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Better Call Saul


Niners Fan in CT

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Was the black and white Nebraska segment a shout out to the movie?

 

I seem to recall Saul saying something like, "I'm going to end up working in a Cinnabon in Omaha" when he was in the vacuum cleaner guy's basement with Walt.

 

 

He absolutely said that very thing, they replayed the episode the other day & my wife caught it. Loving the show so far.

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Finally saw the first two episodes.  I'm kind of digging how, despite how different their personalities are, how much Saul's story ends up (at least what we see so far) being a longer version of Walt's in a way up to "Granite State".

 

Sad sack likable guy who gets pushed around but has exceptional skills...is being cheated out of something he is entitled to...just can't stand by anymore and watch that $$$ roll past him...and ends up cold and alone and stuffed in a dump just waiting for...death? something?

 

You wonder if that's part of why Saul was so immediately protective and loyal(ish) to Walt.

 

I'm also enjoying the pace so far.  It will probably quicken, and it's been awhile since I went back to the early episodes of BB, but Gilligan and Co. seem to have taken a step forward toward emphasizing the slow unfolding of things even more than on BB...letting them set themselves up...letting banal scenes of daily life carry a kind of tension and poetry for long stretches.

 

But even the "action" scenes are really bold in the sense of making you stay with them for a realistically long time.  That scene in the desert was looooong.  Saul's pleading for his own life and then for the two other dudes.  It unfolded really slowly and they didn't shortcut by making him too clever.  It was a stumbling fumbling stuttering scene that they let just sit there way longer than most shows would be willing to.

 

The scene where he gets ready to sleep in his office.  The scenes with Tuco and his Abuelita.  They let every nuance linger even if it means making you wait for the next meaningful line of dialog or action.  It has this heightening effect, making details seem large and vivid.  But without relying on too much camera trickery (there is some, but just enough).

 

So damn good.

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The first episode started off so slow but man it picked up. The second episode was just great. You never really got an idea of how good of a negotiator Saul could be in Breaking Bad. Sure there were some instances of it, but they never really explored it. Him talking down Tuco from killing the two nitwits to just breaking one leg each was amazing. That was Emmy worthy stuff.

 

Its interesting to see that Sual (Jimmy at this point) still has morals and ethics so I really want to see what causes him to flip that switch and go to where he has gone.

 

As for Michael McKeean, I just assumed he was a severe agorphobic which is why hes so off the grid/paranoid of outside eletronics. He's sort of like Gene Hackman in Enemy of the State.

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If it makes you feel better the whole series is supposed to hit Netflix streaming right after the season finale airs.

 

And tonight we got the first collaboration of Jimmy/Saul and Mike. I'm wondering if Mike is already doing cleaner work at this point while maintaining the parking lot gig as his on-the-books job, or if Jimmy/Saul pulls him into that world somehow...

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Something about the resentment that Mike had toward the two cops suggests to me that he's not doing cleaner work yet, but that he's a bit disgruntled and bitter about being a parking lot attendant and ready for bigger and better things.

 

Though personally, I'd prefer he was already working for Gus, because I like to imagine that Mike was in that line of work for longer than a few years. 

 

Oh, and Saul's failure to communicate through the cardboard tube was hilarious.

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Just getting that much more screen time with Mike gave me a huge smile.

 

Also, I hope the Kettlemans rot. My God, what a dumb fucking family. The parents anyway. Hopefully the kids have a decent aunt and uncle to kick it with.

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Great episode.  This show is so great already.  It goes by way too quick.  The pacing is so great.  I like the slow burn, and that they just didn't have Saul and Mike set up together.  Just like we watched Walt build his empire, we get to see Jimmy build his.  I'm also a fan of the flashbacks/present time openers.  They fill in the gaps nicely.  

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About the slow burn, it's interesting. So, yes, the show definitely has a slow burn or simmer going, but it's so much snappier than Breaking Bad was at it's start. Once that snowball started going though, there was no stopping it. With BCS, that snowball is so big to start.

 

I totally look forward to the episode some season down the line where Jimmy decides on the design of his office, both inside and out.

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Agreed.  The slow burn is more about the stuff we know is going to happen.  When does Jimmy become Saul?  When does he get the office?  When does he start working with Mike?  Jimmy's story just took off already.  I like that he is dealing with Nacho.  Tuco would have been too crazy.  Nacho seems like the kind of guy who will show Saul the ropes a bit.  

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I am thinking more along the lines of what someone already said about that job being his on-the-books one. Either Jimmy gets him fired or he has to quit that post. Either way, his next job would be head of security for Los Pollos Hermanos. I'm pretty sure he is already a cleaner/PI. A guy who pretty much knew no one kidnapped that family wouldn't be working in a hot, sweaty booth all day just to make ends meet. It's about as low profile as you can get.

 

Also, bringing charges against Jimmy McGill would have brought him at least some modicum of attention. That's probably the last thing he needs.

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The biggest unanswered question I have is what event causes Jimmy/Saul to completely forego his morals and ethics? The show has shown us that although he is a lowly public defender, he truly has his client's best interests in mind and will fight for a fair sentence. I have a feeling the event that makes him flip involves his brother and his previous law firm.

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The one thing that I haven't seen anyone mention here that happened in Breaking Bad that might have some relevance (spoilered for people who haven't seen BB yet):

Saul, when kidnapped by Walt and Jesse early on, freaks out about something involving Ignacio (Which I do believe Nacho is short for) and Paolo or Lalo or something of that nature.

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I thought this episode was kind of weak.  Outside of the Mike involvement and the final discovery of the family mystery, I thought it was a little slow and tedious, like it was a half hour of content stretched to a one-hour show.  I hoped this would be the end of the Kettleman family storyline so I was bummed by the preview of next week's show.

 

I loved Breaking Bad so maybe my expectations are just too high.  There's also the problem endemic to all prequels where we all know how it ends up and we're getting impatient to get there.  Who wants to see Darth Vader as a kid, after all?

 

I remain cautiously optimistic but there's no way they stretch out the transformation to Saul Goodman beyond season 1, right?

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I really dug the opening scene to ep 3.  The shot of Chuck's cell phone and stuff going in the bin before seeing Jimmy resonated with Jimmy putting his stuff in Chuck's mailbox before going in to see him.  That was slick.

 

And I liked the bit where Jimmy was BSing Chuck about "letting himself down", which Chuck didn't buy for a second, then Jimmy dropping his guard and pleading sincerely for help.  It was nice how there wasn't a wild change between Jimmy's BS and his sincerity.  Enough that you see it onscreen, but not overdone.  Great writing and acting.

 

Later on in the episode, I also liked how Jimmy for a moment came off like a super sleuth for catching the missing doll, but then it turns out the cops were all over it.  They have to walk a fine line with Jimmy/Saul in that he's established as kind of a born loser, but it's tough for a born loser to carry a show.  So far, they've been hitting the sweet spot -- being true to the character we know while giving him enough drive that we enjoy watching him rolling his boulders up the hill even though we all know they're just going to come crashing back down.

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So about 3 weeks ago I cancelled netflix because I wasn't using it. Then I remembered Better Call Saul was starting and I've really enjoyed the first three episodes. I've got a feeling my shit's gonna expire before the next episode.

So I guess I've gotta go to my girlfriends and be all "hey baby just came to see you. You look lovely, have you done something with your hair? Let's watch Netflix."

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In an interview with Bob Odenkirk in The Irish Sun (newspaper), he says we're going to get a whole episode devoted to Mike soon that's "super heavy and dark, dark, dark".

Cant freaking wait.

 

I figured we'd get a look at Mike's past when he said he was from Philadelphia and then, later, wistfully said something like, "nobody wants to leave home."  I got the impression he was talking about not just the Kettlemans and the bookie, but himself as well.  I think he was forced to leave Philly and we'll get to see how. 

 

On a side note, I saw a very young Mike in Gremlins and Beverly Hills Cop in the course of a few days a few weeks back.

 

913-1591.jpg

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