Better Call Saul - Prequel to Breaking Bad

Better Call Saul - Prequel to Breaking Bad

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Discussion

davepoth

29,395 posts

198 months

Tuesday 24th February 2015
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Rick101 said:
Bit of a flat one this week I think.
They can't all be "up", I guess. The advertising hoarding thing was pretty funny, and it probably set up a big row that's going to happen with his brother, who may or may not actually be completely crazy.

hornetrider

63,161 posts

204 months

Tuesday 24th February 2015
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Yes not so great this week, albeit the scams were amusing.

I'm afraid I also have to suspend belief regarding blonde lawyer and Jimmy having a thing. They should have casted her a bit less fit and a bit more quirky. Like Mrs Kettleman for example.

folos

900 posts

141 months

Tuesday 24th February 2015
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I really enjoyed it, it felt like it wasn't trying too hard like the previous episodes.

Wish they had chosen a different actor for the blonde woman though - hopefully she'll have a lesser role later on. Or at the very least the writers will give her a line that doesn't involve "ummmmm"!

Yazar

1,476 posts

119 months

Tuesday 24th February 2015
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[redacted]

Yazar

1,476 posts

119 months

Tuesday 24th February 2015
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GetCarter said:
Rick101 said:
Bit of a flat one this week I think.
Not written by Gilligan I noticed.
Doesn't mean anything as such.

BB had multiple writers and directors with them changing per episode. The writer attributed is merely the guy who writes it up, the show itself is done by the team.

Example of how they work: https://twitter.com/TomSchnauz/status/568185140951...


I enjoyed the episode, loved that they showed him drawn to the more colorful shirts that he will later adopt along with the retainer line reminiscent of the his hiring by Walt and Jesse after they kidnap him in BB.

Did anyone else spot...when Saul went into the tailors there was a yellow shirt with dark tie hung up - a la Gus's chicken shop atire.

Edited by Yazar on Tuesday 24th February 23:28

Kaj91

4,705 posts

120 months

Tuesday 24th February 2015
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The phone number on the billboard in episode 4 actually works.

krunchkin

2,209 posts

140 months

Wednesday 25th February 2015
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Very flat and dull for me this week. Even as a massive BB fan it felt drawn out and tedious - with yet another bloody extended montage. Only highlight was seeing the Orange painted Holiday Inn I stayed in when I did my BB tour of Alburquerque in the back of the billboard sequences

hornetrider

63,161 posts

204 months

Wednesday 25th February 2015
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Kaj91 said:


The phone number on the billboard in episode 4 actually works.
Nice touch.

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/better-call-saul-bil...



croyde

22,701 posts

229 months

Wednesday 25th February 2015
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I love that it's slow, really works.

type-r

13,918 posts

212 months

Wednesday 25th February 2015
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Yeah I agree. I usually hate slow shows but somehow it works. The first episode felt super-slow but since I've adjusted to the pacing, it's been fanatstic. It definitely has a character of it's own, which it needs in order to be successful in it's own right.

I like the subtlety too. Like when he picked up the orange shirt at the tailors, a nod at his future Saul self.

toon10

6,140 posts

156 months

Wednesday 25th February 2015
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croyde said:
I love that it's slow, really works.
Me too. I found True Detective the same but it added to the overall experience of the show.

RumpleFugly

2,377 posts

209 months

Wednesday 25th February 2015
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Yep, loving it so far. Great characters, lots of plates being span, and fantastic performances.

Only 10 episodes though, so I imagine it'll begin to pick up pace as well.

Yazar

1,476 posts

119 months

Wednesday 25th February 2015
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[redacted]

joema

2,644 posts

178 months

Wednesday 25th February 2015
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Is Saul bad though...? Not in the same league as Walter White for sure but don't think Saul is generally bad.

I like that blonde lawyer woman.

I felt it was a good episode, sometimes it's better to have some slower ones to make the better ones stand out more.

Yazar

1,476 posts

119 months

Wednesday 25th February 2015
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He may not be capable of murder, but he is happy to look the other way and not lose any sleep over it later but not now..

For example in BCS he is currently at the stage where he is worried about Nacho hurting the kids, but later in BB he covered for Walt over the Lilly of the Valley poisoning, plus had Huell involved in the Jesse cigs. Think he also knew about the kid in the train heist episode.

RumpleFugly

2,377 posts

209 months

Wednesday 25th February 2015
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Kaj91 said:


The phone number on the billboard in episode 4 actually works.
And also someone on Reddit pointed out:



It's those sort of little things which make me enjoy the program so much. Attention to detail.

Durzel

12,232 posts

167 months

Wednesday 25th February 2015
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I've started rewatching Breaking Bad again from the start alongside watching Better Call Saul and it's made me wonder whether or not - in absolute isolation and if the former never existed - would I find the latter a bit plodding, and I think - for me - the answer is yes. frown

I do enjoy watching it, it is a quality production that you can see immediately has been auteured by the same people as did Breaking Bad - so I do find myself giving it a hell of a lot of leeway because I'm anticipating things just blowing up, but it almost feels like the show is pulling its punches.

Breaking Bad wasn't anything like the slow burner this has been, Walt had already asked Jesse to cook meth with him in the first episode, and 4 episodes in they'd already killed two guys and Walt had revealed to everyone that he had cancer. 4 episodes in to BCS and there's not much to write home about. We've learnt a bit about Saul's origins, that he had an implausibly hot friend with benefits, was a bit of a shyster and has a beef with a big company. Oh, and his brother is a tinfoil-hat nutter. It's tough to put my finger on what exactly feels wrong about BCS right now, other than to say that it feels a little too self-indulgent, and a little too self-aware. This is probably in no small part due to the fact that it had already been commissioned for a second season before the first one had even started filming.

I'm sure I will be told that this is all building up to something, but I don't really feel invested in much of what's going on right now. Most of the episodes have felt like filler episodes, not unlike the controversial "Fly" episode in Breaking Bad. Can you say hand on heart that Saul/Jimmy has developed as a character, or had any dramatic life changing events, as much as Walt & Jesse did in those 4 first episodes?

I'll stick with it purely out of supreme confidence in the auteurs, but it's been surprising to me upon rewatching Breaking Bad that I'd forgetten just how potent it was right from the start, and this just isn't.

Fortunately BCS on a bad day is better than 99% of the dross on TV, so it has that going for it.

Edited by Durzel on Wednesday 25th February 18:16

Digitalize

2,850 posts

134 months

Wednesday 25th February 2015
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The difference being Breaking Bad had to capture an audience, if it had poor initial ratings it would have been cancelled, or never even commissioned.

BCS has the luxury of starting out with an audience where it can assume a fair amount of knowledge, and also isn't trying to win anyone over. It's a much more natural start, and one I'm perfectly fine with.

Durzel

12,232 posts

167 months

Wednesday 25th February 2015
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Digitalize said:
The difference being Breaking Bad had to capture an audience, if it had poor initial ratings it would have been cancelled, or never even commissioned.

BCS has the luxury of starting out with an audience where it can assume a fair amount of knowledge, and also isn't trying to win anyone over. It's a much more natural start, and one I'm perfectly fine with.
..which is great if you're a fan, or you're happy just to recapture your old BB audience, but if you aren't? Ought it not to be able to stand on its own two feet?

Incidentally Breaking Bad had viewing figures of between 1 and 2 million for most of its run, it wasn't until season 4 and particularly 5 before it really blew up. It had ten times as many viewers (just taking Nielsen ratings) at the end as it did at the start.

JustinP1

13,330 posts

229 months

Wednesday 25th February 2015
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Durzel said:
... in absolute isolation and if the former never existed - would I find the latter a bit plodding, and I think - for me - the answer is yes. frown

...It's tough to put my finger on what exactly feels wrong about BCS right now, other than to say that it feels a little too self-indulgent, and a little too self-aware. This is probably in no small part due to the fact that it had already been commissioned for a second season before the first one had even started filming.
I appreciate what you are saying, and it does seem to be a not uncommon view here.

My retort is this:

We don't have to imagine BCS in isolation, and as if Breaking Bad never existed, because not only did Breaking Bad exist, I would guess 98% of the viewers of BCS not only watched Breaking Bad, are only watching BCS *because* they watched Breaking Bad.

This is written simply for Breaking Bad fans, clearly. The premise of the show even before it aired was that we would find out how the Saul Goodman of Breaking Bad, got to being in Breaking Bad.

So, it is unashamedly indulgent, because it can be - there's a captive audience.

Does each episode have to have a gunfight, explosion or plane crash? No, Breaking Bad didn't either. There was 62 episodes of Breaking Bad, and when the rose-tinted spectacles come off, there was a lot of 'building' episodes to every climax.