Better Call Saul TV show (Breaking Bad spin-off with Bob Odenkirk)

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I didn't see a thread for this, so apologies if one was made and it is buried in the pages.

Anyway, the pilot was last night @ 9 pm on AMC. A repeat will happen tonight at the same time in case you missed it, were too hung up on The Walking Dead that aired previously, or were watching the Grammy's.

My thoughts: It was pretty good. They left the audience in the dark on a lot of what was going on, which was pretty cool because they kept us wondering where the show starts in Breaking Bad’s timeline. I didn't know if the first scene with Saul was a flashback or flashforward, then I was confused as to why his name was Jimmy and not Saul... then if this "Chuck" person was even real and he was trying to con those lawyers out of money. They hooked me with this since it's obvious that the person we know in the Breaking Bad series is not the same Saul (yet).

Also, the camera work, sound design, and overall use of the backgrounds was amazing as always. The court scene was especially good with the wheelie cart since it was deathly silent in the room except for the older black attorney wheeling an old TV cart so the jury can see it, and Saul sitting in the background smiling like "don't worry - we're good."

My only worry is that they are going to ride Breaking Bad’s coat tails the entire show – they’ve already started to tie this in especially with the last minute of the show, and I want them to make this its own thing and really focus on the character's origin story and his adventures that got him to become the sleazy lawyer that we all know and love. We will see - It was only the pilot.

Jimmy is who Saul was before he created Saul. Everything in the show, at least as of right now, is from before Breaking Bad.

My only worry is that they are going to ride Breaking Bad’s coat tails the entire show

They won't. I don't think they would've done the show if that was the case.

Oh man this is instant ratings when they do the inevitable Walter White or Jessie Pinkman cameo. I know this supposedly happens before right? But they could just randomly show one of them "accidentally" walking by or bumping into each other.

garion333 wrote:

Jimmy is who Saul was before he created Saul. Everything in the show, at least as of right now, is from before Breaking Bad.

My only worry is that they are going to ride Breaking Bad’s coat tails the entire show

They won't. I don't think they would've done the show if that was the case.

The black and white part was from after breaking bad. Part of it was foreshadowed in breaking bad.

I guess I have a bad memory then - I don't remember Saul ever saying his name was Jimmy in Breaking Bad.

He didn't go by Jimmy in Breaking Bad. He changed his name before we see him in breaking bad.

Is this available online anywhere to watch?

beanman101283 wrote:

Is this available online anywhere to watch?

Free to watch on Amazon today.

I really dug it. You can't completely pull this away from the Breaking Bad universe, but I was glad it wasn't the Mike Ermantraut hour. That last moment is a hell of a payoff. Plus,

Spoiler:

Tuco is a good choice for that character. His role on Breaking Bad was brief enough that they have a lot of flexibility to play with the character. If it had been Gus, I wouldn't have been as happy, but Tuco gives them the chance to show Jimmy navigating his way past a very bad man.

It's not Breaking Bad, and that's okay. It seems to have found its footing pretty damn fast.

I just want to see Jimmy/Saul be a schmoozing and sleazy BUT effective lawyer. Make this CSI: Breaking Bad and I'm golden.

Vrikk wrote:

I guess I have a bad memory then - I don't remember Saul ever saying his name was Jimmy in Breaking Bad.

He didn't say his name was Jimmy, but he did say his name was not Saul Goodman.

Where the show will go is hard to say, but it's so far been very entertaining.

Just watched the second episode. The show is a lot better than I thought it would be.

Spoiler:

The negotiation scene was just fantastic. Also it was funny how the twins got themselves in that situation.

I had a surprisingly hard time getting my wife to watch this, considering she was hooked on Breaking Bad after only half an episode. Somehow she convinced herself this is going to be crap. First episode was pretty good though.

I'm appreciative of the fact that Charter includes this in their On Demand library, but so...many...commercials. Good grief. It's worse than Hulu Plus, which is already annoying.

I'm all caught up. I've been looking forward to this show since I first heard about it several months ago. Lovin' it so far.

Biznatch!

Ah, crap. The thread title just spoiled it for me...I didn't know it was a spin-off...I'll get around to watching Breaking Bad someday, but I guess I should now wait until this show is done to do that. Good first couple episodes, though. What I found most compelling was

Spoiler:

Jimmy was very satisfied to have reduced the "sentences" of the skaters, but still was horrified to see the punishment inflicted. He will have to live with or suffer from that guilt for a long time.

Honestly, you're probably fine watching this before Breaking Bad. It takes place a few years (roughly) before that show.

I doubt it matters one way or the other. If you watch this first you will be surprised when you see characters from it show up in Breaking Bad. If you watch BB first you will be surprised when you see characters from it show up in Better call Saul. Neither show will spoil the others.

Baron is right. I'm now an expert on Breaking Bad, having gotten completely hooked and watching all the way through on Netflix, twice. This show is 6 years before the happenings on BB and there won't be anything to happen to spoil BB for you. The one big difference will be that you already have a perception of Saul that we didn't have going into BB, but that's pretty much the same thing Baron said. So, yeah, what he said. Watch on.

Oh sh*t, Michael Mando! When he showed up, I was all, "Where do I know that voice from?"

Well, episode 3 was fun. I'm just a bit surprised how much information Jimmy disclosed to his attorney friend.

Normally I give up on almost every new show I try out after 2-3 episodes, so I'm glad to say it looks like I am hooked for at least the rest of the first season. These guys have done a nice job so far applying some of the Lost techniques in telling compelling stories.

I'm really enjoying this show so far.

I liked Breaking Bad for a while, but I eventually found it too bleak. Saul née Jimmy is managing so far to be a more sympathetic character for me than Walter; he's a lovable rapscallion, rather than a budding sociopath. The tone of the show reminds me a bit of the recent Fargo TV series.

I'm really surprised by how much I like this, by the way, since the premise just didn't seem very compelling on paper. Odenkirk's appearance on The Daily Show is what convinced me to give it a shot.

I'm loving this show a ton.

But to go a bit OT for a second, I just dropped M wife off to argue a case I front of the Missouri Supreme Court. While she has written briefs that the MSC has ruled on, this is the first time she has stood in front of them to argue and answer their questions.

On our way down the elevator in the hotel I could see she was really nervous, and was looking down, going over the argument in her head, mumbling and half gesturing. So I asked her to do one thing for me.

She looked up at me, and I said, "Do this." Then I did jazz hands and said "ShowTime!"

She not only did it, but her mood changed instantly. So it seems to work. I'll see in a bit, when I pick her up.

I am finding Jimmy a lot more sympathetic as well. A lot less "poor little entitled angry old me" than Walter was.

Paleocon wrote:

I am finding Jimmy a lot more sympathetic as well. A lot less "poor little entitled angry old me" than Walter was.

Jimmy feels remorse. Jimmy actually wants to help people.

AfterBuzz on youtube had the actress that plays the female lawyer on.

boogle wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

I am finding Jimmy a lot more sympathetic as well. A lot less "poor little entitled angry old me" than Walter was.

Jimmy feels remorse. Jimmy actually wants to help people.

Exactly. You knew the moment Walter refused his old partner's money that he was no longer in it to do the right thing. Jimmy cashes those checks instantly.

Although it is interesting that everything kicks off with Jimmy refusing money from his brother's firm. But he wants more from them, not for them to go away.

Holy crap.

If you haven't watched the latest episode, drop everything and go see it now. One of the more heartbreaking things I've seen in a long time.

trichy wrote:

Holy crap.

If you haven't watched the latest episode, drop everything and go see it now. One of the more heartbreaking things I've seen in a long time.

You are so right. I actually just finished watching it, and came straight here to post about it. I had gotten behind and watched the last two episodes today. Both are great, and Team Gilligan is really knocking this series out of the park.

But this latest one is so great that I saved it to watch as a stand alone episode with my wife later. She wasn't a Breaking Bad fan, and is not watching this. But this is the kind of episode that makes people talk about the golden age of TV.

And yeah, this is manly tears of manliness stuff. If anyone doubted the need to include Mike Ehrmantraut, this episode pays off in spades. This might end up being "that" episode, if the series goes on to be great long term, the one people will place among the best.

From Boingboing:

When AMC announced that Banks would join the cast of Better Call Saul, everyone assumed that we’d learn more about Mike Ehrmantraut’s past, simply because it’s the nature of prequels. But I don’t think anyone was expecting “Five-O,” an entire episode solely devoted to the origin story of a character that had to be created due to Bob Odenkirk’s unavailability. Many characters had tour de force episodes over the course of Breaking Bad, from Walt and Jesse (too many to name) to Skyler, Hank, Marie, even Gus Fring. But Gilligan and his staff held off on fully pulling back the curtain on Mike Ehrmantraut until now, and it’s Jonathan Banks’ just reward for swooping in as the Cleaner years ago. It’s only March, but I’ll say it now because everyone’s thinking it: Banks is the frontrunner for Best Supporting Actor at the Emmys. (It sort of helps that Aaron Paul won’t be eligible, but let’s ignore that for now.)

I thought last week's was better, except where it gets weird near the end and follows the parking attendant instead of Jimmy. This one was okay....interesting to see how his story--"Mike", huh?--intersects with Jimmy's.

Yeah, this might be the first episode in which having watched BB would make a difference.

Also, I wonder if being a parent affects the way you react to that last scene. My wife didn't want to watch it, so I was explaining it to her, and bam, I started crying.

That was heavy stuff, and I thought it was just a fitting kind of a back story that character. It made me want to revisit those episodes of BB where he and Jesse got close.

Jayhawker wrote:

Yeah, this might be the first episode in which having watched BB would make a difference.

For what it's worth, we didn't finish Breaking Bad and although we recognized Mike vaguely we didn't really remember much about him. But we didn't feel like we were missing out on anything (even if we were).

We're now one episode behind (the most recent one which aired last night) and this show is really exceeding my expectations. I love how it went off on the Mike tangent, actually, because as great as Odenkirk is it's really nice to have a break in the format.

I am still finding this show much more compelling than Breaking Bad. Jimmy is a fascinating character and all of the performances are top notch.

gore wrote:

I am still finding this show much more compelling than Breaking Bad. Jimmy is a fascinating character and all of the performances are top notch.

What I would say is that BCS is just rolling on from where Breaking Bad was in its last two seasons, which were the best and most compelling. But yes, this series hit the ground running.

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