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

[TravisR]

That's how you get yourself an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

 

[joshEH]

"I broke my boy."


My favorite episode of television in 2015 so far. What a gorgeously shot, written, and acted episode. Other reviews are mentioning this, but the lighting choices in this one alone will likely win an award. Really hoping we have a deeper look at Gus coming in the future like this, as well.


So much of Mike's behavior on Breaking Bad crystallized after seeing this episode: his affection for Jesse; his devotion to his granddaughter. We can now very easily imagine that Mike saw some spark of his boy in Pinkman. We know that his granddaughter is the last piece of his son left on earth; the last person it was possible for him to do right by.


It's hard to imagine that Gilligan and Gould knew that they would eventually bring their character to this place -- I'd like to think that they talked about Mike's backstory at various points during Breaking Bad, but it was Better Call Saul that finally gave them the opportunity to play it all out.


When Mike cries, we all cry.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Remarkable episode. Very correct in saying it rivals the best Breaking Bad episodes.


Feel sorry for those that dropped out of this show early.


I do feel, however, the show is better when it is about Mike, not Saul. Perhaps Saul should not have been the focal point of the series and that is the reason why things really haven't taken off until this point.

 

[Charlie Campisi]

I do feel, however, the show is better when it is about Mike, not Saul. Perhaps Saul should not have been the focal point of the series and that is the reason why things really haven't taken off until this point.

I completely agree. I thought all of the episodes up until now were ok, but I was not as enthralled as most. There wasn't anything bad. I just wasn't moved or compelled. Last night's ep knocked it out of the park. Mike is much more interesting than Saul. I'm not sure how much mileage they get out of these characters, but last night got me off the fence about whether to keep watching.

 

[Sam Posten]

Terrific episode, the best.

 

[joshEH]

25th Hour starring Ned and Maude Flanders?


I'd so watch the living crap out of that.

 

[joshEH]

So that big feller who bumped Jimmy in the diner restroom was on one of those FBI wanted posters in the opening, right?

Is there such a thing as Chekhov's Large Scary Bald-Guy?

I could watch an entire episode of Mike the Fixer wordlessly working his magic.

While I absolutely loved last week's episode, this is definitely what I want the show to be. Jimmy being funny. Jimmy being a lawyer. And then with such pitch-perfect touches of Mike. I loved everything about his following the money. The music was great. It gave it the same vibe that existed during his caper in "Full Measure."


It never ceases to amaze me the clever ways that Gilligan and Co. come up with capers or schemes in BrBa, and now BCS. The spraying of the money, and the usage of the blacklight to retrieve it, were just awesome to see executed. They never like to repeat themselves, and I love them for it.


The show is going to have to stop making Jimmy so likable. At this point, I want a better end for Jimmy than Saul Goodman.

 

[joshEH]

Two-plus hours with Odenkirk, McKean, and Banks. Let it wash over you.

 

[joshEH]

 

[Sam Posten]

I thought that was Jim Dalrymple.


Fascinating:

http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/better-call-saul-creators-on-the-purposely-sh-ty-opening-title-sequence#DccZG3LhlYrLhSvS.99


What was that music BTW? Whole series has had amazing music.

 

[TravisR]

What was that music BTW? Whole series has had amazing music.

I could be wrong but I assumed it was something that series composer Dave Porter did.

 

[joshEH]

They hid the money under the sink the entire time?

I don't know if it was written or an actor-choice, but quite possibly the highlight of the entire night was Craig's pathetic, ignored attempt to order coffee that both Saul and Betsy had already declined.

Good God, did I wanna see awful, self-entitled bitch Betsy Kettleman end up wearing an orange jumpsuit. Walter White needed a wife like Mrs. Kettleman, who didn't give a fuck where the money came from.

I feel like she's Gilligan's joke on all those misogynist assholes who hated Skyler, which just makes her even funnier (and Skyler more awesome) to me.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

This show really has molded itself into something pretty incredible.


I immensely enjoy watching each week's episode unfold.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I don't know if it was written or an actor-choice, but quite possibly the highlight of the entire night was Craig's pathetic, ignored attempt to order coffee that both Saul and Betsy had already declined.

Oh hell, yes. I had a really good half-second chuckle at that moment.

 

[joshEH]

Truth be told, my nerves were on edge right at the very end, fearing the Fland...er...Kettlemans were gonna go all murder-suicide on the kids to "spare" them the horror of living with the shame of a parent in jail/involved in crime.

 

[Sam Posten]

Found it, holy crap is the music great on this show.

 

[joshEH]

During that whole montage, I loved how the passage of time was conveyed: Mike bites into an apple, and then the show cuts to five apple-cores lined up on the wall.


(The thought of an older man like Mike shitting his pants after eating so many damn apples did cross my mind in that moment, to be sure.)


Another great detail I noticed -- Saul's picture was on all of the bingo cards. Gotta protect those seniors from people who want to sell them robot-insurance, I guess.

 

[SamT]

1x06 Five-O:
What Mike wanted with the notepad he stole? That story was not resolved, right? The end was a flashback.

 

[ScottH]

1x06 Five-O: What Mike wanted with the notepad he stole? That story was not resolved, right? The end was a flashback.

He wanted to know exactly what the detectives knew.

 

[Dheiner]

Remarkable episode. Very correct in saying it rivals the best Breaking Bad episodes.


Feel sorry for those that dropped out of this show early.


I do feel, however, the show is better when it is about Mike, not Saul. Perhaps Saul should not have been the focal point of the series and that is the reason why things really haven't taken off until this point.

The problem with that is that there is a hard endpoint to his character.