TV: Better Call Saul - Part 3

[Say Hey Kid]

I forgot to say (seemed redundant to me though) that I really liked the finale. Mike/Werner as well as the scenes with Lalo were amazing. “I’ll go to have a better look at the stars” - followed by the silent killshot - truly heartbreaking. Same goes for Werner’s “goodbye” call to his wife. Him having to be mean to her in order to save her life - all that while hearing her voice for the very last time. Cinematically perfectly executed scenes. Great pictures, awesome acting. Jim turning Saul, I guess he had everyone including the audience fooled there. Kim’s shock and him not even realizing truly and fully displayed his psychopathic character. Great finale with just a few weaknesses.

Agreed

 

[Ozz]

Werner's phone call was reminiscent of Walter when he realized the police were tracing his call.

edit: woops, I see someone just posted that earlier. Well, still. Werner's pleading to talk w/Gus out of desperation was similar as well.

 

[silverfish]

Man... Jimmy is an awful person

I'm enjoying the show. I think the universe it's built in is fascinating, the characters have, mostly, a ton of depth to them. I think we just all know Jimmy too well at this point and could see that he was acting the whole time during the interview, or whatever you want to call it. I think the audience who knows Jimmy like we do gets to see it through Kim's eyes, that look of "maybe" to just be crushed. A good reminder to all of us on what it looks like.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

You're wrong - being a criminal does not equal psychopath. It's the inability to sympathize or feel empathy for others. The last part of this season completely focused on this issue. Jimmy is obviously much different since Chuck passed away.

I never said being a criminal equated with being a psychopath. Career criminal...it's an asset. And c'mon, it's not as if we never saw BB. We know what he is.

 

[chicagoskycam]

I never said being a criminal equated with being a psychopath. Career criminal...it's an asset. And c'mon, it's not as if we never saw BB. We know what he is.

This show is supposed to be about the journey to become Saul. Jimmy when we meet him in this show is not a psychopath. Sleazy. petty criminal and he does or did care about people. Your post stated he was a psychopath because he was always slipping Jimmy. We just saw him pretty much turn the corner, complete when he pisses off Kim - as he will have no real relationships.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

This show is supposed to be about the journey to become Saul. Jimmy when we meet him in this show is not a psychopath. Sleazy. petty criminal and he does or did care about people. Your post stated he was a psychopath because he was always slipping Jimmy. We just saw him pretty much turn the corner, complete when he pisses off Kim - as he will have no real relationships.

Oh, he was absolutely a psychopath. He's a thief. A liar. A scammer. He scammed his parents out of their (house? business?)...that was in there in the first season. It evens shows you how little kid Jimmy saw his dad being scammed in his family story...and identified with the scammer.

Whether or not he realized it or accepted it or fully embraced is the question; it's not Slippin' Jimmy becoming a psychopath, it's Slippin' Jimmy facing it and becoming Saul Goodman. But honestly it's becoming a bit trite.

Jimmy's got his "Nobody's going to give me a fair shot! Whaaaaaaa! I might as well be the bad guy!" origin moment.

Mike got his transition from hardboiled ex-cop to cold-blooded narco enforcer moment. Werner only existed to give Mike a genuine friend to blow away and show us his turning point.

Yeah, Lalo, Nacho and Kim. The new stories within this world are much stronger than the backstories spun off from BB imho. Those are the ones I'm really interested in.

*edit* And props to the creators for giving Mike McKean a chance to sing. Here's a tribute to Chuck:

 

[CupofOil]

I have no idea what some of you people are watching.
This show is great.

It's a bit of a slow burn but so was Breaking Bad at times. I personally like the slow pace and the building up of characters to bridge to the Breaking Bad timeline. I think all the characters are interesting in different ways.
It did drag a bit at times like with Jimmy at the cell phone store but I like everything about the show otherwise and Kim/Jimmy had some of their best scenes of the series in the last few episodes. The Mike/Gus/Salamanca stuff is always top notch. The Mike/Werner scene was gut wrenching.

I guess it's a matter of opinion but I'm surprised that there are Breaking Bad fans who aren't a fan of BCS. I love it, it turned out better than I thought it would. I preferred a Gus prequel from his early years to his rise to power and was skeptical about Saul being a lead character but they've done well with it. Gilligan is a genius.

Edit: I do agree that Nacho not being in the final episode was disappointing but I don't know what else they could have done with him this season. They'll be plenty more to come from him in the next few seasons along with "Krazy-8" I'd imagine.

 

[chicagoskycam]

I have no idea what some of you people are watching.
This show is great.

It's a bit of a slow burn but so was Breaking Bad at times. I personally like the slow pace and the building up of characters to bridge to the Breaking Bad timeline. I think all the characters are interesting in different ways.
It did drag a bit at times like with Jimmy at the cell phone store but I like everything about the show otherwise and Kim/Jimmy had some of their best scenes of the series in the last few episodes. The Mike/Gus/Salamanca stuff is always top notch. The Mike/Werner scene was gut wrenching.

I guess it's a matter of opinion but I'm surprised that there are Breaking Bad fans who aren't a fan of BCS. I love it, it turned out better than I thought it would. I preferred a Gus prequel from his early years to his rise to power and was skeptical about Saul being a lead character but they've done well with it. Gilligan is a genius.

I like it but I'm disappointed a bit as well. I really liked the shady aspect of Saul being an attorney in BB and I feel like we were robbed a bit of that opportunity with how many seasons it took to arrive there. I like the characters and the acting is top notch for the most part. Some of the side plots are annoying... you mentioned cell phone store. You could also get a steady stream of new/interesting characters with Saul as an attorney - Gilligan has always been great at casting here.

Like another poster said. There is so much crap on tv these days. I hope we get a couple more seasons with actual Saul. Some closure on the flash forwards.

 

[Neutrinos]

I have no idea what some of you people are watching.
This show is great.

It's a bit of a slow burn but so was Breaking Bad at times. I personally like the slow pace and the building up of characters to bridge to the Breaking Bad timeline. I think all the characters are interesting in different ways.
It did drag a bit at times like with Jimmy at the cell phone store but I like everything about the show otherwise and Kim/Jimmy had some of their best scenes of the series in the last few episodes. The Mike/Gus/Salamanca stuff is always top notch. The Mike/Werner scene was gut wrenching.

I guess it's a matter of opinion but I'm surprised that there are Breaking Bad fans who aren't a fan of BCS. I love it, it turned out better than I thought it would. I preferred a Gus prequel from his early years to his rise to power and was skeptical about Saul being a lead character but they've done well with it. Gilligan is a genius.

Edit: I do agree that Nacho not being in the final episode was disappointing but I don't know what else they could have done with him this season. They'll be plenty more to come from him in the next few seasons along with "Krazy-8" I'd imagine.

Breaking Bad had those payoff moments that made the slow burn worth the wait

Better Call Saul doesn't seem to have those, or at least, they're much fewer and far between

 

[Ensane]

Also, another parallel I drew on from the Werner call was Tyrion being extremely cold to Shae trying to get her to leave Westeros in GoT.

Overall, I enjoyed the ride, and that's what the show is all about--the ride. Next up, we get to see exactly how Saul finds his niche (he'd only just played in the frays of being a criminal lawyer) and grows his client base. I'm intrigued!

 

[bigdirty]

I want more of Huell. He's so weirdly compelling.

 

[alko]

Breaking Bad had those payoff moments that made the slow burn worth the wait

Saul isnt a character, that can have such peak and on the edge moments like drugs dealers and drugs cooks. Because of that we have also this second storyline, that is for most people much more interesting.

In BB it was about Walt and Jesse and they both had such moments.

 

[b1e9a8r5s]

Finished the finale last night. I'm surprised at the negativity. I really enjoyed this season and thought it ended on a really strong note.

For the people that are talking about the breaking bad payoff moments, this show is limited there. So many characters in this show, we know how it ends. Mike, Gus, Gale, Old Salamacha, the Cousins, etc. The fact that the show is as compelling as it is, with so many moves being off the board so to speak, is a testament to how good the show is.

 

[Asheville]

Finished the finale last night. I'm surprised at the negativity.

Surprised? Really? Complaining is humanity's favorite pastime.

 

[kook10]

It was good, but it would be great if I could watch it on 1.25x.

 

[chicagoskycam]

The entire point of these threads is to debate what you like or didn't like about a show/season. Some people don't like it or parts of it at least. I have a feeling next season will be much better.

 

[Preds Partisan]

Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring) apparently broke his ankle skiing and his scenes in episodes 8-10 were shot afterwards. I wonder, as we discussed above, if that's why the last superlab scene seemed weird.

 

[b1e9a8r5s]

The entire point of these threads is to debate what you like or didn't like about a show/season. Some people don't like it or parts of it at least. I have a feeling next season will be much better.

I'm not sure if this was directed at my comment or not, but there's nothing wrong with complaints. I just meant that given how much I enjoyed the show I'm surprised how many people seemed to be frustrated by it.

 

[Ensane]

I liked the analysis a critic had about the Mike arc: the building of the superlab was a pure red herring, and the story was about Mike's transition from anti-hero operating just outside the law to full blown criminal.

 

[chicagoskycam]

I'm not sure if this was directed at my comment or not, but there's nothing wrong with complaints. I just meant that given how much I enjoyed the show I'm surprised how many people seemed to be frustrated by it.

Saul's storyline has been kind of lame. There are a ton of needless throw in scenes. My only complaint.

 

[BluesOne31]

I enjoyed this season much better than the previous ones because I didn’t care for Chuck’s storyline all that much and this one focused on Mike a lot more. Just a brutal ending to his “friendship” with Werner.

And the writers giving a backstory to every key detail from Breaking Bad like with Lalo giving Hector the bell is awesome.

 

[alko]

But still waiting for the so often mentioned Walter appearance. Or did i miss something?

 

[LightningStrikes]

But still waiting for the so often mentioned Walter appearance. Or did i miss something?

Or Jesse

 

[TheBluePenguin]

After every episode I look at my wife and say "You dont love me like Kim loves Jimmy". I love this show but we all have to know Jimmy is going to really screw over Kim at some point and it makes me sad.

 

[alko]

Btw, according to Wiki, in memory of Paul Allen, he and Bill Gates founded Microsoft and their first base was in Albuquerque, new Mexico.

Just for curiosity: Is there still "The Garage" to see?

And eventually, at which address do they live (or lived) Jimmy, Walter or Jesse?