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

[Tommy R]

LOVED tonight's episode! I think it's the best one yet. YAY to extended Mike time!

 

[joshEH]

“Only two things I know about Albuquerque: Bugs Bunny should have taken a left turn there, and give me a hundred tries, I'll never be able to spell it.”

Tonight's was the first episode where I didn't think of Walter White at all. It's quickly becoming its own unique, great entity.

Like Breaking Bad, this is very much an "all-the-pieces-matter"-type show. It's showing every little thing occurring step-by-step, and all those little things add up to a single step in a larger journey.


That kind of attention to detail makes for some slow-burning and offputting rhythms in the early going, but I'm becoming more and more convinced it will pay off big time, and that the journey itself will be well worth it.


"Chicago sunroof" has already made it onto UrbanDictionary.com (I checked), thanks to this episode. As someone who lives in the Chicago area, I anticipate this becoming a thing here very soon.

Also, I don't ever, ever want Mike Ehrmantraut to not be on my TV again.

 

[joshEH]

Oh, and I thought for sure Team Kettleman would be hiding in the boat. Besides being basically the whitest criminals on the entire planet, the Kettlemans are such a wonderful portrait of an insufferable, well-off suburban family.


That answering machine, good lord. Sterling Archer could take some lessons.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I thought they would be in the boat as a nod to where they found Tsarnaev, but it didn't make much sense with the cops investigating the place. I thought of Walt a couple of times. The pool reminded me of the White home.


Really good episode. I loved how Chuck McGill put his belongings into the chute as a callback to what he makes his guests do. I half thought it was Jimmy visiting him when that shot was first shown. I guess it's a not-so-subtle way of saying when you visit Chuck, you're visiting someone in prison.

 

[TravisR]

[NERD]Nice attention to period detail by having an Attack Of The Clones IMAX poster on the son's bedroom wall.[/NERD]

The pool reminded me of the White home.

I guess it's because basically all I've ever seen of Albuquerque is on Breaking Bad but every time Saul is driving through a residential area, I expect him to drive by the White house.

 

[Greg.K]

Really good episode. I loved how Chuck McGill put his belongings into the chute as a callback to what he makes his guests do. I half thought it was Jimmy visiting him when that shot was first shown. I guess it's a not-so-subtle way of saying when you visit Chuck, you're visiting someone in prison.

I was thinking that until the huge brick phone dropped in. Oh! Flashback!

 

[joshEH]

When the encore broadcast started, I caught that Jimmy also came through the Cook County doors with "Heeeeeeere's Johnny!!!" in the flashback, so that was kinda nifty. Saul's mullet was a real wakeup call, though.

That might've been the same wig from Cranston's flashback episodes, and they just pocketed the savings. (And to think they could've just green-screened the whole thing with Mr. Show footage...)

[NERD]Nice attention to period detail by having an Attack Of The Clones IMAX poster on the son's bedroom wall.[/NERD]

And also, the Stuart Little poster on the daughter's wall (which I think was still pretty big circa 2002).

 

[MarkMel]

I thought of Walt a couple of times. The pool reminded me of the White home.

I thought that was the White house. It sure looked like it.

 

[joshEH]

I had an enormous smile on my face as Mike helped out Jimmy, even if it was as much to spite the condescending ABQ cops as it was because his instincts told him Jimmy was actually correct.


I see this as the show playing with the expectations of Breaking Bad fans. Years later, Mike will be tasked with tracking down Jesse Pinkman during the "Half Measures"/"Full Measure" arc. Mike stomps all over town trying to find out where Jesse went off to, even going so far as to threaten Saul for the information.

The funny thing is that Mike will later forget his own lesson -- like the Kettlemans, Jesse is hiding in town, and Mike's inability to find him results in Gale's death and all of the other crazy stuff that happens. Walt does the same thing after "Crawl Space," and because Mike is out of commission while he recovers from his gunshot wounds, Walt winds up taking out the entire Fring empire. Which leads directly to Mike's downfall.

I assumed there was going to be some twist that would prove Mike wrong, to explain why he handled the Walt-and-Jesse situations differently, but we still have next week's episode yet to go, here.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I didn't see stick families back in 2002, but maybe they took a while to sweep in from the West Coast. Or maybe creative license.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

The show is getting much better. Thoroughly enjoyed this week's episode.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Not clicking for me.


Great to see it is for others. I'm moving on.

 

[TonyD]

Not clicking for me.


Great to see it is for others. I'm moving on.

A short season isn't?


Anyway

I thought they would be in the boat as a nod to where they found Tsarnaev, but it didn't make much sense with the cops investigating the place. I thought of Walt a couple of times. The pool reminded me of the White home.


Really good episode. I loved how Chuck McGill put his belongings into the chute as a callback to what he makes his guests do. I half thought it was Jimmy visiting him when that shot was first shown. I guess it's a not-so-subtle way of saying when you visit Chuck, you're visiting someone in prison.

Greg I was thinking the same exact thing.

Also as soon as Nacho said he didn't do it I knew the Kettlemans left on their own and

when Jimmy went back to look with the other cops I knew they had gone behind the house into the desert and literally headed for the hills.


I'm in for the long hall. As good as BB was I think this will be very good to and it's worth it to give it more then a couple of episodes before dumping it.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

A short season isn't?

Worse - a short series.


No doubt the show will be good. But, as I noted in a previous post, a show about a shyster doesn't interest me.


What would be interesting for me to watch, is Saul post-BB being found out and forced to go on the run.

 

[TonyD]

Fair enough, btw that should have read, short season isn't it?

 

[Chuck King]

I never expected a show about a meth cooker to interest me either.

 

[Carabimero]

The production values of this show are just as high as Breaking Bad. These filmmakers can turn the routine task of a character making coffee into something visually interesting. I love how the show builds interest and tension. Was skeptical at first because of the title, but these filmmakers know how to run a show.

 

[TonyD]

I do have one question about the show, how does jimmy's chair continue to end up blocking his door from the inside?

 

[Greg.K]

I do have one question about the show, how does jimmy's chair continue to end up blocking his door from the inside?

Hah, I was wondering the same thing.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

I never expected a show about a meth cooker to interest me either.

Me either but you have to admit it's a far more singular story compared to that of one about a dirty lawyer.