Better Call Saul - Season Five Discussion

If there are two seasons left do you think both will be set in the past and lead up to the start of BB? Or could the final season be entirely set in the post BB time?

 

For me, this is the big question. An entire season of Gene time would be incredible.

 

I agree with both of you. The show's producers have shown a real fondness for flash-forwards, flash-backs, and flash-sideways throughout the show - I tend to GUESS, we might get an epsidode or two of pure Gene, but they will mix up the timelines a lot.

 

I know it's hard - and getting harder each year - to make Bob Odenkirk resemble a man in his (early?) 20s, but I'd like to see some more Slippin' Jimmy, as well.

And wouldn't a glimpse of the "Chicago sunroof" be great?

 

Agreed. The show moves so slow, and then we get these brutally long breaks in between seasons.

 

At one point, at least, I think they ran the previous season marathon-style to get you up to speed. I'm sure they're hoping you'll buy the DVDs.

 

Surely they will do it again - they have to know how lost a lot of people are going to be.

 

This is not definitely the end there are few more seasons.

 

I'm intrigued by the opening of BCS 'Quite a Ride' S4 Ep 5. If you remember, it's a flash forward to Saul gathering up his money etc. whilst Francesca shreds documents.

Saul hands Francesca a business card for a lawyer then reminds her to be by a certain phone on November 12th at 3pm.

Am I right in thinking that this phone call has not happened yet? Or at least we haven't seen it on screen?

Also, the business card has to be Kim right?

Kim.

I've read several theories on what happens to Kim.

Tragedy - Kim dies.
Heartbreak - Kim leaves Jimmy.
Invisible - Kim helps runs Saul run things behind-the-scenes.

I'm leaning towards Kim leaving Jimmy. This would be devastating for Jimmy and finalize his transformation into Saul.

 

Depends on the angle

 

I'm okay with the pace of the show and I think it's picking up steam and will continue to do so until the end.

The long break between S4 and S5 has been tough though.

I'm worried about the decline in ratings and I hope we get the ending the creators want.

 

I think in large part the show is a victim of the success of Breaking Bad and the first couple seasons of the show (BCS), which I think were phenomenal. Regarding the former, I saw the taping of the Inside the Actors' Studio with Kelsey Grammer interviewing director James Edward Burrows (Cheers and Frasier and other sitcoms), which will air in October, I think. Grammer asked Burrows what he thought the best television show of all time was, and without hesitation he said Breaking Bad. Now that BCS is morphing into Breaking Bad and has lost some of its original character, I think its failure to totally measure up to what might be the gold standard for dramatic television (along with a select few, like The Sopranos, depending on your taste) might be causing some people to be less than enthusiastic about the show. I think - and it's a view based on my own likes and dislikes - that the show would be more interesting with more Gene and less Breaking Bad.

 

Some things are better left to the imagination.

 

I don't know. Francesca already knew Kim, she briefly worked in the Wexler McGill office.

 

And some things, like the "cobbler squat", might best be forgotten.

 

Unless Kim is using a different name that Francesca wouldn't recognize from the card.

 

Just rewatched S4 in excitement. This show gets better every season, and I'm real pumped for S5.

 

Regarding the possibility of a full "Gene" episode, I recall several years ago (maybe after the first couple of seasons?) one of the showrunners or someone on the show said they were considering doing a full Gene episode. I got the sense they were talking about just plopping a Gene episode into the middle of an upcoming season as opposed to more Gene content in an eventual series finale. I'd love to see more of the Gene stuff.

As for the show in comparison to "Breaking Bad": I was someone who didn't initially watch BB, and then, like many, started watching it on Netflix (probably right around after the series ended as I recall?) and I ended up quickly feeling the show was undeniably one of the best ever, certainly among what I've seen.

Which is why I was surprised that I quickly found "Better Call Saul" to be as good, and in some ways possibly *better* than "Breaking Bad." I don't think the ratings on BCS have anything to do with not measuring up to the quality of BB. I do think that BB had several type of viewers. I don't want to generalize nor get into politics even tangentially, but I was surprised to discover after watching BB that there was a contingent of fan/viewer who liked the show for *very different* reasons than I did, and different than typical critics who praised the show. The closest analogy I can think of is that that type of fan of BB was similar to people who watched "Fight Club" and loved it and their only/main takeaway from the movie was that bloody fighting scenes are cool. I think some BB fans didn't view Heisenberg as an anti-hero or a villain or someone who was corrupted, etc. They just felt he was "badass" and thought he was cool and 100% rooted for him, end of story. I was also surprised to learn after watching BB that a significant contingent of fans were sometimes literally *violently* critical of Anna Gunn and her character. As in, wishing both dead. I think they were missing the point of the Skyler character, who is meant to be flawed and annoying and all of that, but also not the person killing people and selling drugs, etc. Anyway, there is that contingent of BB fans who seem to find "Better Call Saul" kind of boring I guess.

Look at the merchandising for the two shows. BB spawned endless "Say My Name" and other Heisenberg merchandise, among other things (including Saul stuff as well). "Better Call Saul" has had a few t-shirts and one Funko Pop figure (since discontinued; nobody seemed into a "Jimmy McGill" figure). "Better Call Saul" has somehow ended up a bit more regal and high-brow with its audience; no equivalent of Heisenberg shirts at Hot Topic or "Breaking Bad" shot glasses at Spencers Gifts, etc.

To me, "Better Call Saul" is often a more refined, more impressive version of BB. To be clear, I love both shows. If one is like a 9.5, the other is like a 9.6 or 9.7. But there's something in the pathos of the Jimmy/Saul character, and a richness to the other characters, that is sometimes more impressive and fulfilling. They could have made "Better Call Saul" a kind of lazy, more overt comedic show that just had more Saul-isms as seen in BB (which were great and I love/loved). But Odenkirk and the rest of the cast turn in flawless performances. The show started out funnier, and has slowly morphed into having less comedy and more drama, but in a great way. And it can still be funny of course. And there ares still life and death stakes as in BB. And it is veering closer to BB not only in literal time frame, but also in tone. Mike and Jimmy/Saul are both doing worse and worse things.

 

This was seriously considered when the idea of a Saul show first came up - to the point that it might have been done as a half-hour situation comedy.

That would have been fun, but I think most of us are happy it didn't go that way.

 

What if El Camino links to Gene/Saul? Could happen!

 

pin this post to the top of the thread! great assessment.

 

Does anyone know if Bob Odenkirk was involved in the filming? I suppose that they may have managed to keep it under wraps if he was.

 

I'm re-watching an episode a week of Saul and I'm up to S2 E3. I really need a S5 date announcement.

El Camino will only hold me over for so long.

 

i'll have to do that after my revisit of BB. seriously can't believe the gap in between seasons of BCS.

 

I hope it's OK for me to post this in this thread. I already posted something in a Season 4 thread but I'm thinking that may not be seen by many people anymore.

I just binge watched the entire show and I clued into a funny meaning for the name "Saul Goodman". It's kind of a joke that explains the use of that name.

I would think that some other people have probably figured it out by now. But, I'd like to ask if anyone has ever posted about this before?

I didn't figure this out until the very end of Season 4.