Better Call Saul - Prequel to Breaking Bad

Better Call Saul - Prequel to Breaking Bad

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Discussion

basherX

2,492 posts

162 months

Friday 26th August 2022
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BobToc said:
jimwilli said:
basherX said:
Started watching the wire last night. Don’t know if it’s my dodgy aged hearing or just that I’m not attuned to the accents but some of the dialogue is seriously hard to hear. Mumble, mumble, mumble.
Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiìiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttt
I watch everything with subtitles now. Do I need an ear clean in my forties?
I think at 45 this is the tipping point for me. I watched the second Wire episode with subtitles and I may just have to accept that from now on.

We watched the new Top Gun film in the cinema last night. Even with better acoustics there were a couple of bits I just couldn’t get.

I’m old. Gah.

jimwilli

245 posts

103 months

Friday 26th August 2022
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basherX said:
I think at 45 this is the tipping point for me. I watched the second Wire episode with subtitles and I may just have to accept that from now on.

We watched the new Top Gun film in the cinema last night. Even with better acoustics there were a couple of bits I just couldn’t get.

I’m old. Gah.
My comment was to do with how a guy from the wire says sh!t. Maybe not until s3 but it's funny

stemll

4,114 posts

201 months

Friday 26th August 2022
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basherX said:
I think at 45 this is the tipping point for me. I watched the second Wire episode with subtitles and I may just have to accept that from now on.

We watched the new Top Gun film in the cinema last night. Even with better acoustics there were a couple of bits I just couldn’t get.

I’m old. Gah.
If you're in the Apple ecosystem then a pair of AirPod Pros. A free audio test app like Mimi and apply a custom profile to the AirPods. Absolutely magical transformation of both music and TV. Rediscover all the nuances of music that you didn't even realise had gone!! Watch the TV with the AirPods in and in transparency mode (not linked to or playing anything) and all the mumbling dialogue is crystal clear. It's witchcraft!!!

Mezzanine

9,229 posts

220 months

Monday 29th August 2022
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Have just managed to catch up with the last 4 episodes.

I have to agree with a few others in here, my interest and attention really dropped off towards the end of this series. It was technically all still amazing on the acting and cinematography front but I just didn’t connect with it post-Howard/Lalo.

Overall I think it the series was masterful. The characters, pacing, writing, cinematography and acting was all just perfectly done. It had that ‘something’ about it that made it more enjoyable than BCS (for me).

My personal standout of the whole series though was Kim Wexler/Rhea Seehorn. As a character she was essential and really tied the whole thing down, and as an actor just sublime. That scene of her crying on the bus was just…

A role of a lifetime which she utilised fully.

To stand out above such other lighthouse characters such as Jimmy/Mike/Lalo/Gus shows how great (I think) she is.


joema

2,649 posts

180 months

Monday 5th September 2022
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SpeckledJim said:
Evercross said:
Durzel said:
The other stuff, I felt, was purely "oh it's them again that's cool".
The scene with WW while they waited to get their new identities and get transported out was absolutely key to explaining the difference between 'Breaking Bad' and 'Slippin' Jimmy' (which is what this show should have been called, but Better Call Saul clearly had the bigger commercial draw).

White completely changed in character because he was determined to support his family and provide for them in the way he could have had he not been conned out of his rightful share of his invention's commercial value.

Jimmy was just a greedy con-artist with a chip on his shoulder. For him it was "always about the money". It underlined how shallow Saul/Jimmy was compared to White.
Agreed. Walter White was a good man who 'broke bad'.

Jimmy McGill was never a good man in the first place. Always a grifter. Remember early in BSC when he was stealing watches in alleyways. There was a telling line in the last few episodes 'So, you were always like this."
Not always as he tried to be good, which coincided with his relationship with Kim. After Kim he got a lot worse as he had nothing to tame him.
Then when he saw Kim again he did the right thing because she had that effect on him.

So while Kim thought their relationship was destructive it created a better Jimmy.

His earlier grifting was certainly way less serious than his dealings in BB.

I'm glad they wrapped it all up neatly. Enjoyed it.

FilH

631 posts

145 months

Monday 5th September 2022
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Finally watched the last episode after a 3 week wait! ( And just read through 8 or so pages on here

Found it brilliant start to finish.

Just like the whole BCS and BB series.


the-norseman

12,466 posts

172 months

Monday 5th September 2022
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I also finished it yesterday enjoyed it a lot, did struggle remembering what had happened at times though as watched it spread over a long period.

Might watch BCS + BB + El Camino in a few months ago all in one go.

Marty Funkhouser

5,427 posts

182 months

Monday 5th September 2022
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the-norseman said:
I also finished it yesterday enjoyed it a lot, did struggle remembering what had happened at times though as watched it spread over a long period.

Might watch BCS + BB + El Camino in a few months ago all in one go.
Just did BB followed by El Camino after finishing BCS. El Camino stands up much better with the end of BB still fresh.

stemll

4,114 posts

201 months

Monday 5th September 2022
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Marty Funkhouser said:
the-norseman said:
I also finished it yesterday enjoyed it a lot, did struggle remembering what had happened at times though as watched it spread over a long period.

Might watch BCS + BB + El Camino in a few months ago all in one go.
Just did BB followed by El Camino after finishing BCS. El Camino stands up much better with the end of BB still fresh.
Absolutely. Have to treat El Camino as episode 17 of Season 5. I watched it as soon as it came out and wondered WTF was going on, watched it later straight after BB and it was much, much better.

Davie_GLA

6,528 posts

200 months

Tuesday 6th September 2022
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I struggled with the black and white of the last few episodes but looking back it was very well done. I too struggled to remember when we were in the timeline but some good closure.

Rather fitting that it worked out the way it did for him in the grans scheme of things, especially remembering how he found his way into the WW universe.

biggbn

23,501 posts

221 months

Tuesday 6th September 2022
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Thought the last few episodes were painful, really dissapointed with the ending. I could only think it was so kinda disjointed and full of nonsenses; the shop 'heist' etc that it reflected a nervous breakdown Jimmy was going though living his vanilla life. Dull, tedious, really dissapointed

The Rotrex Kid

30,353 posts

161 months

Thursday 8th September 2022
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I’m at Season 2, Episode 8 of BB, Better Call Saul. Love it.

He looks so young.

juggsy

1,430 posts

131 months

Tuesday 13th September 2022
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46 nominations but 0 wins at the emmys https://decider.com/2022/09/13/better-call-saul-fa...

silent ninja

863 posts

101 months

Tuesday 13th September 2022
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juggsy said:
46 nominations but 0 wins at the emmys https://decider.com/2022/09/13/better-call-saul-fa...
I can't believe the actor who played Chuck didn't get nominated either.

This series is a tour de force in character development and dialogue. You really struggle to think of any show that goes through the excruciating detail and journey of how a person (Saul) came to be, what motivates him and ultimately his arc to redemption. All the key characters were four dimensional, let alone three.

You have to admit, as a character study it was superior to breaking bad. Only the Wire had that novel-like quality to it.

One of the best series ever made. In my all time list, I rate it above Game of Thrones

Mojooo

12,755 posts

181 months

Wednesday 14th September 2022
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It had the luxury to be what it what because it had the BB fanbase,

I haven't seen any of the other shows so no idea if they are any good


juggsy

1,430 posts

131 months

Wednesday 14th September 2022
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Mojooo said:
It had the luxury to be what it what because it had the BB fanbase,
BB took a long time to become critically acclaimed, and there’s no denying BCS gained quick popularity by being known and streamed on a major platform. Had BB not existed, it may have fallen into the same fate, but that doesn’t take away from the incredible cinematography, acting and character development.

Part of watching BCS was knowing what Saul would eventually become. Saying that, I feel they kept BB references quite light throughout the series where they could have injected loads of cameos, BB plots etc. It still stood on its two feet and I would have enjoyed it even without BB.

RB Will

9,666 posts

241 months

Wednesday 14th September 2022
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Has BCS won awards previously? Maybe despite the quality it was thought more of the same? I can’t think of anything new they have done over the last 10 years of BB BCS.

I expect there are a lot of people like me who came to it wanting to see BB Saul doing stuff and it is about the one thing we didn’t get.
If I didnt know who Saul was I would have probably jacked BCS in after 2 episodes. I persevered through the first couple of seasons hoping for Saul to emerge and was considering giving up. Then it was a case of well I have to see this through now I’ve come this far. Never felt properly rewarded for it.
The irony being the bits that I actually enjoyed was all the cartel stuff, mostly without Saul in it.

Pistom

4,979 posts

160 months

Wednesday 14th September 2022
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Interesting comment above about if the poster hadn't known Saul from BB, BCS wouldn't have grabbed their interest.

My route to BB was the other way around.

Clips from BCS came up on my Youtube feed which encouraged me to watch the series from the start but then someone said, watch BB first.

So I actually saw bits of BCS first, that got me onto BB and then BCS again.

And even though Ozark is not related, I found the way an almost innocent person's life got taken over mind blowing.

The most memorable scene from all of this for me was the twins crawling in the dirt to the shrine.

I didn't understand it but found it powerful.

Hugo a Gogo

23,378 posts

234 months

Wednesday 14th September 2022
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silent ninja said:
I can't believe the actor who played Chuck didn't get nominated either.
Spinal Tap's David St Hubbins?

silent ninja

863 posts

101 months

Thursday 15th September 2022
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Hugo a Gogo said:
Spinal Tap's David St Hubbins?
Haha indeed!

Who'd have thought that guy could play a high flying intellectual lawyer with a fear of electricity! He should've got an Emmy.