Better Call Saul

Enjoyed this thoroughly. The vibe is hard to pin down; I can't think of many other things that hit this kind of dour anti-humor/slapstick balance. Reminds me of the book Miss Lonelyhearts more than anything, maybe a little Coen brothers too. The skitching/generic funk scene was a little cringe worthy but I'm excited for the rest.

I'm hoping we get to see more of what he's been up to post-Breaking Bad

Saul is sort of similar to Jesse in that he's basically a good person but poor choices mean that he gets involved in some really quite unpleasant situations

Jesse is a good person?

afaict the only good person in BB was junior

yeah, i hope there's more post-Breaking Bad stuff. Gilligan seems to like telling stories from opposite ends and flashforwards and stuff anyway, so might happen a bit.

Episode 2 is good - starting to gather pace.

lol:

credits shot of Saul staring balefully out across the North Dakota sunrise from his Cinnabon

― what's up ugly girls? (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, September 30, 2013 10:59 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

whoops didn't c+p the whole thing:

was waiting for post-credits shot of Saul staring balefully out across the North Dakota sunrise from his Cinnabon

― what's up ugly girls? (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, September 30, 2013 10:59 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is all very enjoyable, though it does feel a bit like The Hobbit to BB's LOTR; everything is broader and sillier, and there's a little too much fan service. It should ideally be a show that someone who's never seen it's predecessor could enjoy perfectly well and I'm not sure it is. I am looking forward to the rest, the ripping off the embezzlers plotline has potential, and the standard of storytelling was obviously very high.

Jimmy's foray into the HHM offices (ep. 1) was hilarious, man. His second interaction with the older fella on the ground floor was classic, sort of 'why are we engaging in hand shake' "Right." "yes."

First part of his Network bit in the meeting room, he kinda channeled both Larry David and Daniel Day Lewis.

loved and hated the all that jazz homage

i really really hope we've seen all the tuco we're going to see

tuco was without a doubt my least favorite character in the BB universe and even if raymond cruz's acting chops were a little better in monday's episode than they were in s1/s2 of BB he still grates on me

hoping the county treasurer character gets fully developed like walt did (without totally mirroring walt)

Didja ever get your shit pushed in?

loving this. It is v much BB part 2 the sequeling, but in some ways I already like it more just because I love Bob Odenkirk so much

i hope the b+w cold open isnt the last we see of nu-saul, even if we have to wait for the s2 premiere or something

xp it's so exactly breaking bad as a comedy! Like how many times did we see an abject, desperate Walt trying to wheedle his way out of being killed? But it has a diff feel cause saul's dialogue & performance are so firmly in the comedy register (which is why so many find him jarring in breaking bad). The Saul-Walt parallels in this show are at absurd levels but it seems to be working at a level of its own. The violence is on the farcical bathtub of gore, zombie necktie level and I hope it stays there. I found the desert scene horrific & hilarious but the date scene was even worse/better, I was wincing & laughing so hard (plus blackmail tributes always get props from me)

tbh I think Saul was key to making BBad's tragicomic tonal balance really work. The series didn't fully click for me till he was introduced.

Oh yeah, so many ≠ me, I love Saul & always have. Always funny and his edginess was a great barometer for how real things were getting. Loved his sadsack exit also, which is why I kinda think any more Omaha stuff would be redundant

the corpse-fucking case seemed a *bit* much but everything that came after made up for it. lol'd at the gratuitous Network and All That Jazz quotes. the rhythms of the episodes, the way they are set up and structured, is so consistent with BB - the montages, the tense confrontations, the quieter, more elliptical exchanges between two characters.

paranoid delusion over a tiki drink date set to Esquivel was like "hi gr80 we wrote a tv scene just for you"

maybe the cold opens will be a linked flashforward story like they often were in BB?

prefer that he stay in stasis in the present tbh

probably they will - but Gilligan is so into playing with narrative and multiple timelines, plus fucking with/rewarding viewer expectations... I hope that playful fluid storytelling comes into play again (not necessarily overlapping with BB timeline, just in general)

I usually hate guessing, but in this case I'll take a stab. This season will be the story of how Jimmy became Saul, and if the show goes over well enough and gets picked up for another season, they'll jump to the present day.

only one season of backstory? seems kind of abrupt

will be interesting if they get around to writing/introducing any decent female characters (the main weakness of BB imo)

Without the guarantee of a 2nd season, I think they at least have to get the name change done. I mean, planting the seed for it in S1E2 is indicator enough of that for me.

Plus, the show's not called "Better Call Jimmy." But yeah, they could do future seasons of post-Saul/pre-BB story, no problem.

is this available for streaming with an amazon prime subscription? or is is the same $3/ep ; $25/season as iTunes?

I expect he's gonna debut the name-change within the next couple eps. As soon as he starts representing drug dealers, his bro's *really* not gonna want him to use the family name

Without the guarantee of a 2nd season, I think they at least have to get the name change done. I mean, planting the seed for it in S1E2 is indicator enough of that for me.

― you make me feel like danzig (WilliamC),

Second season has already been ordered, hasn't it?

it has, they committed to it as a two-season project to start

oddly, while it always seemed clear what the ending of BB was gonna be (ie Walt dies), here - even though it's all basically a flashback - how they might end it seems way more up in the air

xp -- ok, I didn't know that, carry on then

i could see one of the skate bros bein all "s'all good, man" after an apology from Saul.

yeah that pun's gonna have to figure into his name somehow

lol I had totally forgotten that Michael McKean had previously shown up on Mr. Show as a law school professor

i could see one of the skate bros bein all "s'all good, man" after an apology from Saul.

oh my god

Saul Goodman is the name of a protagonist (a private detective) from the Illuminatus! trilogy of books that came out in the 70's. Would be great if that's where he pulls the name from.

Being a fan of Robert Anton Wilson, Mr. Show and Breaking Bad, if they do this my head will explode.

lol I had totally forgotten that Michael McKean had previously shown up on Mr. Show as a law school professor

Professor Peens!

the direction is so very good
i kinda thought they were going to have to build a show around odenkirk but whaddayaknow, he actually brings the show up to his level
ryan, i gotta think they'll nod that direction if that's accurate

A guy at work yesterday told me that he'd heard about this new show on Netflix, Just Called Saul

Lol that post BB Saul Goodman disguised himself as pre BB Walter White

is this available for streaming with an amazon prime subscription? or is is the same $3/ep ; $25/season as iTunes?

it's like $2/$16 on amazon

Is this on tonight or tomorrow in the States?

tonight

It's on UK Netflix tomorrow morning

well i enjoyed that last episode

although i don't know how necessary it was to show saul arguing with mike over parking tickets again, since they had a five minute montage of this last episode.