Better Call Saul...whatcha think?

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You can't win an argument just by being right!
I love Jimmy. I just love this show. Hangin for the new season.



Strangely, I like BCS better than BB (which is amazing) but I think BCS is the better show. For instance: I like many more of the characters in this show more than those in BB: Saul/Jimmy, Kim, Ernie, Mike, Gomez and the various clients of Jimmy, even the psycho Kettlemans! If you look at BB, how many of the main characters can you say you honestly LIKE or root for? I can only count Saul, Jesse and Mike...that is IT! Most of the rest of the cast (even Jr.!) are either idiots, bullies (HANK!!!), morons (Marie, Jesse's friends) or scumbags like Beneke. Even the so-called heavies, Kuby and Huell, are morally more upright than Hank, the ABQ copsm Lydia or any meth dealer in there.

There's a great story about how Stephen King took a look at David Koepp's interpretation of his novel "Secret Window", starring Johnny Depp, and said, "I love it! All the characters are rat bastards!". That's pretty extreme when you consider that one is Mort (the lead character's) ex wife, and the other his P.I. But so it goes. It's NOT a bad thing that so many BB characters are "rat bastards"--we knew that even if we didn't realize we did! But, come on! Walt really is a rat, a bastard and a WHOLE lost worse!

Only Jesse gets out alive, both physically and morally. I don't hold out much hope for Skyler, Marie, Junior (the whiner) and certainly not for the "Gretchens", as I like to call them. BTW, if anyone feels bad that Hank got capped, just review his foul mouth, his sexism, his AWFUL treatment of Marie, who helped him get back on his feet (literally!), and his constant refusal to obey the commands of his superiors at the DEA, just on a whim that he MIGHT have a lead on the blue meth. He's an egotistical bastard!

My only regret, aside from Jesse, is what happened to Steve Gomez.



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Sounds to me like the season may have a bit more action. Makes sense considering the fact that Mike is now crossing paths with Gus. Things can only get more intense at this point.


We don't have cable (by choice because we're subscribed to Netflix) so we'll do what we did last year: buy the "Season Pass" on iTunes and get our episodes weekly right on iTunes.



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Strangely, I like BCS better than BB (which is amazing) but I think BCS is the better show. For instance: I like many more of the characters in this show more than those in BB: Saul/Jimmy, Kim, Ernie, Mike, Gomez and the various clients of Jimmy, even the psycho Kettlemans! If you look at BB, how many of the main characters can you say you honestly LIKE or root for? I can only count Saul, Jesse and Mike...that is IT! Most of the rest of the cast (even Jr.!) are either idiots, bullies (HANK!!!), morons (Marie, Jesse's friends) or scumbags like Beneke. Even the so-called heavies, Kuby and Huell, are morally more upright than Hank, the ABQ copsm Lydia or any meth dealer in there.

There's a great story about how Stephen King took a look at David Koepp's interpretation of his novel "Secret Window", starring Johnny Depp, and said, "I love it! All the characters are rat bastards!". That's pretty extreme when you consider that one is Mort (the lead character's) ex wife, and the other his P.I. But so it goes. It's NOT a bad thing that so many BB characters are "rat bastards"--we knew that even if we didn't realize we did! But, come on! Walt really is a rat, a bastard and a WHOLE lost worse!

Only Jesse gets out alive, both physically and morally. I don't hold out much hope for Skyler, Marie, Junior (the whiner) and certainly not for the "Gretchens", as I like to call them. BTW, if anyone feels bad that Hank got capped, just review his foul mouth, his sexism, his AWFUL treatment of Marie, who helped him get back on his feet (literally!), and his constant refusal to obey the commands of his superiors at the DEA, just on a whim that he MIGHT have a lead on the blue meth. He's an egotistical bastard!

My only regret, aside from Jesse, is what happened to Steve Gomez.
Agree 100%. Breaking Bad has very few characters you can like both as characters AND as people. Jesse and Steve Gomez are really the only ones. I guess you could include Badger and Skinny Pete as well but they're not involved much.


But you ARE correct: BCS has far more likeable characters both in a CHARACTER sense and a HUMAN sense. You can actually LIKE several of these people. Jimmy, Kim, etc. Hell, even the EXISTING characters are simply better and more layered in this: Jimmy/Saul, Mike--even TUCO was more likeable.


I've said this before (and you were also on the IMDB BCS board with Dani and I if I'm not mistaken--welcome, BTW!) but BCS does a better job of characterization. You FEEL for these people. This show is more of a slow burner than BB and has less action but that actually serves to their advantage: it allows these characters to be fleshed out more. Very few disposable characters here.


The Kettlemans, for example, had more layers to them than someone like Wendy from BB or even moreso than some of the more major characters. We realize very quickly what their situation is and how the crazy, greedy wife is basically controlling the entire situation.


Nacho is probably the best of the new characters. He is the "Jesse" of this series. What I mean is this: he's one of the most compelling characters and someone far too intelligent to be in the business he's in. You get the sense that he has a moral compass underneath that gangster façade and you can see his potential and how he's wasting it. And, what do you know--they pair Nacho with Mike just like they paired Jesse with Mike: two young men who are far better than the business they choose to associate themselves with and possessing far more humanity than some of the others around them.


For anyone confused--YES, Nacho has humanity. They showed that more than once. His father is the best sign of that. Nacho wants to help his father and better their lives and family business. He hates people like Tuco and the Salamancas and finds their acts heinous and crazy.


Mando once hinted: "Just because my character doesn't appear in Breaking Bad outside of my name being mentioned doesn't mean I'm dead. There are other ways to write out a character." I'm thinking that he knows he won't be killed off. Maybe they'll give Nacho a Jesse styled ending--IE: He gets away from it all in the end and hopefully on to better things.


I love how BCS took the unexpected route of keeping Jimmy and Mike mostly separate and doing their own things. It's like two different stories running concurrently through one show. And I love how Jimmy is used as the lawyer aspect of the story while Mike is the "throwback to Breaking Bad" side of it.


Speaking of Mike--he's much better in this series. Though I always saw his humanity in Breaking Bad, BCS fleshes it out so much more and allows us to see that, underneath it all, Mike is a rather great guy who's just been beaten down in life. They also seemed to imply some form of tragedy while he was in Vietnam. I personally like to entertain the thought that Mike fell in love with someone there and lost her tragically. We also know nothing about his wife/mother of his son and whether or not they're just divorced or if she died/ran off.


I think I heard that Banks had some input on the creative process of Mike's character this time around. If so, it's obvious how Banks perceives Mike: a wounded man who's just jaded in life/struggling to help the last vestige of family he has left.


All in all, BCS is a great show.

I've heard this analogy and fully agree with it:


-Breaking Bad is hard-hitting vodka.


-Better Call Saul is like a fine wine: slow and satisfying. You savor the flavor of it as you take it in.


I agree with these analogies. BCS IS like a fine wine--you have to give it time, slow down and savor the flavor in order to fully enjoy it. If you do, you'll love it all the more.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
I've said this before (and you were also on the IMDB BCS board with Dani and I if I'm not mistaken--welcome, BTW!)
What name did he have over there? Cool, another BCS fan. Counting down the days.

-Breaking Bad is hard-hitting vodka.


-Better Call Saul is like a fine wine: slow and satisfying. You savor the flavor of it as you take it in.
LMAO. That's what got me into trouble with that sour old guy who loves day time soaps, Deat. A woman started a thread saying BB was like a nice cold beer but BCS was a fine wine. Sour old man called her pretentious so as a joke I said people who use the word pretentious are pre ten shush. He went off his head and followed me around for months thinking I was english because I talked about pots of tea, ribbon sandwiches and Pimms at the Polo. He then claimed I ws having an affair with one of the fans, and that you me and a few other regs were all the same person.

Yeah I totally agree with your take on Nacho having some humanity and a conscience, and the Kettlemans being more layered than the minor characters in BB. I had something else to say but I forget.

Oh god, the memories of that board. Remember the guy who hated Jimmy and loved Chuck, and would abuse anyone who empathised with Jimmy more? I said I empathised with both and he even abused me. LOL.



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So, I just saw this article here: https://www.yahoo.com/news/giancarlo...155604944.html


On a cool evening in mid-February, Giancarlo Esposito is sitting in a director’s chair inside a smelly, oil-drenched auto shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The actor quietly studies his phone while fellow actor Mark “Hector Salamanca” Margolis spouts off on why actors who only want to play Mafia-type mobster characters are, well, totally full of ****. Every few seconds, Esposito — whose eyes, accented by delicately framed glasses, are laser-focused on his device — chuckles at Margolis’s rasp-voiced monologue about typecast actors who don’t want to “ruin their brand” by playing different parts.
It’s an interesting (and timely) subject for Esposito to mull, considering he’s here tonight to reprise one of the most iconic gangster roles in TV history: Breaking Bad’s Gustavo “Gus” Fring. But his much-anticipated return as the affable fast-food titan/meth drug lord character from AMC’s Emmy-winning drama is anything but an actor’s desperate attempt to (quite literally) relive the past. The New York acting icon and 30-year stage and big-screen veteran admits it took many months of deep self-reflection before he agreed to climb back into Fring’s manicured visage. He spoke to Vulture on location in Albuquerque during filming of Better Call Saul’s third-season finale, premiering April 10, about what it took to get him to return as Fring to Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould’s Bad prequel, the scene direction that made him first fall in love with Fring, and what Saul star Bob Odenkirk said that Esposito decries as “bullshit.”
What was your first reaction when you found out Vince and Peter wanted you to play Gus Fring again?
My reaction was “No.”
Why? And how much convincing did it take for you to say yes?
It took time; a lot of time. It’s like when you make a really good soufflé. You know what I mean? It’s very, very difficult to have it rise without falling and also have it be remarkable. So for me to try to re-create that soufflé without it falling was almost impossible.
The more you say “soufflé,” I keep imagining your face in Gus’s final scene in Breaking Bad’s “Face Off” episode.
[Laughs.] Yeah, I was pretty cooked! That was a good analogy, huh?
Perfect. You definitely went out in one of the biggest bangs in TV history.
And for me, that was it. I was done. I don’t like to repeat myself. I try to always be original in my work. So to come back and create a character I’d already created was … difficult.
Who finally convinced you to say yes?
It was a phone call with Vince, because I’d said no to all the other powers that be [laughs], including the head of Sony. I had to speak to Vince because I needed to know: Where does Gus, this iconic character, fit into this whole thing?
At what point in Saul’srun did you and Vince have this conversation?
The show had definitely been on a year, so maybe close to the second season? He said, “I want you to re-create the role that you created.” I said, “Vince, I didn’t create the role. You did.” He said, “No, no, you did!” I said, “Okay, I may have brought my spin to it.” He said, “You made that role work. You made our show be as big as it was.” Those were his words. I said, “Okay. I’ll accept all that. Let’s hear about what you’re thinking.” I loved the idea of looking into where Gus came from, and Vince had the integrity I wanted him to have about it. We also agreed that mystery about Gus was still important. When you see a character every week, you know what he’s going do. You know his idiosyncrasies. What’s fascinating about a guy like Gus is what we don’t know about him. That had to be held at bay for a while in Breaking Bad so he could remain dangerous, and yet still affable and compassionate with his workers. But always unpredictable.
It’s worth noting that you’ve actually been very busy since leaving Breaking Bad in 2011, having acted in numerous network dramas and Netflix’s The Get Down; a film you directed, This Is Your Death, will have its world premiere at South by Southwest, and you’re also still prolific in the New York theater scene. Which medium do you most prefer to work in?
I started in New York theater at a very young age. It’s my first love. I still work with the Atlantic Theater Company down on 20th Street, which I love because it feels like home and I also teach there. I often yearn to be back on the stage because it gives you the discipline you need to do this kind of acting. It’s still so interesting to me that Hollywood will spend $40 million to make a movie. I’ve made films for between $3 and $5 million and plays for 40 or 50 grand. It’s such a different exercise.
Very different especially, I’m guessing, for your take-home pay?
[Laughs.] It’s actually not about the pay at all for me. It’s about the attention we collectively pay to these experiences. Hollywood makes so many so-called “tentpole” movies that don’t say much, reflect how we live, or offer up some sort of revelation. They are pure, gratuitous entertainment. To me, art is supposed to reflect our lives and give us something to really think about. But it’s hard to predict what an audience’s appetite will be.
This season of Saul, the series’ third, takes place roughly five years before we first meet Gus in season two of Breaking Bad. What adjustments, if any, have you made to your appearance to indicate this timeline? Will we see him in his trademark GQ-gangster, tie-straightening style?
I can’t say explicitly, but there was a big question about whether I’d have the same hair as I did in Breaking Bad. I was determined that he have different hair because this is the Gus we don’t know yet. In terms of his clothes, I’ll say this: When I’m dressed like him, people automatically respect me. [Laughs.] I want to be always be thinking about these small details; this is where the divine channeling takes place. Gus is definitely very physical for me, but he’s also emotional, powerful, and dignified.
We will first see Gus in episode two of this season of Saul, the context of which can’t be revealed at this time. What was your biggest fear on that first day of shooting? Were you nervous?
I was mainly concerned that this not be a parody of him. In my real life, I’ll go to airports and people say to me all the time, “Say this line, say that line from Breaking Bad.” But I can’t do that here. Where do I find the juice to make this guy new and fresh? It’s the slightly younger Gus, so maybe he’s a little less confident? Maybe more vulnerable? Maybe he’s trying to find his sea legs within this very dangerous world? But he also has to present himself as a teacher. The reason I did Breaking Bad in the first place was to be in a show that was very anti‑drug, even though I was playing the drug kingpin. I’ve been around the country and seen the scourge of meth; the underbelly of society that ruins so many lives. The first Breaking Bad script I ever read that had Gus in it said he was “hiding in plain sight.” He gives to the community. He’s a human being. And that made me find the character. I didn’t want to play the caricature of a gangster. To me, he could be selling toothpaste or shoes [laughs]. He’s good at being a leader, he’s good at organizing, he’s good at covering his tracks. To me, he’s still fascinating. And a lot of questions we had about him in Breaking Bad, like “How did he come to this life?” will hopefully be answered in Saul.
It’s worth noting how different in tone and pace the two shows are. Saul is a much slower, narrative build while Breaking Bad was a ticking clock. Saul is also bigger in terms of storytelling. More characters have meaty story lines and there’s room to let the narrative breathe. Have you felt these shifts as an actor?
That’s all right, yes. Saul is very different. Jimmy McGill is not Saul yet, so there is time to let him grow. He’s a guy struggling with his own demons, struggling to decide whether he wants to be good or bad. Walter White didn’t have time for that. By the way, I came here to be part of something classic again. Breaking Bad will live on forever, and Saul has its place in that history now, too. You asked earlier why I came back? I’m back because I love and trust Vince and Peter. I don’t act alone. I act with this family of filmmakers who do their work at a very high level. Those are the reasons I came back.
Well, you’re in good company if you felt conflicted about reprising your Breaking Bad role. Bob Odenkirk told me that at first, he wasn’t sure about doing Saul either.
Oh, ********. [Laughs.]
Okay, Bob claims to have had such reservations.
Yeah, well, Bob is a good actor sometimes! Vince had clearly said a Breaking Bad prequel was either going be about the rise of Gus or Better Call Saul. And he knew more about Saul; he’d been down that road with Odenkirk starting years ago. I think all of it had been percolating for a long time. So definitely don’t take his word on that. That’s so ********. [Laughs.]

Wow, Esposito is quite classy and it's clear that he truly took the role of Gus and made it his own. It was tailor-made for him.


And we get Gus as early as episode 2 AND we know he'll still be around for the finale? AWESOME!



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Does he say he'll be around for the finale? I only scnned it incase of spoilers.

Sure is a lot of love for vince and peter.



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LMAO. That's what got me into trouble with that sour old guy who loves day time soaps, Deat. A woman started a thread saying BB was like a nice cold beer but BCS was a fine wine. Sour old man called her pretentious so as a joke I said people who use the word pretentious are pre ten shush. He went off his head and followed me around for months thinking I was english because I talked about pots of tea, ribbon sandwiches and Pimms at the Polo. He then claimed I ws having an affair with one of the fans, and that you me and a few other regs were all the same person.

Yeah I totally agree with your take on Nacho having some humanity and a conscience, and the Kettlemans being more layered than the minor characters in BB. I had something else to say but I forget.

Oh god, the memories of that board. Remember the guy who hated Jimmy and loved Chuck, and would abuse anyone who empathised with Jimmy more? I said I empathised with both and he even abused me. LOL.

LOL! THAT was the origin of his hatred for you? Wow...that's lame! Then again--so was HE.


Yes, even the baseball card guy was more memorable. BCS has very few disposable characters. ALL of them are memorable to me in some way.

I hope Jesse really appears this time. Aaron Paul hinted: "Maybe I already filmed my cameo!" but he jokes around a lot. People think he's serious this time, though, because there are even articles about it online. Plus, that whole rumored "All Gene" episode. Great way to fit Jesse in there without even having to worry about de-aging.


This sounds like it's going to be the best season yet of BCS.


PS: I'm still holding out hope for some form of happy ending for ol' Jimmy. We already know about Kim's hometown being close to Omaha so there's hope there!



You can't win an argument just by being right!
LOL! THAT was the origin of his hatred for you? Wow...that's lame! Then again--so was HE.


Yes, even the baseball card guy was more memorable. BCS has very few disposable characters. ALL of them are memorable to me in some way.

I hope Jesse really appears this time. Aaron Paul hinted: "Maybe I already filmed my cameo!" but he jokes around a lot. People think he's serious this time, though, because there are even articles about it online. Plus, that whole rumored "All Gene" episode. Great way to fit Jesse in there without even having to worry about de-aging.


This sounds like it's going to be the best season yet of BCS.


PS: I'm still holding out hope for some form of happy ending for ol' Jimmy. We already know about Kim's hometown being close to Omaha so there's hope there!

Hilarious. Good times on that board. I miss Dag...like a hole in the head.

Baseball guy was fantastic. I'd like to see more of that dork. My only whinge so far is they killed off

WARNING: spoilers below
icecream truck driver


Oh man, tht tracking shot was incredible.



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Does he say he'll be around for the finale? I only scnned it incase of spoilers.

Sure is a lot of love for vince and peter.
He said he was on location, filming the finale.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Oh cool. I love that guy. Freaked me out in BB that I had a crush on Gustavo because he was so elegant. Same with Hannibal in the tv show.



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Oh cool. I love that guy. Freaked me out in BB that I had a crush on Gustavo because he was so elegant. Same with Hannibal in the tv show.
It just struck me that Esposito would make a good Hannibal Lecter. I mean--they'd have to forego Lecter's canon ethnicity, but Esposito could provide an interesting twist/spin to the character, in my opinion.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
It just struck me that Esposito would make a good Hannibal Lecter. I mean--they'd have to forego Lecter's canon ethnicity, but Esposito could provide an interesting twist/spin to the character, in my opinion.
He would because he has the same nack s Mads at playing a monster but making the viewer forget, so you get snared in that charismatic web.



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He would because he has the same nack s Mads at playing a monster but making the viewer forget, so you get snared in that charismatic web.
Plus, he has that taste for fine dining and just overall conducts himself in a manner similar to Lecter. Gilligan and CO. must be big fans of the Lecter character--there is obvious inspiration there.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Plus, he has that taste for fine dining and just overall conducts himself in a manner similar to Lecter. Gilligan and CO. must be big fans of the Lecter character--there is obvious inspiration there.
Giancarlo is gorgeous. And he just conducts himself as a total gentleman (whereas Mads is a bit of a hooligan which I also like). I just hope he doesnt speak anymore spanish.



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Giancarlo is gorgeous. And he just conducts himself as a total gentleman (whereas Mads is a bit of a hooligan which I also like). I just hope he doesnt speak anymore spanish.
I always wondered if the speech Gus gave to Walt about how "a man provides no matter what--even when he is not appreciated by his family, he PROVIDES...because that is what a man does!" was based on his own personal experiences. People have wondered if he really WAS a family man or not because of the toys in his house. My take on it is that he DOES have a family but they are essentially estranged. Gus and Walter are supposed to be these sort of mirror images of each other, so you never know.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Please bring on season 3. I've gone off the other two shows currently airing and feeling bereft