Better Call Saul (AMC) - Season 1 (1 Viewer)

[joshEH]

God, it's great to be back in Albuquerque. Vince and Peter, you fucking did it again, you magnificent bastards.


Goddamn, that flashforward. The moment that cinnamon roll took shape, I knew what was going down. Between the future-opener and seeing Tuco again, I was squeeing like a tween girl at a One Direction concert. Take note, Peter Jackson -- THAT is how you open your prequel with a future-sequence.


Various thoughts, in no particular order:

• I was laughing so hard as the prosecutor was wheeling out the TV. I knew whatever was coming was gonna be epic. ("Near-honor students" also killed me.)
• Also, part of Saul's defense was "No one was hurt," which is technically true, even though there was a decapitation and a literal skull-fucking.
• The methodical making of the cinnamon roll at the beginning absolutely echoed the glory days of Heisenberg and Cap'n Cook down in the superlab (as well as out in the NM desert aboard the Crystal Ship).
• Like many certainly will, I took the dented silver trash can as a callback to the dented silver paper towel-dispenser at Walt's oncologist's office.
• Loved that Mike only appears in one brief scene -- this show clealy intends to be as patient as its parent-series. If Gilligan and Gould were in pure fan-service mode, this episode would've been wall-to-wall Mike Ehrmantraut.
• Evidently, AMC asked critics not to reveal three things from the pilot in advance: (1) The return of Tuco, (2) the nature of Chuck's illness, and (3) where Saul's office was located.
• Just read that supposedly the opening title sequence is going to be different in every single episode.

It was downright warm and fuzzy seeing the whole Breaking Bad house style back on TV once again (to say nothing of seeing all those familiar production-staff names in the opening credits, like BrBa never actually ended).


Welcome back, Vince. Welcome back.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

It was OK.


Too early to tell if the show is one worth long term viewing. Need to see the show flesh out its identity and how it will stand apart from Breaking Bad.

 

[ScottH]

Definitely has potential, but it did drag for a bit in the middle. Poor choice making the premiere 1:15.


So was that Skinny Pete coming into the courthouse?

 

[TravisR]

I guess at the end of Breaking Bad, Saul developed ESP in order to know that he'd end up as a Cinnabon manager or The Disappearer set him up with that gig and told him about it. I had no clue that the show would go past Breaking Bad so that was an awesome surprise to me.


Tuco!

...(3) where Saul's office was located.

Was that the same nail salon that Saul tried to get Jesse to buy in S3?

 

[Michael Henry]

Can someone explain Chuck's illness and the whole grounding yourself stuff?

 

[Sam Posten]

No, I can't. I'm actually going to go to the usual suspects for episode recaps to see what they think.


The whole thing was fan service but dragged the whole way through. I always thought my dad would love breaking bad but he never got on board, so I recommended he watch the premiere of Saul last night instead. He called me up and, this is a direct quote, asked me "why the fuck am I watching this boring ass shit" and I didn't have a good response.


Defending the dopes would have been a much better hook had they opened with the videotape and not with the extended bathroom stuff.

 

[Patrick Sun]

For those who missed the premiere, it's being re-run at 9pm EST on AMC before the 2nd episode at 10pm tonight (Monday). Not sure what will be cut since the premiere was 75 minutes with commercials...

 

[TravisR]

Can someone explain Chuck's illness and the whole grounding yourself stuff?

I'm not sure that it's supposed to be 100% clear yet or that I'm 100% correct but he has a mental illness where he fears electromagnetism and it's gotten to the point where he can't work and is a shut-in. The grounding seems like you have to keep cell phones and presumably everything that produces electromagnetism outside of the house in the mailbox.

 

[Greg.K]

It did drag a bit, and the whole Chuck & his old firm storyline isn't clicking with me yet, but I assume they have some good stuff planned there. I liked how Mike was introduced. And Tuco at the end was a great surprise. I'll be on board as long as it lasts.

 

[ScottH]

Skinny Pete or not? Seemed strange to me at the time how the seemed to focus on this random background character.

 

[TravisR]

^ If I had to choose, I'd say it's not but it sure does look like Pete.

 

[joshEH]

Apparently it's not, according to one of the show's producers on Twitter -- the extra just looks admittedly a heckuva lot like Charles Baker. (And evidently there are lots of us in here subconsciously scanning each and every background crowd-shot for potential cameos. )

No, I can't. I'm actually going to go to the usual suspects for episode recaps to see what they think.

The whole thing was fan service but dragged the whole way through. I always thought my dad would love breaking bad but he never got on board, so I recommended he watch the premiere of Saul last night instead. He called me up and, this is a direct quote, asked me "why the fuck am I watching this boring ass shit" and I didn't have a good response.


Defending the dopes would have been a much better hook had they opened with the videotape and not with the extended bathroom stuff.

As invested as I was and still do hold Breaking Bad dear to my black heart, I think "Uno" might have been just a bit better than the pilot episode of its parent-series. That may be unfair, considering how far Gilligan and company have come (and given the fact that they had to set up an entire world in the BrBa pilot, a type of creative heavy-lifting that Saul didn't have to worry about nearly as much), but this thing was extremely tight from a structural standpoint. It definitely shows that none of them forgot how to make a TV show during the interim.


What really sold that opening courtroom sequence for me was the little "don't worry about it" wave Jimmy made to the Three Stooges he was defending as the jury watched that video. I couldn't stop laughing.


It should also be noted, with the way it was shot, it just stressed to me the whole, "remember how much TVs SUCKED before about 2005 or so?"-ness of the scene.


That monstrous fucking TV connected to a shitty VCR. Looks like it took all of that guy's strength just to wheel it over.


Nostalgia all you want, people....some shit is not to be missed.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Huge Breaking Bad fan as all of you in this thread are.


Premier episode was....okay. As has been said, it has "potential."


For me, I just love the Vince Gill feel of the show. You know this definitely

came from the same guy that made Breaking Bad. Has the same "vibe" to it.


I would bet that the show is going to pick up considerably tonight.

 

[Todd H]

Loved Breaking Bad so I was looking forward to BCS. Found myself a bit bored at times. Hope it gets better.

 

[joshEH]

Better Call Saul breaks cable records.


Another favorite moment was how the prosecution's video tape was immediately followed by the crowd of people silently moving en masse to the side of the room facing the TV. "Guilty or innocent?" "Who cares? I gotta watch this messed-up video, bro."


What a tribute to pre-YouTube America.

 

[Greg_S_H]

There was a scene in Stephen King's Dreamcatcher (the novel, never bothered with the film) where an alien was inhabiting a man's body and was confused by the unpleasant sensation of having to take a dump. It quickly went into the bathroom and took a shit and quickly pulled its pants up and got out of there. For the rest of the novel, as this alien carried out its plot to do . . . something to the water suppy, I don't remember, a little Annie Wilkes voice in the back of my mind was screaming, "THE ALIEN DIDN'T WIPE ITS COCKADOODIE ASS!" It hung over the entire proceedings for me.


And so it was with three boys DECAPITATING AND SKULL-FUCKING A CORPSE. I've seen some sick shit, but this takes the cake. And did I hear mention of fucking the neck hole? That was . . . disturbing as hell.


Other than that, pretty good!


I've become too aware of internet criticism. When I was watching the opening, with Saul sitting there before he went for his glory days tape, I was thinking, "People are going to think this is dragging." I was okay with letting it take its time, but I was aware it would be a problem for some.

 

[TravisR]

And so it was with three boys DECAPITATING AND SKULL-FUCKING A CORPSE. I've seen some sick shit, but this takes the cake. And did I hear mention of fucking the neck hole? That was . . . disturbing as hell.

Since it's supposed to be a sick joke and a demonstration of the kind of cases that Saul takes, I'm overanalyzing it but I do question that three guys would go along with having sex with the neck hole on a corpse. One guy- sure (guys do weird stuff with their wieners) but it seems like if there were three people, one guy would suggest it and the other two would balk. "It was funny to desecrate a corpse but have sex with it? You took it too far, man!"

 

[ScottH]

I think I had a bigger problem with the fact that the prosecutor showed the video in his closing statements. Would that ever happen? Sure, the video would have been presented as evidence as some point in the trial, but would the judge even allow it to be shown again in closing?

 

[Greg_S_H]

Since it's supposed to be a sick joke and a demonstration of the kind of cases that Saul takes, I'm overanalyzing it but I do question that three guys would go along with having sex with the neck hole on a corpse. One guy- sure (guys do weird stuff with their wieners) but it seems like if there were three people, one guy would suggest it and the other two would balk. "It was funny to desecrate a corpse but have sex with it? You took it too far, man!"

I think I'm most disturbed by the fact that I'm the only one in this thread even disturbed by it. You guys have really become desensitized, man.

 

[ScottH]

I think I'm most disturbed by the fact that I'm the only one in this thread even disturbed by it. You guys have really become desensitized, man.

But nobody got hurt.