Better Call Saul

[rico]

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.

Thoughts?

DISCUS!!!!

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Jenson71

I'm embarrassed to admit I hadn't thought of checking out AMC.com, which of course, the shows were available to watch as soon as you put your cable subscription in.

So, I'm caught up.

I can't remember why we're supposed to not like Howard Hamlin so much. I get some pranks, like the hookers at the restaurant, but did he really do anything so bad to deserve a potential malpractice lawsuit and the complete ruining of his reputation?

It's not one galvanizing thing, but the Kim/Saul resentment of Hamlin is a cautionary tale of how small resentments can coalesce and synergize if you have common cause.

For both Kim and Saul, Hamlin is the avatar for the blithe and slick barriers to respect and recognition. He carried the water for Chuck's firm opposition to Slippin' Jimmy ever becoming an attorney without revealing his own feelings on the matter. He overworked Kim, then demoted her to punish her for things beyond her control, and then he would remind her of that demotion in front of colleagues and friends.

He's that institutional smiling face of 'we'd love to, but we can't' always thrown in their way when they felt progress and recognition was merited, but to their perspective, he never actually has the balls to be cutthroat and vindictive publicly or anywhere outside small private deniable moments.

[KentuckyChief]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

It's not one galvanizing thing, but the Kim/Saul resentment of Hamlin is a cautionary tale of how small resentments can coalesce and synergize if you have common cause.

For both Kim and Saul, Hamlin is the avatar for the blithe and slick barriers to respect and recognition. He carried the water for Chuck's firm opposition to Slippin' Jimmy ever becoming an attorney without revealing his own feelings on the matter. He overworked Kim, then demoted her to punish her for things beyond her control, and then he would remind her of that demotion in front of colleagues and friends.

He's that institutional smiling face of 'we'd love to, but we can't' always thrown in their way when they felt progress and recognition was merited, but to their perspective, he never actually has the balls to be cutthroat and vindictive publicly or anywhere outside small private deniable moments.

I don’t think it has to do with Hamlin at all, really. They’re trying to get the sandpiper case settled so Saul can get paid

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by KentuckyChief

I don’t think it has to do with Hamlin at all, really. They’re trying to get the sandpiper case settled so Saul can get paid

prostitutes, and . . . bowling balls?? You sound a little unhinged . . .

[KentuckyChief]

That part of it is unhinged, he is slipping jimmy after all. I think that’s just the simple ****ery games he plays. However, it’s Kim that has been driving the bus on trying to take Hamlin and his career down. I have a theory that she is trying to get the sandpiper case settled so that she can **** jimmy over to get the sandpiper money. She’s doing mostly pro bono work and probably sees the settlement as a way of continuing in that line of work. It was her that suggested they get married. At the time she proposed the idea it seemed, to us the viewer that the proposal was so that neither would ever have to testify against the other but I think she’s been playing jimmy all along.

[KentuckyChief]

Well, maybe not all along, but after leaving S&C. I do agree with your estimation of why they would try to screw with Hamlin though.

[Baby Lee]

Just Spooge

[L.A. Chieffan]

SKANK

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by KentuckyChief

That part of it is unhinged, he is slipping jimmy after all. I think that’s just the simple ****ery games he plays. However, it’s Kim that has been driving the bus on trying to take Hamlin and his career down. I have a theory that she is trying to get the sandpiper case settled so that she can **** jimmy over to get the sandpiper money. She’s doing mostly pro bono work and probably sees the settlement as a way of continuing in that line of work. It was her that suggested they get married. At the time she proposed the idea it seemed, to us the viewer that the proposal was so that neither would ever have to testify against the other but I think she’s been playing jimmy all along.

they have portrayed her in the series as having genuine love for Jimmy. We know she’s not in or even mentioned in Breaking Bad. No idea and not read any spoilers but she has to die. They can’t just breakup or she disappears and rips him off. That’s going to be a cop out.

[KentuckyChief]

I agree that her death is the most likely outcome, but a handful of scenes from BB and BCS kinda lead me to think there’s a twist coming.

[notorious]

I don't think she dies, Jimmy wouldn't be who he is in BB.

I think she moves. They planted a HUGE seed when she met with the Clifford Main guy during the "Fake Howard/Wendy car" scene and she told him about her idea and he liked it.


That's why she was never in BB.

[notorious]

As soon as Wendy walked out I immediately thought:

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by notorious

I don't think she dies, Jimmy wouldn't be who he is in BB.

I think she moves. They planted a HUGE seed when she met with the Clifford Main guy during the "Fake Howard/Wendy car" scene and she told him about her idea and he liked it.


That's why she was never in BB.

She moves to a different city is a cop out. All the shit that goes down, he never reached out to her to help in those situations?

[InvinciBill]

My guess is that Kim is alive, but disappeared via Vaccum-Cleaner man. And she is going to meet up with Cinnabon Saul in the post-Breaking-Bad timeline. By itself that would be too sunshiney for this Universe, but Gilligan will add some dark twist.

[lcarus]

I wonder if they're gonna do any scenes with Bill Burr. I know they had something in the works way earlier in the show, but Burr couldn't do it at the time. There's still time to do it though. As far as I can recall he's the one guy they haven't shown from that whole network of criminals.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

She moves to a different city is a cop out. All the shit that goes down, he never reached out to her to help in those situations?

He's on camera like 1 minute an episode every once in a while on BB.

He's a side character. Why would it show Saul reaching out when it wouldn't add anything to the BB story?