Better Call Saul

[Your Starter for 10]

His legs are retarded.

 

[Seventh Star]

The expectation I had of Breaking Bad in my head when growing up was a much cooler show than what we got, I didn't even watch it until a few years ago. I thought Walt would be the main focus, would become more streets smart and it would involve a bunch of criminal shit, not some gay slapfight over a lab, and especially not a whole subplot about Jesse and Mike.

Like a dumb bitch, I also expected BCS to mantain the lowkey tone and slow, lawyer show thing all the way to the last season or so, especially when Mike gets stopped multiple times from doing his now unbelievable cool old guy shoots shit act. But then the desert arc and Lalo happen, and both fit BB more than BCS. I would've loved to see Jimmy pull out House-esque insane bullshit plans to get through legal loopholes and do more conning strategies like selling disposable phones to criminals. But no, he has to publicly humiliate Howard because plot reasons.

Both shows you can split into two neat halves and have completely different shows in tone and aesthetic. The latter part of both shows was always mediocre, but BB was saved because the end was strangely touching and made you feel like after all the trouble Walter went through, he found peace in what he loved most. BCS makes no fucking sense. Jimmy goes to jail just because??? To simp for a woman that doesn't love him? I don't get it. I'd rather he had gotten an unapologetic asshole ending where he throws literally everyone under the bus and lives happily while everyone else is miserable.

 

[AnOminous]

I'd rather he had gotten an unapologetic asshole ending where he throws literally everyone under the bus and lives happily while everyone else is miserable.

Either of the two possible good endings would have been better. Either he goes with the deal he bullied the prosecution and government into, getting some prison time but otherwise getting to walk, and presumably continuing his career of crime afterward, or finally decides to take responsibility and actually atone for his sins. Maybe saving Kim could be a part of that, but the way it was done seemed really forced and unrealistic.

Really you could have ended it after Lalo shot Howard with a couple episodes delivering Nemesis to Saul and Kim and skipping the Gene plotline entirely. It's too bad that was so superfluous, because it had been teased since the beginning of the show. It sort of reminds me of the ridiculous plane crash plotline in BB, i.e. teased over and over again and then when it delivers, it's more "really? this?"

 

[TheHarbinger]

The expectation I had of Breaking Bad in my head when growing up was a much cooler show than what we got, I didn't even watch it until a few years ago. I thought Walt would be the main focus, would become more streets smart and it would involve a bunch of criminal shit, not some gay slapfight over a lab, and especially not a whole subplot about Jesse and Mike.

Walt's success as a street criminal either comes through pure luck or plot armor and fantasy. Like his magic exploding meth that breaks the laws of physics and can shatter windows and knock air conditioners out but not harm Walt at all despite throwing a bomb at his own feet. Or things like Hank and Gomez tracking him down in the desert without ever calling for backup. Or Hank investigating the RV without backup then leaving for the hospital when he gets the call about Marie being in an accident.

Walt also takes huge risks constantly. Like lightning the guy's car on fire. Getting pepper sprayed by a cop. Wandering around naked in his fugue state. These lead to no consequences in the long run. One of the dumbest moments on Breaking Bad is when Walt tells Mike he sent Jesse to kill Gale. Yet Mike doesn't call Gale's neighbors or call the police to go over there and warn him. And if Gale was out seeing a movie then Walt's plans immediately fail. It's such poor writing.

It sort of reminds me of the ridiculous plane crash plotline in BB, i.e. teased over and over again and then when it delivers, it's more "really? this?"

The machine gun plotline was also contrived and silly. Or the ricin cigarette and magic pick pocketing.

 

[Slav Power]

You know, sometimes the metaphors presented in the show are a little too on the nose, like the one with the cupholder in the Mercedes he got when he worked at Davis and Main.

Like, yeah, I can tell it's symbolic of Jimmy not fitting in D&M and always cutting corners to get his way, because that's what the series' creators wanted me to see, it's pretty obvious. It's not super deep, it's not super duper clever, it's neat, it's a bit too obvious, nothing more, nothing less.

But people take scenes like this, dissect it for twenty minutes only to huff their own farts by the end, and how genius Peter Gould and Vince Giligan are. Yeah they're good writers, but this isn't something profound like you think it is. It is exactly what you believe it is because that's what you were meant to see. Peter and Vince did a good job at that, it's nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Seventh Star]

You know, sometimes the metaphors presented in the show are a little too on the nose, like the one with the cupholder in the Mercedes he got when he worked at Davis and Main.

Like, yeah, I can tell it's symbolic of Jimmy not fitting in D&M and always cutting corners to get his way, because that's what the series' creators wanted me to see, it's pretty obvious. It's not super deep, it's not super duper clever, it's neat, it's a bit too obvious, nothing more, nothing less.

But people take scenes like this, dissect it for twenty minutes only to huff their own farts by the end, and how genius Peter Gould and Vince Giligan are. Yeah they're good writers, but this isn't something profound like you think it is. It is exactly what you believe it is because that's what you were meant to see. Peter and Vince did a good job at that, it's nothing more, nothing less.

He should have spent way more time in Davis and Main. Really just fuck you Vince. I wanted a cool drama show about lawyers and you gave me the fossil and gaynigger shootout show.

Walt's success as a street criminal either comes through pure luck or plot armor and fantasy. Like his magic exploding meth that breaks the laws of physics and can shatter windows and knock air conditioners out but not harm Walt at all despite throwing a bomb at his own feet. Or things like Hank and Gomez tracking him down in the desert without ever calling for backup. Or Hank investigating the RV without backup then leaving for the hospital when he gets the call about Marie being in an accident.

Walt also takes huge risks constantly. Like lightning the guy's car on fire. Getting pepper sprayed by a cop. Wandering around naked in his fugue state. These lead to no consequences in the long run. One of the dumbest moments on Breaking Bad is when Walt tells Mike he sent Jesse to kill Gale. Yet Mike doesn't call Gale's neighbors or call the police to go over there and warn him. And if Gale was out seeing a movie then Walt's plans immediately fail. It's such poor writing.

The machine gun plotline was also contrived and silly. Or the ricin cigarette and magic pick pocketing.

I can accept a lot of things but the scene where Walter blows the building up will always shatter my suspension of disbelief to the point I prefer to think its just a fantasy sequence.

 

[Smashing Young Man]

Walt's success as a street criminal either comes through pure luck or plot armor and fantasy. Like his magic exploding meth that breaks the laws of physics and can shatter windows and knock air conditioners out but not harm Walt at all despite throwing a bomb at his own feet. Or things like Hank and Gomez tracking him down in the desert without ever calling for backup. Or Hank investigating the RV without backup then leaving for the hospital when he gets the call about Marie being in an accident.

Walt also takes huge risks constantly. Like lightning the guy's car on fire. Getting pepper sprayed by a cop. Wandering around naked in his fugue state. These lead to no consequences in the long run. One of the dumbest moments on Breaking Bad is when Walt tells Mike he sent Jesse to kill Gale. Yet Mike doesn't call Gale's neighbors or call the police to go over there and warn him. And if Gale was out seeing a movie then Walt's plans immediately fail. It's such poor writing.

The machine gun plotline was also contrived and silly. Or the ricin cigarette and magic pick pocketing.

My biggest issue with the meth bomb scene is that there is no way Tuco and crew wouldn't have been busted immediately. Cops would have shown up within minutes; we even hear sirens approaching as Walt drives away. As Tuco's base of operations, there would be lots of incriminating evidence lying around like cash and illegal product, and there wouldn't have been time to clean up the scene before it was swarmed by police. Also, there was the camera at the door, which would have put Walt at the scene if the footage was recorded and could be retrieved.

This scene more than any other in the show required the viewer to completely turn off their brain.

 

[Chilson]

My biggest issue with the meth bomb scene is that there is no way Tuco and crew wouldn't have been busted immediately. Cops would have shown up within minutes; we even hear sirens approaching as Walt drives away. As Tuco's base of operations, there would be lots of incriminating evidence lying around like cash and illegal product, and there wouldn't have been time to clean up the scene before it was swarmed by police. Also, there was the camera at the door, which would have put Walt at the scene if the footage was recorded and could be retrieved.

This scene more than any other in the show required the viewer to completely turn off their brain.

I am not going to argue against any of that, your logic is sound. But its also just a fucking awesome scene that hits so hard that the audience doesn't even consider all those factors until well after its over (if ever at all).

Its the rule of cool in a nutshell. A nonsense scene that is so badass that it earns the right to flubb the rules of the reality it is set in.

 

[AnOminous]

Its the rule of cool in a nutshell. A nonsense scene that is so badass that it earns the right to flubb the rules of the reality it is set in.

It's not even that hard to imagine that Tuco had to move operations more than once, and had some kind of protocol for dumping the loot and other evidence within minutes, and probably a few bent local cops as well. The APD was nearly totally useless throughout the entire show, with most of the even remotely competent LEA being the DEA. And even the most competent of those was Hank, who took years to figure out that "Heisenberg" was his own brother-in-law.

My skepticism was totally obliterated by wow, coolest explosion ever.

 

[The Hardest R]

I'd rather he had gotten an unapologetic asshole ending where he throws literally everyone under the bus and lives happily while everyone else is miserable.

The Saul we got from BB would’ve been more likely to do that. Unfortunately Gilligan again went for the Reddit “…and everyone stood up and clapped” route for BCS.

This scene more than any other in the show required the viewer to completely turn off their brain.

I’ve never thought the show was meant to be all that realistic. Prior to BB and BCS, Gilligan was best known for The X Files. When it comes to these shows, I’m just in it for the ride. Almost every episode seemingly had moments that would never fly or would’ve ended with Walt in handcuffs.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

My biggest issue with the meth bomb scene is that there is no way Tuco and crew wouldn't have been busted immediately. Cops would have shown up within minutes; we even hear sirens approaching as Walt drives away. As Tuco's base of operations, there would be lots of incriminating evidence lying around like cash and illegal product, and there wouldn't have been time to clean up the scene before it was swarmed by police. Also, there was the camera at the door, which would have put Walt at the scene if the footage was recorded and could be retrieved.

This scene more than any other in the show required the viewer to completely turn off their brain.

It doesn't work with the rest of the show, but does considering how it was supposed to originally go.

For anyone not in the know, the plan was for season one to end with Tuco killing Jesse, so Walt kidnaps him and traps him under the house in a Saw style game, torturing him. Eventually, Junior finds him, and Tuco kills him trying to escape, leading to Walt killing Tuco. And this was the first of four seasons. Things would then escalate from there as Walt became a complete maniac. This was scrapped when the writer's strike of 2008 caused the first season to cap at seven episodes. With time to reflect, Vince and the other writers realized it wouldn't work having Walt go crazy this quickly, plus Tuco's actor didn't like playing such a violent psycho and asked to be killed off quicker, so they changed plans and dialed things back.

While I'm curious as to how that would have turned out, I'm glad they didn't go that route. Unfortunately it does mean some of the shit from season one where Walt's more unhinged and then suddenly calms down in season two doesn't make sense, but I still love the show.

 

[TheHarbinger]

For anyone not in the know, the plan was for season one to end with Tuco killing Jesse.

Kim was also supposed to be fired from HHM and removed from the show first season. Both her and Jesse were saved by the writers. Then both of those characters would have a long love-hate relationship with the main character in their respective shows. Building up to both leads sacrificing themselves to save both characters. Walt going back and saving Jesse from the Nazis. And Saul saving Kim's law career and reputation and taking the jail time.

It was another reason practically everyone predicted the ending to BCS a few seasons before the show ended.

 

[Seventh Star]

While I'm curious as to how that would have turned out, I'm glad they didn't go that route. Unfortunately it does mean some of the shit from season one where Walt's more unhinged and then suddenly calms down in season two doesn't make sense, but I still love the show.

I think it'd be more like what I thought Breaking Bad would have been. The pacing would have definetly been very off, especially with Walt torturing Tuco, but Junior should have absolutely died at that point. He's pointless for most of the show.

Kim was also supposed to be fired from HHM and removed from the show first season. Both her and Jesse were saved by the writers. Then both of those characters would have a long love-hate relationship with the main character in their respective shows. Building up to both leads sacrificing themselves to save both characters. Walt going back and saving Jesse from the Nazis. And Saul saving Kim's law career and reputation and taking the jail time.

It was another reason practically everyone predicted the ending to BCS a few seasons before the show ended.

I don't remember that many people here predicting that ending. Myself, again, I stupidly thought modern writers can be more than one trick ponies.

 

[AnOminous]

With time to reflect, Vince and the other writers realized it wouldn't work having Walt go crazy this quickly, plus Tuco's actor didn't like playing such a violent psycho and asked to be killed off quicker, so they changed plans and dialed things back.

Walt and Jesse were also the core of the show by this point. Aaron Paul hasn't done much afterwards, but he gave the performance of a lifetime making a character likeable who, when you really look at it, regrets or not, was kind of a piece of shit and a loser. If Vince has any particular genius it's for getting top notch performances out of actors, sort of like what Tarantino does.

 

[Odd Opossum]

Kim was also supposed to be fired from HHM and removed from the show first season.

I've never heard anything about this. Where did you hear it?

but Junior should have absolutely died at that point.

That would have been retarded.

 

[Smashing Young Man]

Walt and Jesse were also the core of the show by this point. Aaron Paul hasn't done much afterwards, but he gave the performance of a lifetime making a character likeable who, when you really look at it, regrets or not, was kind of a piece of shit and a loser. If Vince has any particular genius it's for getting top notch performances out of actors, sort of like what Tarantino does.

The quality of acting in shows isn't something I pay much attention to unless it's bad enough to be distracting or outright laughable, but I was legit blown away by the acting in BB—Aaron Paul's in particular. He hit me hard in the feels with that "I don't know what's wrong with me, Mr. White" scene.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Kim was also supposed to be fired from HHM and removed from the show first season.

Didn't know about this. What was supposed to have happened?

 

[UnKillFill]

Walt and Jesse were also the core of the show by this point. Aaron Paul hasn't done much afterwards, but he gave the performance of a lifetime making a character likeable who, when you really look at it, regrets or not, was kind of a piece of shit and a loser. If Vince has any particular genius it's for getting top notch performances out of actors, sort of like what Tarantino does.

I'm not the biggest fan, but I mean, he was also a main character in Bojack Horseman. Also playing a piece of shit loser who was (in theory) "lovable".

 

[The handsome tard]

I unironically feel like that writing in Breaking Bad had a sharp decline after S4.

S5 just has the characters doing basic mistakes they otherwise shouldnt have done, even worse if you have BCS under your belt. Seriously, how could Mike, OF ALL PEOPLE, didnt know that Fring's laptop was encrypted? Did he seriously expect that Fring's laptop, which contained essential stuff related to his drug empire, wouldnt have a thousand passwords or kill switch in the case its accessed by someone else rather than himself?

Also Im not a fan of Lydia as an antagonist, at all, she is just annoying instead of legit intimidating.

Also Walt's transition into full blown villany involves him just being incredibly petty even to his own allies that kept him out of jail, you just want Mike to smack him again and remind him he isnt untouchable.

 

[WelperHelper99]

Skylar is a cheating bitch and the worst character so far in my watchthrough of Breaking Bad, change my mind. Walt did nothing wrong.