Better Call Saul
I absolutely LOVED Better Call Saul! Clearly I should have read up more on what they were planning to do, I don't know why lol, but I always pictured it in my head as being a kind of sitcom of Saul's ducking and diving, and I assumed that it would be a ton of gags that would eventually start to feel overplayed, but it was so much better than that. The filming of the desert and the general atmosphere really reminded me of Breaking Bad's vibe, along with the premise of course of watching Saul's (or Jimmy's I guess!) fall from a basically law-abiding citizen who didn't want to get involved in anything criminal, into the criminal lawyer that we all know that he will eventually become
I loved the sad black and white opening showing how pathetic Saul's life is now and how paranoid he has become, and of course then seeing him watch those old Better Call Saul commercials in the dark, that was all so well-done. And not to keep comparing it to BB, because it's obviously going to stand on its own, but that courtroom reminded me so much of BB's black comedy when Saul is passionately defending the kids and their silly prank, and then cut to the reveal of the procescuter silently showing the video of them having sex with a decapitated head!!!
It was awesome to see Tuco again as a slightly less psychotic version of what he will become in the future (presumedy he's not snorting meth at this point in time!), but still with some nods to it (the cold menace in him warning his lackeys not to interfere, his fury at someone disrespecting his family). I did wonder why his Gran didn't stop at the scene though! Those annoying scam artists clearly got what was coming to them in trying to take advantage of her, but at the same time she did seem to be aware that she'd hit someone when they first came to the house to confront her, she told Tuco as much? She seemed basically harmless and unaware of Tuco's true nature, so I wasn't sure why she didn't stop at the time to check that whoever she hit was okay. It was sweet how protective of her Tuco was though, and hee at how she kept popping back up to remind him to use club soda on the blood stain!
And the scene in the desert was so tense and scary, but also ended up kind of awesomely funny when Saul tries to negotiate a better deal for them and praises herself as the best lawyer ever XD It was nice to see that he did have a conscience in the beginning and wasn't always so comfortable with hits being ordered. I liked the added touch of Saul having PTSD afterwards with the breadsticks snap reminding him of the breaking legs
I also appreciated how much it humanises Saul to have a brother to take care of. While I was watching I was assuming that Chuck was supposed to be schizophrenic or something, but I've since read comments suggesting that he could have a real physical condition relating to needing to avoid electro magnetic waves? Saul not treating the phone as that big a deal, and telling him to take the aluminium off, made me think that the threat was supposed to be all in Chuck's head though?
I loved all of Saul's references to movie and pop culture, and how he had to talk himself up in the bathroom ("It's showtime" "It's from a move!") before every case. I get the sense that the show is laying the groundwork for him to build up Saul Goodman as more of a character that he's going to create, rather than the real him? And aww, I'm finding him a little heartbreaking with how clearly desperate he is for new clients and a break of some sort, there was something so sad about seeing him drinking from that pilfered plastic cup at the end :(
And finally LMAO at Saul's rants on Mike being a troll under the bridge!
I loved the sad black and white opening showing how pathetic Saul's life is now and how paranoid he has become, and of course then seeing him watch those old Better Call Saul commercials in the dark, that was all so well-done. And not to keep comparing it to BB, because it's obviously going to stand on its own, but that courtroom reminded me so much of BB's black comedy when Saul is passionately defending the kids and their silly prank, and then cut to the reveal of the procescuter silently showing the video of them having sex with a decapitated head!!!
It was awesome to see Tuco again as a slightly less psychotic version of what he will become in the future (presumedy he's not snorting meth at this point in time!), but still with some nods to it (the cold menace in him warning his lackeys not to interfere, his fury at someone disrespecting his family). I did wonder why his Gran didn't stop at the scene though! Those annoying scam artists clearly got what was coming to them in trying to take advantage of her, but at the same time she did seem to be aware that she'd hit someone when they first came to the house to confront her, she told Tuco as much? She seemed basically harmless and unaware of Tuco's true nature, so I wasn't sure why she didn't stop at the time to check that whoever she hit was okay. It was sweet how protective of her Tuco was though, and hee at how she kept popping back up to remind him to use club soda on the blood stain!
And the scene in the desert was so tense and scary, but also ended up kind of awesomely funny when Saul tries to negotiate a better deal for them and praises herself as the best lawyer ever XD It was nice to see that he did have a conscience in the beginning and wasn't always so comfortable with hits being ordered. I liked the added touch of Saul having PTSD afterwards with the breadsticks snap reminding him of the breaking legs
I also appreciated how much it humanises Saul to have a brother to take care of. While I was watching I was assuming that Chuck was supposed to be schizophrenic or something, but I've since read comments suggesting that he could have a real physical condition relating to needing to avoid electro magnetic waves? Saul not treating the phone as that big a deal, and telling him to take the aluminium off, made me think that the threat was supposed to be all in Chuck's head though?
I loved all of Saul's references to movie and pop culture, and how he had to talk himself up in the bathroom ("It's showtime" "It's from a move!") before every case. I get the sense that the show is laying the groundwork for him to build up Saul Goodman as more of a character that he's going to create, rather than the real him? And aww, I'm finding him a little heartbreaking with how clearly desperate he is for new clients and a break of some sort, there was something so sad about seeing him drinking from that pilfered plastic cup at the end :(
And finally LMAO at Saul's rants on Mike being a troll under the bridge!