Leigh Lim

Making music to go with your tea. She/Her :) For the four track sampler: leighlim.com/hear
#Awesome10k #Encourage10k (DM me 'family friendly' jokes or music recommendations!)

Nov 17th 2016
-
-
-
-
Note: Out of respect to those who haven’t watched Season 1 of Better Call Saul…and would like to watch it while avoiding any sort of information (trailers, commentaries). I give this spoiler warning! (Scroll down at your own risk!) Oh and an...

-


-



-


-





Note: Out of respect to those who haven’t watched Season 1 of Better Call Saul…and would like to watch it while avoiding any sort of information (trailers, commentaries). I give this spoiler warning! (Scroll down at your own risk!) Oh and an extra warning for this one because I’ve come across spoilers from seasons that I YET to be filmed!




-



-




-



-


Wow…here we go. I’m smitten. I’m delighted (that this show is still ongoing — Season 2 here I come!).



If you’re a Breaking Bad viewer…I’m going to say…first off…you are free to give me all the spoilers you’d like. As Breaking Bad isn’t for me (my TV and Film scale may yield some clue as to why that is), and I am okay with that. I now understand that just because two shows are from the same showrunners…it doesn’t mean that both are shows for me.


One example of this is Friday Night Lights (For Me!) and Parenthood (Not For Me). The other end of the spectrum is The Good Wife (For Me!) and BrainDead (I was surprised too!).



You could say it’s the story of two brothers finding their way towards (or away!) from each other. Or it could be a story of finding that person who pushes you to be your best self (Kim for Jimmy — or ‘Kimmy’ as mentioned in one of the episode commentaries on the DVD).


Maybe it could even be making a decision on who you’d like to be without any interference from the outside. Jimmy understanding that he ‘is enough’.



In Episode 2, Vince (I might end up attributing everything to Vince until I re-watch the commentary! hahaha) mentions that talking is Jimmy’s superpower (Which Tuco — sort of recognises). A fellow viewer had pointed out that it is in a way…Chuck’s superpower too!



That’s as close to mind control as you can get right? :) The power of persuasion.



As a music lover, this one is a feast for me as well. Probably not the theme with lyrics (if you have the DVD in your hand now —- there’s a music video in the special features). I think it’s the Wall Street Journal recaps that has a writer adding observations about the score.



That is how I managed to find out the track they used for the Kettleman heist — it’s funky…and it works so well. I’m just guessing despite the world going ADD with their entertainment demands…that Better Call Saul would be the template for the shows to come: long beats, weird camera angles (that work of course), and the kind of humour that can only come from a person’s daily life (well…heightened a bit!).



I’m thinking now that watching Season 1 of Better Call Saul prepared me to watch Season 4 of Rectify (I hadn’t watched any of the seasons previously — and after only one episode…ohhh….I’m smitten as well)…which has even a slower pace (Twice slower — because it should live up to the Sundance brand?) than Better Call Saul.


I look forward to the DP 30 of Vince and Co. Mainly how the whole team got to where they are — to be able to think up this gem. From what I understand (also from watching the Saul ad videos during Breaking Bad’s timeline), Saul didn’t have the depth that Jimmy has (and from the commentary — it seemed like Saul locked away the part of him that would return the money, return and save the twins from being executed, care for the elderly….).



After watching Season 1 for the first time (I had since watched it twice with others), I was hesitant to keep going…and watch season 2 (particularly…on how episode 10 ended…with Jimmy seeming to choose to go on a self-destructive binge. Plus…we all know what the future holds (the Breaking Bad Timeline!).



Then it changed…a bit….then I was ready to put it as a ‘maybe’ instead of a ‘definitely will avoid!’. Then rarest of the rare…I get REALLY excited about a TV show….because of this (a variation of the news came up on my reader page). Which could mean…there might be redemption for Jimmy after Ohio (or maybe in?)



This is where the arc gets exciting for me…because it’s probably the trickiest one. The idea that it’s never too late. Yeah? You see it too right?




It’s never:

  • Too late to be of value to your family (even if you think you can’t offer up anything).
  • Too late to salvage a situation — what makes the show really shine (and why I couldn’t help but be on Jimmy’s side 85% of the time) is how he is REALLY humble. That whole discussion with Tuco, The cops from Philadelphia (though he gets a bit sassy there), there is an assertiveness there that doesn’t turn nasty (which is probably why Chuck’s revelation during episode 9…was really hurtful).
  • Too late to apologise – With Hamlin (the lead in was Jimmy apologising for the nasty word he used towards Hamlin during their closed door discussion about the Sandpiper handover) and Kim (after Jimmy lashed out at her for — what he thought was her being bought off by Hamlin to convince him to take the deal for Sandpiper).




What would happen if the edginess of Saul is combined with the charm of Jimmy? Rolled up with the desire to Pay It Forward? That’s the episode I”m looking forward to see!



You know what? If this show is so awesome…that I can’t imagine a better show…


What would the shows of the future hold? :) I mean…I know Better Call Saul is not an action show…but if I were to look back and think of shows that just amazed me were: ‘24′ then ‘Homeland’ — and there’s probably no coincidence that there’s a connection with producers!


Imagine 5 or 10 years…looking back to this show…. :)



So excited! :D


PS: More Saul entries check out here, here and here (to catch those I forgot and have yet to post)!

____________________________________________________

Contact me (Through Tumblr’s Direct Messaging) for the link to a copy (in PDF) of my Timestamp Commentary for the season.

If you were brave (crazy?) enough to scroll down to the end of this post before watching the whole season — you can join the timeline commentary collective too!


Format is up to you — though for me I use: (Time) (Scene Description) (Reaction) — so it’s handy if you have the disc version (or if on DVR and it would be a struggle to put in the exact timestamp — a work around is just mention the scene…so I can easily follow!)

I started to do Timeline commentaries to keep track of episodes (and just be able to pick up a discussion with someone who had just watched it — and it could get me as ‘fresh’ as I could). For films that I end up abandoning (either during the first ten minutes or towards the halfway mark after realising that it is not the sort of show for me), I still keep my commentaries on hand, and if someone from my circle asks…I can just easily remember why. Then I found other reasons why it’s something that I should continue!