# Better Call Saul



## Adam Of Angels (Jan 10, 2015)

So, who else scared about this? I'm a huge, huge Breaking Bad fan, and Saul was one of the best parts... However, I'm not convinced that an entire series based on him will work out. Part of what makes that character great is that you don't know much about him, and it makes him seem more interesting. Aside from that, the acting seems somehow awkward in all of the trailers I've seen.

What do you guys think?


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## Emperor Guillotine (Jan 10, 2015)

It's a comedic spinoff, man. What do you expect?

Needs more Huell.


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## Jarmake (Jan 10, 2015)

I haven't seen any trailers and I'm looking forward to seeing this series. There's just hoping that it's really good.


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## Adam Of Angels (Jan 10, 2015)

Emperor Guillotine said:


> It's a comedic spinoff, man. What do you expect?
> 
> Needs more Huell.



From what I understand, there's a bit more obvious comedy than BB had, since Saul is the main character, but it's still very much a drama with the same sort of tone as BB (with the exception of the main character not dying of cancer and turning into a sociopath).


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## Emperor Guillotine (Jan 10, 2015)

Not real, but I have a feeling this would be a decent series if Tyler Perry was involved...

Huell&#39;s Rules from Funny Or Die, Andy Bush, kevinstewart, BoTown Sound, Ross Buran, Caleb Swyers, mattmazany, and Lavell Crawford


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## wankerness (Jan 10, 2015)

I'm intentionally not reading anything about it or getting my hopes up. I'll watch it. If it's good, great, if it's another Lone Gunmen then I won't be let down!


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## Hollowway (Jan 10, 2015)

I really liked the Saul character, so I do have high hoped for it. Anyone know who the writers are? I'm hoping they're at least some of the same crew from BB. And when does it start? I guess I could google all the answers, but I'm already typing, so what the hell.


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## Adam Of Angels (Jan 10, 2015)

Oh, it's the same brains behind Breaking Bad, so that's not an issue. It's just poised to be an entirely different show, considering the characters and drastically different story. I'll watch every episode regardless, I just hope it's not a disappointment. 

I can't say for sure, but I've read in a few places that it takes place before, during, and after the events of BB. If anybody can pull this sort of thing off, it's Vince Gilligan and crew, but I'm still a little nervous.


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## Alex Kenivel (Jan 10, 2015)

I'm hoping it'll be good. No Huell tho?


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## Hollowway (Jan 10, 2015)

I would assume Huell is in. This is a prequel, so maybe he gets introduced later on, but I'd say they'd keep him because 1) He offers some continuity to build viewership, and 2) the actor playing him isn't a big enough name to hold out for a ridiculous amount of money, thereby getting himself written out of the show.


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## wankerness (Jan 11, 2015)

Adam Of Angels said:


> Oh, it's the same brains behind Breaking Bad, so that's not an issue. It's just poised to be an entirely different show, considering the characters and drastically different story. I'll watch every episode regardless, I just hope it's not a disappointment.
> 
> I can't say for sure, but I've read in a few places that it takes place before, during, and after the events of BB. If anybody can pull this sort of thing off, it's Vince Gilligan and crew, but I'm still a little nervous.



Switch out Breaking Bad for X-Files and all of this applies to Lone Gunmen, including Vince Gilligan, which is why I'm keeping things so tempered 

Bob Odenkirk is great in an even more dramatic role on Fargo, btw. His character is a doofus that initially comes off as the stereotypical interfering incompetent police chief, but Odenkirk infuses him with such warmth and humanity that you at first can't dislike the guy and eventually end up kind of loving him. He's obviously perfect for the character on Breaking Bad, but Fargo shows what he's capable of doing when given a character with a bit more depth and range. I'm not sure if they'd change his character up enough for him to be able to display any of that aspect of his acting ability, though, since Saul most definitely was not a sensitive guy in any way on BB (well, apart from not wanting to get injured).


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## Jarmake (Jan 11, 2015)

Fargo was incredible. The police chief (odenkirk) was such a sweet guy, that was stuck in those old better days when you could trust people.


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## beneharris (Jan 12, 2015)

Saul was hands down the best character in Breaking Bad. That guy stole every scene he was in. If they can keep that sort of quality, it'll be good.


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## Adam Of Angels (Jan 12, 2015)

beneharris said:


> Saul was hands down the best character in Breaking Bad. That guy stole every scene he was in. If they can keep that sort of quality, it'll be good.



Again, though, it was always because of the mystique - he'd come in and you can't help but think, "man, this guy is such a character.... God only knows what he does when we're not in the same room as him." This show may very well take that away from him. However, I have faith in Gilligan and Co.


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## iRaiseTheDead (Jan 13, 2015)

I'm pretty interested to see how Saul's other clients are


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## wat (Jan 13, 2015)

I hope they aren't scared to make this show super hilarious just because it's a BB spinoff.

This show needs to be gut-busting funny, imo.


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## Jake (Feb 9, 2015)

I really enjoyed the pilot last night and am looking forward to tonights new episode as well. Of course I fvcking loved Breaking Bad so seeing a couple of the characters from it already made me pretty happy


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## Demiurge (Feb 9, 2015)

I'm looking forward to it. And, not for nothin', it's snowing outside, I have no desire to go anywhere, and AMC is running the last several episodes of Breaking Bad leading up to the replay of the premier and the second episode. Should be a good night.


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## Mike (Feb 9, 2015)

Jake said:


> I really enjoyed the pilot last night and am looking forward to tonights new episode as well. Of course I fvcking loved Breaking Bad so seeing a couple of the characters from it already made me pretty happy



I too enjoyed it very much. I've got to wonder what it's like for people who never watched breaking bad though.


Spoiler



We already know all about Tuco being a crazy druglord kingpin, or soon to be?


 and other people just think oh no, who's this bad guy?


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## Jake (Feb 9, 2015)

Mike said:


> I too enjoyed it very much. I've got to wonder what it's like for people who never watched breaking bad though.
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...


Two of my friends never finished breaking bad and after I explained they have decided to go watch it


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## thrsher (Feb 9, 2015)

i loved it, im hooked for more. i caught on to all the tidbits that carried over from BrBa


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## crg123 (Feb 9, 2015)

Man this is great! I think it really might work out well. I hope the reception goes well because I could see really getting into this.


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## Black Mamba (Feb 9, 2015)

Loved the premiere! Looking forward to tonight's episode!


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## MikeH (Feb 9, 2015)

Pilot was pretty damn good. Hoping they keep it up, which I have no doubts that Vince will do the series justice.


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## JD27 (Feb 9, 2015)

I enjoyed the first episode. It was also cool to see how some of this tied into Breaking Bad later on. Can't wait to see the second one tonight.


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## Adam Of Angels (Feb 10, 2015)

That "Easter egg" in episode one wasn't exactly subtle, eh?

In any case, this is surprisingly good so far. I'm not disappointed


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## wankerness (Feb 10, 2015)

The pilot was incredibly dull compared to breaking bad and it was full of lame fan-service cameos that mean nothing on their own. Oh well. I'll probably watch the rest anyway, but so far this is very lone gunmen - amusing but totally insubstantial in comparison to the source material. I don't like the prequel aspect either since some of the actors look WAY older than they did when on breaking bad (particularly Tuco!). And yeah, I AM judging it based on the pilot since Breaking Bad had one of the best pilot episodes of all time, I was convinced it was about the best show I'd ever seen in the first 3 minutes, haha.


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## flint757 (Feb 10, 2015)

That's rather funny because it was the pilot that totally through me off of Breaking Bad at first.  To each their own I guess... 

I personally loved it and felt it kept the atmosphere in check. I don't think I'd call it 'fan-service' either since he is a part of the same universe as Breaking Bad AND it's his beginning IMO that many people wanted to see. The last two episodes helped bring in how he knows the various people he knew in breaking Bad and how he got into that line of work. Seeing a show about Saul post-Breaking Bad would have been uninteresting IMO. As for the complaint about age, not much can be done about actors getting older. Same problem happens in every long series or movie, even if only during flashbacks. Unless you go back a very long time you can't replace them with younger versions of themselves. It looks like this isn't set that far back before Walter hits the drug game. From what I recall Breaking Bad chronologically was out of sync with our reality anyhow and the actors aged quite a bit within the series too despite it not being a very long time within the series itself.


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## Jake (Feb 10, 2015)

I Believe BCS takes place 7 years before BB begins


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## wankerness (Feb 11, 2015)

It was only distracting with Tuco, that guy looked like he'd aged 25 years! I still need to watch the second episode, but now it's 1 AM. I hate band practice nights, I can't waste time properly.


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## Hollowway (Feb 11, 2015)

Yeah, I dug both episodes. In Mijo I wasn't really sure where they were going. I couldn't tell if he was getting motivated or not, and I couldn't tell if they were trying to show us he is a good lawyer or not. But I do like the tone of the film. Not too funny, but not super dark - sort of right where BB was. 
Pilots can be tricky, because you have to balance the right amount of engagement and tempo. You can come out, guns blazing, and make it too over the top. But you also can't start too slow, or you'll lose people's interest. I think they did a pretty good job of that. At any rate, I think it's going to be hard NOT to compare it to BB, just because of where it came from.

I certainly HOPE it's not a Lone Gunmen type failure. My guess is that since Saul already had a pretty fleshed out character they won't suffer the problem of a one dimensional character (which is one of the things I think tanked Lone Gunmen). And I really like the plot stuff, because it shows this is going to build up to be a rich story. But what I can't figure out is what is the story actually about? You can describe the plot of BB in one sentence. And there was an established goal in the show - for Walt to make enough money for his family for after his death. But we're 2 episodes into Saul, and I don't know what the goal here is net. Or maybe there won't be a single goal for the whole series?


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## flint757 (Feb 11, 2015)

I think they were simply trying to show his transition from okay lawyer to career criminal lawyer. He's definitely not been a good guy this whole time. He runs two scams in the first episode alone.


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## bostjan (Feb 11, 2015)

I'm moderately excited about this, although I'm not at all sure how the episode one "cameo" fits with anything, the pace and tone of the show seems to be right in lock step with Breaking Bad - unfortunately, I think the fate of this show, at best, is to be perpetually compared to Breaking Bad, though.


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## Adam Of Angels (Feb 11, 2015)

I am pleasantly surprised here. This feels like it's own show, and not a blatant Breaking Bad spinoff. Honestly, I liked Odenkirk to begin with, but I'm amazed at how well he works as the protagonist. You get to see the human side of the character, and it actually works. I know it's early, but this seems promising.

Also, the plot, if nothing else, was demonstrated in the first 10 minutes of the pilot - in typical Breaking Bad fashion, you see present day Jimmy scared for his life and working at a Cinnabun, and then you see him as a pathetic but hopeful start-up lawyer. Even if you've never seen Breaking Bad, you have to say, "hmmmm, so then what happens between point A and point B?" If you have watched BB, you know what happens toward the end, but you don't know why he is Jimmy instead of Saul when the new shows starts. I don't know... seems like enough of a plot to me.


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## wankerness (Feb 11, 2015)

I watched the second episode, which was much better. My problem with it so far is the way it's a prequel and thus there's a lot of stuff that there just is no tension for. Like, so far they're making a big deal about it being him trying to be "above board," but since we all know what he's like on Breaking Bad there's not really any tension there where we're like "oh no, is he going to give up and turn into a dirty lawyer?! I hope he keeps his integrity!!!" I also couldn't care less about whatever the hell the plot about his old law firm is, Michael McKean's character has produced 0 interest for me. 

I really like Tuco's second-in-command, though, and look forward to seeing more of him. The desert scene also managed to be very tense cause they had two cannon-fodder characters there so it was actually suspenseful as to what would happen. I was suitably entertained throughout the second episode, besides the late-period breaking bad indulgent musical interlude (although the woman sure was purty) and the scene with Michael McKean again.  I love Michael McKean forever cause of his ridiculous appearance on The X-Files where he was a POS that worked at Area 51 who changed bodies with Mulder for a couple episodes, but his character just is not working for me here yet at all.


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## ridner (Feb 12, 2015)

wasn't thrilled w/ the 1st episode. gonna watch the 2nd one tonight.


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## Hollowway (Feb 12, 2015)

wankerness said:


> I really like Tuco's second-in-command, though, and look forward to seeing more of him.



Yeah, I really liked that guy, too. Almost TOO much, because he clearly is smart. It makes me wonder why he didn't end up as a big player later in life (i.e. in Breaking Bad). It'll be interesting to see what happens to him as the show goes on.

I wonder if Gus will show up in this. Maybe not initially, but if Tuco is already on board, then who knows. I don't want this to end up being a clip show of BB, but a little backstory is always nice.


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## FILTHnFEAR (Feb 17, 2015)

Hollowway said:


> It'll be interesting to see what happens to him as the show goes on.



Probably something very bad.

I just watched all 3 episodes for the first time today. The first episode was just....ok. After that though, I got sucked in.

Look forward to more.


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## Adam Of Angels (Feb 18, 2015)

This is turning out to be great, so far. I'm really surprised at how well this is working. Peter Gould (writer) was asked why they picked Saul for a spinoff, and one of his reasons was because everytime Saul was in a scene, it was like some active character was visiting from another show. Gus, Hank, and Mike would all work as protagonists, but their stories end. Jesse is the most obvious spinoff protagonist, but that would be the biggest risk of all. Saul just makes sense, and Odenkirk is a god damn Rockstar.


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## beneharris (Feb 18, 2015)

Adam Of Angels said:


> Odenkirk is a god damn Rockstar.



Yes he is, holy crap. This show rocks.


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## crg123 (Feb 18, 2015)

Just finished episode 3 last night.. I think this show is going to rock. I had really low expectations going in but so far I've been pleasantly surprised.


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## wankerness (Feb 18, 2015)

This last episode was the first I realized that McKean was supposed to be his brother, I thought it was supposed to be his much older mentor or something. I guess he's only 15 years older than him (67!). It's pretty funny seeing Odenkirk playing a rebellious stupid 20 something.


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## flint757 (Feb 18, 2015)

I'm so glad they didn't go with a Jesse spin off.  That would have been awful. Writing the script would have been super easy though. BITCH!


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## bostjan (Feb 18, 2015)

I'm excited to see the next episode. I've been a fan of Odenkirk (old geezer here) since he was the redeeming quality of the Ben Stiller Show (besides the Dweezil Zappa guitar intro)


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## wankerness (Feb 18, 2015)

bostjan said:


> I'm excited to see the next episode. I've been a fan of Odenkirk (old geezer here) since he was the redeeming quality of the Ben Stiller Show (besides the Dweezil Zappa guitar intro)



Didn't that show have a lot of redeeming qualities? I've never seen it, I just thought it was generally fondly remembered.


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## Hollowway (Feb 18, 2015)

Yeah, I thought the first two shows were good, but I thought episode 3 really cemented my interest. I'm not sure why, but for me it just really came together, and I wasn't asking, "where are they going with this?" but instead, "I wonder what's going to happpen next!"


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## sawtoothscream (Feb 19, 2015)

Im happy with it so far. Dont think it will get close to breaking bad greatness but, it should be a solid show.


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## bostjan (Feb 19, 2015)

Episode 3 was pretty good, but maybe a little predictable. I think it's great how the overall tension is building up slowly.



wankerness said:


> Didn't that show have a lot of redeeming qualities? I've never seen it, I just thought it was generally fondly remembered.



 Maybe it's subjective. I thought most of Stiller's gags were more annoying than funny, but it seemed hilarious any time Odenkirk was on. The Manson sketches were some of my favourites. In the end, the show didn't make it very long.


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## Hollowway (Feb 24, 2015)

I'm loving each episode more than the previous ones. Clearly they're not in a hurry to build to some sort of major tension or issue. Frankly, I'm not even sure where the show is going. I think I'm kind of waiting for him to have his office like in BB, but I highly doubt the show is going there. But you know how BB was about Walt trying to sell meth to make money for his family? I'm not sure what Saul is doing. Which is appropriate, since Saul is not the kind of character that would have a specific purpose. But there are a number of different story threads going, which will lead to some awesome plot lines and comingling. And I'm really starting to like and root for the Saul character, which, I think, is the point.


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## bostjan (Feb 24, 2015)

Hollowway said:


> I'm loving each episode more than the previous ones. Clearly they're not in a hurry to build to some sort of major tension or issue. Frankly, I'm not even sure where the show is going. I think I'm kind of waiting for him to have his office like in BB, but I highly doubt the show is going there. But you know how BB was about Walt trying to sell meth to make money for his family? I'm not sure what Saul is doing. Which is appropriate, since Saul is not the kind of character that would have a specific purpose. But there are a number of different story threads going, which will lead to some awesome plot lines and comingling. And I'm really starting to like and root for the Saul character, which, I think, is the point.



This is still very early in the show. We are just now getting through enough exposition to start understanding some of the characters. How much did we know about Walt after the first three episodes of Breaking Bad?

I'm fully confident that the Saul character is going to have some serious character motivation at some point. I think naive, somewhat sleazy, but generally good-natured is the perfect starting point for a character who will eventually spiral into a career criminal.

We have yet to see:
1. Why he changed his name.
2. How, exactly, he gets fully involved with the cartel.
3. How he becomes successful.
4. What happens to his brother.
5. How he loses his remaining morals.


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## crg123 (Feb 24, 2015)

I love this show but Bob Odenkirk with a wig and pretending to be a 20 something is absolutely hilarious. I'm surprised they didn't just use a younger actor who looked similar for that part. I mean I guess it could work both ways.


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## bostjan (Mar 5, 2015)

Hmm, I'm surprised no one has posted anything this week.

Obviously there is a second plot line developing, perhaps with the potential to overshadow Saul's backstory to some extent&#8230;or maybe I'm extrapolating too much from the way the last episode ended.


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## wankerness (Mar 6, 2015)

There's not much to say about it, every week it's good performances from Bob Odenkirk and solid dialogue in the pursuit of a plot that just isn't very interesting yet. I like the lawyer lady who's painted as the love interest, though she's way too beautiful and intelligent to be believable as someone that would be banging him on the regular.


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## Hollowway (Mar 6, 2015)

Yeah, this week's episode was good. Sleepy in the middle, but the end really got me jazzed for the next one. And I'm assuming that the fact that Saul/Jimmy sounds so well read is to show us he's actually very bright, but just lazy and an underachiever. Because for a while the stuff he would say had me scratching my head about why they'd put that in there, but presumably it's to make the future episodes seem believable. He didn't seem particularly bright in BB, and his backstory sounded like some dumb kid creating scams. But he does seem pretty bright at this point in the show.


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## Spaceman_Spiff (Mar 6, 2015)

Huge Odenkirk fan from Mr. Show, and pretty much everything he's done and I love this show so far. He stole most of his scenes in BB and Saul was a character who was just asking for further exploration into his backstory. I can't wait for it to pick up a little bit though, as so far there isn't really a "main" connecting storyline between all of the episodes.


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## naw38 (Mar 7, 2015)

wankerness said:


> There's not much to say about it, every week it's good performances from Bob Odenkirk and solid dialogue in the pursuit of a plot that just isn't very interesting yet.



This, completely. But I wasn't at all interested in Breaking Bad until I'd got to the end of the second episode, so hopefully there will soon be a huge "oh my god, this show is ....ing amazing" moment coming up soon.


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## Hollowway (Mar 10, 2015)

WTF, guys? Am I the only one left watching? I'm definitely to the point where I'm hooked. Tonight's episode was pretty huge in terms of story line. Now we have a consistent plot that we can sort of follow through and wonder about. I can judge a serial show like this based on how much I want to see "scenes from next week's episode." And I really wanted to watch that for the last two weeks! I think it's interesting how much more flashbacky this show is compared to BB. BB had virtually no storyline prior to the show, other than the Gray Matter stuff. This, though, has oodles. Some of it sort of bugs me, because I feel like much of the time they don't need to show it. Just imply it and let me imagine it. Don't spell out every letter. But overall? Loving it.


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## naw38 (Mar 10, 2015)

Well, I'm in Australia, with a kid, so I don't get to watch the show 'til like, 10 at night. 

Tonight was excellent, I'm really stoked to be seeing more Mike. I know it's still early days, but I was kinda hoping to see a little bit of Gus and how Mike gets involved with him. Some ....ing link came up on Facebook with a picture of Mike, saying "this is the episode Breaking Bad fans have been waiting for", and well, that's what I'm waiting for to be honest. Still awesome though. Especially cool to see Mike showing emotion beyond bad ass, haha.


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## beneharris (Mar 10, 2015)

I'm still hooked as well. I like all the other story lines they have going, and I'm really hoping towards the end it all just blends into BB.


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## isispelican (Mar 10, 2015)

That was a great episode, nice to see more of Mike. There's just something amazing in the way Vince directs, in both BB and BCS.


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## absolutorigin (Mar 10, 2015)

I'm loving it so far. I like the direction and it was cool that this past episode focused a lot on Mike.


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## wankerness (Mar 10, 2015)

isispelican said:


> That was a great episode, nice to see more of Mike. There's just something amazing in the way Vince directs, in both BB and BCS.



Vince only directed 5 episodes of breaking bad total, and only the pilot of this show so far.


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## FILTHnFEAR (Mar 17, 2015)

Have last weeks and last nights episodes to watch. Hope it picks back up a bit.


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## wankerness (Mar 18, 2015)

The last two episodes have virtually nothing to do with each other, I think this show is confused about what the main plot is.


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## Neilzord (Mar 18, 2015)

I agree the last two have nothing to do with each other. 

But it showed a sneakier side of a Mike, And a side that if It weren't for BB we would have been un-aware of, so good for the people watching BCS as a "Stand alone" 
It also explained why Mike was no longer in the police which I've wanted to know about since BB. 

Showing this side of mike Lead onto what he did in the most recent episode for Saul.... Yet more Mike being a badass. 

Overall I'm Loving BCS so far!! bring on next weeks.


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## ridner (Mar 19, 2015)

series has been getting good. am glad, cos it didnt start out too great. good stuff!


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## Mike (Mar 19, 2015)

I've loved everything so far. Every one that keeps complaining about the pace of the plot development or where things are going needs to calm the hell down and get off the shows back. I'm perfectly content with the pace and glad they're not in a rush. It's about the journey not the destination. I don't care if it even takes a couple of seasons before we see slippin jimmy. To me all this backstory and history is lovely.


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## wankerness (Mar 19, 2015)

It's not the pace, it's the scattershot aimless nature. Breaking Bad's first two seasons are still its best imo cause they were so focused, even though their pace was way slower than the ones that followed.


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## Mike (Mar 19, 2015)

Well I don't really know what you exactly have in mind for how else to explain another characters backstory and start tying seemingly unrelated people together other than by devoting entire episodes to it. I like how it's done and I have no complaints.


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## Adam Of Angels (Mar 19, 2015)

The story and pace are fine - we're not building up to a former push-over teacher turned murderer/meth King pin. We're watching a lawyer trying to move his way up the ladder and finding it very easy to do the wrong things to get there, while still trying to do the right thing. With that in mind, the story has had great development. 

The last two episodes were wildly entertaining, and I love how the most recent had you guessing as to what Mike and Jimmy were up to as it went along.


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## bostjan (Mar 19, 2015)

As someone who loves interesting characters (I find heroes less interesting than anti-heroes) and a non-holed plot, I love "Better Call Saul."

I think Odenkirk really got to show off some of his acting chops in the most recent episode, which ought to be good for his career.


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## groverj3 (Mar 19, 2015)

So far this show has surpassed my expectations. The episode focused on Mike was excellent, and I don't care that it was a bit of a departure from the main storyline. It's about character development, and sometimes that takes time. Not everything is Liam Neeson in Taken 47


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## wankerness (Mar 19, 2015)

The Mike episode seemed to be an episode whose success was entirely dependent on having watched Breaking Bad (and since I have, I loved it), it didn't seem to contribute to THIS show in any way yet. None of the other episodes really have been like that, which I sort of find admirable, even though it doesn't matter to me since I have. It seems like a standalone show for the most part, but maybe not that episode.  I mean, it would still make sense to people who hadn't seen breaking bad, I just don't think anyone would have felt for Mike very strongly without already adoring the character from Breaking Bad.


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## flint757 (Mar 20, 2015)

Kind of a moot point since I doubt anyone choosing to watch this show also hasn't seen Breaking Bad AND the only reason this show even exists is because of Breaking Bad. 

In any case, it all made plenty of sense even without context. Mike seems to be playing an important role in this series so it also makes sense to flesh him out before hand.


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## wankerness (Mar 20, 2015)

I know a few people watching it without watching Breaking Bad first, they wanted nothing to do with Breaking Bad cause it sounded too serious but I talked them into this, partly because it started off not seeming to need Breaking Bad as a backdrop (the Tuco appearance was fun for Breaking Bad fans, but knowing who he was wasn't crucial since it was immediately established he was a nutball on this show too!). But yeah, I'm sure the majority already finished Breaking Bad. I think it's good that they've tried to make it accessible to people who haven't, though, because I'm sure if they want it to last they'll have to have their own independent fan base to make up for the whiners like me who jump ship when it's not another Breaking Bad (not that I plan to do that! It's the best show currently on TV since Broad City just ended).


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## Adam Of Angels (Mar 20, 2015)

I would love to hear the thoughts of somebody who hasn't watched Breaking Bad but loves this show. What I thought was great about Tuco showing up is that he is far more reserved and decent at this point in time, as opposed to all hopped up on blue Meth/completely psychotic like he is when we see him in Breaking Bad. 

As for Mike's episode, he had as yet been this old man asking Jimmy for stickers. Sure, if you watched Breaking Bad, seeing him in that both and asking for parking stickers is funny, but if you hadn't, then you have no clue. Then you get hit with this totally twisted story of how his life is tragic and he's a supreme badass. I think that's brilliant, and not something that can ordinarily be pulled off without a hefty measure of cheese.


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## crg123 (Mar 20, 2015)

I like the pace and build up. I've very happy with how the show has been able to hold up on its own.


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## vilk (Mar 20, 2015)

Yeah my issue with Mike is that the make-up crew didn't make him seem young enough. 

Wait, how many years before BB is this supposed to be taking place?

Either way Mike looks like he's 15 years older than he will be in the future. I'll be surprised if the guy doesn't drop dead on the set.




Also, I'm actually kinda feeling disappointed that they haven't got McGill working for any criminals, aside from


Spoiler



being forced to get in with those embezzlers


It's already episode 7! how many episodes are there supposed to be per season? Because I feel like we're already halfway through season 1 and dudeman is still a total goody-two-shoes.


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## Adam Of Angels (Mar 20, 2015)

vilk said:


> Yeah my issue with Mike is that the make-up crew didn't make him seem young enough.
> 
> Wait, how many years before BB is this supposed to be taking place?
> 
> ...





Spoiler



He hired somebody he knows/suspects is a killer to break into somebody's house to steal $1.5m of an embezzlement score, and then threw the cut he took as hush money in the bag with it..... I'm not sure we have the same definition of goody-two-shoes


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## wankerness (Mar 21, 2015)

vilk said:


> It's already episode 7! how many episodes are there supposed to be per season? Because I feel like we're already halfway through season 1 and dudeman is still a total goody-two-shoes.



In breaking bad walt didn't go full evil until the end of season 2 at the earliest (and many people don't even think so until later in season 3 or 4). I am glad they aren't rushing it. It would be stupid to turn the character into what he is in breaking bad in the first season, what would even be the point of having a second season then?


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## IbanezDaemon (Mar 26, 2015)

Loved every bit of the show so far. Saul was prob
my fave character from BB. The show is nicely paced
and I'm still wondering what direction it's gonna take.

BTW loved the track from Episode 6 (I think??).

Chris Joss: Tune Down


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## Hollowway (Apr 6, 2015)

I was out of town for a few days, so I'm just now sitting down to watch the Pimento episode. Just saw the Mike scene. Holy....! This show could have captured my attention equally if it was the Better Call Mike show. The dude just play pwns everyone who gets in his way. The epitome of Steve McQueen cool.


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## wankerness (Apr 6, 2015)

Steve McQueen didn't destroy people physically every time they crossed his path, so I would not use that particular term.


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## Hollowway (Apr 6, 2015)

^True, but he is the epitome of a cool dude.

And I just finished watching the rest of the episode. Dang, it's getting good! I loved the distinction between being a good guy and obeying the law. Excellent juxtaposition with Chuck in this episode.


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## wankerness (Apr 6, 2015)

Too bad he used Chuck's login to research the case, he's really screwed!


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## wankerness (Apr 7, 2015)

Well, that was by far the lamest episode of the season. The "drama" with the fat guy fell flat on its face and the endless bingo scene was really bad. I also was annoyed that they answered the question of "will he take the deal?!?!?!" at the end instead of leaving us something to wonder about for season 2. I really like Kim, and even kinda like Howard now!


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## vilk (Apr 10, 2015)

Ok I just want everyone who's not from the area to know that Old Style does NOT cost 6.50 _anywhere_, and at a dive like they were at on the show it's probably gonna be the cheapest beer on the menu. I wouldn't pay more than 3 bucks. I buy 12 packs of bottles for 7 bucks all the time lol.

Old Style is good, but I mean it's just cheap Milwaukee river beer. 


idk why that stood out to me, probably because it's one of my go-to beers, and I get that they were trying to create a setting because it's the Chicago beer and he's supposed to be in Cicero (practically Chicago), but obviously whoever write that scene must have just looked up "chicago beer" online and then priced it whatever beers cost where he lives because paying 6.50 for an old style is just ludicrous.


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## Adam Of Angels (Apr 10, 2015)

He bought two of them though... was it $6.50 for both, or each?


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## vilk (Apr 10, 2015)

Oh ..... I didn't realize that when I watching. Now I have no idea.


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## Carcaridon (Jun 3, 2015)

Really enjoyed the first season of this show. Standout performances and a great storyline. Looking forward to season 2.


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## ftr (Apr 14, 2016)

has anyone else been watching the 2nd season?


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## gnoll (Apr 14, 2016)

ftr said:


> has anyone else been watching the 2nd season?



Absolutely. Looking forward to it every week. Can't wait for the season finale next week!


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## bostjan (Apr 14, 2016)

My only complaint, personally, is that the Mike and Jimmy story lines have diverged too much, so it's like watching two different shows playing at the same time.

Other than that, I quite like the show.


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## Black_Sheep (Apr 14, 2016)

Loved Breaking Bad, consider it as one of the best shows ever made (might just be THE show for me), but didn't really get into this one. I just don't see Saul Goodman as a strong enough character to have his own show, I watched the first three episodes and just gave up.... Anyone here think it has taken a better direction later on? 

Also heard that Steven Ogg (guy who played Trevor Phillips in GTA V) is in the show, just a minor side role I assume?


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## wankerness (Apr 14, 2016)

I didn't really like season 1 besides the Mike episode, but season 2 has been really good. I am relieved that Kim is now one of the best characters on TV. In season 1 she seemed like yet another in the endless line of impossibly good-looking women that are inexplicably with slobby losers. In season 2, she's become one of the best-written women on TV and is surprisingly progressive (age/children are just never a concern).


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## Lorcan Ward (Apr 14, 2016)

I'm really enjoying the second season, I've got burnt out on superhero/fantasy shows so it's a welcome change.


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## bostjan (Apr 14, 2016)

Black_Sheep said:


> Loved Breaking Bad, consider it as one of the best shows ever made (might just be THE show for me), but didn't really get into this one. I just don't see Saul Goodman as a strong enough character to have his own show, I watched the first three episodes and just gave up.... Anyone here think it has taken a better direction later on?
> 
> Also heard that Steven Ogg (guy who played Trevor Phillips in GTA V) is in the show, just a minor side role I assume?



I've enjoyed the show. There are two main story lines, which had some connection at one point, but now are completely separate: Jimmy McGill setting up his profession as a lawyer or flexible morals, and his battle with trying to maintain legitimacy; and Mike Ehrmantraut and his interaction with the Albuquerque underworld. The Jimmy thing seems to be developing slowly, but I can appreciate that. The Mike thing is a little more fast-paced, but still takes its time (BB was also known for that, it makes the action more savoury). I think the fact that people who saw BB already know where these two characters end up underlines the method of storytelling, but maybe that's just my own weird perception of it.



wankerness said:


> I didn't really like season 1 besides the Mike episode, but season 2 has been really good. I am relieved that Kim is now one of the best characters on TV. In season 1 she seemed like yet another in the endless line of impossibly good-looking women that are inexplicably with slobby losers. In season 2, she's become one of the best-written women on TV and is surprisingly progressive (age/children are just never a concern).


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## Adam Of Angels (Apr 15, 2016)

This show is amazing. I was on board with season 1, but I feel like I'm watching classic, Gilligan and co. television magic every week again with Season 2. I am _not_ happy that it will be over on Monday.

As for the apparent divergence between Mike and Jimmy's storlines, I think it only seems that way at this point. If you go back to when Walt and Jesse take Saul out into the desert and threaten him, Saul says something to the effect of, "I swear it wasn't me, it was Ignacio!" Ignacio is Nacho. Especially when you consider the encounters/foreshadowing with Nacho and Tuco in season 1, it seems to me that Jimmy will inevitably get mixed up with the Cartel.


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## gnoll (Apr 15, 2016)

Adam Of Angels said:


> As for the apparent divergence between Mike and Jimmy's storlines, I think it only seems that way at this point. If you go back to when Walt and Jesse take Saul out into the desert and threaten him, Saul says something to the effect of, "I swear it wasn't me, it was Ignacio!" Ignacio is Nacho. Especially when you consider the encounters/foreshadowing with Nacho and Tuco in season 1, it seems to me that Jimmy will inevitably get mixed up with the Cartel.



Haha, that Ignacio thing is awesome. I had not noticed that, I didn't even know Nacho's real name was Ignacio. But it seems to make sense with where we are now


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## Hollowway (Apr 16, 2016)

Yeah, I'm loving season 2. The show is getting to the point where I start to cringe and what is happening because it's so uncomfortable. It reminds me of breaking bad, where they film it and tell the story in a way that makes it like you're watching a car crash about to happen and can't do anything about it. 
I also love how the main characters are not 100% good or 100% bad in BB and BCS. Like, just when you think Chuck is an asshole and Jimmy is a good guy, the thing flips. Which is way more like real life than most movies/TV shows are. 

And I agree that although it seems like Mike and Jimmy's stories are super unrelated, I'm assuming that the writers KNOW we know they end up together at the end (in BB). So it keeps our minds racing to figure out how they're going to intertwine again. 

And regarding BB tie ins, anyone assuming Mike does something to Hector to put him in that wheelchair? That's what I'm thinking.


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## Adam Of Angels (Apr 16, 2016)

Hollowway said:


> And regarding BB tie ins, anyone assuming Mike does something to Hector to put him in that wheelchair? That's what I'm thinking.



Yeah, the preview showed Mike practicing with a sniper rifle, and missing the target by a few inches. My guess is that he ends up missing his target on Hector as well, leaving him disabled. However, I hope that doesn't happen, because I'd rather see a bit more of Hector, especially if/when Gus comes into the picture.


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## gnoll (Apr 17, 2016)

But wasn't Hector supposed to be crippled by a stroke?


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## wankerness (Apr 17, 2016)

gnoll said:


> But wasn't Hector supposed to be crippled by a stroke?



If you can find a citation for that, I'd be impressed.


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## Hollowway (Apr 17, 2016)

gnoll said:


> But wasn't Hector supposed to be crippled by a stroke?



Yeah, when a bullet from Mike's rifle stroked past his brain. Lololololololol!

And does anyone know if Gus is going to be on the show? It would be super cool if he was, but it's up to the actual actor. I'm impressed they got so many actual people from BB on the show, so I would think he would want to be a part of it. It would definitely help build BB backstory. But at the same time they probably don't want to make this too much of an overt BB prequel. 

And I could watch an entire season of Mike taking the gun out of bad guys hands. I just love that move he's got.


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## gnoll (Apr 17, 2016)

wankerness said:


> If you can find a citation for that, I'd be impressed.



BB season 2 episode 3 "Bit by a Dead Bee": Gomey and Hank are interrogating Jesse and bring Hector, hoping he will help their cause. Their plan is unsuccesful though, and Hector craps on the floor instead of talking like they hoped he would. After that Gomey says to Hank: "I told you, numbnuts. This guy's OG. Kept his mouth shut for 17 years in San Quentin. Stroke or no stroke, old-school gangbang Mexicans don't help the feds."


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## gnoll (Apr 17, 2016)

Hollowway said:


> And does anyone know if Gus is going to be on the show? It would be super cool if he was, but it's up to the actual actor. I'm impressed they got so many actual people from BB on the show, so I would think he would want to be a part of it. It would definitely help build BB backstory. But at the same time they probably don't want to make this too much of an overt BB prequel.



Take the episode names of season 2 of BCS. Take the first letter of each episode name. Then rearrange those letters into two words.


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## wankerness (Apr 17, 2016)

gnoll said:


> BB season 2 episode 3 "Bit by a Dead Bee": Gomey and Hank are interrogating Jesse and bring Hector, hoping he will help their cause. Their plan is unsuccesful though, and Hector craps on the floor instead of talking like they hoped he would. After that Gomey says to Hank: "I told you, numbnuts. This guy's OG. Kept his mouth shut for 17 years in San Quentin. Stroke or no stroke, old-school gangbang Mexicans don't help the feds."



Nice. The wiki has no such information on it. You should update it for them!


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## Adam Of Angels (Apr 17, 2016)

Even if that's true, there's no saying that Mike didn't disable Hector, only to have a different story make it to the cops.


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## wankerness (Apr 18, 2016)

Or Mike pwns him so hard he has a stroke

/idiotpost


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## sawtoothscream (Apr 18, 2016)

This season has been very slow and pretty boring.


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## wankerness (Apr 18, 2016)

What makes you say that?


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## bostjan (Apr 18, 2016)

Season Two titles:

Switch
Cobbler
Amarillo
Gloves Off
Rebecca
Bali Hai
Inflatable
Fifi
Nailed
Klick

Or: S C A G R B I F N K

Anagram Time: Scar Big Knf ... no, Racks Fing B ... no, *Frings Back* ... no, wait a minute ...


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## Adam Of Angels (Apr 18, 2016)

^ Where did you guys get that from? I would say it's a stretch, but it's too much of a coincidence for it to not be intentional on Gilligan's part.


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## bostjan (Apr 18, 2016)

Adam Of Angels said:


> ^ Where did you guys get that from? I would say it's a stretch, but it's too much of a coincidence for it to not be intentional on Gilligan's part.



What guys? Which post?


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## Adam Of Angels (Apr 18, 2016)

bostjan said:


> What guys? Which post?



Gnoll and you - about the anagram.


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## bostjan (Apr 18, 2016)

Adam Of Angels said:


> Gnoll and you - about the anagram.



Oh hell, I didn't even see that 

I'm not sure what you mean by where did we get our information, though. The titles of the episodes are on wikipedia. VG has been known to play little tricks with episode titles in BB...


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## Adam Of Angels (Apr 18, 2016)

bostjan said:


> Oh hell, I didn't even see that
> 
> I'm not sure what you mean by where did we get our information, though. The titles of the episodes are on wikipedia. VG has been known to play little tricks with episode titles in BB...




I mean to say, how did you guys figure that out? Did you catch it yourself, is this a rumor circulating the net, or did somebody officially divulge this little egg? I was more or less expressing that I'm impressed that anybody would have caught that, so I was asking how you figured it out.

Edit: I just watched "Talking Saul" after the season finale, and it was mentioned that the anagram was a popular fan theory, to which Gould and Gilligan responded by confirming that it was intentional, but that they didn't expect anybody to catch it until they revealed it later on. With that said, I think evidence of Gus' presence was in that last scene with Mike.


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## wankerness (Apr 19, 2016)

Adam Of Angels said:


> I mean to say, how did you guys figure that out? Did you catch it yourself, is this a rumor circulating the net, or did somebody officially divulge this little egg? I was more or less expressing that I'm impressed that anybody would have caught that, so I was asking how you figured it out.
> 
> Edit: I just watched "Talking Saul" after the season finale, and it was mentioned that the anagram was a popular fan theory, to which Gould and Gilligan responded by confirming that it was intentional, but that they didn't expect anybody to catch it until they revealed it later on. With that said, I think evidence of Gus' presence was in that last scene with Mike.



There's nothing to officially divulge, it's a fact that the first letters of the episode titles can be rearranged to that. You shouldn't be at all surprised, if you think this is an amazing fan "discovery" you should see some of the insane levels of research and theorizing people were doing during Lost  Any very popular show directed at nerds is going to be picked over for the tiniest hint! And yeah, the rumor has been flying around for a bit, they even ran this "story" on Time magazine's site. It could mean something, or it could just be a coincidence. Past titles did things like hint at the events in episodes in playful ways (ex Face Off for the Season 4 finale), but I don't recall anything this goofy.

https://www.reddit.com/r/betterCall...do_the_season_two_episode_titles_mean_theyre/


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## Hollowway (Apr 19, 2016)

Well, after tonight's finale I've come to the final conclusion that Chuck is an asshole. I know that VG and the writers like to keep people vacillating between good and bad, but I'm sorry, I hate Chuck. Jimmy never does anything to directly hurt Chuck, but that's all Chuck does.


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## gnoll (Apr 19, 2016)

Adam Of Angels said:


> I mean to say, how did you guys figure that out? Did you catch it yourself, is this a rumor circulating the net, or did somebody officially divulge this little egg? I was more or less expressing that I'm impressed that anybody would have caught that, so I was asking how you figured it out.
> 
> Edit: I just watched "Talking Saul" after the season finale, and it was mentioned that the anagram was a popular fan theory, to which Gould and Gilligan responded by confirming that it was intentional, but that they didn't expect anybody to catch it until they revealed it later on. With that said, I think evidence of Gus' presence was in that last scene with Mike.



Honestly I just happened to stumble upon a thread mentioning the anagram when I looked at the BCS board at imdb. Wish I could say I figured it out myself. I knew BB did similar things but I never thought of looking for this. I think it's neat, though. And I agree with you about the Mike scene, I thought that was excellent.



Hollowway said:


> Well, after tonight's finale I've come to the final conclusion that Chuck is an asshole. I know that VG and the writers like to keep people vacillating between good and bad, but I'm sorry, I hate Chuck. Jimmy never does anything to directly hurt Chuck, but that's all Chuck does.



Agree, haha. That scene was so painful to watch. I wanted to scream at Jimmy "nooooo, stoooooop, don't you understand what he's doing?!??!?!"

And now we have to wait until next year???


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## Hollowway (Apr 20, 2016)

Why do you guys think it was Gus that did that to Mike's car in the last episode? Just speculation, or is there anything that makes you specifically think it's him?


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## gnoll (Apr 21, 2016)

Hollowway said:


> Why do you guys think it was Gus that did that to Mike's car in the last episode? Just speculation, or is there anything that makes you specifically think it's him?



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbGzaLYicYA


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## Adam Of Angels (Apr 21, 2016)

Hollowway said:


> Why do you guys think it was Gus that did that to Mike's car in the last episode? Just speculation, or is there anything that makes you specifically think it's him?



As we said, the writers intended to tell as that "Fring's Back", and there was simply no other indication of this other than the note on Mike's car. It helps that a simple "Don't" is Gus' style. My guess is that Nacho is tied in with Gus somehow, and that's why he was standing in front of Hector.


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## wankerness (Apr 22, 2016)

Thinking back on this season, I do kind of get why people think it sucks compared to Breaking Bad. I mean, the characterizations, writing and acting are mostly strong, but very little actually happened. Most of the episodes had action like "Kim does some paperwork" or "Kim does some more paperwork." Mike's plotline was "Mike got mad about that guy from Breaking Bad being a dick, so he lurked around for a lot of episodes before trying to shoot him and then not shooting him and getting a vague warning from probably-Gus." 10 episodes to do that!! And what difference do we have with the other characters? Jimmy was hired by a firm, quit, and is now back to being independent shady lawyer, just he's now in a building with Kim. Kim quit the firm, and is now independent in a building with Jimmy. Neither of them really grew as human beings. It's just like a VERY slow setup for her to get disbarred because of him, or something. It's a pleasant enough show, but...yeah. I have no problem with any of the Jimmy/Kim content as it all provided character shading, but a lot of the Mike stuff legitimately felt like "well, we have 38 minutes of Kim/Jimmy stuff, and Mike is a character on the show, we better show him doing stuff."

When the end of the season is practically the same place for all of the characters as the beginning of the season, and it's a serialized drama instead of a non-serialized sitcom or cop show, I can understand peoples' problem with it.

Also, Chuck is one of the most hateable characters since Janice Soprano (who is so awful I was unable to rewatch anything past season 1 of that show). His arc was so useless this season. Basically the end of last season was like "holy ...., Chuck is a complete dick who hates Jimmy utterly despite Jimmy watching out for him all the time and clearly really caring about him." Guess what the end of this season was?!


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## bostjan (Apr 22, 2016)

wankerness said:


> Thinking back on this season, I do kind of get why people think it sucks compared to Breaking Bad. I mean, the characterizations, writing and acting are mostly strong, but very little actually happened. Most of the episodes had action like "Kim does some paperwork" or "Kim does some more paperwork." Mike's plotline was "Mike got mad about that guy from Breaking Bad being a dick, so he lurked around for a lot of episodes before trying to shoot him and then not shooting him and getting a vague warning from probably-Gus." 10 episodes to do that!! And what difference do we have with the other characters? Jimmy was hired by a firm, quit, and is now back to being independent shady lawyer, just he's now in a building with Kim. Kim quit the firm, and is now independent in a building with Jimmy. Neither of them really grew as human beings. It's just like a VERY slow setup for her to get disbarred because of him, or something. It's a pleasant enough show, but...yeah. I have no problem with any of the Jimmy/Kim content as it all provided character shading, but a lot of the Mike stuff legitimately felt like "well, we have 38 minutes of Kim/Jimmy stuff, and Mike is a character on the show, we better show him doing stuff."
> 
> When the end of the season is practically the same place for all of the characters as the beginning of the season, and it's a serialized drama instead of a non-serialized sitcom or cop show, I can understand peoples' problem with it.
> 
> Also, Chuck is one of the most hateable characters since Janice Soprano (who is so awful I was unable to rewatch anything past season 1 of that show). His arc was so useless this season. Basically the end of last season was like "holy ...., Chuck is a complete dick who hates Jimmy utterly despite Jimmy watching out for him all the time and clearly really caring about him." Guess what the end of this season was?!



Did you watch Breaking Bad?  A lot of episodes early in the series were pretty mundane, as far as action and plot development. It was very strong in terms of shots and character development.

Watching Kim sitting at the bar pondering for 45 seconds or whatever, her next move about whether to call Schweichert or stay with HHM does nothing for the action of the show, but it does provide quite a bit of development for the character. We saw a lot of the same sorts of production with Walter White. Heck, the reason Gus was such an awesome character was that he really didn't need to do anything to get viewers worked up. In fact, most of his screen time was him doing pretty much nothing special, but that provided a stark contrast with when he was slicing one of his own guy's throats open.

Anyway, people are always going to be disappointed when they get their hopes up for something. With this level of anticipation, there was no way VG was going to be able to please everyone.



Adam of Angels said:


> My guess is that Nacho is tied in with Gus somehow, and that's why he was standing in front of Hector.



Possibly; however, it would take some serious nuts to purposely stand in between a sniper and his target. I thought I saw a moment or two when Mike briefly considered shooting anyway.


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## wankerness (Apr 22, 2016)

The first two seasons of Breaking Bad were my favorite of that show. It's not really comparable, the first EPISODE of breaking bad practically had more action than this entire season of BCS. This show's trying to do different stuff, so I'm not really meaning to say this show needs more exploding chemistry experiments being tossed at drug dealers or plane crashes, it just seems like there's been very, very little in the way of actual character arcs so far. Breaking Bad had characters moving very far each season. Compare Walt or Jesse at the beginning (well, after the cold open) of the first episode to the end of the last episode of the season. Or Walt/Jesse at the beginning of the first episode of season 2 to the last episode of season 2. They go through hell and are vastly different at the end of each season. And those are the "slow" seasons, as you said!


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## Hollowway (Apr 22, 2016)

I spent an inordinate amount of time on the BB wiki last night relearning all the character backstories. There's so much they can do with Fring coming in, it's no wonder they're bringing him back. I'd LOVE to know what the story with Chile was, for instance.


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