As I am sure many of y'all already know, a spinoff of "Breaking Bad" titled "Better Call Saul" will be airing in 2014. This is going to be a prequel to Breaking Bad and will be based on the character of Saul Goodman from "Breaking Bad."
I, for one, will be watching. I'm sure the majority of all of you other "Breaking Bad" fans will be as well. Might as well get the discussion going sooner rather than later.
So... what are your hopes, expectations and/or concerns with the show? Here are some of mine:
Hopes: I hope to see Saul do his thing in the courtroom. I hope to see strong, unique supporting characters. I hope to see Breaking Bad foreshadowing. I hope he has an intriguing paralegal and/or assistant. I hope to see Breaking Bad characters such as Fring, Mike, etc...whoever. I hope the show kicks ass.
Expectations: I don't expect it to be as good as "Breaking Bad" (because nothing else is, really), but I expect it to be good since Vince Gilligan is writing. I somewhat expect it to have an even balance of comedy and drama...since Saul undeniably provides a substantial amount of comedic relief in "Breaking Bad." I expect to see "courtroom Saul." I expect the "Breaking Bad" references and character cameos to be less than what I hope. If it isn't even a fraction as good as "Breaking Bad," I expect it to be better than 95% of everything else on TV, since there is some shitty shit on TV these days.
Concerns: I'd be a liar if I were to say that I didn't think this show has potential of flopping and certainly failing to meet the presumed high expectations of the audience. Don't get me wrong, I think it will be good... but I think it COULD suck if not executed properly. My main concern is Saul ultimately proving himself to be a "little dab will do ya" type of character, which would lead to a show centered around his character not working out. I am hoping that the character of Saul will not be so over-used and constantly over the top, that he becomes annoying to me, thus ruining his character for me altogether... Not saying I think this will be how it goes down...just saying I think there is a CHANCE of this being the case, which prompts me to believe that a strong supporting cast is VITAL in terms of the amount of success/quality this show will accumulate. All in all, I don't think VG will steer us in an unfortunate direction though...I think they'll pull it off.
Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins:
It's a stretch, but he's not jacking art from the Louvre. There are a lot of substances that will fluoresce under UV light. All he really needed to do was pick a lock, and we know that he has skills in subterfuge based upon him getting into the cop car with a string (which, I believe, requires a great deal of dramatic license).
The hardest part to believe is that Mr. Kettleman would take the trash out that night and just happen to notice the bills in the back of the RC truck that is on the ground, ten feet away from where he's looking.
Or that he isn't immediately suspicious of money showing up in his backyard. [Reply]
I finally caught up to this show the past few days. I've never seen a TV program with so many expectations from fans and media actually immdiately exceed those lofty expectations.
One of my friends and former roomies is the sound mixer of Saul (and The Good Wife, BabyLee) and I was told the show was good but I didn't expect it to be *this* good.
Vimce Gilligan has now entered that David Chase/Matthew Weiner strata. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Baby Lee:
Not a spoilery discussion, just your typical convention roundtable, but 90min of the main 3 cast.
Great find, interesting take from all 3 views. I have never watched an entire discussion on a television show for more than five minutes. This had me wanting more after 90 minutes. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
I finally caught up to this show the past few days. I've never seen a TV program with so many expectations from fans and media actually immdiately exceed those lofty expectations.
One of my friends and former roomies is the sound mixer of Saul (and The Good Wife, BabyLee) and I was told the show was good but I didn't expect it to be *this* good.
Vimce Gilligan has now entered that David Chase/Matthew Weiner strata.
Yeah....I went into the show expecting to be slightly disappointed. This show is fucking glorious. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Zebedee DuBois:
Mike's character kind of jumped from being simply a dirty disillusioned ex-cop to a master b&e artist with great spy skills. Loved it, though.
I assume you watched Breaking Bad?
You let Mikey Charm you. Dude is old school gangster. You don't make it to 70 and then break bad. [Reply]
By the way I didn't realize McKean would be such a main character, but he is such a great actor that I couldn't imagine the show without him now. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RobBlake:
this is what happens when Writers/Producers take pride in their work and expect their actor/actresses to be prepared PRIOR to shooting day.
Ugh, this is so wrong I don't know where to start. [Reply]
This shit is so good. I get fucking immersed in it and forget sometimes that he turns to Saul. I forget Mike became a drug dealer henchmen. I didn't expect it to be even in this universe.
Sauls character in BB was a lot of comic relief. There isn't much comedy in his story here, but his clever little quips are still around. It's very well done. Like when he tells Mrs Kettlemen that even on a good day her and logic are disconnected made me laugh my ass off, but it wasn't just him being a smart ass, he was freaking distract he gave his money away. It was a very nice transition from his BB character to this one.
Originally Posted by Cave Johnson:
Ugh, this is so wrong I don't know where to start.
If you watched the roundtable above, they get into that. Jonathan Banks is not an actor who likes improv. He wants things laid out and rehearsed ahead of time. He bitches about working on Hangover II, saying he told the improv heavy cast 'I'm going over here, you guys do whatever it is you're doing. When you're through, tell me my cue and we'll go.'
Odenkirk also noted that there was considerable debate when a line was changed from 'last Wednesday' to 'last Tuesday' in the written script
For positive or negative, these episodes are writer's vision episodes. They have specific marks and lines and camera angles that they seek to tie together into a coherent narrative from a precise POV.
There are other approaches, but the one RobBlake ascribes to BCS is accurate. [Reply]
