In his final moments, Proposition Joe offered Marlo a way out — to retire. Marlo refused, because he thought Joe couldn't change any more than he could. But he would have killed him anyway, even if he was right about getting lost, because from his perspective there would have been no difference for him between Joe being retired or being dead. So the proposition was invalid from the beginning.
I’ve finished Better Call Saul twice and I caught a parallel between Werner Ziegler and the French architect from Absalom, Absalom! Two masterpieces, one literary and one televisual.
Werner Ziegler’s story resembles the French architect’s from Absalom, Absalom! Here is why: Ziegler was hired to build Gus’s underground laboratory, and the French architect was forced to build Sutpen’s Hundred. They’re both foreigners. The Better Call Saul universe is Albuquerque, and Faulkner’s story is set in Yoknapatawpha. They both tried to escape and got caught — at least the first time.
What if Ziegler had succeeded in escaping? He couldn't, because the French architect had failed too.
Do you think Gilligan might have been inspired by Faulkner here? Both are gothic stories in the end.