TV: Better Call Saul

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[Mickey]

Stay normal out there my man.

[Mecca]

By that logic no two works by the same artist should be compared because they were made at different expertise/experience levels. It's okay to say that one is better

Yes and Saul is definitely better. I guess my point is more that context matters. Breaking Bad was great for its time.

Disagree. For everything that BB did well, it missed some key fundamentals of TV excellence: characters you could root for, and tight pacing/plot mechanics.

I loved the way the plot unfolded ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Characters you rooted for (even if they were antiheroes):
Walt
Jesse
Hank
Gomez
Mike

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[Ms Harmless]

By that logic no two works by the same artist should be compared because they were made at different expertise/experience levels. It's okay to say that one is better

Yes and Saul is definitely better. I guess my point is more that context matters. Breaking Bad was great for its time.

Disagree. For everything that BB did well, it missed some key fundamentals of TV excellence: characters you could root for, and tight pacing/plot mechanics.

I don't think a great piece of drama needs either of those things; I don't need to support characters, I just have to think they're interesting

and I like the often slow pacing of BB as it's just as much a family trauma saga as it is crime thriller

and yeah I think BCS has more zippy pacing often, because it's largely more overtly comedy thriller, but for me it's even slower than BB at points where I don't think that sluggish pace is even necessary; it comes off as pretentious, like Tolkien saying in 4 pages what he could've said in 4 sentences

[The Argonaut]

I never liked Jesse and hated Walt once he went full Heisenberg. Did anyone root for Hank or just view him as comic relief?

Much of the show felt like a slog for me: Basically everything with Jesse once he got a girlfriend, she died, he became depressed; and lots of stuff around Walt and Skyler’s relationship felt tedious and unrealistic — she could be conveniently dumb whenever the show needed her to be.

Hank is one of the few characters who holds up for me. He's loud and brash, but Dean Norris does a good job making the guy feel human underneath that. And Hank's arc make logical sense, his decisions and actions are reasonable

[BurtReynolds]

Can't say that I fully approve of this BB backlash. The first two and a half seasons aren't great, but from the time Walt runs over those two drug dealers to the death of Gus, it's the most intense tv I've ever seen. I don't think it would reward a second viewing, but I still think it's a great show.

[BurtReynolds]

I also liked all the main characters, even Skyler.

[BurtReynolds]

Its a very dark show that ends very badly for everyone, but it feels earned, unlike the many shows that try to rip it off. It's all driven by character flaws.

[Ello Sailor]

I also liked all the main characters, even Skyler.

Now this shit is crazy.

[Jorge]

There are many good and enjoyable things about it. It's just very silly and occasionally stupid

[BurtReynolds]

I also liked all the main characters, even Skyler.

Now this shit is crazy.

She's doing the best she can given the circumstances!

[Ms Harmless]

I also liked all the main characters, even Skyler.

#TeamSkyler

[Ms Harmless]

There are many good and enjoyable things about it. It's just very silly and occasionally stupid

if it's "comedy" at all, I think that's where the funny lies, and it seems very deliberately that way

it feels like Walt is living this bizarre, over the top narcissistic comedy of errors, while everyone around him is slowly having their lives ruined; the very silly and irresponsible is contrasted with the very serious and traumatized

that's my take, anyway! it's just a solid piece of genuine satire (not just something some dude has slapped the term "satire" onto just to defend it)

[Mecca]

There are many good and enjoyable things about it. It's just very silly and occasionally stupid

if it's "comedy" at all, I think that's where the funny lies, and it seems very deliberately that way

it feels like Walt is living this bizarre, over the top narcissistic comedy of errors, while everyone around him is slowly having their lives ruined; the very silly and irresponsible is contrasted with the very serious and traumatized

that's my take, anyway! it's just a solid piece of genuine satire (not just something some dude has slapped the term "satire" onto just to defend it)

I’ve never seen BB called a satire and I’m not sure I would agree.

Your description of Walt does make me kind of view his story as someone who thinks they can control a wildfire cuz he does it successfully until he teams up with nazis

[Mickey]

Not every social critique is a satire.

[Ms Harmless]

https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorial ... call-saul/

[Ms Harmless]

Not every social critique is a satire.

thanks, I was not aware...

but I view Breaking Bad as satire, amongst other things

[Mickey]

Not every social critique is a satire.

thanks, I was not aware...

but I view Breaking Bad as satire, amongst other things

No problem, I'm always happy to help!

[Ms Harmless]

There are many good and enjoyable things about it. It's just very silly and occasionally stupid

if it's "comedy" at all, I think that's where the funny lies, and it seems very deliberately that way

it feels like Walt is living this bizarre, over the top narcissistic comedy of errors, while everyone around him is slowly having their lives ruined; the very silly and irresponsible is contrasted with the very serious and traumatized

that's my take, anyway! it's just a solid piece of genuine satire (not just something some dude has slapped the term "satire" onto just to defend it)

I’ve never seen BB called a satire and I’m not sure I would agree.

Your description of Walt does make me kind of view his story as someone who thinks they can control a wildfire cuz he does it successfully until he teams up with nazis

yeah, which is a Shakespearean tragedy and comedy of errors through and through; satirical in the truest sense

a satire doesn't have to be laugh-out-loud funny all the time, but it usually takes a knowingly over the top, hammy approach to dramatising its message, which in this case is essentially "pride comes before a fall" turned up to 11

tonally BB is all over the place but so is Gilligan; in X-Files he juxtaposed very dark and very funny all the time

I've seen BB talked about this way, but even if I hadn't, it's loud and clear to me