f13.net

So it's finally debuting this Sunday.  I think it would be unreasonable to expect it to be as good as Breaking Bad, but I hope it turns out to be entertaining on its own merit.

Here's the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1xIGfVFb-U (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1xIGfVFb-U)

I'm looking forward to this, too.

It could be one-quarter as entertaining as Breaking Bad and still be a kick ass show.

Good start, thumbs up so far.  I especially liked the prologue part at the beginning of the first episode, though I'm so conditioned by Fallout that anytime I hear the Ink Spots I expect a pan-out to an apocalyptic landscape and I half expected to hear a voice over saying 'Saul.  Saul never changes.'  :grin:

Just watched the first episode and so far I really dig it.

I've seen episode 1, but not 2 yet - and it gets full thumbs up from me.  I don't expect it to rise to the level of Breaking Bad, but so far that doesn't seem impossible.

I've seen one and two and no complaints from me, either.  This is at the top of my list for new shows.

This show is really, really good. Amazing for such a young show (but not particularly surprising given the talent involved in front of an behind the camera).

Being that both the show runner and the star have had multiple seasons writing/acting with this character, I couldn't consider it a new show. New circumstances, definitely. It's very cool seeing Saul trying to not be a shitheel but slowly moving towards the shyster we all know and love.

Even with that talent, it's actually a pretty tricky maneuver to create a prequel for an ancillary character. I am quite impressed

Gilligan is definitely showing he's no one-show wonder. Man's got skills.

So the show is a prequel to BB?  That wasn;t clear to me from the promotions.

All but ten minutes of the show is definitely set before anything from Breaking Bad but it's also done as a flashback, or rather several layers of flashbacks.  I didn't finish watching Breaking Bad because it got too intense and I had to stop so I don't understand if the first ten minutes of the first episode is after the events of Breaking Bad or not.

I would assume so but is it?

It is.

(http://i.imgur.com/2PVDFoq.jpg)

Great episode. Give Banks the Emmy already.

Yeah, this. Holy fuck, did he absolutely crush it on this episode.

This show is just so damn good already. You can just see the fall coming for Jimmy but you can't help but hope that by some miracle it all works out for him. Of course it won't, but it sure makes you hope.

Nothing wrong with being the manager of a cinnabun (I broke down and bought/watched the rest of breaking bad because of this, squeamishness be damned).

Great episode.  Mike kills it as always.

This show is really good TV, and very promising with great performances all around. Was definitely expecting more of a cliff hanger at the season finale, but I definitely will continue watching.

Michael McKean was really good last episode, every time they're in his house I keep looking if one of the pictures around will be this:

(http://cdn.gunaxin.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Thumb60.jpg)

The finale was kind of disappointing, but the previous one was great so I didn't mind too much.

I thought it was a good wrap up, though yeah... not nearly a climactic event as the end of last week's. More of a denouement.

I thought that was a great episode, fantastic way to end the season.  That Chicago sunroof speech was amazing.  I had to google the end song because my memory sucks.

That's fairly typical of how Gilligan structured BB so it's not that big of a surprise to me. I loved the long scenes of Jimmy melting down, getting back into his Slippin Jimmy groove, and then having his realization of wanting to be Saul.  That decision was much more self-actualized than the result of desperation, which is what I thought going in would lead him down the path to Saul.

Bob Odenkirk is a fantastic actor. Great series, love the slow burn.

This show is fantastic. This was a much watch for me weekly and didn't stay on my DVR for more than 24 hours.

They really did a great job of defying expectations in the last episode.  I kept waiting for Jimmy to go all Walter White on HHM.

Oh snap, apparently this is back!

And apparently EU Netflix users get it for free

It is back and the first episode is excellent as usual. The on-the-fly con on Bluedouche McStockbroker was just fantastic, and shows just how comfortable Odenkirk is with that character as well as how good the writing is. I was kind of skeptical that this show could have legs but had faith in Gilligan's team. It seems that faith was justified.

That Stockbrocker was from Breaking Bad... He had some automotive issues.

As was the tequila, and I'm fairly sure that parking lot where Mike meets baseball card guy is where Walter tried to blow up Gus.

I'm glad they appear have slowed down the conversion to Saul. I didn't buy him turning down the job offer at the end of S1, but this episode did a so much better job of explaining it and showing what Jimmy wants to be instead of just regressing to what he once was.

Squat cobbler.  :why_so_serious:

I nearly injured myself laughing at that.  :awesome_for_real:

Yeah, when she said "why would you do such a thing?" both my wife and I practically shouted at the screen "Because it made him feel alive!".

In Breaking Bad he came across to me as a kind of sleazy character who was taking an easy route to easy money by representing criminals. This show has rewritten that impression completely.

I'm wondering how much you could make off of a $10 per viewing squat cobbler site this week.

They actually made the film.  Per the podcast they said it will probably be a DVD extra.

Interesting.

And the answer was $42,000.

Another great episode.  I wonder if it's Mike that puts him in the wheelchair unable to speak.

I can't remember, did him & Mike have any interaction at all in Breaking Bad?

And yeah, great episode. Loved the flashback at the start in the pristine house. What a dick Chuck is, and was.

As a shock to nobody: Season 3 Achievement Unlocked (http://www.amc.com/shows/better-call-saul/talk/2016/03/amcs-hit-drama-better-call-saul-renewed-for-third-season)

This show is second only to Fargo right now.  The only thing keeping it from being on the same level as Fargo is the slightly rough fit of shoving in characters from Breaking Bad.  It isn't a bad execution, and it is fun to see some of these characters again, but it isn't quite seamless and it takes me out of the current story as I try to reflect back on whether the characters met each other in the 'future', etc...

I want to say no, but it's been to long to say for sure.

I think by the time of Breaking Bad, the uncle was in the nursing home and never interacted at all. Hell, Tuco was only in the first season, IIRC.

Man, that was a weak ending :-/

More like a "goddamn, I have to wait how long for the resolution to this?" type of ending.

Yeah, very disappointing. Still, Chuck's a dick.

Theme of the Mike story seems to be almost a mirror of the Breaking Bad thread - how much violence do you, as a viewer, accept from the character before re-categorising them as a bad guy?

Yeah, pretty weak ending overall and not just the the end with Chuck and Jimmy. My biggest gripe is that they spent so much time with Mike in what was supposed to be a suspenseful situation, but all the suspense was lost because we know all but almost everyone at the house is alive in Breaking Bad.

I knew at the end of last weeks episode that he was going to come clean for some reason and Chuck was going to record it.  So, yeah, way predictable, too. 

Also, Chuck is a dick.

Returning August 6th... There is a huge spoiler in both articles I've seen announcing the return date.

I wouldn't call it a spoiler.

Anyway. Is back. Is great.

Edit:

Watched this a second time and the last scene, I struggled to imagine how they'd really shift from Jimmy to Saul - but there it is right there.

I remember trying to get into this when it first premiered, feeling like it was too slow-moving compared to Breaking Bad, and putting it down.

Just finished binging the whole series over the course of a couple of weeks.  I think I actually like it better than Breaking Bad now.

This is a great show, but 95% of Breaking Bad is better than 95% of this show.

I think what makes me like it better is that I have more people to root for.  The interplay between Jimmy, Chuck, Howard, and Kim is amazing because  I find myself sympathizing with all of them to varying degrees over the course of the show.  Jimmy really gets a raw deal most of the time and is trying to do the right thing most of the time but at his worst my god is he a flaming shitweasel.  Howard is a bit of a dick but he always behaves at least reasonably and wouldn't be an antagonist if he weren't tangled up with Chuck.  Chuck is a giant asshole but he's also always technically right (the best kind of right).  Kim tries to be Jimmy's conscience but when it comes down to it she's an enabler and she's happy to look the other way and even help when dirty deeds need to get done.

In Breaking Bad you had Walt starting off as the protagonist, with everyone else mostly being an asshole (except maybe Walt Jr), and everyone (especially Walt) just becomes more of an asshole as the show goes on.  It did a better job of continuously escalating stakes (which is why Better Call Saul felt slow the first couple of episodes), but doesn't have as much of an emotional hook because of the lack of likeable characters.

I get the feeling that Kim wrote that nice letter.  It's SO not Chuck. 

I love this show.

Definitely better than breaking bad. In particular I feel bad about Kim's obvious impending doom every episode, could watch Mike and Gus bringing order to bullshit for hours, but most of all watching Odenkirk turn the clown from BB into a real character is really something.

They dropped Chuck at exactly the right time. The space it has given the show is remarkable.

Don't think so or Jimmy's reaction to it wouldn't have affected her so much.

I'm a season or two behind, but like Samwise I like BCS more than BB for pretty much the same reason. I need at least one character to root for to really get into a show, and Breaking Bad didn't have that at all for me.

It's possible that she wrote it and her reaction was because she's realizing that Jimmy has totally cut himself off emotionally.

I think Chuck wrote it, though.  He referenced Jimmy being at HHM, which means it was while he was still in the mail room (safely under Chuck's thumb) and before he became a lawyer, which is the point at which their relationship started to unravel (because, as Chuck put it, Jimmy was a "chimp with a machine gun" -- my interpretation is more that Chuck's ego couldn't handle more than one lawyer in the family).

Well, I think that is why she reacted that way, but I think it wouldn't have registered so hard if it was some sort of plan of hers.  She doesn't seem the type either.

Also I thought that letter is exactly how Chuck believes he feels about Jimmy.

Especially as I took it as written before the show started.

I absolutely love where this show is hanging right now. The hammer is about to come down. You know likable characters are about to get fucked. You can pretty much see how. But you want to watch it because the people performing are worth watching.

There is no cheap reliance on plot at all. Resembles a play more than serial TV.

I'm thinking season 5 will be the end. Unless they want to do any story after Jimmy is fully established as Saul.

Someone suggested they might continue the show much longer... by moving full time to the future timeframe.  However, I think Jimmy's story ends about as nicely as Walt's did.

Season 5 back on 23rd, penultimate season.

I actually had thought when I was done watching S4 that it would end there, so pretty thrilled there is more to come.

Didn't quite enjoy the first 2 episodes as much as usual. Felt a bit forced.

Mike felt like a different character and I didn't buy into the way he handled the thing with his granddaughter. Saul was fine but not that interesting. The Fring/Salamanca bits are fun.

Best bit was Gene at the very start.

Mike is all fucked up because he

I get the plot logic I just don't think they carried it smoothly enough from the last season.

Maybe it would have sat easier with me if the early scenes - espeicially with the granddaughter, were on the end of last season. I might just be reacting to the wait.

This show is just incredibly good. 

I normally hate shows where everyone is doomed and sad. But I think it is the way they manage to keep showing everyone being competent adults as well as doomed and sad that makes it work. Seems mad that the show managed to sell the marriage, that had no right to work, but it really did.

Last episode of this was surprising in that I assumed it was Jimmy doing something unforgivable. But the set up for Kim and relatable-cartel-guy's relationship with Jimmy and Mike was far more satisfying.

Just binged the whole season over the last few days. This show continues to amaze me. I also keep expecting it to be the last season but apparently season 6 will be the end.

As a character and a performance, Kim has really been the star of this show. Sure, Odenkirk's Saul Goodman has been top-notch for ever, but her role has always managed to continually surprise and impress me. The marriage thing is a perfect example. The whole time I'm screaming at her, thinking "FINALLY GIRL YOU DONE GOT YOUR HEAD RIGHT" and right before she said it, I realized she was going to propose the marriage. The last scene of the season when Saul is watching her get into the shower and he realizes the monster he has created out of the person he knew is just priceless. What's even more amazing though is how wrong everyone of the characters are about Kim. She's had this in her all along, and while Saul has certainly pushed her towards it, this isn't coercion - this is her actual choice and she's making it gladly.

The last season is supposedly 13 episodes and only just being written. Given the ongoing embuggerance I imagine we'll be waiting till 2022.

Yeah they said 2021, but I seriously doubt we see much of any new productions starting in 2020. Movie and TV studios are going to have to be REAL careful about things like liability when asking high-paid stars to risk their health.

This is back and still amazing.

First episodes are a bit slow. But the bit where Kim brings the hammer down on the tax scam artists while Jimmy is still trying to find everyone a happy ending....


This thing is so good. And Rhea Seehorn is beyond great in it.

I really can't get enough Vince Gilligan competence porn even before we get to the dramatic content on this show.

Yes, as much as Odenkirk was kind of the hidden gem of Breaking Bad, Rhea Seehorn as Kim has been a fucking revelation. I could watch a show on her alone (maybe that'll be Gilligan's next gig).

Rewatching this it works a lot better without year long gaps between seasons.

The start of 6 in particular and Jimmy and Kim going after Howard makes way more sense if you didn't watch season 5 two years ago.

So this is done and is great.

4 whole epsiodes of epilogue. And they are somehow great.

It was a good ending for the series, and gave a lot of insight into the characters and their motivations without ever having to spell anything out. I'm going to miss this show.

Just finished binging this and it was just fucking perfect. That tiny bit of color at the end while they were smoking in jail *chef's kiss*. To think we were this close to losing Odenkirk right before the end, fuck.

O yeah, I am totally down with a *Better Call Kim* show :)