TV: Better Call Saul - Part 3

[Dick Sledge]

The montages and soundtrack for said montages were awful and annoying.

I think they knew the episode was mostly slow filler so they decided to artsy it up. I just caught up this week after binging the first 5 episodes or so.

I'm not watching the next episode until I have the rest of the season at my disposal.

 

[Preds Partisan]

The montages and soundtrack for said montages were awful and annoying.

I think they knew the episode was mostly slow filler so they decided to artsy it up. I just caught up this week after binging the first 5 episodes or so.

I'm not watching the next episode until I have the rest of the season at my disposal.

Lola Marsh covered "Something Stupid" specifically for last night's episode at the show's request. That's the same song that Frank and Nancy Sinatra sang as a #1 song in 1967 so it's a very well known song. The episode title is "Something Stupid". Everyone did something stupid last night. To each his own but it all was thematically coherent.

 

[Elvis P]

Great Top 5 show. There's never been a slow second for me.

 

[Dick Sledge]

Lola Marsh covered "Something Stupid" specifically for last night's episode at the show's request. That's the same song that Frank and Nancy Sinatra sang as a #1 song in 1967 so it's a very well known song. The episode title is "Something Stupid". Everyone did something stupid last night. To each his own but it all was thematically coherent.

So because I personally thought the montage music (both montages) was annoying as shit I couldn't possibly understand thematically?

 

[Ozz]

The cold open/montage last episode is a good example of how, through creative editing, the story can be moved along several months into the future. We got to see two characters living together, moving in two directions and growing apart. With Jimmy's office party visit to Kim's office and Kim finding out Jimmy is selling cell phones on the street, each character realized they didn't really know anything about what each other has been doing and how different each path has become. That first several minutes montage of the show could have shaved off a couple of earlier episodes this season for sure.

The contrast about the same exact scene between this post & the one before it is pretty funny. My take is the same as the above.

This show is awesome. Great episode.

 

[Danko]

Way to slow. Do Stuff.

 

[Supermassive]

Great Top 5 show. There's never been a slow second for me.

Same here. I revel in the slow burn style that Gilligan uses. The montages. The "what the hell is going on" scenes. The future & past scenes. The clever titles and music. To me, he's a master architect.

I have to admit though, I'm completely ignorant of the actual "vs. Breaking Bad" timeline people are trying to follow with this show, and I'm really just assuming that we're a year or two off from Gale cooking, and Walt's influence being felt on these characters. You just know that Gilligan is going to find amazing ways for the shows to interact and even intertwine. It'll be some pioneering storywriting.

 

[Elvis P]

Same here. I revel in the slow burn style that Gilligan uses. The montages. The "what the hell is going on" scenes. The future & past scenes. The clever titles and music. To me, he's a master architect.

I have to admit though, I'm completely ignorant of the actual "vs. Breaking Bad" timeline people are trying to follow with this show, and I'm really just assuming that we're a year or two off from Gale cooking, and Walt's influence being felt on these characters. You just know that Gilligan is going to find amazing ways for the shows to interact and even intertwine. It'll be some pioneering storywriting.

Total agreement. Good post.

 

[Boris Zubov]

One of the problems with this show is too many montages about mundane things

We don't need a 4 minute montage of Jimmy and Kim brushing their teeth and making breakfast

We don't need a 3 minute montage of the Germans heading to work

These montages just comes across as pretentious and self-indulgent

They existed simply to fill time because the writing on this show has been completely sub par. At this point, the show only exists because of the huge cult following that still yearns for the tiniest of Breaking Bad nuggets.

And yet somehow I find myself still watching, hoping Jimmy actually becomes Saul, that character we couldn't get enough of, who through 4 seasons of this show has barely poked his head out of the sand. Sigh.

Same here. I revel in the slow burn style that Gilligan uses. The montages. The "what the hell is going on" scenes. The future & past scenes. The clever titles and music. To me, he's a master architect.

I have to admit though, I'm completely ignorant of the actual "vs. Breaking Bad" timeline people are trying to follow with this show, and I'm really just assuming that we're a year or two off from Gale cooking, and Walt's influence being felt on these characters. You just know that Gilligan is going to find amazing ways for the shows to interact and even intertwine. It'll be some pioneering storywriting.

Some say slow burn, the rest of us have been waiting for things to move faster than a snails pace since the first episode of this series.

As for the bolded, frankly I'm fascinated why anyone would be confident of that when there's been nothing remotely earth shattering thus far in this entire series? I think you're headed toward a giant let down.

Side note, my buddy sat behind Bryan Cranston at the Yankees-Sox game at the Stadium last night. Made some small talk & said he was a very cool guy.

 

[Ensane]

I think some people's expectations are a little thwarted because of hindsight bias of remembering the high watermarks of Breaking Bad while neglecting the slowburn of some of the storylines in getting there. Additionally, BCS has the uphill battle of being boxed in on the EXACT end-game for nearly all of the main characters. Because of that, the show is inherently forced to "drag" some of these storylines out (there's obviously economic incentive to do so, but I think moreso, this is just the showrunners executing on their creative vision). I suspect if and when the Sopranos prequel movie comes out, we'll see similar complaints.

To me, I'm enjoying the ride because it's fun seeing the slow evolution of characters on an iconic show that didn't receive a ton of backstory or coloring on Breaking Bad. The storytelling might lull at times, but it has always paid off for me, so the showrunners have earned my faith. I say the same thing about anything David Simon touches. With that in mind, I still think this is one of the top shows on TV. The cinematography, the complexity of the characters, the acting are all top notch.

 

[Supermassive]

They existed simply to fill time because the writing on this show has been completely sub par. At this point, the show only exists because of the huge cult following that still yearns for the tiniest of Breaking Bad nuggets.

And yet somehow I find myself still watching, hoping Jimmy actually becomes Saul, that character we couldn't get enough of, who through 4 seasons of this show has barely poked his head out of the sand. Sigh.



Some say slow burn, the rest of us have been waiting for things to move faster than a snails pace since the first episode of this series.

As for the bolded, frankly I'm fascinated why anyone would be confident of that when there's been nothing remotely earth shattering thus far in this entire series? I think you're headed toward a giant let down.

Side note, my buddy sat behind Bryan Cranston at the Yankees-Sox game at the Stadium last night. Made some small talk & said he was a very cool guy.

I fully accept that this show is not the same as Breaking Bad. There are no mind blowing, life-threatening dilemmas that our heroes solve with weird science and luck. It’s not an absurd escapist fantasy show like BB. It’s a character-driven drama.

I wonder how many people who find BCS dull were people who binge-watched BB. Because both shows have the same joy of ruminating on character developments from week-to-week, but BB had the visceral thrills that BCS doesn’t. Maybe binging BB allowed people the “wow” moments while depriving them of the ability to reflect and connect story elements and themes that premiere watchers were able to do from week to week.

 

[Supermassive]

I think some people's expectations are a little thwarted because of hindsight bias of remembering the high watermarks of Breaking Bad while neglecting the slowburn of some of the storylines in getting there. Additionally, BCS has the uphill battle of being boxed in on the EXACT end-game for nearly all of the main characters. Because of that, the show is inherently forced to "drag" some of these storylines out (there's obviously economic incentive to do so, but I think moreso, this is just the showrunners executing on their creative vision). I suspect if and when the Sopranos prequel movie comes out, we'll see similar complaints.

To me, I'm enjoying the ride because it's fun seeing the slow evolution of characters on an iconic show that didn't receive a ton of backstory or coloring on Breaking Bad. The storytelling might lull at times, but it has always paid off for me, so the showrunners have earned my faith. I say the same thing about anything David Simon touches. With that in mind, I still think this is one of the top shows on TV. The cinematography, the complexity of the characters, the acting are all top notch.

A few years ago I was too young to understand, but I fully “get” David Simon’s creations now. It’s a fair parallel.

I also forgave a lot of Breaking Bad’s groan-inducing exclamations because the show was just so much fun. Gilligan has either really matured in reeled in his writing, or his partnership with Cranston was so uninhibited that they just “went for it” in BB.

 

[Boris Zubov]

I fully accept that this show is not the same as Breaking Bad. There are no mind blowing, life-threatening dilemmas that our heroes solve with weird science and luck. It’s not an absurd escapist fantasy show like BB. It’s a character-driven drama.

I wonder how many people who find BCS dull were people who binge-watched BB. Because both shows have the same joy of ruminating on character developments from week-to-week, but BB had the visceral thrills that BCS doesn’t. Maybe binging BB allowed people the “wow” moments while depriving them of the ability to reflect and connect story elements and themes that premiere watchers were able to do from week to week.

Honestly, I didn't love Breaking Bad. I didn't even like it all that much. It had it's moments, but in my opinion it's ridiculously over-rated. Nowhere close to the best TV show of all time like so many people like to anoint it.

The best part of the show to me was Saul. He absolutely stole that show. So when the spin off was announced I was actually looking forward to a show that took the most likable & intriguing character of BB & see what he was up to when not surrounded by all the unbelievable elements of BB.

The writers had so many different ways to go with the development of Saul. Obviously they needed to show us his back story. What they didn't need to do was drag it out this long. Saul was at his best when he is "fixing" his clients problems. Instead of dragging out Jimmy's relationship with Chuck, most of us wanted to writers to show us Saul's lawyering "abilities". It seems like we're finally going to see him do that with Huell, but it's taken entirely too long to get to this point.

There's also two completely different shows going on here, which have nothing to do with each other. Other than pandering to the BB segment of the audience, not sure how the Gus Fring's development fits into Saul's storyline at all. It's like the writers had no plan when they created this show & this was a great way to keep their core audience invested. It feels lazy.

 

[loudi94]

Well we finally got a time jump from May '03 to Jan '04

Gus is a savage stopping Hector's treatment so he's trapped.

My predictions:

All the other people who assaulted the cops were white so Kim makes Huell's look like racism, the art supplies are for protest signs

and 2 episodes from now Wiedersehen (until we meet again in German) Kai screws up the last blast and gets all the Germans killed and Gus has to start again. It makes no sense that the lab is only ready in late '08, that's waaaay to much time, 4.5 years from now.

Seeing as Mike wants to get rid of Kai, for that to happen, it would be another example of a Mike "half-measure". Can't see how Gus would let that go.

 

[silverfish]

Oh man I really want to know what Kim's plan is. I'm guessing she changed her mind as she thought more about what that other lawyer said about Jimmy. Kim's face when she said that... Rhea Seehorn is putting on an acting clinic this year, and I hope she gets some love at the Emmys or Globes next year.

 

[KirkOut]

Oh man I really want to know what Kim's plan is. I'm guessing she changed her mind as she thought more about what that other lawyer said about Jimmy. Kim's face when she said that... Rhea Seehorn is putting on an acting clinic this year, and I hope she gets some love at the Emmys or Globes next year.

Completely agree. She's been top notch

 

[chicagoskycam]

Honestly, I didn't love Breaking Bad. I didn't even like it all that much. It had it's moments, but in my opinion it's ridiculously over-rated. Nowhere close to the best TV show of all time like so many people like to anoint it.

The best part of the show to me was Saul. He absolutely stole that show. So when the spin off was announced I was actually looking forward to a show that took the most likable & intriguing character of BB & see what he was up to when not surrounded by all the unbelievable elements of BB.

The writers had so many different ways to go with the development of Saul. Obviously they needed to show us his back story. What they didn't need to do was drag it out this long. Saul was at his best when he is "fixing" his clients problems. Instead of dragging out Jimmy's relationship with Chuck, most of us wanted to writers to show us Saul's lawyering "abilities". It seems like we're finally going to see him do that with Huell, but it's taken entirely too long to get to this point.

There's also two completely different shows going on here, which have nothing to do with each other. Other than pandering to the BB segment of the audience, not sure how the Gus Fring's development fits into Saul's storyline at all. It's like the writers had no plan when they created this show & this was a great way to keep their core audience invested. It feels lazy.

What they have come up with is kind of aimless. I thought we would be getting Saul as an attorney and there has been very little of that. I don't have an issue with the Mike/Gus storyline as they were very good characters in BB. Mike was supposed to be in 1 episode as the cleaner but had such a response they kept him. The backstory they came up with for Saul is mostly boring and the problem with prequels there is no serious jeopardy for many of the main characters. We know how they end up. The flash forwards with Saul should bring a close on that end.

I did think BB was one of the greatest shows - the only reason I keep watching this nonsense.

 

[Elvis P]

I think the writers have taken Kim's post car accident change of personality a little too far. She's basically an honest, hard working attorney, not Jimmy.

 

[silverfish]

Damn, Jimmy is a terrible influence. The obvious ending to this show is that Jimmy becomes Saul to protect Kim or after something terrible happens to Kim... but this universe is not an obvious one...

Seeing as Mike wants to get rid of Kai, for that to happen, it would be another example of a Mike "half-measure". Can't see how Gus would let that go.

Maybe not Kai... maybe the main foreman whose name I forgot. Maybe both.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

I'm still enjoiyng it a lot. One unfortunate thing is that you already know most of the characters' fates.



So we already know that Lalo is still alive.

 

[loudi94]

I think the writers have taken Kim's post car accident change of personality a little too far. She's basically an honest, hard working attorney, not Jimmy.

She's always been a willing participant in Jimmy's scams. I didn't see her breaking bad before Jimmy does, but it looks like that's where she is heading.

 

[Elvis P]

She's always been a willing participant in Jimmy's scams. ...

No, she hasn't. There's much more to this show than that.

 

[loudi94]

No, she hasn't. There's much more to this show than that.

All those times in the bar....she loved it.

 

[Em etah Eh]

I just finished Ep 4 so I'm a bit behind, but I wasn't sure if I missed something in an early episode or what. At the end of ep 4, Gus has a meeting with Mike and asks him if he's hiding anything from him and Mike finally mentions Nacho, and his attempt to kill Hector. My question is, how did Gus figure out that Mike knew this? Also, my DVR stopped at the last 30 seconds of the episode, so I had to just read a recap of the ending...

 

[Elvis P]

She's always been a willing participant in Jimmy's scams. I didn't see her breaking bad before Jimmy does, but it looks like that's where she is heading.

You must be watching the wrong show. They've scammed free drinks before, but Jimmy always works w/o Kim and never tells her until afterwards.