Better Call Saul

Started by Kal, September 11, 2013, 04:29:39 PM

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AntiDumbFrogQuestion

What I've liked about this show so far is that it's creating and propelling it's own narrative, and despite the utilization of Gus and Mike and Tuco and Crazy 8, they don't rely on their appearances as crutches, but as further explorations of the "Breaking Bad universe".
I'm excited to see how Mike eventually becomes Gus' guy, but know the show will be compelling on it's own terms anyways.

Jeremy Blackman



Drenk

Ascension.

Drenk

Quote from: Drenk on April 10, 2017, 09:25:09 PM
Quote from: Drenk on January 04, 2017, 09:09:54 PM
Oh? Spring? Damn.

Oh? Spring? Already? Damn.

That show.



I love how they tell the story...I love how violent the psychological war is between Chuck and Jimmy...I'm hurt by what Chuck did to him. This is a relationship that we don't often see, I think. When brothers fight, it isn't always as ambiguous, intense and heartbreaking.

The shadows continue to expand.
Ascension.

Sleepless

Never sure what to say about this show. In the time it was off-air, it lost its glow in my mind, but now it's back again - man, it's great. Listened to the podcast today and found it fascinating as usual just hearing them talk about little behind the scenes details like the sculpture at the bank, or how they talked for days in the writers' room about where the tracker was hidden on the car. One thing really surprised me though - about the b&w cold open - VG said that Jimmy hated himself for pointing the guy out, and that his guilt/stress likely contributed to his collapse. I had a completely different reading of the scene. I figured it was like the opening of Switch. He was placed between a rock and a hard place; it was easier for him to silently point the guy out than to risk being later labeled an accomplice or some such for failing to do so. He's trying to stay invisible, which is why the collapse seemed more significant to me - not just for health reasons (which may turn out to be not too significant) but more so that by taken to hospital, his true identity may become known.
He held on. The dolphin and all the rest of its pod turned and swam out to sea, and still he held on. This is it, he thought. Then he remembered that they were air-breathers too. It was going to be all right.

Jeremy Blackman

Definitely seeing some cracks — or some frayed paint lines, as it were — in the second episode.

The Los Pollos content was sort of botched...

(1) The very dramatic, slow reveal of the "Los Pollos" sign was groan-worthy. Yes we needed to see that sign, but Jesus, that could not have been worse. We knew this was Los Pollos the minute that guy walked into what was obviously a fast food place. Nevermind that most of us knew even before that scene that Los Pollos was Mike's probable destination. I do not like being so far ahead of the show.

(2) They really hammed it up with Jimmy peering around and sticking out as much as possible. It crossed a line that I think violated his character at least a little. Almost saved it with the watch trick, but I don't buy that a seasoned con man was so incompetent for the rest of it. Especially when he has zero emotional investment (which is his weakness).

(3) When that black SUV screeched up to the back of Los Pollos, then peeled away, it was obviously a trap, right? That was completely incongruous with everything Mike had seen beforehand. And yet he fell for it. Seemed excited, even. "Gah, Mike, what are you doing? Don't you get it?" Is something I didn't expect to say at the screen. I don't like it. Why can't Mike remain one step ahead of me, while Fring is yet another step ahead?

One other complaint. "A little crooked"... Wow, they really do like to put a button on things. Happened several times in these first two episodes.  I remember when this show would let subtext unfold beautifully. The writing is not quite where it should be. The scene at Mesa Verde last week was pretty badly written, too.

There were still a lot of things I loved about this episode. The shots of Mike among the landscape were breathtaking. I actually liked the out-of-focus reveal of Gus cleaning up in the background. Howard climbing the walls was delightful. The way Jimmy broke in was just perfect and true to his character — an upending of expectations exactly like we might have seen in Breaking Bad.

Sleepless

Absolutely agree with all of that. The good and the bad. In retrospect, perhaps one of the show's weakest-written episodes so far. Kim didn't seem herself to me either, even before Ernesto showed up. I'll be listening to the podcast on my lunchtime walk today, so maybe that will improve my perspective on it all.

Maybe if Gus had been a surprise, it would have worked. It certainly seemed it was written as though the audience wouldn't know. You could even point fingers at AMC for ruining it with all the Gus-centric publicity once the scripts were written, but the writers knew before last season ended that everyone had cottoned on to "Fring's back" so really there's no excuse for not being a bit more clever with it. In the future, watching it out of the context of now, I can see it playing better regardless of whether you already know or not, but for everyone watching in the moment, it should have done a better job, as you said, of upending of expectations somehow. Maybe they should have just ripped the bandaid and had the cold open be Gus right there from the off.
He held on. The dolphin and all the rest of its pod turned and swam out to sea, and still he held on. This is it, he thought. Then he remembered that they were air-breathers too. It was going to be all right.

RegularKarate

1.) I didn't groan at this moment, but I did say out loud "What would someone who hasn't seen Breaking Bad think of this moment? It would be fucking ridiculous. This show is obviously for fans of BB, but it should mostly work completely on its own". I think if it had just been a little quicker and the music were a little toned down, it would have been great.

2.) I think this is true to character. When he's not in con-mode, he's not in control. This is why he needs Mike.

3.) I dont' think we are meant to believe Mike was necessarily falling for anything. When he looks at the tracker and it's not moving, to me, his face says "I know, but where's this going?".

Drenk

The Mike part of this show is taking too much place this season. It's kind of breaking the show...
Ascension.

Fuzzy Dunlop

Quote from: Drenk on April 25, 2017, 01:40:26 PM
The Mike part of this show is taking too much place this season. It's kind of breaking the show...

Breaking good or bad?

Jeremy Blackman

I haven't seen last night's ep yet, but I assume the Jimmy and Mike stories are going to dovetail beautifully at some point. Because otherwise, yeah...

Sleepless

The Mike episode in S1 was great, but I felt Mike was taking up too much of the show last season. This season it definitely feels like the writers are more interested in Mike than Jimmy. Seems like Jimmy's on the fast track to becoming Saul now though. Do we know yet if there's going to be a S4 or how long VG envisions this show going on?
He held on. The dolphin and all the rest of its pod turned and swam out to sea, and still he held on. This is it, he thought. Then he remembered that they were air-breathers too. It was going to be all right.

Drenk

26 minutes in: first scene with Jimmy. They know I can watch Breaking Bad if I want to see Gus and Mike?
Ascension.

Jeremy Blackman

SPOILS

You know, I actually loved the Fring scenes. It does feel at times like this show is mis-titled, though.

Did Kim record Chuck when he admitted to staging a duplicate tape for Jimmy to destroy? After all, if that tape can be played, her tape would also be admissible. Maybe that's too obvious though.

Quick world-building question. I wonder how many restaurants Gus owns at this point. Why does he have so much happening in the supply chain, yet he's focused on this one location? None of that is clear to me.