TV: Better Call Saul

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tragabigzanda
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by tragabigzanda »

Steve Albini wrote: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.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Sat January 10, 2026 4:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Jorge
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by Jorge »

I don't know what a star wars burrito is or what you mean by liberal posturing
Anders wrote:I do not have a «neoliberal assessment of geopolitics», so please stop writing that I do.
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tragabigzanda
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

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Steve Albini wrote: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.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Sat January 10, 2026 4:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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tragabigzanda
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

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Steve Albini wrote: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.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Sat January 10, 2026 4:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Mickey
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by Mickey »

tragabigzanda wrote:
Jorge wrote:I don't know what a star wars burrito is or what you mean by liberal posturing
There was an article that went around several weeks back that likened the de rigueur Marvel/Star Wars approach to storytelling to a burrito, the idea being that there was a distinct piece of IP that would serve as the point of entry given your consumption preferences, but the hope was to get you into the broader ecosystem.

By liberal posturing, I'm suggesting that your argument against "formalistic storytelling ideas" feels like a rejection of form and convention simply for the sake of rejecting them; at face value, there's nothing backing your argument other than its direct opposition to the norm.
Not clear at all what that has to do with liberalism other than that you've probably heard the phrase on a recent podcast.
VinylGuy wrote:its really tiresome to see these ¨good guys¨ talking about any political stuff in tv while also being kinda funny and hip and cool....its just...please enough of this shit.
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

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:haha:
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Jorge
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

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tragabigzanda wrote:
Jorge wrote:I don't know what a star wars burrito is or what you mean by liberal posturing
There was an article that went around several weeks back that likened the de rigueur Marvel/Star Wars approach to storytelling to a burrito, the idea being that there was a distinct piece of IP that would serve as the point of entry given your consumption preferences, but the hope was to get you into the broader ecosystem.

By liberal posturing, I'm suggesting that your argument against "formalistic storytelling ideas" feels like a rejection of form and convention simply for the sake of rejecting them; at face value, there's nothing backing your argument other than its direct opposition to the norm.

It's fine. I don't need to beleaguer the point any more. I love you and I love Jimmy and Kim.
You misunderstand me, I'm not arguing against the basic tenets of sound storytelling just "for the sake of rejecting them". I'm saying that the filmmakers planted their flag early on with the Omaha framing device. They were then faced with a choice. One of their options was to ensure that BCS adhered to that very traditional diegetic structure, where nothing that happens outside of what we show within the episodes of Better Call Saul counts, so that it can fully stand on its own as an independent work.

This would lead to some complications, not the least of which is a lot of redundancy (like VinylGuy mentioned), but it would be technically "correct" (formalism). Another choice is to lean on the show's unconventional nature and focus on crafting an ending for the show's main characters that develops the show's themes. The trade-off to this one is the dissonance we're talking about now. It's not perfect, but I'm glad they went with this option
Anders wrote:I do not have a «neoliberal assessment of geopolitics», so please stop writing that I do.
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tragabigzanda
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

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Steve Albini wrote: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.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Sat January 10, 2026 4:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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VinylGuy
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by VinylGuy »

Im going to say its the perfect choice.
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wease
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

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A perfect goddamn ending.
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given2trade
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

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tragabigzanda wrote:Finale was very satisfying. The one criticism I have is that you must have watched all of Breaking Bad to understand what was going on, which hadn’t really been the case up until now.
Fuck that, nobody should be watching BCS without having seen BB. It's not standalone.
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given2trade
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by given2trade »

Mecca wrote:I honestly do not care about people who watched BCS without seeing Breaking Bad first and felt a little lost.
Yes! In fact, they can all go to hell. Who gives a shit? It's probably 1% of the viewers.
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

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Death to all of them
Anders wrote:I do not have a «neoliberal assessment of geopolitics», so please stop writing that I do.
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VinylGuy
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

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yeah fuck em!!

lets burn thinggsssss
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Mecca
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

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Shun the unbelievers!!!! Shunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
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tragabigzanda
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by tragabigzanda »

Steve Albini wrote: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.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Sat January 10, 2026 4:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Mecca
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by Mecca »

tragabigzanda wrote:Guys all I was saying it was a little awkward to mean so heavily on BB in the final episode. Jeez!
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

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given2trade wrote:
tragabigzanda wrote:Finale was very satisfying. The one criticism I have is that you must have watched all of Breaking Bad to understand what was going on, which hadn’t really been the case up until now.
Fuck that, nobody should be watching BCS without having seen BB. It's not standalone.
My cousin started with BCS because it’s the prequel. He’s caught up to this last season and is waiting for it to hit Netflix. I told him to watch BB in the interim. That will get him where he needs to be for Omaha when he gets to actually start this last season.
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by elliseamos »

If you didn't know BB, then the end of BCS was likely 3 episodes prior to Monday. It was the point at which the intro changed.
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

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Mecca wrote:What’s everyone’s time machine moment?
March 20, 2006.
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