Page 12 of 12
Re: Better Call Saul
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2022 6:35 pm
by Roscoe
I like to think that Saul's state's evidence included some reference to the awful Kettlemans, bilking people out of their tax money. And it's interesting that BCS never got around to explaining how Hector Salamanca went from that posh nursing home in BCS to that awful shack in the middle of nowhere where we meet him in BB.
Re: Better Call Saul
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2022 6:44 pm
by therewillbeblus
Kracker wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 4:50 pmNo way of knowing what that will involve for Kim, whether those consequences will be heavy or light, as, like with BB, our story ends with our main protagonist.
Right, though just like with Jimmy, Kim’s legal consequence doesn’t matter to the show or her compared to her compromised but infinitely meaningful existential catharsis with him. I loved how, in contrast to the final omniscient shot capturing Walt’s death to close out BB (signifying his isolation from all, and the detachment from a god no longer interested in dignifying him with attention, retracting into the heavens), the final shot of Jimmy is seen from Kim’s subjective POV. He and she both get the catharses they crave, the love from one another, and while it’s tragic that it’s compromised, we can relate because all intimate catharses are compromised to some degree, against the friction of uncontrollable variables from life experience.
The screen fades to black, and the show ends, only because of one of these obstacles, manifesting as a physical wall. The barrier obstructs Kim’s view of her love as she keeps moving, as she inevitably must, signifying a loss that’s inevitable for us all with those we love as we move at different speeds and in different spaces, and are arrested by the uncompromising variable of time. It’s so incredibly moving that Jimmy’s life gets to end from Kim’s perspective, providing his humanity with full dignity and worth from the only vessel that matters. It’s been a worthwhile life, not only a dehumanized vehicle of cancer that would define his legacy without this harmonious connection. That still may be his legacy in the eyes of the macro and mezzo spaces around him, but all that matters is his legacy with her, and hers with him.
It’s also heartening to get this show during a time of incessant dehumanization in those macro and mezzo levels in social stratospheres, a reminder that we are more than the worst things we’ve ever done in the eyes of at least one person, if we’re lucky, and that this carries invaluable weight to the value of our lives.
Re: Better Call Saul
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2022 6:57 pm
by Kracker
Roscoe wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 6:35 pm
I like to think that Saul's state's evidence included some reference to the awful Kettlemans, bilking people out of their tax money. And it's interesting that BCS never got around to explaining how Hector Salamanca went from that posh nursing home in BCS to that awful shack in the middle of nowhere where we meet him in BB.
Yeah there's a lot of stuff that didnt get illustrated. Like how Saul wound up getting the Lady Liberty inflatable from the Kettlemans, but them having the inflatable could have just been a way of letting us know that the Kettlemans do go down for their tax scam soon enough, well before the events of BB. We also don't see him purchasing the vet's black book, we just know it happens since it appears in the Wine and Roses opener. Hector simply got taken out of the home by Tuco when he was released, probably preferring the shack. He cant advise Tuco on running the empire from the nursing home after all.
Re: Better Call Saul
Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2022 9:58 pm
by oh yeah
I just re-watched the series in full. I've been a fan since Season 2 was airing (or really, since S1 of Breaking Bad first aired), but I find BCS to be a show that not only richly rewards but almost demands rewatching. This time around, I was struck by a few things:
1) Season 1 and 2 are excellent, if a bit slow, but I still don't think there's a bad episode in there. It only may seem minor in comparison to what comes after, because..
2) Seasons 3 to 6 are all masterful, with the last few ep's of S4 in particular, when a certain Salamanca shows up, being the start of a hot streak that goes all the way to the end.
3) In particular, I find the latter half of the show to deal with themes of grief, guilt, repression/denial, and shame to a beautiful extent. That mid-season cliffhanger in S6 may be the most powerful death of any character I've seen on TV (well, hard to top the killer-reveal episode of Twin Peaks, but yeah).
4) Most of all, I found the opening montage of "Fun and Games" to be perhaps the most heartbreaking and beautifully-shot piece of the entire BrBa universe. In fact the entire episode is just astonishing, reaching an emotional climax one could compare to BrBa's last few episodes but I find it perhaps even more moving - perhaps because the stakes feel more intimate, more human.
All in all, I think I do prefer it slightly to BrBa, mostly for the strength of Season 5 - which is so tightly-written and harrowing in the second half - and most of Season 6 -- which closes out with a sort of 4-episode "epilogue" which almost wouldn't be necessary if we didn't already have the Gene scenes, but regardless I find it a very satisfying conclusion (Nippy is perhaps the best "scam"/heist episode of all). What matters is that Jimmy finally took responsibility for his actions and confessed to them, which is the moment the entire series was more or less leading up to.
Re: Better Call Saul
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2022 12:58 am
by dustybooks
I haven’t rewatched the first few seasons yet but I’ve been going back over the last two because my wife’s schedule prevented her from watching in real time. And I was already sold on this show as one of the all-time greats, but the number of details that are enriched upon rewatch really strikes me now along with the greater impact of seeing the story unfold with the episodes in closer proximity.
A complete Blu-ray set is in store for later this year and I can’t wait to own it.
Re: Better Call Saul
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2022 1:26 am
by oh yeah
dustybooks wrote: Mon Sep 26, 2022 12:58 am
I haven’t rewatched the first few seasons yet but I’ve been going back over the last two because my wife’s schedule prevented her from watching in real time. And I was already sold on this show as one of the all-time greats, but the number of details that are enriched upon rewatch really strikes me now along with the greater impact of seeing the story unfold with the episodes in closer proximity.
A complete Blu-ray set is in store for later this year and I can’t wait to own it.
Yeah, I find it's definitely the kind of show that, although I enjoyed watching week-to-week live, I think the pace and subtlety of the writing better suits binge-watching or at least watching 2-3 episodes at a time. Watching the show live was almost frustrating at times because everyone was expecting some Breaking Bad character to appear or some badass climax to occur in the last few episodes, but the first couple seasons were fairly muted and unconventional. The pace picks up in S3 or certainly in S5, but the writing remains as idiosyncratic, unique and wholly character- over plot-based. So it's just a much richer experience watching the series on Netflix/Blu/etc, without the expectations and frustration that comes with watching it live.
Overall, in writing and definitely in direction and cinematography, it feels like the Gilligan/Gould/Schnauz/etc team from BrBa only refined and further perfected all the technique and style on display in that earlier series. The direction in BCS is some of the most cinematic on television, I think, with certain episodes last season reminding me of some lost Coen Brothers movie at times.
Better Call Saul
Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 12:30 pm
by hanshotfirst1138
Wonder when Netflix will add the final season? I hope that’s a toy and that the complete Blu-ray set does include a digital code, but I somehow doubt that.
Re: Better Call Saul
Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2022 2:08 am
by andyli
Any chance of a UHD set for this (or Breaking Bad for that matter)?
Re: Better Call Saul
Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2025 4:55 pm
by ZolaBola
Am currently going through my 4th BCS marathon in the space of only 18 months!
Absolutely adore this show, far more than BB in fact. Jonathan Banks (Mike), Michael Mando (Nacho) and Rhea Seehorn (Kim) were particularly awesome, especially no-nonsense Kim and her confrontations with good and bad guys throughout the show,
The ending seemed quite justified (without saying too much). Shame that I watched BB beforehand, which would ultimately give the game away for one or two characters here,