Better Call Saul - Season Four Discussion & Digestion

Watched Episode 2 yesterday and it gets better by the minute - another hilarious scene with Jimmy and that Gustavo plot gets really exciting. It's great to see such gloriously made television

 

I look forward to this masterpiece weekly. It is like a happening and I can't believe so many Breaking Bad fans that I know tuned out over merely one season.

 

It truly feels like a happening, every minute is so spectacular and the fact I can watch it all with my sister ever since we started with Breaking Bad together makes it even better
Really? Can't be true fans, then... season 1 was so great and it just got better from there onwards

 

People are impatient asses. It is like someone complaining about a line in a grocery store. How many times do the lines go down in minutes after a person gets called up to relieve the strain after a break. PATIENCE people!

Take the time to enjoy the story unfold..enjoy the scenery (much like in a grocery line he he...) and understand that surprises and reward don't just have to come on your time table.

 

Exactly my sentiments right there. A show that's built on schedule without surprises can't hold up eventually. BCS grabs you when the writers and the direction feel like it and this makes it all so exciting ans surprising... just like the grocery line on a Friday night

 

I thought Rhea Seehorn was especially good in episode two. Loving this season.

 

Did not know that and I can't say I've noticed a difference. But then, I'm a content-first format-agnostic kinda guy.

 

Never understood this mindset. "content" is the cinematography (not meant as an insult at all, I say this respectfully). It all goes together as the artists intended you to see them. While I agree that digital vs analog is a kind of format approach, I think everyone knows that both show very different results. Better Call Saul had a very different look to Breaking Bad and like Fear the Walking Dead vs the Walking Dead, this was on purpose.

Sadly, the trend seems to be going toward all digital, and I don't think the quality is there yet.

This is all nitpicking though, because great writing is great writing and I admit fully that I will watch complete crap (Clerks ha ha) quality for a good story.

 

Well, either my eyes are too old or untrained to tell the difference or my attention is too divided by the great acting/writing. I have no problem with well-done digital. Likely if I became educated as to what to look for I'd see the limitations, but just like I don't want to know what to listen for to differentiate 320 MP3's from lossless, I prefer to remain ignorant about how analog betters digital. If it doesn't appear obvious to me when watching, I'm fine.

I'm not the kind to focus on things like reverb trails; I'm focusing on the music holistically. Same with video (and please don't try to educate me). I'll remain blissfully ignorant.

 

Completely understood. Yes ignorance is bliss sometimes. I try to balance it, and it isn't always easy.

 

Yes- balance is critical in life. Something I often struggle with. Some would say I'm completely unbalanced...

 

Nothing wrong with your eyes matey! Digital cameras have been more than a match for film for many years now. Those clinging to film only do so for nostalgic reasons (or a misplaced sense of purist cred). Give me digital over grain infested film any day!

 

Thanks.

LOL. So there's analog vs digital debate in video too!

 

I see it happening that way, but I'm usually the last person to figure things out. I guess we'll see eventually.

 

Yeah sure...but back in reality where the science proves otherwise...

Purist cred though that is rich. Is there some kind of badge for this? lol It isn't my eyes, it is the credentials!

 

You may have a point. This last episode had the lowest viewership ratings of the entire series!

 

Wow that is weird. But then again I take a certain glee if only in this part. If I love an episode and think it is one of the best episodes in the entire series, and then there are a great many that didn't watch it because they didn't feel the show was worth seeking out after last years cliff hangers...do I really want to be in that group anyway?

 

No it's not. Last episode was 1.5 million and that's not even counting Live+7 viewership.

Last season there was a couple of episodes that dipped into the 1.4 million range.

This show is doing very well in today's television climate.

 

It is well below average viewership for really successful shows. For Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul numbers, well it is average, certainly not anything really special. Sad, but hopefully the budget and reputation keeps it afloat. I know it has already been renewed so that is all that matters to me.

 

I think I might blame that on the time of year - this is the only season that has started in late summer.

 

I would partially pin the blame for that on the excessively long gap between seasons.

 

Define "successful show."

No, it doesn't get the ratings of America's Got Talent (or other such tripe), but as far as scripted TV it's nowhere near below average.

Now, if we're using The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones as a measuring stick for success, I would contend that those shows our outliers, which is in no way indicative of the norm, outside of CBS, NBC, and ABC.

Hell, even Westworld garnered an average 1.8 million, and from my understanding Ozark, Stranger Things and Handmaid's Tale is less than BCS.

BCS is doing very well for itself, and is sure to cash in even more with merch and home media sales.

If the statement was true, which it's not.

 

How can a matter of pure subjectivity and interpretation be either true or not true?

The wait was too damn long.

 

I am in the "BCS > BB" camp. I suspect that part of the reason is simply the manner of consumption. I didn't start watching "BB" until it had ended, and I watched the entire run of the show in perhaps a month's time, two months max. I've been watching "BCS" on an episode-by-episode basis as they roll out for the majority of the show's run. I think about it more, anticipate it more, discuss it more. This difference in consumption is so great as to make me wonder if I really do feel BCS is superior.

 

I'm with you on this one... Overall, I just feel the pacing, "inward" story line, and acting is superior to Breaking Bad.