How We Didn’t Notice It? Better Call Saul Season 5 Has A Scene Copied From DC’s Joker

“…. ah! You wouldn’t get it” but Better Call Saul Season 5, intentionally or accidentally, copied a moment from Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker.

Netflix’s Better Call Saul is a masterpiece of storytelling that can be placed among the greatest shows and movies of our time. The greatest achievement of the show is that it’s original in every regard. But there is a moment, a scene, in Better Call Saul Season 5, where we caught the creators copying a scene from the latest cinematic adaptation of DC’s Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix.

It can be a plain coincidence, an inspiration the makers derived from the movie, or a tribute to one of the most celebrated villains in the history of cinema. However, it’s also possible that showrunner Vince Gilligan simply copied a scene and placed it in a show in which each frame has been original.

Highlights

Season 5 of Better Call Saul may have recreated an iconic scene from Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker.
“…. ah, you wouldn’t get it” but Lalo is a part Joker.
“What’s so funny?” if we say Joker inspired a scene in Better Call Saul Season 5?
The similarities are just too numerous to be coincidental.

Did Better Call Saul Season 5 recreated an iconic scene from Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker?

In the latest season of Better Call Saul, we saw how Jimmy McGill, played by Bob Odenkirk, became Saul Goodman, a lawyer you can trust. Even Lalo Salamanca trusted Saul, and that’s why he called Jimmy to get him out on bail when he gets arrested on the suspicion of murder.

The scene in Better Call Saul Season 5, which we found to be inspired by Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, is a part of intense “Bagman” episode and takes place when Saul visits Lalo as his legal representative.

“…. ah, you wouldn’t get it” but Lalo is a part Joker.

When Saul walks into the cell, he finds Lalo relaxed in a manner too absurd for a suspect on remand. He notices Lalo reading a newspaper and laughing to himself. Curiously and cautiously, Saul asks him “what’s so funny?”. Lalo, played in an extremely relaxed and witty way by Tony Dalton, looks at him and replies “ah, you wouldn’t get it”.

“What’s so funny?” if we say Joker inspired a scene in Better Call Saul Season 5?

In Warner Bros’ latest adaptation of Joker in the DCEU, Joaquin Phoenix portrays the greatest psychopath villain of all time. The 2019’s Joker adaptation was focused on the story of Arthur Fleck, aka Joker, and it gave DC a much-needed critical appreciation.

During the climax of the movie, Arthur ends up getting arrested after successfully executing his plan and rejoicing the sight of the city getting burned by the men masked as Joker. In the ending scene, we see him imprisoned in Arkham Asylum. He sits there laughing on a thought with a sense of cold victory. When the psychologist asks him “what’s so funny?”, Arthur, still in his own thoughts, replies by saying “you wouldn’t get it.”

The similarities are just too numerous to be coincidental.

Aside from the “What’s so funny?” and “You wouldn’t get it” exchange being exactly the same in Better Call Saul Season 5 and Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, there are many other similarities to the sequence. Both, Better Call Saul and DC’s latest Joker, follows a technique of storytelling which uses subtle visual references, context, foreshadowing, and the layered mental state of the character.

Thus, nothing, no action or word is redundant in either of them. In both these scenes, we are dealing with the extremely dangerous characters, who are coldblooded and lack any sense of fear. Though, we know the motivation, approach, and desires of both the characters are very different from each other, still, in that particular sequence, Lalo Salamanca mirrored Arthur Fleck.

It is possible that the reference was pure coincidence. However, what’s more likely is that Better Call Saul Season 5 decided to give homage to Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. In any case, the two scenes were too similar to avoid comparison.

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