Better Call Saul

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

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Drenk

SPOILERS

It's a chaotic season. All the time given to Mike and Gus is, I think, a total waste. It's not as solid as season 2 was. Or as any season of Breaking Bad (even when they were making it up as they went along (hello season 5 and the nazis)). Nacho is so much more interesting for this show than Mike is...I'm glad we got more of him for the last episodes but it seems a little late for the season...

Why did we have scenes with Mike doing construction work? I can't remember the context, it's as if I were sleepwatching when Mike is on...Last episode was very good, but we once again got an overlong scene with Mike. Now he's on the books. Ok. Does he care? Is he conflicted? He seems a little bothered but he's just stoic. They take for granted that Mike is cool. So they give him "cool" things to do with no story behind...

I'm talking a lot about this because it takes a lot of time, and I understand that they need to create links with Breaking Bad so they have to involve Mike and Gus more, but Nacho's story is linked to them and this is what I want...

The rest is rushed. The conflict between Jimmy/Chuck. Or how Howard suddenly can't support Chuck anymore. Or how Kim is avoiding her moral issues by working as hard as she can...I wish it felt more organic, but this season is a misshapen Lego. But the last episode was solid, and I am excited for the finale—even if I don't really know where they'll go since this season didn't have any real direction. Except a definitive breakup between Kim and Jimmy?

Ascension.

diggler

We're at the end of season 3 of a show called Better Call Saul and Saul has barely showed up, I think it's anything but rushed. The parallel stories aren't gelling well because there aren't many reasons for Jimmy and Mike to work together. I find that the more I think of these things, the less I enjoy the show. The filmmaking is so good though that I still enjoy letting it all wash over me. Jimmy could disappear for an entire episode and I would still be captivated.
I'm not racist, I'm just slutty

Kal

Quote from: diggler on June 19, 2017, 01:06:23 PM
The parallel stories aren't gelling well because there aren't many reasons for Jimmy and Mike to work together.

I think this is definitely strange this season, because they did work together before and the chemistry was pretty great. I was hoping that would continue in some way but the only scene they had together this season was when Jimmy went into Los Pollos Hermanos. Great sequence but too short. Maybe the finale brings them back together and sets things up for a bigger collaboration with Fring next season.

Jeremy Blackman

Quote from: diggler on June 19, 2017, 01:06:23 PMI find that the more I think of these things, the less I enjoy the show. The filmmaking is so good though that I still enjoy letting it all wash over me. Jimmy could disappear for an entire episode and I would still be captivated.

That's the crux for me. The day-to-day writing is usually pretty great, but I rarely feel like someone's essential vision is coming together on screen. The entire show itself seems entertaining but not essential.

It also kind of feels like we're stuck in a loop right now. There have been no new elements in quite a long time. The show is either using characters and things from Breaking Bad, or it's circling back to the same old things. Even Chuck's doctor was reused from a previous season.

Drenk

When I say it's rushed I am not talking about the end goal, I am mostly talking about the storylines of the season for Jimmy, Kim, Howard, Chuck, Nacho. Mike doesn't have any storyline, it's all about painfully taking him to where he is in Breaking Bad.
Ascension.

diggler

I can agree with that, it's hard to see past the prequel nature to find the point of it all. Mike has already had his arc, teaming up with Gus feels like an inevitability. Gus is a very interesting character but that was mostly due to his ambiguous nature. Knowing every detail about his rise could only serve to demystify him and cheapen the great story we already got.

It feels like the middle movie in a saga, where everyone is on their separate adventures and will come to some sort of climax in the next film. That climax is Breaking Bad so it will be hard for this show to feel like a complete story. I think that's where the black and white flash forwards come in. At least you don't know where that's going yet. I think in the end that will have been the show's smartest decision.
I'm not racist, I'm just slutty

polkablues

Part of the problem with Mike's storyline is that the very nature of his character precludes the possibility of any major twists or setbacks at this point in his story. His character is defined by his competence and carefulness, and given that we can now draw a straight line between where his character now is in Better Call Saul and where he is when we're introduced to the character in Breaking Bad, there's simply not much in the way of real drama and surprise that can interrupt that line without fundamentally changing the story. Until he is eventually overwhelmed by the whirlwind of chaos that is Walter White, there's not much for him to do but bide his time in a succinct, professional manner while other stories go on around him.

Sucks, because he's my favorite Breaking Bad character by a wide margin, but I think it would do the show well to pull away from him next season, only bring him in when he dovetails directly with Jimmy's storyline.
My house, my rules, my coffee

Jeremy Blackman

SPOILERS

Midway through the episode, I had a few thoughts about Chuck. Wow, they're really going hardcore making him irredeemable. Wow, what is he doing to his house? That was so far beyond any destruction he had previously done, I felt like they were totally jumping the shark with his mental illness. But then, considering how things ended, it does feel suitably apocalyptic in retrospect.

A couple things still nag at me, though. I sort of wonder why Chuck so freely and carelessly destroyed his house if he still wanted to live at that point. Also, burning to death is one of the absolute worst ways to die. (In this case, I don't think he can count on being asphyxiated first.)

This episode was stuffed full of Jimmy redemption. All of his content with Kim was "save the cat" on steroids. I bought it — those scenes were well played — but it does seem strange to push all of that into one episode after having no idea what their domestic life has been like (at all) recently.

More problematic — Jimmy conned those old ladies last episode with no visible remorse, all the way to the end. He even witnessed the consequences and didn't bat an eye. I genuinely don't understand what changed his mind. The things he did last episode (which was even called "Fall") were supposed to push him further towards Saul-ness. But now the writers have reversed that progress and also redeemed him an extra step or two. Seems like a waste.

One might even argue they're jerking around the character to achieve plot goals. I wouldn't go that far, but it does seem like they hit the "abort" button and decided to keep Jimmy fully likable for a while longer. In this episode, Jimmy made enormous sacrifices, apologized to Chuck, humiliated himself in front of the old ladies and Chuck, blanketed Kim with love and support (he even wanted to feed her), and continuously expressed all kinds of remorse that came out of nowhere. I mean... they really used the brute force method here.

This reeks a bit of Walter's completely unearned partial redemption at the end of Breaking Bad. I continue to feel the heavy hand of the writers moving the pieces around on the board. I don't listen to the insider podcast, which I thought would prevent me feeling that way, but it has not.

Just need to end on a positive note (because I still enjoyed this). My favorite moment of the episode was Gus looking at Nacho after the ambulance pulled away. His spidey sense was definitely tingling.

Actually the extended standing ovation for Chuck was the best part. Amazing scene.

Jeremy Blackman

I choose to believe this is in-universe. Mike modeled for an ad on the side.

polkablues

The junkyard guy took this shot while he was dismantling his car to look for the tracking device.
My house, my rules, my coffee

ono

You know this place is dead when two episodes of Better Call Saul Season 4 have aired and no one has posted since last year.  Sup.  Just giving this a little kick.  I've heard this show is pretty good.

wilberfan

Good point.   I just noticed there's not even a thread yet for "Get Shorty", despite having started it's second season.

I enjoy both series quite a bit, actually.

Something Spanish

Only when a new PTA movie is announced and there are no posts on it will I consider this place dead. (was into Breaking Bad bigly when it aired, been meaning to give Saul a chance)

jonas

Only 2 episodes in for this season (#3 airing tonight).

It's been a slow start to the season, and not unexpected after the season 3 finale. Both have been solid episodes thus far, with a good ending last week.

The blending with the BB will continue and it should be great, I have a feeling tonight's episode will move some things along.
"Mein Führer, I can walk!" - Dr. Strangelove

Drenk

It's been a great season so far. Unlike season 3, I like all storylines. I don't really have any criticism...I feel lucky when I watch the show. I'm happy it exists.
Ascension.