Though this week’s Polite Fight begins with a discussion about Kim’s characterization in “Amarillo,” prompted by a comment from Tobias Lehigh Nagy, it soon evolves into a contentious philosophical discussion between Gus and John. John presents Gus with a small detail he’s noticed—the appearance of the number “3” in scenes between Jimmy and Kim—and talks about it in terms of the characters’ relationship (a theory John first advanced on a DVR Club video last year). Gus can’t help playing devil’s advocate, setting up an argument about the distinction (or lack thereof) between analysis and interpretation. From there, our hosts move on to examine some of the subtler touches in “Amarillo” that use the language of cinema to articulate Jimmy’s state of mind. John also expands on an observation he made in our recent inventory of great TV credit sequences, noting a small but potentially significant change to the credit sequences in the second season. Finally, Gus gives a shout out to reader admiraladmirable for solving the Curious Case Of Clifford Main/Baines.
