Television Better Call Saul | Includes Breaking Bad Spoilers

Castia

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Wasn't a great season finale, in fact it was one of the worse episodes for me. I enjoyed the season though although it got nowhere near Breaking Bad (I wasn't expecting it though) I still thought it was good.
 

Nighteyes

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That was really really shit. Literally nothing happened.

Worst episode of the season by a mile.
 

Stringer

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The show is well acted and directed (liked that montage in the finale) but the writing is pretty mediocre. I can understand showing Saul before he became the character he was in Breaking Bad but at least make it interesting. Very little happened in those ten episodes. I'll keep watching because of it's creator but it will need to improve significantly next season.
 

Rado_N

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That finale was fecking shite.

Gilligan earned some license after BB, and I understand him being given time to develop the show, but he's taken the piss with it to be honest.

I'm OK with slow pacing, but Christ, give us something.
 

LARulz

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Terrible finale. Almost makes some of the previous episodes pointless. He has the chance to do what he wanted and shove it in his brothers face. Instead he decides to go down the route of his friend who he felt sorry for earlier. Ridiculous.
 

Brwned

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It's nothing more than a Breaking Bad origins story of a couple of characters. There's really nothing else to it other than decent production values. It's an easy way to make money and get ratings I suppose because they can just milk the fact Mike and Saul have enough fans to keep them interested even if they put minimal effort into it. Pretty shameless stuff from Gilligan, IMO. I love slow-paced character studies which rely on the characters and the acting to almost carry the show but anyone describing BCS as that is being extremely disingenuous.
 

Wowi

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Well, that was even more disappointing than I feared. I obviously started watching BCS because of BB and I've given it time because of that, but at this point I'm honestly not sure I should bother watching season 2. When the time comes I'll obviously watch it though (for the same reason I stuck with HIMYM, Dexter etc.), but unless it improves dramatically it won't be one of those shows I rush to watch. It pretty well acted and all that, but the writing simply isn't there to make up for the ridiculously slow pace. This show is the very definition of milking the success of another - it almost feels like they aren't even trying.

Has any other season finale in history spent almost 8 minutes showing a guy reading out bingo numbers?
 

Sylar

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Wasnt great. I think it truly needs more Mike, much more Mike. Season 2 needs to hit the ground running and be much faster imo.

As everybody said, great production values, the acting is great but the story is just so flat. It seemed this whole season was just to show that Jimmy turned his life around, but then decided, nah, my brother shouted at me and instead of proving him wrong and becoming a hot lawyer for another firm ill just go back to being slippin Jimmy.

Could have been done in a few eps, (maybe until the half way point, had a break and then restarted the second half of the season).

remember when somebody earlier in this thread said its already better than Breaking Bad or somethig like that? lol
 

RonaldoVII

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That was shite. The whole season wasn't great but honestly that was terrible. Would rather have watched Mike sit in his chair looking like a badass for an hour.
 

Organic Potatoes

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That was shite. The whole season wasn't great but honestly that was terrible. Would rather have watched Mike sit in his chair looking like a badass for an hour.
They could've just taken the invite to the Santa Fe firm followed by his exit dialogue with Mike, and added that 5 minutes to the end of the previous episode without losing anything. Would've been more interesting, actually...
 

Americano

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That was shite. The whole season wasn't great but honestly that was terrible. Would rather have watched Mike sit in his chair looking like a badass for an hour.
You didn't enjoy the full 8 minute bingo hall meltdown sequence? That's when I really turned against the show. They could have conveyed the same message in just a few moments, instead they stretched a thin story until it broke.
 

Leg-End

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It's......just.......nothing happens, literally nothing has developed since the Mike episode, he was betrayed by his brother and that's about it.
 

KiD MoYeS

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The season started well but faded quite fast. I did enjoy Saul scheming with his friend in the final episode but other than that it was all pretty forgettable. Obviously they're gonna milk this money cow and there'll be a second season, which will hopefully be better.
 

kidbob

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I didn't watch Breaking Bad until a few months ago and to be honest I struggled through the first 2 seasons (my mate felt the same way). I thought it was slow and ultimately pretty boring and the only reason I kept watching it was because I'd heard people raving about it. It ended up with me staying up all night to watch episodes because I got so hooked from season 3 onwards. So I'll keep faith that while this shoe hasn't blown me away maybe it's just a slow burner that will become much better like it's predecessor. I suppose the writers know that they have leeway here because most BB fans are going to keep watching this anyway.
 

Sylar

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Surprised as I thought season 1 of BB was really good. Season 2 was okayish but the lead up to the plane crash felt disappointing.
 

kouroux

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Season 1 of BB was rubbish, it got better afterwards. This show on the other hand has been atrocious (so far). I wish Chuck would die already.
 

Cina

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Season 1 of BB was rubbish, it got better afterwards. This show on the other hand has been atrocious (so far). I wish Chuck would die already.
Seaon 1 of BB was excellent.
 

Adebesi

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Season 1 of BB was very good.

Better Call Saul was, IMO, worth watching in its own right. Not as good as BB but good. But I can't deny it has a lot to do with the interest I already had in the characters involved. I don't think they'd get away with it otherwise - so in that sense it is living off BB's reputation.

I actually hadn't realised that was the season finale till just reading it here. It didn't come across that way. I agree, the bingo scene was... ill advised, let's say. It does push the envelope with its slow pace at times. But it was rare it completely overstepped the mark, for me. That scene did. And I didn't really buy into the ending either. But other than that I've found Saul's / Jimmy's story engaging. I've looked forward to each episode more than anything else I'm watching at the moment, and I'm sad it's finished. Those are the best measures of a show's worth, for me
 

Rado_N

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Season One of Breaking Bad was brilliant, and I can only assume people saying otherwise have only watched the whole show once and back when it aired and just don't remember it as well as from the point Saul, Gus and Mike joined the cast.

Rewatch it - it's great and a lot happens.
 

Nighteyes

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The season should have ended with Jimmy becoming Saul not some half hearted bollocks about why he didn't take the money. Also, the title looks a bit stupid given that they haven't used the name Saul at all iirc.

Agree with the others. Season 1 of BB was superb. Some truly great scenes including the one where he strangles crazy 8 after discovering the missing shard of the plate.
 

Rado_N

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The season should have ended with Jimmy becoming Saul not some half hearted bollocks about why he didn't take the money. Also, the title looks a bit stupid given that they haven't used the name Saul at all iirc.

Agree with the others. Season 1 of BB was superb. Some truly great scenes including the one where he strangles crazy 8 after discovering the missing shard of the plate.
He used it during the flashback scene when he and his mate were shown doing the Rolex scam in the alley - the mark asked his name and he said "Saul... S'all Good, man"
 

CassiusClaymore

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Rado_N

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The bath scene in season 1 BB was amazing on its own.
Yep, which was in the second episode!

Plus the fulminated mercury explosive at Tuco's office.

There's loads that happens in BB season one, and it was 3 episodes shorter than BCS as well.
 

Nighteyes

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He used it during the flashback scene when he and his mate were shown doing the Rolex scam in the alley - the mark asked his name and he said "Saul... S'all Good, man"
Oh yeah...but I'd like to have seen Jimmy take up that name to end the first season. That would have been a good arc for season 1.
 

saivet

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I can't believe how overhyped this show has been. I'm struggling to see how people thought it was excellent. To be honest, I thought the first season as a whole was disappointing. I'll probably still watch season 2 though, pretty much because I loved BB so much. I hope this gets more interesting.
 

That'sHernandez

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I think a problem a lot of you are having with Better Call Saul is you're comparing it to Breaking Bad. Somehow I've been able to separate the two entities completely while I've been watching it and as a whole I've enjoyed Better Call Saul, though I do have some complaints. The frequent and unnecessary montages or drawn out scenes with music playing over the top were an annoyance; we got the picture, we knew what was happening, we didn't need any more. Apart from the final episode, I thought the pacing was alright but as previously stated I was left wondering when, if ever, will we see the transition from Jimmy McGill to Saul Goodman because to be quite honest if they really wanted to milk it and draw it out, they could. That being said, I can't imagine this serial would have been commissioned, let alone retained viewers, were it not piggybacking on its older brother. I like pretty much all of the characters in the show but not enough happens and I think people who don't hold any kind of affection towards the characters would probably be turned off by it; you kind of have to be a Breaking Bad fan to like this. I suppose that's contradictory to what I said earlier but I think I just got invested in the Better Call Saul story enough to forget about Breaking Bad beyond acknowledging it takes place in the same world.

NB to the people who want more of Mike: Too much and the 'quiet badass' schtick gets boring, tedious and unbelievable.
 

CassiusClaymore

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Of course people are comparing it to Breaking Bad. TBH that seems to be the only reason that people have and will continue to watch it.
 

Sylar

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I did watch it on its own merit, but even then, I only really watched the premise of the show based on the fact it was a prequel to Breaking Bad.

But I wasnt sure what season 1 really was about. How would you describe season 1? For me, I think it was kinda all over the place in terms of story even though it was visually great. Some of the characters were bleh. I thought we would get more tie ins with Tuco and his team tbh since he was introduced straight away.

It was decent but disappointing but still, ill watch a second season lol.