That0therGeorge i still need to watch the last 2 ep, but i’ve heard some amazing things about the series finally, so either that of season 3 ep 5. i’d watch any video essays u do tho :)

[@That0therGeorge]

@@rhanimation4123 Let me know what you think once you've finished it! Yep, 'Chicanery' is fantastic and was the fan favourite prior to Season 5. I do plan on making a video for that!

[@rhanimation4123]

@@That0therGeorge i saw the last 2 ep, it was amazing, def on par with braking bad, i think the last ep is my fav episode in the whole show

[@That0therGeorge]

@@rhanimation4123 I'm glad to hear you loved it! It's difficult to directly compare it to 'Breaking Bad' in my opinion. I think both excel in their own ways. Did you see the ending coming? It wasn't the outcome I was expecting, but I still found it quite satisfying regardless.

[@tbrown5836]

I fucking hate the Emmy’s for snubbing this amazing cast

[@michaelmiles2305]

Aww man in hindsight chuck was sooo rite he had to be stopped

[@That0therGeorge]

Yeah, Chuck was right about a lot of things. He just didn't go about it in the right way.

[@laureng6412]

Man this was good

[@That0therGeorge]

Thank you!

[@Shookey]

Well done analysis! Love your editing!

[@That0therGeorge]

Thank you very much! I'd like to hope I've improved when it comes to the visual editing with each video in this series. So this was really encouraging to read, thank you again.

[@Eamonshort1]

The way he growls "You think of me" weirdly turns me on.

[@neezduts69420]

I believe that nacho made mike aware of his plan and mike just wanted to be there with him 😢

[@That0therGeorge]

Could be the case, really sad either way.

[@mrkitty1997]

5:00 aaaah, wire 😏🫰

[@That0therGeorge]

It always has to be the perfect visual match.

[@rmyers99]

Let's be honest here though - what's good editing? Good editing is nothing but star wipes. Why eat hamburger when you can have steak?

[@That0therGeorge]

"The guy at the station said he's never seen so many star wipes in a row. It's never been done!"

[@nont18411]

12:47 It’s easy to blame everything on Jimmy about how he’s greedy or how his scamming way got him involved with the cartel by accident but what’s the practical way for Jimmy to rat on the Salamancas? If he ratted, how would the authority protect him from getting killed by the cartel. We all know what happened to Tortuga when he talked to the DEA. Head of a tortoise bomb. Or with Nacho in the very same episode for a slight chance that he could rat. All ended up in Belize. If Jimmy did the same thing, he would have suffered the same fate, even worse because it included Kim too. The establishment did nothing to ensure Jimmy’s safety or find a safe way out of the game for him but somehow it’s all Jimmy’s fault just because everyone else said so.

[@That0therGeorge]

I'm not blaming him for everything that happened, but I think he certainly played a huge role, as said in the clip I played from him slightly after that timestamp. The example you used about him ratting out the Salamancas is independent from helping to build Walt's drug empire and took place before. I think the main point is that he was in the game and then continued to play it but with other players. He could've left everything with the Salamancas in the past and chosen not to do business with anyone like that again, but he choose the opposite. Plus, if he went to the authorities, he would likely be put into a witness protection programme with how valuable his information is. I will say though, I appreciate the comments you've left on this video and the Gene Takovic one, it is always interesting to hear someone else's perspective on events in this show.

[@nont18411]

@@That0therGeorge You forgot one unspoken aspect that made Jimmy not rat on the Salamancas when Walter got in the picture, and that aspect is that By the time of the beginning of Breaking Bad, the remaining of the Salamancas (except Tuco) were all still alive. Even Lalo is still not confirmed dead in Jimmy’s eyes. Not to mention that there was another faction of the cartel which was Gus Fring organization enforced by Mike. That’s why Jimmy couldn’t rat. He couldn’t leave it behind either because “When you’re in, you’re in.” And from what I remember, Suzanne never promised him witness protection. That’s why Jimmy told Kim that she could snitch now after “Fring’s in the ground. Mike’s in the ground. Lalo’s in the ground, apparently.” Jimmy’s reason for not snitching wasn’t just because of his flaws but because of his self-preservation as well, the very same reason as Kim during the entirety of Breaking Bad timeline.

[@J.CH1ggins]

16:05 respect for the reference

[@That0therGeorge]

Had to get it in there.

[@Krejii05]

Eyyyy

[@That0therGeorge]

Hello there! I thought I would see a comment from you haha

[@herbivorethecarnivore8447]

17:23 I think this exact scene is an example of where you're overdoing it. Just because a slightly similar word shows up doesn't really warrant a cut to an unrelated scene, it breaks the flow and just feels jumpy and awkward. It also doesn't really work as a visual gag cause it's just not particularly funny, it's just a word matching game.

[@joeya8721]

Mike promises to Nacho that Nacho's dad wouldn't be touched, but then, Nacho lays it on the Salamancas so thick, even telling Hector that he put him in that chair, that it leads to Hector to repeatedly shoot Nacho's dead body. Hector met Nacho's pop. Hector would go after pop, and Mike could do nothing about it.

[@RedTail1-1]

You're gonna call Ignacio "nacho" the entire time, aren't you...

[@MunkMan9]

I love the episode and I love the video, but I don't like how much blame you place on Kim for what she said to Jimmy. You seem to imply that Kim is somehow responsible for the events of Breaking Bad when, in reality, Jimmy/Saul is an adult with agency and responsibility for his actions. Sure, maybe Kim shouldn't have (heavily) implied that the only option was to be a "friend of the cartel," but the fact is Kim isn't culpable for life plus 190 years' worth of crimes, Saul made his choices and he made them again and again and again. Regardless of how he got in, he stayed in.

[@That0therGeorge]

Firstly, thank you. I also appreciate the honest feedback, but I am not of that opinion. I don't at all believe that she is to blame for the events of 'Breaking Bad', I just feel that she enabled Jimmy too much in those early days. If you're interested in my full opinion of this, I would recommend you to check out one of my recent projects on 'Saul Gone'. I have a whole section in there about how Jimmy/Kim handled things in very different ways.

[@MunkMan9]

@@That0therGeorge Seen it, loved it, will watch it again. Thank you for the response. I think the case for Kim enabling Jimmy is fair, but I see enough people try to blame Kim for more than she deserves in regards to the atrocities in BB, kinda like the Skylar hate from back in the day. I think I really read into how you said what you said in this video. Sorry about that. You have real talent for video production, I hope you know that.

[@That0therGeorge]

@@MunkMan9 Thank you and no problem at all. As I said I do appreciate the honest feedback, I just don't feel it applied to my position. Thanks again for the kind words.

[@catalystv7520]

When the writers don’t know how to write and become desperate and lazy and are running out of time to write how nacho dies so they just do this

[@hiduck8247]

What a channel. The dude is literally telling you what happens in scenes.

[@CannaToker420]

If Nacho was really a good person, why did he Jeopardize his family’s livelihood by involving in himself in the criminal underworld? Why did he beat the shit out of his childhood friend and why did he mutilate some dudes ear? He’s no saint, I don’t understand why people think he was such an innocent sweet person. He came off as arrogant, cruel and stoic(in a boring way).

[@mushroomlad6233]

awww he beat people up😓😓 this dude is evil

[@mushroomlad6233]

Forreal tho. Nacho, like Jimmy, got in way over his head. It can be assumed that the way he acted in seasons 1-2 was a front. As he saw that his business could get his dad hurt. Probably why he wanted Tuco killed too. Would give him an out. Despite his efforts to keep his dad out of harm's way Hector decides to use his shop for drugs. Nacho uses placebos and causes Hector's stroke. This sets off a chain reaction of Nacho stacking L's until he kills himself to ensure his father's safety. Yeah he acted tough and hurt people, but he only ever directly hurt people "in the game". He's also the only character to sacrifice themself purely out of love for another person in the bb/bcs universe I think.

[@DeutscherPatrick]

When did he beat the shit out of his childhood friend?

[@mus_tard2183]

​@@DeutscherPatrick I think they were referring to Domingo/Crazy8. He beat him up after Hector told him "who works for who?"

[@mus_tard2183]

Funnily enough I think Nacho's father would somewhat agree with you. He obviously still loved his son, but he knew there were no good people in the meth business. You may have a good heart but you can't act in accordance with your morals once you enter the game. Good intentions don't matter when you're working with and for monsters.