Better Call Saul debut

[Hondo]

First episode of Better Call Saul came on last night. What did you think?

[spoiler]I thought it was ok. Pilot episodes tend to be kinda dull because they tend to just introduce us to the characters and set basic storylines. This one was no different, we see a pre-Goodman Jimmy McGill struggling to make it as a lawyer. But for all his struggles, we can see the seediness of Saul just waiting to bubble up to the surface. Having him plan the insurance fraud case with the two stoner twins (who for some reason actually reminded me of Stoner) is something the Saul we know and love would do. Although it failed miserably and we were (re)introduced to Tuco Salamanca at the end.

The show has a long way to go from here. It's kinda depressing to see this character we've come to know and love struggle soooo hard with very few prospects on the horizon. I mean, we KNOW what happens in the end, but it still looks bleak right now. I think Gilligan is banking on former Breaking Bad viewers coming back en force and watching the show. But even he needs to remember that Breaking Bad didn't start getting great until Heisenberg started becoming more successful.

Also, it was good to see a couple callbacks from Breaking Bad (Tuco, Mike Ehrmantraut as a parking garage attendant), but not a full-on reliance on BB iconography. They should continue to strike a balance between new viewers and fans of BB.


All in all, I'll give it a hopeful 7/10.[/spoiler]

[Drama Queen]

My impression of the show is that amc were trying to manipulate me into watching it by sticking it in between walking dead and talking dead. Guess they don't have much faith in the show making it on it's own merits.

[FXBlade]

From what I gathet they are releasing an episode a week?

I don't have Netflix, and only do the free trials (through a way of not having to pay)

But I will wait for it to finish before I start watching. Kudos for hidden spoilers!

[Fnord]

Um... it's on AMC

[FXBlade]

Um... it's on AMC

Ummm... I live in England.

It's been advertised here as on Netflix.. Unless I get a pirate site

[Fnord]

England don't have no AMC? Awww man!  Not sure what that means then for you guys.

[Chris Shields]

England don't have no AMC? Awww man!  Not sure what that means then for you guys.

Well the channel's name did originally stand for American Movie Classics, so I can kind of see England not having it. As for the show, I recorded the first episode last night, have the second one set for tonight, and will just end up watching them back to back sometime later this week.

[FXBlade]

England don't have no AMC? Awww man!  Not sure what that means then for you guys.

Unfortunately no we don't. Channel 5 picked breaking bad up I think for a while but never finished it.

Like I said, it's a Netflix thing released weekly. So I will wait for the end of it to do the free trial. There is a way round paying for a month at a time, so might as well wait for it to finish so I can watch it in a monh

[Fnord]

I really wish they'd do something with AMC and Hulu!~ lol

[Mike Powers]

I hope that by the end, in addition to the rise of Saul, we also get to see current Saul living a bit of a better life.

[Hondo]

I hope that by the end, in addition to the rise of Saul, we also get to see current Saul living a bit of a better life.

All it took was nine posts for someone to actually mention something about the watching of the show.

[Gates]

I agree, Hondo. It was what a pilot usually is, and that is setting the groundwork for what is to come.

[spoiler]I like how they didn't rely a lot on Breaking Bad stuff to set it up, though I suspect we will get sprinklings of it throughout, since it would be tough not to have it happen that way. I did like how we saw Saul struggling as a lawyer which sets the tone for what we know happens.

Gillian is probably banking on BB viewers to watch, and I hope that AMC gives it the time it might need. If someone watched this without having seen Breaking Bad, I don't know if they would return for another episode. Not because it's bad, but because they might not see it as entertaining. Maybe I'm off on that one.

I just have this gut feeling it will last 1 season and then get canned.[/spoiler]

All in all, I enjoyed the episode.

[Mike Powers]

It's already been picked up for Season 2.

[Gates]

Then scratch that! lol I didn't know that.

[The TeeJ of Philly]

I really enjoyed it. I came in a couple minutes late, but I really enjoyed watching him struggle with the couple at the restaurant. Not the Saul we saw from BrBa