No honour among thieves?

Better call Saul (Seasons 1-5; 2015-2020)

Miniseries, Netflix.

When you were growing up, you were told to study hard and be somebody. “When you are up there, you will be only dealing with intelligent people!” But, reality hits you when you grow up. It is nothing like they say it would be. 

A doctor friend once remarked, “unlike bankers and lawyers, we have to see everybody who walks through the consultation door - sick, mad, hostile, smelly, dirty or dead (they are pushed through though) at any time. We cannot choose our clientele, and we cannot shut our doors to anyone.”

Some time ago, it may have been true when banking was noble, and lawyers fought for justice, not merely to dance to the tune of their paymasters. At this time and age, when throwing a stone into the public square would probably hit the head of a lawyer, the race to secure employment is now more than ever. Many men in robes have resorted to ambulance chasing and touting to make ends meet. It has transcended all professions. The democratisation of education and the push for all segment to receive equal opportunity have sometimes compromised quality and ethics for quantity.

People used to seek professional help when they were caught in trouble. Now professionals create problem to meet up with people. For example, a poor financial organisation got people into trouble who would seek professional help to get out of the mess. Now, professional give out loans to people with unworthy credit ratings, then send another set of professionals to pull them out of the mayhem they started in the first place, like advertising the splendour of great wines and selling liver tonic at the same time.

'Better Call Saul' is a spin-off from Breaking Bad. Somewhere along the miniseries, viewers may have seen a fast-talking lawyer in a flashy loud-hued attire. That is Saul Goodman (sounds like 'It's all good, Man') for you - a loud, in-your-face kind of character who has no qualms in bending the rules to get you that out-of-jail card. He bends the truth, finds loopholes, technicality issues, tampers with evidence and all the things that one does not expect a learned professional to do. 

'Better Call Saul' is actually a prequel to 'Breaking Bad'. The miniseries narrates the tale of Saul Goodman (real name: Jimmy McGill) as he elevates himself working as a mailman in a reputable law firm to obtain a law degree via correspondence from the University of Western Samoa. However, Jimmy, as he is known throughout this show, has a lot of baggage from his past.

An ongoing saga throughout the series is the loggerheads between Jimmy and his uppity elder brother Chuck. Chuck had been the ideal son who excelled at school and was a valedictorian in University. He emerged as a top-notch lawyer, whereas Jimmy was a prankster from school, all through into young adulthood. Jimmy had to be bailed out from jail when one of his pranks was deemed by the courts. Chuck tried to give Jimmy a new lease of life in his law office. Meanwhile, later on, with the stresses of life, Chuck became a social recluse and had to be cared for by Jimmy. Chuck and Jimmy, however, has a love and hate relationship; Jimmy grateful for the help in becoming a lawyer, whereas Chuck feels that Jimmy is not worthy of being a member of the legal fraternity.

Jimmy pairs up with a fellow legal eagle, Kim Wexler, who rose the rank and files in the same office. A subplot involves a former rogue, now reformed cop, Mike, whose daytime employment is a parking attendant. He moonshines as a fixer and an assassin to provide for his dead son's wife and daughter. Mike feels guilty for getting him killed as he was a straight cop. His colleagues decided to fix him up for not playing ball. Interspersed inside all these are two gangs who try to control the drug traffic. 

Also peppered at the beginning of some of the episodes are short snippets of Saul Goodman in another life where he looks older and assumes a different identity, Gene Takavic. He is a manager in a bakery situated within a mall and leads a secretive and quiet life. Maybe in the next and final season, Season Six, the secret will be out of what led him to such a situation. Quite a compelling miniseries. Kudos to the creative storytelling.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Taking benefit of doubt to the limit!

The Imposter (2012)

Gone are the days when documentaries were meant to be boring to be used as a tool to disseminate propaganda news of the Empire or sing praises of glory of the ruling regime. Documentaries in the 21st century are mostly investigative in nature. Some are even reenacted to re-live the suspense of story they try to impart.
It is quite difficult to fathom that events that took place in this documentary actually happened in real life. Some of the things sounds like a plot from a B-grade low budget spy movie but surprise, surprise, it actually took place.
A 13 year old boy, Nicholas Barclay, from St Antonio, Texas, goes missing in 1994. Despite extensive search, he was never found.

Nicholas Barclay, 13.

3 years later, the family receives a call from Spain. A teenage boy was found who could be their son. Nicholas' sister goes over to Spain, makes a positive identification of the boy and brings him back to US.

Frédéric Bourdin, supposed to Nicholas
at 17years!

You see, this boy, who was found is actually a serial impostor who finds joy in assuming other people's irony. This Algerian-French was, in 1997, when he made the allegation of being Nicholas Barclay, was 23 years old with dark hair and brown eyes. The real Nicholas was blonde with blue-green eyes! The impostor, Frédéric Bourdin, went to great lengths to hide his identity and hoodwink the Spanish police, American consulate there, the family and even the US authorities. The family attributed his change of personality, accent and even the change of colour of eyes and hair to his mocked up story of abduction by army personnel, child pornography and the like. Everybody bought the story and felt sympathetic for the ordeal that Nicholas had endured. 'Nicholas' started living the American life.
Trouble came in the form of a private eye who was called in by a TV company to look for 'the' missing teenager who was found after 3 years.

As the camera crew were filming the 'boy', the detective with the keen eye for details noted from a nearby portrait of the missing boy that their ear lobes differed tremendously. From his knowledge, he knew ear lobes varied from individual to individual as different as their fingerprints!

FBI came to the picture. Fingerprints of the imposter revealed that he had a long record with Interpol for impersonation.

Then, the family came to the spotlight. Everybody started asking why the family took a person as their son when the features were so different! Accusations were hurled on the possibility that the real Nicholas Barclay could have been murdered and it is their way of covering up.

Years of investigations never revealed anything new. Frédéric Bourdin served a jail sentence and was extradited back to France. After a few more impersonations, he subsequently married and had kids. Nicholas Barclay is still a missing person.

In hind sight, when we look at the turn of events, we sometimes feel like a fool for being taken for a royal spin around the countryside. On the other hand, we do not want to be the evil one for suppressing the truth and giving the benefit of doubt, just in case we are wrong. Sometimes, what appears as glaringly obvious may indeed be the wrong choice!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Imposter_(2012_film)