Better Call Saul...whatcha think?

I'm not into the good guy turned into drug dealer/mafia thing. Maybe I was expecting something different. A bit more in the vein of "ok, everything is turning to sh*t, might as well do all those things I always wanted to do and die happy" [I know that BB does that in part, but it's not in the same line]

I'm having a lot of fun binge watching Person of Interest and am following Colony every weak [Colony could be a lot better though].

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Ohhhh...gotcha.

This isn't like that at all. "Saul Goodman" in Breaking Bad is a "criminal" Criminal Lawyer. Basically he does things for criminals such as laundering their money, getting them set up with new identities, etc. He's not a drug dealer or part of some mafia. If anything, those people frighten him. He's the "go between" guy who helps get people like that OFF from sentencing--not one of them.


Jimmy is basically a good guy who used to be driven to scam people--small time scams mainly of rich men (Rolex scams and so forth).


He eventually becomes a lawyer like his older brother and tries to be a good lawyer to please his brother. Things in his life slowly spiral out of control and he eventually gives up trying to be a good lawyer (you find out why) and the story actually drives you to sympathize with Jimmy. Let's just say this--I never felt sorry for Walt--I felt DAMN sorry for Jimmy. I was ROOTING for Jimmy--still am--I can't say the same for Walter White.


Jimmy is a victim of not only his own compulsions but also his circumstances. He TRIES to do the right thing and keeps getting screwed at every turn. He eventually sort of...falls back into his former scam artist ways almost like a cocoon to protect himself from all the failures of his life.


If you really want to be spoiled on his change, read here:


So Jimmy is essentially a good guy who just likes to cut corners and take "the easy path" as a lawyer even if it means doing things illegally: soliciting clients, taking bribes, etc. He's not like Walt--he doesn't run around, killing people. He just has people like Walt as clients. But Better Call Saul is different--this is Saul BEFORE he started working with criminal clients, though that is about to change in the story soon, I think.


But make no mistake--Jimmy is NOTHING--I repeat--NOTHING like Walt. He doesn't kill. He HATES the thought of killing. He's just a morally skewed guy who takes shortcuts, bribes and helps get criminals off for a profit. Jimmy is actually a good person at heart. I can't personally say the same for Walt. If you're thinking Jimmy or his Saul persona is something akin to Walter White then I can alleviate your concerns: not at ALL.

I'll add this: I normally don't feel sorry for these "falling from grace" anti-heroes. I didn't feel sorry for Vic Mackey from "The Shield" and I didn't feel sorry for Walter White....I felt sorry for Jimmy. You WANT this guy to be happy and hate seeing him fail.

This is EXACTLY Jimmy's story--only it's treated more like a tragedy because he had a chance at a better life.

ah, good explanation

I like me some dramatic anti.hero who is fated to lose in the end. Gives the story a heavier moral perspective.

Gotcha

Trust me, dude--you might like this then. This show even has a sort of double fall from grace because he's in an even WORSE situation during the present day framing sequences and all he wishes is to be Saul Goodman again. The door is left open on that and all those present day sequences are most likely leading toward something so it's not just a prequel so much as a sequel that's headed toward a conclusion. And you do NOT need to watch BB to understand/enjoy this show. They make it accessible to those who haven't seen/don't want to watch BB. Yes, there are BB character cameos/nods/winks/etc but none of it detracts from the story.

That's good. A separate thing into itself.

Exactly. Separate theme as well. BCS is a show with balls--it actually lost quite a few BB fans because these guys were expecting BB 2.0 and were disappointed to see that it was something totally different. Some people call them "Walties" but I came up with the phrase "Keyboard Heisenbergs". These people were crooked portion of the BB fanbase that consisted of adolescent wannabe gangbangers. They would even use gang terms such as "Rat" casually, as if they thought they were bada$$es or something. These ones were PO'd at BCS and called it "boring" and were angered by the fact that there aren't guns blazing every episode like it was in BB.


Here's a great analogy I've heard before:


-BB is beer, tequila and margaritas--quickly consumable party beverage


-BCS is more like a fine wine that you take your time with to fully appreciate


I like this analogy as it describes the pacing/quality of the two shows. BCS is more of a thinking man's show...which explains why the Keyboard Heisenbergs hated it.


PS: I should clarify that only a PORTION of the BB fanbase was like that--not all BB fans. Most BB fans are like the rest of us in this thread--normal people. But those crooked ones HATE BCS.

Heh, clever nickname. I know the type you mean: they were the ones who thought Skyler was an awful character, even though she was often morally in the right and naturally worried about her husband, simply because she was an impediment to him doing the cool and/or depraved stuff they wanted to see.

I think there's a similar schism with The Walking Dead, where some people want an interesting story and character development, and others just wanna see people and zombies get tore'd up.

While I'm not a Skyler fan, I agree with what you stated about how some of those fans would have an unhealthy obsession with the titular character, for example. There were people I spoke to who wanted anyone who opposed Walt DEAD. These people said some sick things such as "I was happy ****was shot dead" and talking about wanting Jesse to suffer more than he did all because he opposed Walt. No joke--there was a faction of them that actually believed that Walt was the ONLY "good person" in the show. They gave diatribes in detail about why they felt that way.


Yeah...BB attracted ALL kinds...literally.

I laughed when I saw Gus.

Dev, as dt said it's absolutely nothing like BB. People who hated it constantly complained 'nothing is happening' simply because they dont like character driven shows. Nothing wrong with not liking that but they missed the whole point. As outlined above they expected BB 2.0. Others were disappointed it wasnt a straight out court room drama with constant Saul one liners and shady clients every episode. I think that would have got old pretty fast. I dont like spinoffs but checked out the pilot just to see what gilligan and gould wanted to do with it, fully expecting to bin in but I was immediately hooked.

Well said and very true. I agree as well--I'm not a huge fan of spin-offs and they managed to hook me, anyway. It helps that this is hinging on the present as well so it keeps us wondering what may happen for Present Day Jimmy. It's still suspenseful.

I think it's very clever how they keep jumping around with the three facets of his character growth, and I think they got his looks right.

I fully expected this to be a sitcom - So glad they didnt go that route. It would have been Friends in the court house and I can think of nothing worse.

Do you think we'll ever see baseball card geek or the Kettlemans again? They seemed to be pretty high on the fan favourite's list. I think not but I'm open to a reappearance because G&G always get it right.

Yup. There are easter eggs thrown in eg (not spoilery), Jesse's hello kitty flip phone that non watchers of BB wont get the hysteria over, and blink and you miss them characters like Ken Wins - remember that arrogant tool whose BMW Walt blew up? He returns for an episode, and my fave psycho from the show also returns - TIGHT TIGHT TIGHT, but other than that this show is it's own entity. Fantastic arc between Jimmy and Mike. Those two are so good together on screen.

Give the pilot a shot and see what you think. You wont recognise Saul when you first see him. Great cinematography, excellent music choices, and some really interesting characters. So excited for season 3.

Your suspicions were correct--that was one of their original plans: a 30 min. sitcom. No joke--that was their original plan.


Oh, I'd love to see the Kettleman's back. They're so annoying but in a comical way. It was originally rumored they'd be back in Season 2, so I'm not sure what happened there.


Mr. Kettleman's sentence was 16 months--out early on good behavior--so it would be neat to see them crawling back to Jimmy for some reason.

The Walking dead... watched 2 episodes only. Not a fan of Zombies.

I haven't watched Game of Thrones yet either. Hear a lot of praise and all. I'll just wait till it's over to Binge watch the thing.

The Kettlemans were great. God she was irritating, but such fun to watch.

I;m worried about sweet sweet Abuelita. I wonder if she managed to get her car fixed and the stain out of her rug. I demand this teeny details be wrapped up, and I must get my cucumber water organised before kickoff. Oh that reminds me, have to buy some more post it notes...