Better Call Saul (May Contain Breaking Bad Spoilers)

[chadizzy1]

Also, according to IMDB - Mr. Pinkman was in this episode

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3464768/...=tt_cl_sm#cast

I didn't catch him

[smokew11]

so are all the episodes going to be 60 minutes, or just the premier?

[sharvey]

Loved it. Having arrived late to the party on Breaking Bad-binged the first four seasons on Netflix right before season 5a hit, I'm glad to start this show from the beginning.

[luke7]

"Better Call Saul" obviously leans on the comedic side more than "Breaking Bad." In light of that, I hope the series is very careful with the cameos with some of the characters from "Breaking Bad" in the episodes with scenes that take place before Jimmy's /Saul's involvement with Walt and Jesse. I don't want to see the series trivialize the "Breaking Bad" characters. For example, I don't want to see Jimmy / Saul grocery shopping and in the background is Walt and Walter, Jr. arguing over what cereal to buy. I don't want any episodes that become a quasi-Breaking Bad spoof episode done tongue in cheek in the style of "The X-Files" episode "Jose Chung Is From Outer Space."

[Rodey]

The opening was the best part.

Pretty good, though. Will continue watching.

[dsmith45]

Hey, Walking Dead fans, THAT'S how you make a TV show.

[thechad90000]

Originally Posted by luke7

"Better Call Saul" obviously leans on the comedic side more than "Breaking Bad." In light of that, I hope the series is very careful with the cameos with some of the characters from "Breaking Bad" in the episodes with scenes that take place before Jimmy's /Saul's involvement with Walt and Jesse. I don't want to see the series trivialize the "Breaking Bad" characters. For example, I don't want to see Jimmy / Saul grocery shopping and in the background is Walt and Walter, Jr. arguing over what cereal to buy. I don't want any episodes that become a quasi-Breaking Bad spoof episode done tongue in cheek in the style of "The X-Files" episode "Jose Chung Is From Outer Space."

This. I'm worried that it's going to do some of that but I'm hoping not. We'll see. First episode I thought was well done. Now let's see where it goes.

[BotheLaneFan]

Show is weird as shit.

Not sure if that is a compliment or not.

[chadizzy1]

Saul didn't drive by Walt's house.

From Reddit: "I'll put this one to rest. The expired credit card/skater smashing into the windshield scene starts at the corner of Krick Ct and Sunningdale Ave NE. And here is the corresponding scene from the show for comparison.
So, as cool as it would have been to catch a fleeting glimpse of the White House as Saul drove by, it didn't happen. The house is about 5 miles away from that scene.
Source: Live in ABQ. There's probably not a location in either show that I don't recognize."

[meatball41]

Loved the little ode to the BB Aztek by them using the blue tape on Sauls windshield. Good stuff ��.

[M. Steng]

I thought the premiere was excellent. Really looking forward to tonight. I knew that was going to be that person that answered the door once I saw the lady driving was Hispanic.

The line "The only way that car is worth $500 is if there's a $300 hooker sitting in the front seat" was a phenomenal line.

[barbogast]

I think the internet wants to stretch every tiny little coincidence into a Breaking Bad tie in. Like the diner. It's clearly not the same diner. There's probably like 30 diners in Albequerque.

Pretty good episode though. Felt like Breaking Bad in the sense that it moved fairly slowly through the meat of the episode before unfolding key plot moving points at the end. BB did that a lot.

[chadizzy1]

Originally Posted by barbogast

I think the internet wants to stretch every tiny little coincidence into a Breaking Bad tie in. Like the diner. It's clearly not the same diner. There's probably like 30 diners in Albequerque.

Pretty good episode though. Felt like Breaking Bad in the sense that it moved fairly slowly through the meat of the episode before unfolding key plot moving points at the end. BB did that a lot.

It was the same diner, I've been there before when we drove around ABQ and tried to find BB locations. It's called Loyola's Family Restaurant.

And yeah, most of the stuff is coincidental, but I'm sure some of it was planned to be there as an ode to BB. So far this morning, on top of stuff I caught last night, this is some of the other stuff I've seen mentioned on Reddit and in other articles:

Obvious References:
-Saul managing a Cinnabon - “If I'm lucky, three months from now, best case scenario, I'm managing a Cinnabon in Omaha."
-Mike
-Tuco

Breaking Bad callbacks/easter eggs:
-Jimmy’s office being in a nail salon.
-Jimmy kicking the trash can, similar to Walt punching the paper towel dispenser.
-The diner in the beginning is the same one Jesse/Mike ate at, Lydia met Mike there once, as well.
-In the mailbox, the red key fob on Jimmy’s key’s is the same one that Walt used.
-Juan Tabo mentioned by the skateboarders, this is where Gale’s apartment as.
-One of the envelopes Jimmy had when sorting through his mail was from a company named Felina, which was the name of the Breaking Bad finale. (I didn’t catch this one, but someone on Reddit mentioned it, going to rewatch tonight)
-When Jimmy gets into his car outside the courthouse, there’s a white Cadillac parked next to his that resembles the one he’ll later have in life and the camera focuses on it for a minute.
-The opening black and white scene, where Saul thinks the guy is staring at him in the Cinnabon then he goes over and meets his friends. Kinda like the episode in Rabid Dog, where Jesse doesn’t want to meet Walt and thinks there’s a hit man there, then the “hit man” goes over to meet his child.
-Saul kept his tapes hidden under the sink, Jesse also kept his meth under the sink. The camera work reminded me of Walt keeping his money in the air vent.
-The two broken windshields, one of them having blue tape.
-One of the skaters said “tight tight tight”.

Unsure:
According to IMDB, Wendy and Mr. Pinkman were both in Episode 1, but I didn’t catch them.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3464768/?ref_=ttep_ep1

[barbogast]

Yeah I mean, I noticed most of those too, in fact the only ones on that list I didn't notice were the skater saying tight,tight,tight, the red key and the Felina envelope. If you say the diner is the same I'll buy it because I'm sure you've thoroughly researched it. I didn't think it was but I haven't rewatched BB in a while. Just feels like the internet world wants to connect every little detail, which I think is kind of unneccesary.

[chadizzy1]

Originally Posted by barbogast

Yeah I mean, I noticed most of those too, in fact the only ones on that list I didn't notice were the skater saying tight,tight,tight, the red key and the Felina envelope. If you say the diner is the same I'll buy it because I'm sure you've thoroughly researched it. I didn't think it was but I haven't rewatched BB in a while. Just feels like the internet world wants to connect every little detail, which I think is kind of unneccesary.

Oh I know, there were quite a few I didn't even wanna mention.

I read this morning that Betsy was a nod to an actress from BB, and there was a lot of purple in the episode as a nod to Marie.

[barbogast]

Just rewatched the episode over breakfast. There was no envelope with Felina on it, there's one from FIONACOM but it's clearly that, not Felina. Also, the skaters never say tight,tight,tight. The scene where they are in the skate park they say the words "tight" and "tighter" a few times, but never like Tuco. The red key was there. Still don't think the diner is the same. Didn't even look remotely similar to my memory of the Lydia/Mike diner.

edit: I also noticed zero purple, though I wasn't looking for it

[smokew11]

i think the "kicking the trashcan" connection is an extreme stretch

[haybale97]

Opening was so awesome, the rest of the episode was pretty damn good as well.


As others said above, I don't mind subtle allusions to BB but if the show does it all of the time/in excess it's going to get old, fast.


Loved seeing Saul back in his element, though. $300 dollar hooker line was great.

[barbogast]

The trash can is a bit of a stretch, I'll agree. I noticed it actually before he kicked it, when he goes into the elevator the camera angle is set up to show a dent already in the trash can that resembled the hand dryer Walt punched.

I think the tape being under the sink is a stretch as well

[Arby]

I just hope this show isn't going to be the "cram as many BrBa references as we can into an hour" show.


Pilot had its moments for sure, but Im not sold yet.

[smokew11]

Originally Posted by Arby

I just hope this show isn't going to be the "cram as many BrBa references as we can into an hour" show.


Pilot had its moments for sure, but Im not sold yet.

[scrock25]

Can somebody find a video of the entire cold open?

[Dramageek]

This show has an impossible standard to live up to. I'm going to try to appreciate it for what it is. My biggest concern is that Saul was very much a supporting character who was used very effectively in the correct doses. While he's a fascinating and dynamic character, and Odenkirk is a solid performer, I'm not yet sold Saul can carry an entire show.

I still enjoyed the premier and will be looking forward to seeing where this goes.

[chadizzy1]

Originally Posted by barbogast

Just rewatched the episode over breakfast. There was no envelope with Felina on it, there's one from FIONACOM but it's clearly that, not Felina. Also, the skaters never say tight,tight,tight. The scene where they are in the skate park they say the words "tight" and "tighter" a few times, but never like Tuco. The red key was there. Still don't think the diner is the same. Didn't even look remotely similar to my memory of the Lydia/Mike diner.

edit: I also noticed zero purple, though I wasn't looking for it

Yeah, I wasn't sure on a bunch of those, I was just sharing a list I read this morning. Planned on a rewatch tonight before ep 2 to see if I could catch any of them.

But the diner is the same, I think that's actually be corroborated by the crew somewhere, I need to find the article and I'll share it here.

It's like someone said earlier, you could pull anything from the show and it be a reference, it being filmed in ABQ that's going to happen. I'm sure there's some more direct ones that are planned but most are probably circumstantial or looking for them to be planned when they aren't.

[chadizzy1]

Here it is, a photo of them filming at Loyola's diner for BCS:

http://i.imgur.com/PTcluaR.jpg

And info about that diner being used for BB:

http://marcvaldez.blogspot.com/2011/...ns-part-4.html

[WidespreadMule3]

I really enjoyed it last night. As mentioned, the show has an impossible standard to live up to (similar to being Michael Jordan's kid or something). I see it being a very solid show though, it had great character development and it has a great "world" to live in with the option of bringing in characters and a story frame already in place to work off (like building off a book almost). It's unfair to compare it to Breaking Bad, because it is a separate entity. It's also very important to remember that was the very first episode. VERY few shows have a great pilot/E.1 but this show has great producers/creators who know how to do a show so I think it'll end up having a great run and be a solid show.

[ukcanes]

Decent premiere. Interested to see what tonight brings us.

[chadizzy1]

Originally Posted by WidespreadMule3

I really enjoyed it last night. As mentioned, the show has an impossible standard to live up to (similar to being Michael Jordan's kid or something). I see it being a very solid show though, it had great character development and it has a great "world" to live in with the option of bringing in characters and a story frame already in place to work off (like building off a book almost). It's unfair to compare it to Breaking Bad, because it is a separate entity. It's also very important to remember that was the very first episode. VERY few shows have a great pilot/E.1 but this show has great producers/creators who know how to do a show so I think it'll end up having a great run and be a solid show.

I think it is strong enough to stand on its own. Bob Odenkirk is a very dynamic actor and I have no doubt he can carry a show. I think this will be more of a tragicomedy than a drama, so a different genre, but I think it'll work. It seems very well written so far.

[chadizzy1]

I didn't catch this before, I thought because it was on last night it would always be on Sunday, but apparently it has a Monday time slot. Will be nice to have something watch Monday's.

[FromTheMorning]

So what exactly is the deal with Chuck?