Television Finished Better Call Saul.

[skillzdadirecta]

Just now, Greatoneshere said:

there's some badass shit in the movie too, I dug it. Tense thrill ride to me.

Yes there is... and it didn't need to be a series either. Perfect coda to Breaking Bad in my humble opinion.

[Derek]

5 hours ago, best3444 said:

 

Well I need something to watch. I was going to go with Ozark but your praise for this is impressive. 

Ozark was great, but it finishes like I do. Messy and unsatisfying. 

[best3444]

1 hour ago, Derek said:

Ozark was great, but it finishes like I do. Messy and unsatisfying. 

 

Yea, I heard about the ending. I may watch the entire series at some point. Breaking Bad is more my style I think anyway. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

I finally watched El Camino recently and thought it was great. 

[thewhyteboar]

This goes out to all my El Camino fans out there:

 

 

[Bacon]

Jesus Fucking Cringe

 

[GeneticBlueprint]

Late to this thread but I've rewatched the show twice now and on each successive rewatch you start disliking Walt earlier and earlier.

[Greatoneshere]

56 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

Late to this thread but I've rewatched the show twice now and on each successive rewatch you start disliking Walt earlier and earlier.

 

The hate against Skylar will never make sense to me. It made sense in season 1 when she was cruel and mean to him (on his birthday she gave the laziest, most humiliating hand job imaginable) which gets people on Walt's side, but I think things switch season 2 onwards.

[skillzdadirecta]

1 hour ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

Late to this thread but I've rewatched the show twice now and on each successive rewatch you start disliking Walt earlier and earlier.

Yeah I've rewatched the show about three times now and I despise Walt more and more. In fact, my dislike for him has grown so much that I am loathe to rewatch the show again  Walt is a P.O. S.

 

 

[best3444]

Well I'm about to start this up. I have mixed feelings after reading this thread 😅 

[SoberChef]

Glad that you watched but I will absolutely stand by my opinion that Better Call Saul is BETTER than Breaking Bad no doubt about it.

[Greatoneshere]

7 hours ago, SoberChef said:

Glad that you watched but I will absolutely stand by my opinion that Better Call Saul is BETTER than Breaking Bad no doubt about it.

 

I also think it's better overall. 

[Guest]

7 hours ago, SoberChef said:

Glad that you watched but I will absolutely stand by my opinion that Better Call Saul is BETTER than Breaking Bad no doubt about it.

To me, it isn’t even a debate. BCS is as good as BB eventually gets, but for its entire run.

[skillzdadirecta]

10 hours ago, SoberChef said:

Glad that you watched but I will absolutely stand by my opinion that Better Call Saul is BETTER than Breaking Bad no doubt about it.

You're not the only one. I think so as well.

[Bacon]

I find BB way more entertaining than BCS. I think that if it wasn't for the show's connection to BB, I wouldn't be watching it on my own. 

A major part of that is just how I feel overall about prequels, but it also isn't that much of my jam. It is totally a great show, but not as much of my style. 

[GeneticBlueprint]

The last season of BCS brings it a hair below BB overall IMO.

 

On 9/24/2022 at 2:42 PM, best3444 said:

Well I'm about to start this up. I have mixed feelings after reading this thread 😅 

 

The show is still endlessly entertaining, gripping, and well constructed despite the main character being a bad dude. There are plenty of other redeeming characters in the show.

[skillzdadirecta]

On 9/25/2022 at 7:42 AM, sblfilms said:

To me, it isn’t even a debate. BCS is as good as BB eventually gets, but for its entire run.

Yeah this pretty much sums it up for me. You can tell the style these guys developed in BB they MASTERED in BCS. Both shows are among the most cinematic TV shows I've ever seen... they're better than most MOVIES these days... but Better Call Saul is BRILLIANT with the way it's written and shot. It knocked BB out of my number one TV show of all time slot. BB knocked out my previous all time champ, The Wire. 

[Bloodporne]

On 9/24/2022 at 2:44 PM, skillzdadirecta said:

Yeah I've rewatched the show about three times now and I despise Walt more and more. In fact, my dislike for him has grown so much that I am loathe to rewatch the show again  Walt is a P.O. S.

 

 

I recently started rewatching it again and even in the first few episodes, Walt was pissing me off with his scorned, sniveling wimp routine considering we all know the megalomania hiding inside. And good fucking lord does Cranston play all facets of him well, it really is an acting marvel. 

[thewhyteboar]

6 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Yeah this pretty much sums it up for me. You can tell the style these guys developed in BB they MASTERED in BCS. Both shows are among the most cinematic TV shows I've ever seen... they're better than most MOVIES these days... but Better Call Saul is BRILLIANT with the way it's written and shot. It knocked BB out of my number one TV show of all time slot. BB knocked out my previous all time champ, The Wire. 

This is why I have BCS ahead of BB. It is just absolutely gorgeous, it's a master class of production and direction. I've never seen anything like it on tv, and as you said, it crushes numerous movies as well.

[TheLeon]

I need to give BCS another shot. I’m sure I would love it. I remember being turned off in the first season for what are probably dumb reasons. 

[thewhyteboar]

9 hours ago, TheLeon said:

I need to give BCS another shot. I’m sure I would love it. I remember being turned off in the first season for what are probably dumb reasons. 

Give it a try. You won't regret it.

[Bacon]

Why I don’t really care for Better Call Saul (all personal reasons)

 

- Prequels are a hard sell for me

- I hate multiple PoV for the most part and prefer a focus on 1 or 2 characters

- It is something that can’t be helped, but the rapid aging of the characters bothered me and is made worse because it is a prequel

- I did not care for the ending at all

- Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep.

- I had a harder time understanding why the characters did what they did

- I don’t like black and white nor do I get why it was done

- I felt like the characters were practically self-sabotaging themselves, like that show Shameless, and I despise Shameless. 

 

Another major thing is that this wasn’t Breaking Bad: Origins. I don’t know many times I kept calling BCS, Breaking Bad, and that is because that is what I wanted. This show may have a bunch of Breaking Bad characters but this show is not Breaking Bad at all I kept waiting for like a Breaking Bad moment but it never really happened. And ultimately, I can’t enjoy characters like Jimmy. The weasel, the rat, the cockroach, Slippin’ Jimmy. I can’t enjoy these characters I never have and I never will even when the show is objectively good. Better Call Saul just isn’t a show for me. It is a good show, and there are parts and characters I like, but overall, I was mostly bored. If it wasn’t for the fact this was a prequel to Breaking Bad I would have never watched this. 

 

---

 

Now I had that pre-written out but I have a bit more to add. I feel like a lot of the themes of the show went over my head whereas they didn't in BB. Like I have no clue why the last episodes were in black and white. I don't understand the reason, but even if I did, I'd still prefer it in color. And I don't really get the chanting on bus. At least I think I don't. The only thing that makes sense to me is that while Saul tried going back to Jimmy, it was too late? Sure, he might finally might be Jimmy in his mind now, but he is Saul to the world. Jimmy only exists for him and Kim.

 

And I do not like endings where the character just goes to jail. Or rather, where the character only exists to exist at the ending. He is basically dead. There is something to be said about how Jimmy is always avoiding jail only for him to place himself in jail for life. For me, the best ending would have him getting out of Jail in the 7 years. I am not sure if he should have remained Saul for found a way to return to Jimmy. But Walt died. Jesse escaped. I think Saul should have made it to the end, the ultimate cockroach. 

[skillzdadirecta]

Quote

And I don't really get the chanting on bus

There's nothing to get there... it was probably the lamest thing to happen in BOTH shows. I get what they were going for there, it just felt out of place and heavy-handed. Very lame. As far as your other issues, it sounds like the show ultimately wasn't for you and that's cool. Not everything is for everybody.  You recognize that it's a good show though. You were also right about the characters constantly self sabotaging but that was also true in Breaking Bad too. Walt didn't have to "Break Bad" at all. He chose to because of resentment and pride.

[Bacon]

One other thing. While Jimmy was never that good of a guy seeing as he was a con artist back in the day, the actions of others didn't really help. Like, the actions of other were basically pushing Jimmy to act like his old self. Maybe, just maybe, Jimmy could have just remained a regular ol' lawyer who was unorthodox but go results. Of course, that really isn't an excuse to break the law and such but yeah. 

 

But what I really don't get is why Howard was treated so badly. Sure, he as lawyer with every negative trait of a car salesman and he did put Kim in the shit for no real good reason, but he really didn't deserve all the shit and hate he got, at least from what was shown in the show.