For fuck's sake. How much Ritalin are the show's producers taking? That is no way to start a series. I made it about 5 or 6 minutes into this fucking glacier. I don't care what happens after that. Life is too short. You want to be artsy and frustrate people with your long takes of nothing? You think that pacing a show to be that slow is...what? Dramatic? Suspenseful? Meaningful? Profound?

Well, I've got news for you- slow is nothing but slow. Mmmkay? Many of the people making TV shows these days have either forgotten- or more likely have never known what it really is that people are after when they sit down to watch a TV series. You're so busy trying to be artsy and profound that you've missed the very simple fact that people invest their time into movies and TV shows to be entertained. You got that, Antonioni? Huh? Fucking figure it out, you fabulous artiste.

So, fuck you very much.

Entertain, entertaining, entertainment- Look it up, or maybe have an adult explain it to you.

Assholes

I know I've given this show a lot of slack what with loving "Breaking Bad" so much. But yeah, BCS is pretty full of itself. It's not like the main characters are so lovable and mythic, it's levels of dirtbaggery TBH. FWIW the show is built around a pretty poor actor in Bob Odenkirk.

I'll keep watching after what I've invested so far. I would never tell someone you gotta watch this show.

Agreed

Wife and I watched Breaking Bad and figured this was the next step. Don't think we finished two episodes.

Clearly they are related, but the vector change didn't do it for us.

I thought it was just me. Gave up after two episodes.

I think you need the context of Breaking Bad.
I liked Breaking Bad and I do enjoy Better Call Saul.
I can understand how those without the prerequisites would not be in to it.
YMMV

Yeah, I tried to watch Breaking Bad, too. Several years ago. The first scene of the first episode, I bailed within 5 minutes.

Be that as it may, there is nothing that would cause me to sit through the slow motion borefest I witnessed in the first episode of BCS, just nothing. Nada.

We binged Breaking Bad, whole series in something like 4 weeks.

Tried BCS when it debuted, I think we made it 3 or 4 episode before forgetting about it on the DVR.

It's telling a story, percolating, growing, give it time to blossom! We love it.

We tried it after Breaking Bad. I think we made it through two episodes.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
We tried it after Breaking Bad. I think we made it through two episodes.

Same here. Spinoff series often don't seem to have the same magic.

I find it mildly amusing, but never would have stuck with it if I didn't, for a season or two, harbor hopes it would ramp up to something close to BB. Clearly, that was never in the plan.

I have really enjoyed the episodes that focused on Mike, but I doubt anyone who didn't know him from BB would feel the same.

No, it isn't Breaking Bad and it isn't as good. But it is still good, and it doesn't have to be a clone of Breaking Bad. It is an excellent examination of the characters and it still is driven by story, even though the story is slow.

I realize it won't be to everyone's taste. It is slow paced, but it sort of like watching an ocean liner hit the dock. You know it isn't going to be good, but you don't know how it will wrong, and it takes a long time to get there.

Knock yourself out.

You really should give Breaking Bad about 4-5 episodes prior to calling it. It's a slow build up with excellent character development that never stops throughout the whole series.
In my very amateur opinion it's one of the better series to run on television.
I will say that I couldn't get through the first season of Better Call Saul. I watched all but the last two episodes and never had any interest in returning to it.

There are films and TV shows that I'll watch for less than 30 seconds, then decide it's not for me. You may think I'm joking, but I'm not.

There's a film called The Life of David Gale. IIRC, the film opens with a long distance shot of someone running on the ridge of a hill. I don't know what it is, but sometimes, I see ony the very first few seconds of a film or TV show, then say "nope", and that film is a prime example. I couldn't tell you anything about it more than Kevin Spacey is in it and that I have no interest in seeing another second of it. I couldn't tell you why, except to say that it's just a feeling I get.

I loved Breaking Bad, the whole series a roller coaster ride. My all time favorite TV series, along with The Sopranos. So I was excited to watch Better Call Saul. After the first season, after the initial excitement and buzz of seeing familiar characters wore off, I haven't watched any additional episodes, I basically lost interest. The slow pace, the monotony of various scenes, started to bore me, the kiss of death to me. I still have the 2nd season on disc, haven't opened it. I might later on, but there are other things for me to see ahead of it. Lots more.

quote:

No, it isn't Breaking Bad and it isn't as good. But it is still good, and it doesn't have to be a clone of Breaking Bad. It is an excellent examination of the characters and it still is driven by story, even though the story is slow.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I enjoyed the first few seasons. Smarmy lawyers and their manipulations to get what they want hold some interest. It is on some levels a bit of a morality play with the back and forth between Jimmy and his brother as well as Kim.

Breaking Bad was horrible.
BCS is better than Breaking Bad and somewhat entertaining but takes a few episodes to get rolling.

This is not a comment on this particular show, or its parent, neither of which I've ever seen. But in general, a TV show needs to pique my interest in the first few minutes - if feeling generous, by the first quarter hour or commercial break - or I'm voting with the remote. A three-hour epic movie can pull off long lingering shots of nothing, but not an hour (45 minutes after commercials) TV episode.

There are many, many television shows that I decline to watch just from the ads run to entice (I guess) me to watch. This includes many shows that have, or had, long runs including: House, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Two and a Half Men, That ‘70s Show, The Good Wife, and The Simpsons. I see the ads and think, “Now why would I want to watch that?”

My wife and I watched Breaking Bad last year. Saul was not a character I cared a wit about, and it never entered my mind to watch a series built around him.