So, who’s watching?
This show is rather low-key next to Breaking Bad, but I’m finding it compelling nonetheless. For mine, the quality is pretty much on par.
Hector Salamanca! Holy crap.
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I’m not saying it’s the best show ever but … well, I have days when I have said that.
I prefer Better Call Saul over Breaking Bad by a factor of 100. The humanit(ies) of characters in Better Call Saul are evoked with compassion. There are problems of course …
Breaking Bad sometimes felt to me like watching a more enervating and cynical Quentin Tarantino movie with less interesting dialogue.
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I just finished up the first season of BCS. I’m loving the Erhmentrout back story very much.
Is season 2 good so far?
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We’ve really been enjoying it more and more as new episodes are made.
Already out of likes @anon61221983 this morning so …
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I like the show.
Its fun to see Michael McKean play a villain, albeit a sanctimonious, well meaning, hypocondriac one. Both Michael McKean and Bob Odenkirk is demonstrating what few people realize. Many comedic actors are fairly adept at drama as well.
The Mike Erhmentrout plotline is interesting enough to practically be its own show. Plus seeing Michael Mando in another show after his turn on Orphan Black is welcomed.
I never got around to watching Breaking Bad on a regular basis, so I don’t know how much of a change Jimmy is from Saul Goodman he becomes.
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It’s one of my ‘Don’t miss, can’t miss’ shows. They’ve left themselves quite a lot of play for jumping around in the timeline as well, so hopefully we’ll see Walt and Jesse pop up, even if it’s in one of those flashforwards.
#Spoiler for season 2
I think my favourite scene so far is the opening scene to I think episode 3, where Chuck is attempting to play the piano through his guilt but we find through the proxy of his concentration on the instrument that Jimmy recovering from his exile perturbs him more. The writing, the production, the direction, all absolutely incredible.
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Saul Goodman is pretty much Jimmy McGill minus what there is of Jimmy’s scruples.
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I’m up to season 4 in Breaking Bad so I’ve been holding off on BCS until I’m finished with BB just in case there’s spoilers.
He’s an incredibly entertaining character so I bet the standalone series is awesome.
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Almost through season 1. Just finished with Pimemto. Holy crap, what a heartbreaking episode that was. So far I’m loving it. It brings back some of the dark humor and moments of levity that were so lacking from Breaking Bad’s later seasons.
To answer my earlier question, no real BB spoilers other than some little callouts that you wouldn’t otherwise notice. Like the very first scene in the first episode which is a major spoiler, but only if you know the context. Still glad I finished BB first, though.
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My hubbie and I just caught up with our Amazon subscription. I, too, prefer this to the violence of Breaking Bad. BB was a masterpiece, but the violence of it was so over the top. I like the quiet nature of BCS, and the actors are bringing such depth to their characters as the series progresses.
The cinematography of both shows is a joy. Every shot I feel like I could pause the show and analyze. I am noticing particularly the use of color - the aquas in Howard’s office, for example, seem to scream “disingenuous fake asshole.” I like the care that goes into the environments, the storytelling through visuals.
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Oh, goodness, yes. As a cinema nerd I love how expertly crafted every scene is. Take for instance the opening scene of Bingo with Mike and Saul sitting on a bench in the courthouse under the most wanted pictures.
Almost the entire scene took place using this shot framing. It was really great.
I’m pretty certain that Jimmy coincidentally bumps into at least one of the guys on that wall in one of the scenes. There always seems to be little bonuses like that to make sure you’re really paying attention.
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I’m actually liking season 2 less than season 1. While the first had a lot of great references and “origin story” material for both of the main characters, I feel like season 2 has become a bit of a slough. Sure, it’s good character development, but it’s not particularly exciting. Also, I feel like Jimmy and Mike have diverged too much - it’s like 2 different shows. Watched the latest episode this morning and felt like I wanted to fast forward through some of the scenes - some that are boring, others that just make me sad for Jimmy and the way he screws up his life.
The season two finale - wow.
How long before Jimmy becomes Saul?
And Mike seems to have been pushing his luck…
It’s our favorite show though The Americans makes the call a close one.
I don’t think there are spoilers in what I’m about to write, but, if you’re someone who doesn’t like spoilers. Please don’t read any of what I write about shows — ever.
I’ll do my best, but sometimes I slip and include narrative bits or ideas that someone might consider a spoiler. I think the idea of “spoilers” is hard to understand as people often reread (or rewatch) multiple times. I don’t agree the story is “spoiled” by knowing how the plot resolves itself. It’s a strange idea. But I respect that others don’t want to be told, so that makes it important to me to try.
With that warning, the most interesting interpretive puzzler for us in Better Call Saul is why Jimmy’s brother Chuck suffers from a disabling mental health impairment. How does it mean alter the meanings in the show? How does Chuck’s story connect to Jimmy’s story?
Walter White’s cancer diagnosis in BB presumably increased Walter’s awareness of his mortality because Walt expected to die from cancer.
His focus on overcoming his mortality drove him to bold excess and drained his humanity even as he seemed to be surviving the illness.
What about Chuck? He’s the voice of reason for powerful corporate interests, and he also suffers from an illness that isn’t real or is at least not what it appears to be.
And Jimmy sympathizes with Chuck’s illness, validates him and cares for him. But Jimmy also knows Chuck’s illness undermines his public legitimacy, that Chuck is a kind of fraud.
At the same time, Jimmy believes in his (Jimmy’s) own authenticity and sincerity even though he is constantly undermined — most of all by Chuck.
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Ooh! Ooh! Ooh; I am!
*lolz
I still miss BrBa, but BCS is like visiting with old familiar albeit dysfunctional friends.
I can’t help but wonder
[spoiler] Who stopped Mike from murking Hector Salamanca?
Because Nacho can’t be in 2 places at once.
Furthermore is Mike the one who makes HS an invalid?
And lastly when do we get to see Gustavo Fring again?
I’m not buying it that Giancarlo Esposito wont be brought in at some point during this series; his character is a key tie-in to Walter’s narrative. [/spoiler]
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Totally wondering all that stuff myself.
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I guess we shall see…
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Next year 
Sucks how that’s it already.
/hankers after the days when you’d score 26 eps of South Park in a year
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Yeah, tell me about it.
Damn binge-watching;it’s only further minimized my dwindling attention span.
For example, Orange is the New Black.
One hand I can’t wait until OITNB returns, but on the other I’m dreading it because I know that I’ll have watched the entire season over the course of a weekend, and then the interminable waiting will start all over again,
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We’re talking about starting over from the beginning. We were so disturbed that the season ended with a cliffhanger! Who does that after only 10 episodes? It’s wrong. And for the last scene we kept yelling at the screen, He’s taping you! No! Aaaah! No! … And now nothing until next year? Not cool. I do like that the audience sees that Chuck definitively is out to get Jimmy when Chuck doesn’t tell Jimmy his mom said Jimmy’s name. It’s cheating, but it works since Jimmy is otherwise comic book character dishonest.
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