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 Sun January 11, 2026 3:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by numbers »

theplatypus wrote:
The Argonaut wrote:I don't think he was celebrating. That is far too reckless for someone like Mike, especially with his DIL drama. I think he is purposefully looking for Salamanca attention, though I don't know why.
No, I definitely think he was celebrating and I think it's supposed to be out of character. We're seeing a side of Mike we'd never seen before; he's being sloppy, driven by pride and revenge after his family was threatened, picking the half-measures, messing with the cartel when they'd already discarded him, unwittingly getting an innocent civilian killed. When Mike bought a round for the house, I saw a bit of Heisenberg hubris in him, and I think this really colors his frustration with Walter in Breaking Bad.
Spot on.
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by Mecca »

tragabigzanda wrote:
theplatypus wrote:
The Argonaut wrote:I don't think he was celebrating. That is far too reckless for someone like Mike, especially with his DIL drama. I think he is purposefully looking for Salamanca attention, though I don't know why.
No, I definitely think he was celebrating and I think it's supposed to be out of character. We're seeing a side of Mike we'd never seen before; he's being sloppy, driven by pride and revenge after his family was threatened, picking the half-measures, messing with the cartel when they'd already discarded him, unwittingly getting an innocent civilian killed. When Mike bought a round for the house, I saw a bit of Heisenberg hubris in him, and I think this really colors his frustration with Walter in Breaking Bad.
I think either one of these is plausible. All will be revealed soon.
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@SkitchP
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by @SkitchP »

theplatypus wrote:
The Argonaut wrote:I don't think he was celebrating. That is far too reckless for someone like Mike, especially with his DIL drama. I think he is purposefully looking for Salamanca attention, though I don't know why.
No, I definitely think he was celebrating and I think it's supposed to be out of character. We're seeing a side of Mike we'd never seen before; he's being sloppy, driven by pride and revenge after his family was threatened, picking the half-measures, messing with the cartel when they'd already discarded him, unwittingly getting an innocent civilian killed. When Mike bought a round for the house, I saw a bit of Heisenberg hubris in him, and I think this really colors his frustration with Walter in Breaking Bad.

I agree with this.



I also think as time has gone on the viewing public has kind of deified Mike. It's almost like we (myself included) believe he is SO good that he's above making mistakes.
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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 Sun January 11, 2026 3:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by @SkitchP »

tragabigzanda wrote:
@SkitchP wrote:
theplatypus wrote:
The Argonaut wrote:I don't think he was celebrating. That is far too reckless for someone like Mike, especially with his DIL drama. I think he is purposefully looking for Salamanca attention, though I don't know why.
No, I definitely think he was celebrating and I think it's supposed to be out of character. We're seeing a side of Mike we'd never seen before; he's being sloppy, driven by pride and revenge after his family was threatened, picking the half-measures, messing with the cartel when they'd already discarded him, unwittingly getting an innocent civilian killed. When Mike bought a round for the house, I saw a bit of Heisenberg hubris in him, and I think this really colors his frustration with Walter in Breaking Bad.

I agree with this.

I also think as time has gone on the viewing public has kind of deified Mike. It's almost like we (myself included) believe he is SO good that he's above making mistakes.
Well, I think we're used to seeing him so in control in BB. In this show, we're seeing the mistakes that lead him there
In control, yes. But he wasn't a super hero. He essentially got caught, the police found all his hidden money, etc.
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by The Argonaut »

But he is always very deliberate. When have we seen him be reckless?
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by @SkitchP »

The Argonaut wrote:But he is always very deliberate. When have we seen him be reckless?

When he let a civilian get killed? Like 5 days ago?
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by The Argonaut »

That was imperfect, but it wasn't reckless. He didn't realize how ruthless his enemy was. And it is exactly the sort of thing Mike will not let go unpunished. Was the revelation of the good samaritan's death before or after the bar scene?
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by @SkitchP »

The Argonaut wrote:That was imperfect, but it wasn't reckless. He didn't realize how ruthless his enemy was. And it is exactly the sort of thing Mike will not let go unpunished. Was the revelation of the good samaritan's death before or after the bar scene?

You mean the enemy that threatened his uninvolved granddaughter in broad daylight in public? Yeah, I'm sure he didn't pick up on how ruthless they were.
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by Jorge »

It was after the bar scene.

I dunno, I think this is all part of building Mike's eventual character. Really cementing the whole "no half measures" thing he espouses on Breaking Bad. In season five, he says to Walt and Jesse "I've been around long enough to know there are two kinds of heists: ones where the robber gets away with it, and ones that leave a witness." (Paraphrasing) He left a witness here. He got an innocent killed. He'll make sure not to do it again.
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by The Argonaut »

You guys have convinced me. I guess there's no good reason for him to be so stealthy about the heist and then purposefully attract attention.
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by epilogue »

The second episode was also fantastic. Loved the cinematography, loved the humor, and the tension. Great slow burning show. The pace of this show is way better than Breaking Bad (so far). But I do love the use of music in this as much as Breaking Bad. And it's nice to see they haven't lost their flare for montage. :heartbeat:
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by VinylGuy »

Man, that ending...
Spoiler: show
so this is how Chuck is out of the picture in BB? my god. Poor Jimmy
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by Bammer »

The Argonaut wrote:You guys have convinced me. I guess there's no good reason for him to be so stealthy about the heist and then purposefully attract attention.
A very small part of me was thinking that Mike was thinking "Holy shit, that actually worked" and he was genuinely surprised/happy about it and wanted to celebrate.
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by Mecca »

this fucking show
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by dprival78 »

don't
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by veddar10 »

dprival78 wrote:don't
Dude...

We gotta wait a year now. It isn't fair
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

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Image
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Re: TV: Better Call Saul

Post by Jorge »

Perfect execution right up until that huge fucking splat of a final scene. Really disappointed with how that played out.
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