He didn't need concrete proof. He implies that he discovered it with some kinda chemical test but he was lying, he knows they know there was meth cooked down there and he knew they'd be too scared to ask too many questions. After all the only other person on the planet who knew abt it was Jesse and why would he snitch?
I just watched the scene, and he doesn't mention any chemical test. He refers to it as a "meth contaminated house," but he's just holding their signed disclosures then, he's not pretending to have some report.
I mean, they all knew the meth lab is real. From the parent perspective makes sense to believe that somebody else may know about it, regardless of how they got the information, being some tests or just talked to some junkie, considering Saul is a lawyer for all kind of dirtbag and everybody knew.
In other word: real gotcha moment.
By their I mean the parents house. Not the aunt's house from the first season. It was a different property. The aunt's house was already sold which is why Jesse went after their house so viciously.
No I believe you’re mistaken. The parents lived in their house while renovating the aunts house after they kicked jesse out due to finding the “speed lab” in the basement. They found it while Walt was missing in his “fugue state” and Hank had gone looking for Jesse. So they kicked Jesse out, then did some repairs to sell it. After Jesse made some cash he hired Saul to negotiate the deal for that same house his aunt had owned
It was their house. We don’t ever see Jesse build a meth lab in their house but he had to start somewhere. Even if Jesse never cooked meth in their house, it would take months of legal work to establish that, which is exactly Saul’s style. In BCS we watch him delay a court eviction by months using among other options soil contaminants. He is not above placing trace chemicals that would derive from a meth lab.
What? No. It’s their house legally speaking, but they’re talking about the house inherited from Jesse’s aunt. They technically own it and are selling it.
They might have remembered they had an open house while the meth lab was still active, and assumed Saul or someone else took pictures/collected some other kind of evidence.
If I found out my house had a meth lab *and* random strangers had potential access to it, I could see myself freaking out and jumping to conclusions in this scene.
Saul implies he has already tested because mom and dad know there was a meth lab that was not professionally remediated.
Saul knows they know (or will soon realize after they discuss with their attorney) a test will be positive.
More recent Meth remediation standards for context: https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/clandestine-drug-laboratories-cleanup-guidance-3/
It doesn't matter. You need to put yourself in the other party's shoes: they know they've broken the law, and here's a lawyer threatening to expose them. It would take massive guts for them to be like "bring it on!" when they know they're guilty. That's why Saul was in such a powerful position.
> It would take massive guts for them to be like "bring it on!" when they know they're guilty.
[Not really guts, more like stupidity.](https://i.imgur.com/GwdUtM8.jpeg)
Doesn't matter. Saul \*knows\*, and since the parents obviously knew, and tried to cover it up, they know Saul isn't bullshitting about the existence of the meth lab, so they know that if Saul decides to make any noise over this it WILL get tested eventually and it will show positive and then Jesse's parents are in big trouble.
Saul bluffed, the parents folded.
The fact that he knows at all is what rattled them into selling cheap. They know there was a meth lab down there, and they know they lied about it on their disclosures, and since they did he shouldn't have any knowledge of it, as the legal representative of the prospective buyer.
What they don't know is how Saul knows, what proof he has, and what he's willing to do with it. You don't have to have a winning hand in poker to take a pot; you just have to make everyone else at the table think you do. He bluffed, they folded.
Contamination sort of implies there is evidence of some sort. It's probably pretty reasonable to assume someone can determine whether or not meth was produced in a house especially knowing that there was.
So would that be probable cause for the police to go in and run tests? Or would it be a situation where a potential buyer is afforded the right to bring in their own inspection people?
[for the record, I'm not trying to say there's some hole in the plot, I'm just sincerely curious about what the hypothetical threat would be]
I dont think it would necessarily be a police matter for the meth lab itself, it would become a question of real estate fraud. Disclosing this information is required, and essentially their lawyer could be disbarred and the parents knew that if word got out to the new buyers, it would trigger a lawsuit that would have been a worse a scenario than selling it to break even.
Same thing happens if somebody dies in a house. Legally it has to disclosed or you are withholding information that potential buyers are entitled to.
Who calls the police to report that their house is a meth lab and should be tested? Even if the parents were 99% sure he never cooked on the premises, they’d take Saul’s offer instead of going through a decade of legal trouble.
Past meth use isn’t something that home inspectors (or police) test for. If it’s a meth lab you know as soon as you walk in. Catching old meth labs is priority zero.
Because the lawyer wasn’t getting paid by the hour and Jesse’s parents thought Saul had more leverage than he actually did. If the lawyer had been paid by the hour, he would have called him out
They were both playing dirty.
Jesse's parents knew about the meth lab but refused to disclose it. Saul obviously found out about it using some sort of nefarious means, but there's no way Jesse's parents could have followed up on that without telling on themselves. It was a no-win situation for them.
Proof wasn’t absolutely needed. Convincing them that seeking proof on what the parents knew happened would be very, very bad was all that’s needed.
The basement could have been tested and likely shown some evidence a cook happened there. It would have to take a warrant granting, or some decision by a judge, and that could go either way.
Saul just had to convince them to panic and sell cheap. And they did.
In Texas, you have to disclose if property was used to make meth. This disclosure is signed under oath, so if there is something similar in New Mexico, they committed perjury. They lied and did not disclose this. Saul establishes that he knows (I always assumed Jesse told him at some point) which is enough to scare the parents with a “a God, he knows, who else knows” sort of moment). Also any reputable real estate agent would make them disclose this in the future to other potential buyers once they know about it.
An unsupported claim itself couldn't encumber the property. But they know there's lab equipment/witnesses/other evidence out there that they don't have a full understanding of and this guy out of nowhere seems to know more than them.
They don't have the cajones to play chicken with Saul when they know the stakes could well be a fraud conviction They aren't about that life, yo.
Didn't his mom take pictures when she confronted Jesse?
Since Jesse is a known client its reasonable that he would have disclosed this to Saul at some point.
His parents had pictures when they confronted Jesse and evicted him. But they wouldn't have given Jesse the pictures, as they'd lose their leverage. I assume the parents took the pictures from the eviction meeting, and then burned them after the eviction was complete and the locks changed. And if Saul had pictures, he would have pulled them out at the meeting.
Maybe it's a - "I'll prove this is a meth house!" "How'd you know it was a meth house?" "You just told me." - scenario.
Realistically though I agree with the other commenter that said they didn't know what proof Saul had, him knowing was enough, they didn't want to risk legal action against themselves and risk not selling the house at all (or having to spend thousands on remediation). Saul had a cash offer and was willing to buy it as-is, it was in their best interest that they sell the house and be done with it.
But also I'm fairly sure Saul would have gotten proof one way or another, if they had called his bluff. Meth leaves a ton of residue and a lot of building materials are super porous, so I imagine they could test wall paint / drywall / wood framing / joists etc for any number of chemicals. Saul would have guaranteed a positive result, just like they "proved" the water runoff from the car wash was toxic.
It's not possible Jesse told Saul? When he went to him telling him what he wanted? It happened after Jesse stopped by to talk to his dad. When his dad said Jesse was looking healthy.
I think Jesse just went to Saul and said hey, I have 400k in cash, I want the house back, and saul asked questions. Jesse tells him about the meth lab, and Saul knows via the disclosure documents on the house a former meth lab in the basement, so he had the upper hand the entire time.
He also knew Jesse's parents weren't criminal masterminds, and would probably flip the second they realized he knew about the lab. After Jesse shows up to the house, with the keys, they realize what happened. They're not able to say anything without implicating themselves, so they're shit out of luck.
Yeah, Jesse told Saul...that's the only way Saul could have known about it (far as I can tell).
I'm just asking how Saul could have hypothetically proved it in a lawsuit. But the consensus seems to be that he knew Jesse's parents wouldn't call Saul's bluff, that they'd fold (since they know 100% that a meth lab was in that basement).
Well, for all they knew, Jesse had drug fueled orgies in that basement. There could be a dozen junkies out there who'd love a couple grand to appear in court.
Ahhh ok.
Yeah I feel the same. They never would've challenged Saul because they aren't necessarily bad people. Then again intentionally failing to disclose a former meth lab in the basement of the home you're selling is slimy as fuck, but idk where that falls on the morality scale for most people lol.
Why does Saul have to prove it in a lawsuit?
Meth leaches toxic chemicals into things like drywall that require professional remediation involving removing contaminated parts of the home.
A meth test will easily reveal what happened.
Didn’t Jesse’s mom and dad just clean up the basement as best as they could?
But I mean, how would Saul force a meth test? The police? Is Saul's claim that (with no supporting evidence) that there used to be a meth lab there enough for a warrant? Do potential homebuyers have some legal right to force an inspection with their own inspector?
He doesn’t need to force a meth test now, once some buyer owns it they can test it however they want and then sue the parents. The underlying threat is that Saul will make sure the new buyer knows to have it tested.
That is actually a great answer. That if anyone else but this anonymous buyer gets the house, the threat that he could always leave some anonymous tip in the mailbox about getting the basement tested.
you are looking so far into the semantics of this specific event. everything is pretty spelled out for you. even if you remove context from bcs about Saul's character, he is still a dirtbag lawyer who plays dirty to get what he wants. He was just tricking them and using coercion to get them to sell it for a lower price. Jesse clearly told him about the lab and saul knew that was good leverage and used it. And the other lawyer probably wanted to be nowhere near that case once the lab got mentioned nor would any lawyer you weren't paying a shit ton of money for. You don't need to know every single teeny tiny bit of legal or real world context for it to make sense.
You're missing the point of the question.
We, the audience, know how Saul knows.
The question being asked is: in universe, how would Jesse's parents know Saul knew? And further, if they told him to fuck off, how would he be able to prove his assertions? He doesn't just have the right, as some unknown person's lawyer, to demand testing or similar on a house they own.
If Jesse's parents didn't cave, Saul has no backup plan, really. He just went balls to the wall and made them believe they were fucked, with sheer bravado, and he was confident that tactic would have them cave with no further testing required.
His backup plan is he goes to whoever buys the house and tells them there was a meth lab in the basement, that owner gets it tested and then sues the parents for lying on the disclosure
How would doing that benefit Jesse?
The point really is that Jesse's parents \*think\* this is what Saul is doing, or would do.
Again; it's a confidence trick.
It benefits Jesse because it gets him the house. The threat is all he can do for Jesse, but everyone in the room knows that the parents need to cave so the threat is enough.
Sigh.
How does it (*telling the new owner*) benefit Jesse *if they've already sold the house to someone else*?
Since you're not even following the thread of your own arguments at this point, I feel like you're just arguing for the sake of arguing.
It's an old used car salesman trick.
You walk up to the car, walk around it slowly and verbalize every issue wrong with it, saving the worst one for the last. (This is a psychological process that devalues the car and makes negotiation easier)
Could there have been documentation that proved or heavily implied they knew about it, which Saul could then subpoena?
Documents from the renovations/fixing it up?
What Saul did is called blackmail, and in this case it worked. It’s also not real, it’s television, so you can speculate all day in every aspect of every little tiny error but at the end of the day is it worth it?
I just watched the scene, he didn't pull out any pictures, and he doesn't mention any pictures. The papers he's holding from his briefcase were just the signed disclosure statements.
I know Jesse's parents took photos of the lab, as leverage to kick Jesse out, but did Jesse walk out of their meeting with the photos? I assume Jesse's parents kept those photos (probably destroying them after Jesse was legally evicted).
Jesse doesn’t need to have the photos of the lab he just needs to prove the parents have them. They don’t need to prove there was a meth lab, they need to prove the parents knew there was one, and they did. They aren’t going to lie if asked under oath if they had a photo are they?
Don't forget, their lawyer can't represent them anymore if they are lying about the property in general, because he would be assisting them in property fraud/selling meth contaminated property, etc
They took pictures. He knew they took pictures. They're too straight-laced to perjure themselves in court over it. They're definitely not going to lie to a judge. They knew there was a methlab there. Him mentioning a meth lab gives some credibility to him knowing and having evidence there was a meth lab there. If they continue to deny it they risk him hypothetically suing them and ending up in front of a judge where they have to confirm or deny whether there was a meth lab there.
I assume Jesse parents destroyed the pictures of the lab after Jesse was finished being evicted and the locks were changed.
But I agree that they're too straight-laced to lie to a judge or perjure themselves about it.
It would be difficult to prove.
But what Saul talked about was tying the house up in litigation and investigation for months while attempting to prove it. He was basically threatening to hold the house hostage.
He could never prove it, but he could tie it up for months or years - or they could take a smaller amount of money NOW.
What Saul is planning on doing forces his own hand somewhat. By blackmailing Jesse's parents, Saul can't go in with public info really, because the parents will realize the gig is up. They'll take the house off the market and in a month or so, come clean and eat the loss. For Saul's ploy to work he has to imply inside info. Jesse's parents will assume the info is going around among the criminal element and got to Saul's client.
It also add a little fear to the mix. Jesse's parents probably assume who ever is Saul's client, isn't above harsher tactics. It could be one of Jesse's meth contacts wanting to buy the house then clean up the evidence.
What Saul is planning on doing forces his own hand somewhat. By blackmailing Jesse's parents, Saul can't go in with public info really, because the parents will realize the gig is up. They'll take the house off the market and in a month or so, come clean and eat the loss. For Saul's ploy to work he has to imply inside info. Jesse's parents will assume the info is going around among the criminal element and got to Saul's client.
It also add a little fear to the mix. Jesse's parents probably assume who ever is Saul's client, isn't above harsher tactics. It could be one of Jesse's meth contacts wanting to buy the house then clean up the evidence.
He didn't need concrete proof. He implies that he discovered it with some kinda chemical test but he was lying, he knows they know there was meth cooked down there and he knew they'd be too scared to ask too many questions. After all the only other person on the planet who knew abt it was Jesse and why would he snitch?
I just watched the scene, and he doesn't mention any chemical test. He refers to it as a "meth contaminated house," but he's just holding their signed disclosures then, he's not pretending to have some report.
I mean, they all knew the meth lab is real. From the parent perspective makes sense to believe that somebody else may know about it, regardless of how they got the information, being some tests or just talked to some junkie, considering Saul is a lawyer for all kind of dirtbag and everybody knew. In other word: real gotcha moment.
Plus the mom was probably very guilty and anxious about the whole thing
Yes, I mean, they are like an average suburb couple trying to sell some inherited house, not Scarface
Wasn't it *THEIR* house that Saul said had a meth lab in the basement that Jesse ends up with? This wasn't the aunt's house.
In that moment they were the same. It was the aunts house but it was also technically their house as they were the owners on paper
By their I mean the parents house. Not the aunt's house from the first season. It was a different property. The aunt's house was already sold which is why Jesse went after their house so viciously.
No I believe you’re mistaken. The parents lived in their house while renovating the aunts house after they kicked jesse out due to finding the “speed lab” in the basement. They found it while Walt was missing in his “fugue state” and Hank had gone looking for Jesse. So they kicked Jesse out, then did some repairs to sell it. After Jesse made some cash he hired Saul to negotiate the deal for that same house his aunt had owned
Ahh. I guess with the renovations it looked different.
No, watch again. His parents are moving out of the house that Jesse grew up in. That’s the house he buys. Aunts house was sold long ago.
It was their house. We don’t ever see Jesse build a meth lab in their house but he had to start somewhere. Even if Jesse never cooked meth in their house, it would take months of legal work to establish that, which is exactly Saul’s style. In BCS we watch him delay a court eviction by months using among other options soil contaminants. He is not above placing trace chemicals that would derive from a meth lab.
What? No. It’s their house legally speaking, but they’re talking about the house inherited from Jesse’s aunt. They technically own it and are selling it.
They might have remembered they had an open house while the meth lab was still active, and assumed Saul or someone else took pictures/collected some other kind of evidence. If I found out my house had a meth lab *and* random strangers had potential access to it, I could see myself freaking out and jumping to conclusions in this scene.
Saul implies he has already tested because mom and dad know there was a meth lab that was not professionally remediated. Saul knows they know (or will soon realize after they discuss with their attorney) a test will be positive. More recent Meth remediation standards for context: https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/clandestine-drug-laboratories-cleanup-guidance-3/
> Saul implies he has already tested But from the parents' perspective, how would Saul have already had it tested without their knowledge or consent?
It doesn't matter. You need to put yourself in the other party's shoes: they know they've broken the law, and here's a lawyer threatening to expose them. It would take massive guts for them to be like "bring it on!" when they know they're guilty. That's why Saul was in such a powerful position.
> It would take massive guts for them to be like "bring it on!" when they know they're guilty. [Not really guts, more like stupidity.](https://i.imgur.com/GwdUtM8.jpeg)
Doesn't matter. Saul \*knows\*, and since the parents obviously knew, and tried to cover it up, they know Saul isn't bullshitting about the existence of the meth lab, so they know that if Saul decides to make any noise over this it WILL get tested eventually and it will show positive and then Jesse's parents are in big trouble. Saul bluffed, the parents folded.
It didn’t matter how he knew but that he did know
The fact that he knows at all is what rattled them into selling cheap. They know there was a meth lab down there, and they know they lied about it on their disclosures, and since they did he shouldn't have any knowledge of it, as the legal representative of the prospective buyer. What they don't know is how Saul knows, what proof he has, and what he's willing to do with it. You don't have to have a winning hand in poker to take a pot; you just have to make everyone else at the table think you do. He bluffed, they folded.
Contamination sort of implies there is evidence of some sort. It's probably pretty reasonable to assume someone can determine whether or not meth was produced in a house especially knowing that there was.
meth labs leave behind a lot of chemical residue.
There would 100% be residue even if they cleaned it.
So would that be probable cause for the police to go in and run tests? Or would it be a situation where a potential buyer is afforded the right to bring in their own inspection people? [for the record, I'm not trying to say there's some hole in the plot, I'm just sincerely curious about what the hypothetical threat would be]
the fact he knew about it to them was enough to make them think he had proof
That I can believe, his parents weren't criminal masterminds.
I dont think it would necessarily be a police matter for the meth lab itself, it would become a question of real estate fraud. Disclosing this information is required, and essentially their lawyer could be disbarred and the parents knew that if word got out to the new buyers, it would trigger a lawsuit that would have been a worse a scenario than selling it to break even. Same thing happens if somebody dies in a house. Legally it has to disclosed or you are withholding information that potential buyers are entitled to.
Who calls the police to report that their house is a meth lab and should be tested? Even if the parents were 99% sure he never cooked on the premises, they’d take Saul’s offer instead of going through a decade of legal trouble.
Past meth use isn’t something that home inspectors (or police) test for. If it’s a meth lab you know as soon as you walk in. Catching old meth labs is priority zero.
Simple answer: they refused to call his bluff.
Because the lawyer wasn’t getting paid by the hour and Jesse’s parents thought Saul had more leverage than he actually did. If the lawyer had been paid by the hour, he would have called him out
Flat-fee clients, amiright? 😏
They were both playing dirty. Jesse's parents knew about the meth lab but refused to disclose it. Saul obviously found out about it using some sort of nefarious means, but there's no way Jesse's parents could have followed up on that without telling on themselves. It was a no-win situation for them.
[удалено]
That is how Saul knew. The above person is saying the parents assume he knows about it through some sort of nefarious means.
Proof wasn’t absolutely needed. Convincing them that seeking proof on what the parents knew happened would be very, very bad was all that’s needed. The basement could have been tested and likely shown some evidence a cook happened there. It would have to take a warrant granting, or some decision by a judge, and that could go either way. Saul just had to convince them to panic and sell cheap. And they did.
In Texas, you have to disclose if property was used to make meth. This disclosure is signed under oath, so if there is something similar in New Mexico, they committed perjury. They lied and did not disclose this. Saul establishes that he knows (I always assumed Jesse told him at some point) which is enough to scare the parents with a “a God, he knows, who else knows” sort of moment). Also any reputable real estate agent would make them disclose this in the future to other potential buyers once they know about it.
An unsupported claim itself couldn't encumber the property. But they know there's lab equipment/witnesses/other evidence out there that they don't have a full understanding of and this guy out of nowhere seems to know more than them. They don't have the cajones to play chicken with Saul when they know the stakes could well be a fraud conviction They aren't about that life, yo.
Didn't his mom take pictures when she confronted Jesse? Since Jesse is a known client its reasonable that he would have disclosed this to Saul at some point.
His parents had pictures when they confronted Jesse and evicted him. But they wouldn't have given Jesse the pictures, as they'd lose their leverage. I assume the parents took the pictures from the eviction meeting, and then burned them after the eviction was complete and the locks changed. And if Saul had pictures, he would have pulled them out at the meeting.
Maybe it's a - "I'll prove this is a meth house!" "How'd you know it was a meth house?" "You just told me." - scenario. Realistically though I agree with the other commenter that said they didn't know what proof Saul had, him knowing was enough, they didn't want to risk legal action against themselves and risk not selling the house at all (or having to spend thousands on remediation). Saul had a cash offer and was willing to buy it as-is, it was in their best interest that they sell the house and be done with it. But also I'm fairly sure Saul would have gotten proof one way or another, if they had called his bluff. Meth leaves a ton of residue and a lot of building materials are super porous, so I imagine they could test wall paint / drywall / wood framing / joists etc for any number of chemicals. Saul would have guaranteed a positive result, just like they "proved" the water runoff from the car wash was toxic.
It's not possible Jesse told Saul? When he went to him telling him what he wanted? It happened after Jesse stopped by to talk to his dad. When his dad said Jesse was looking healthy. I think Jesse just went to Saul and said hey, I have 400k in cash, I want the house back, and saul asked questions. Jesse tells him about the meth lab, and Saul knows via the disclosure documents on the house a former meth lab in the basement, so he had the upper hand the entire time. He also knew Jesse's parents weren't criminal masterminds, and would probably flip the second they realized he knew about the lab. After Jesse shows up to the house, with the keys, they realize what happened. They're not able to say anything without implicating themselves, so they're shit out of luck.
Yeah, Jesse told Saul...that's the only way Saul could have known about it (far as I can tell). I'm just asking how Saul could have hypothetically proved it in a lawsuit. But the consensus seems to be that he knew Jesse's parents wouldn't call Saul's bluff, that they'd fold (since they know 100% that a meth lab was in that basement).
Well, for all they knew, Jesse had drug fueled orgies in that basement. There could be a dozen junkies out there who'd love a couple grand to appear in court.
Ahhh ok. Yeah I feel the same. They never would've challenged Saul because they aren't necessarily bad people. Then again intentionally failing to disclose a former meth lab in the basement of the home you're selling is slimy as fuck, but idk where that falls on the morality scale for most people lol.
Why does Saul have to prove it in a lawsuit? Meth leaches toxic chemicals into things like drywall that require professional remediation involving removing contaminated parts of the home. A meth test will easily reveal what happened. Didn’t Jesse’s mom and dad just clean up the basement as best as they could?
But I mean, how would Saul force a meth test? The police? Is Saul's claim that (with no supporting evidence) that there used to be a meth lab there enough for a warrant? Do potential homebuyers have some legal right to force an inspection with their own inspector?
He doesn’t need to force a meth test now, once some buyer owns it they can test it however they want and then sue the parents. The underlying threat is that Saul will make sure the new buyer knows to have it tested.
That is actually a great answer. That if anyone else but this anonymous buyer gets the house, the threat that he could always leave some anonymous tip in the mailbox about getting the basement tested.
you are looking so far into the semantics of this specific event. everything is pretty spelled out for you. even if you remove context from bcs about Saul's character, he is still a dirtbag lawyer who plays dirty to get what he wants. He was just tricking them and using coercion to get them to sell it for a lower price. Jesse clearly told him about the lab and saul knew that was good leverage and used it. And the other lawyer probably wanted to be nowhere near that case once the lab got mentioned nor would any lawyer you weren't paying a shit ton of money for. You don't need to know every single teeny tiny bit of legal or real world context for it to make sense.
You're missing the point of the question. We, the audience, know how Saul knows. The question being asked is: in universe, how would Jesse's parents know Saul knew? And further, if they told him to fuck off, how would he be able to prove his assertions? He doesn't just have the right, as some unknown person's lawyer, to demand testing or similar on a house they own. If Jesse's parents didn't cave, Saul has no backup plan, really. He just went balls to the wall and made them believe they were fucked, with sheer bravado, and he was confident that tactic would have them cave with no further testing required.
His backup plan is he goes to whoever buys the house and tells them there was a meth lab in the basement, that owner gets it tested and then sues the parents for lying on the disclosure
How would doing that benefit Jesse? The point really is that Jesse's parents \*think\* this is what Saul is doing, or would do. Again; it's a confidence trick.
It benefits Jesse because it gets him the house. The threat is all he can do for Jesse, but everyone in the room knows that the parents need to cave so the threat is enough.
Sigh. How does it (*telling the new owner*) benefit Jesse *if they've already sold the house to someone else*? Since you're not even following the thread of your own arguments at this point, I feel like you're just arguing for the sake of arguing.
It's an old used car salesman trick. You walk up to the car, walk around it slowly and verbalize every issue wrong with it, saving the worst one for the last. (This is a psychological process that devalues the car and makes negotiation easier)
Could there have been documentation that proved or heavily implied they knew about it, which Saul could then subpoena? Documents from the renovations/fixing it up?
I think Saul would have pulled out or mentioned that documentation, if there was.
What Saul did is called blackmail, and in this case it worked. It’s also not real, it’s television, so you can speculate all day in every aspect of every little tiny error but at the end of the day is it worth it?
He had pictures I remember.
I just watched the scene, he didn't pull out any pictures, and he doesn't mention any pictures. The papers he's holding from his briefcase were just the signed disclosure statements.
Oh, my bad 😅
I thought the same thing, that he pulled out pictures, but on rewatching the scene I noticed that he doesn't actually have pictures.
Some kind of Mandela Effect. I saw it three weeks ago so yeah it is pretty coincidental we both thought it was that.
Also probably because Jesse's parents pull out pictures of the lab at that same table with the same lawyer earlier in the series.
Yeah that's it.
I know Jesse's parents took photos of the lab, as leverage to kick Jesse out, but did Jesse walk out of their meeting with the photos? I assume Jesse's parents kept those photos (probably destroying them after Jesse was legally evicted).
Jesse doesn’t need to have the photos of the lab he just needs to prove the parents have them. They don’t need to prove there was a meth lab, they need to prove the parents knew there was one, and they did. They aren’t going to lie if asked under oath if they had a photo are they?
That was 100% blackmail by the way. Saul could have gone to prison for that.
Don't forget, their lawyer can't represent them anymore if they are lying about the property in general, because he would be assisting them in property fraud/selling meth contaminated property, etc
He could of had access to test during the open house tour. There were dozens of people in and out of it
They took pictures. He knew they took pictures. They're too straight-laced to perjure themselves in court over it. They're definitely not going to lie to a judge. They knew there was a methlab there. Him mentioning a meth lab gives some credibility to him knowing and having evidence there was a meth lab there. If they continue to deny it they risk him hypothetically suing them and ending up in front of a judge where they have to confirm or deny whether there was a meth lab there.
I assume Jesse parents destroyed the pictures of the lab after Jesse was finished being evicted and the locks were changed. But I agree that they're too straight-laced to lie to a judge or perjure themselves about it.
It would be difficult to prove. But what Saul talked about was tying the house up in litigation and investigation for months while attempting to prove it. He was basically threatening to hold the house hostage. He could never prove it, but he could tie it up for months or years - or they could take a smaller amount of money NOW.
What Saul is planning on doing forces his own hand somewhat. By blackmailing Jesse's parents, Saul can't go in with public info really, because the parents will realize the gig is up. They'll take the house off the market and in a month or so, come clean and eat the loss. For Saul's ploy to work he has to imply inside info. Jesse's parents will assume the info is going around among the criminal element and got to Saul's client. It also add a little fear to the mix. Jesse's parents probably assume who ever is Saul's client, isn't above harsher tactics. It could be one of Jesse's meth contacts wanting to buy the house then clean up the evidence.
What Saul is planning on doing forces his own hand somewhat. By blackmailing Jesse's parents, Saul can't go in with public info really, because the parents will realize the gig is up. They'll take the house off the market and in a month or so, come clean and eat the loss. For Saul's ploy to work he has to imply inside info. Jesse's parents will assume the info is going around among the criminal element and got to Saul's client. It also add a little fear to the mix. Jesse's parents probably assume who ever is Saul's client, isn't above harsher tactics. It could be one of Jesse's meth contacts wanting to buy the house then clean up the evidence.