Better Call Saul

[alkeiper]

Carol Burnett. That is all.

Carol Burnett is a goddamned national treasure.

Also great to see Jim O'Heir on my television.

 

[treble]

I hope its not the last of either of those 2 on the show.

I should probably stop making predictions since they've basically all been wrong, but I don't think they'd have someone like Carol Burnett play a character and basically only use her for 3 scenes. I think we have at least one more Gene episode.

I loved the montage of Gene getting to know the security guards and the heist scene in particular was very tense.

I've also never wanted a Cinnabon more in my life.

 

[alkeiper]

I think Burnett has more coming but I'd be surprised if O'Heir is more than a one off.

 

[Zetterberg is God]

I almost didn’t recognize Aaron Paul at first. His voice seemed much different too.

That aside this was great and hopefully appeased the anti-Nippy crowd.

 

[Brocklock]

Paul really took me out of that scene tbh. I could barely understand him at times. Rest of the episode was phenomenal.

 

[Zetterberg is God]

Also can't overlook Buzz McCallister in this episode.

 

[SFH]

These goddamn Gene episodes @ Cinnabon are about to make me relapse on my diet.

Otherwise, great fucking television.

 

[Brocklock]

Holy shit, that was one of the best episodes of the series. Rhea Seehorn is incredible. That scene on the bus was hard to watch in the best way.

Aaron Paul was much better this week.

 

[treble]

I really thought Kim was going to call Saul a "criminal lawyer" and that was going to be where Pinkman got that line.

 

[Zetterberg is God]

Yeah much better from Aaron Paul this week. Kudos to folks calling Marion outing Saul (maybe obvious to most but I wouldn’t have guessed it myself had I not been reading Reddit discussion).

 

[SFH]

There was a moment where I thought we were about

Spoiler

to see a murder

near the end. With the way

Spoiler

Gene/Saul/Jimmy was holding that phone cord, I thought she was done. He's not shown to be murderous before, but at this point in the series, in a moment of desperation, it wouldn't have been out of line to plot it out that way

.

 

[Youth N Asia]

I’m hoping Jimmy can end up getting away in the end. I don’t need him to have a tragic ending. Walter needed one though.

While this week was a great week for Rhea to showcase; I missed Mike, and Gus.

 

[treble]

I wonder if we'll get one last Gus and Mike scene, maybe kind of having Gus tell Mike to keep working with Saul. I'll be ok if we don't see Gus again, but I think Mike deserves some sort of a send-off.

 

[alkeiper]

I’m hoping Jimmy can end up getting away in the end. I don’t need him to have a tragic ending. Walter needed one though.

While this week was a great week for Rhea to showcase; I missed Mike, and Gus.

Jimmy has used up his chances at redemption. His happy ending is if he doesn't get shanked in prison.

 

[Zetterberg is God]

Great ending to a truly amazing run of television. Going to miss it a lot.

 

[treble]

I was glad we got one last Chuck scene.

And that was about as happy an ending that they could realistically give Jimmy.

 

[Youth N Asia]

Pretty spoiled getting 12 seasons in the Better Call Badiverse (I don’t care. Season 5 of BB was 2 seasons)

I didn’t for a second think that Saul could come close to being as good as Breaking Bad, and for the first season or so I felt like I was right. Pretty damn close to being equals.

I initially thought it was a bit much for Saul to go on the run at the end of Breaking Bad, wasn’t really thinking of tying him in with RICO.

Seems way out of place for Jimmy to change everything in the final minutes. Never really got the impression he was going for redemption. Feels like it was just a make right with Kim. That divorce signing papers part in the series was so damn cold.

Super interested in seeing what Vince comes up with next.

 

[Brocklock]

That was excellent. No complaints and I teared up several times. I loved the call back to Jimmy and Kim smoking in the first episode.

I remember watching a Mr. Show DVD with the commentary on and Bob Odenkirk was very critical of his acting and said he was more comfortable as a writer and a director. It feels like he's overshadowed a bit by Seehorn and Banks, but Bob did an amazing job throughout and I absolutely love his run through these two shows.

 

[SFH]

I'm not the gifted wordsmith that our 909 is, but I'll copy & paste my review from Facebook:

Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, for me, are hall of fame television writers. They crafted a TV series that made me love then hate a character that simultaneously was the protagonist and then the most detestable person in the show. After a roller coaster ride of only 5 seasons, they guided "Breaking Bad" to a logical and satisfying conclusion in 2013.

Then, they created the spin off prequel series "Better Call Saul" which debuted in 2015. Through masterful storytelling, they introduced me to new characters to love, detest, celebrate, and mourn. Also, they timed appearances from some old favorites leading me to enjoy newly uncovered backstories.

It was a sad day for entertainment on Monday August 15, 2022. The final episode of the "Breaking Bad" & "Better Call Saul" universe has aired. Somehow, despite their peers frequently failing to deliver satisfying conclusions to other shows in television, Gilligan and Gould did it twice.
Where I felt "Dexter" (twice), "Ozark", "House of Cards", "Game of Thrones" and other dramas failed to present a satisfying finale, I had the opportunity as a fan to see masterful conclusions to storytelling. I purposefully am not touching on comedy and sitcom endings because those types of presentations have different stakes.

And what I find interesting about the ending to both BB and BCS is that I had my own theories and expectations on how things would end, I was wrong both times, and still felt the storytelling was well done. To subvert my expectations, entertain me, and not insult my dedication as a fan is something I applaud to creators. Art takes so many forms, and right now, in their genre, G & G are at the top for me.

Out of respect to fans that are behind on the show, I'm leaving spoilers out of this post. I welcome discourse in my inbox if you wish to discuss specific plot points. Fire off in the comments if you agree, disagree, or think I need to go take a long walk off a short pier for my views.

And yes, I will draw a line in the sand and state that I believe that at one point Walter White was even more gross than the Uncles of Anarchy up until the scene in the desert when he nearly redeemed himself.

 

[Youth N Asia]

The Emmy voters made sure to bone the show on its way out. That was a letdown.

 

[treble]

They're still eligible for the 2nd half of the last season for next year's awards. But it will have been over a year since the show went off the air so you have to wonder if the show will be out of the voters' minds by then.

At least Seehorn finally got nominated.

 

[Zetterberg is God]

Hoping that since Ted Lasso was still winning awards last night despite their second season ending almost a year prior they'll finally give BCS some love. Not holding my breath though.

 

[King Kamala]

Late to the party but watching last season on Netflix. I thought the BCS>BB argument was foolish for the first half of the series but this last season is as great as anything in the Gilligan universe.

 

[treble]

Never won a single Emmy.

 

[Youth N Asia]

Never won a single Emmy.

I’m shocked Rhea never got one. Of all the awards to win that one was a no brainer.

Julia Garner is just fine. She didn’t need to win 3 times for Ozark. And while I admittedly haven’t seen her in The White Lotus, (watched 2. It wasn’t for me) I’ve found Jennifer Coolidge to just be bad in most things I’ve seen her in.

 

[Zetterberg is God]

Yeah pretty annoyed Coolidge got it and I like her and White Lotus. The bus scene alone should have got it for Rhea.

 

[Brocklock]

I was a big Coolidge fan until I was subjected to her Old Navy and ELF (Eyes Lip Face) and other commercials. Youtube and the streaming services would not stop playing them and those commercials demonstrate the worst parts of her personality. Just go away for a couple years Jen. Watching some Two Broke Girls didn't help as she played an awfully unfunny character on that show. I'm at a point where I might wait to watch The White Lotus until the hysteria around her dies down. She's not that amazing and groundbreaking.

Anyways, Rhea Seehorn is incredible and deserves any award. The Bus scene is one of the best acted scenes in either Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul.

 

[treble]

Coolidge is good on White Lotus, but the other cast members who were nominated in that category were probably better choices (Sabrina Impacciatore could have won just for her "Peppa Pig?" line reading on its own). That Seehorn never got nominated until the end of the show is still pretty ridiculous to me. The show was getting nominations every season in other categories, but they ignore the best acting performance?