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Better Call Saul is superior to Breaking Bad

Piston

Piston

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,200
I've finally fully caught up on Better Call Saul and by the end of Season 3, something I have known all along has been reconfirmed: Better Call Saul is superior to Breaking Bad.

+ Jimmy and Mike are more compelling characters than Walt and Jesse.
+ I care about every scene. I don't have to suffer through the boring family melodrama that plagued swathes of Breaking Bad. Kim, Howard, and Chuck are probably the biggest role players and all are very watchable, interesting characters.
+ The direction, cinematography, plotting, and pacing of BCS are all either equivalent or better than BB.
- Maybe, you could say that Breaking Bad has higher-highs with some set pieces and dramatic moments.

I will die on this hill even if my friends think I'm crazy. Anyone else with me?
 
Taki

Taki

Attempt to circumvent a ban with an alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
5,308
We couldn't have BCS without Breaking Bad though. BCS is built by those who honed their craft on BB first. On the shoulders of giants etc.
 

Deleted member 2809

User requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
25,478
tenor.gif


Seriously, I'm much more invested in it. It should chill out with the BB callbacks though, and some overly slow sequences could be cut a tad
 
JLP101

JLP101

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,756
I feel like they are two different shows that focus on separate things. BCS is more focused on character development while BB was more focused on drama/events that took place.
 
CrazyAndy

CrazyAndy

Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,071
I love Breaking Bad. I should give Better Call Saul a chance. It has been on my watchlist since forever.
 
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Piston

Piston

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,200
Taki said:
We couldn't have BCS without Breaking Bad though. BCS is built by those who honed their craft on BB first. On the shoulders of giants etc.
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It can be watched as a stand alone just fine, in fact it may be more effective as you don't know what the true outcomes are from BB.

Also that doesn't take away from the fact that it still can be a better show.
 
Lupercal

Lupercal

Banned
Jan 9, 2018
1,028
BCS is better but it benefits from you knowing most of these characters from BB.
Chuck is magnificent though.
 
snipe_25

snipe_25

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,173
Hmm, I've only seen Season 1 (that's all that was on Netflix at the time) and I really enjoyed it. Maybe I should catch up...
 
CrankyJay

CrankyJay

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
11,318
BCS is an overall more consistent experience, but BB's highs were way higher than the BCS highs we've seen so far.
 
Carbonox

Carbonox

Member
Dec 13, 2017
1,603
Season 3 was as good as any season of Breaking Bad. It was fantastic. This show is definitely up there and if Season 4 knocks it out of the park I will agree that it's superior.
 
xyla

xyla

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,420
Germany
If BCS sticks the landing, I fully agree. I enjoy the seasons way more then the early bb seasons (and those were really good already).

The references to bb are actually the worst part about this show.
It's able to fully stand on it's own.
 
Arkeband

Arkeband

Banned
Nov 8, 2017
7,663
The head-bump episode cliffhanger might've been better than the cliffhanger with Hank on the toilet. Odenkirk sold that panic so well.

I'm ready for season four to escalate the stakes a bit now that it's somewhat progressed beyond the Chuck infighting.
 
Ferny

Ferny

FutureERA
Member
Oct 23, 2017
658
I absolutely loved BB. One of my favorite shows, but you are right. BCS is really starting to surpass it in my eyes. It's so good.
 

Deleted member 1759

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Oct 25, 2017
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Europe
Piston said:
I care about every scene. I don't have to suffer through the boring family melodrama that plagued swathes of Breaking Bad. Kim, Howard, and Chuck are probably the biggest role players and all are very watchable, interesting characters.
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That's the main reason why prefer BCS to BB. The whole family thing in BB just got so annoying at a point that I had to skip those parts.
 
DrewFu

DrewFu

Attempted to circumvent ban with an alt-account
Banned
Apr 19, 2018
10,360
Agreed, it is. And that's saying something because Breaking Bad is one of the all time great shows.
 
adrem007

adrem007

Banned
Nov 26, 2017
2,679
It is, BB is carried by superb secondary characters, and in BCS everyone is amazing. Brilliant show
 
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Piston

Piston

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,200
Flips said:
That's the main reason why prefer BCS to BB. The whole family thing in BB just got so annoying at a point that I had to skip those parts.
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That's my whole point basically. A show can't be one of the greatest of all time and have many parts that you just want to skip when you re-watch it.
 
SNES Jr

SNES Jr

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
2,887
Piston said:
It can be watched as a stand alone just fine, in fact it may be more effective as you don't know what the true outcomes are from BB.

Also that doesn't take away from the fact that it still can be a better show.
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I would absolutely not recommend watching this without seeing BB first.
 
Vern

Vern

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
5,097
I didn't think BB was all that great to be honest. It was entertaining but not best tv show of all time good like it gets hyped up here. Better Call Saul I've been watching over the past few months and I have a few episodes left of season 3. It's a much better show than Breaking Bad, I actually care about Saul, he's a sympathetic character. He's got his flaws but he's a good dude. Walt I didn't give a shit about. I just wanted the show to end by the time I got around to binging it. I should have watched at 1.5 speed but I didn't know that was an option.
 

Deleted member 176

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I'm afraid to keep watching because Kim is my celebrity crush and I know she has to go somewhere
 
Luchashaq

Luchashaq

Banned
Nov 4, 2017
4,329
I think it's better made but less entertaining.

The biggest difference for me is that better call Saul has interesting deep female characters and breaking bad didn't besides maybe Marie a tiny bit.
 
Kalor

Kalor

Resettlement Advisor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,653
I'd agree with that. Season 3, particularly the courtroom episode, is better than a lot of the stuff in BB. It's only as good as it is because they had BB to hone their craft but they've surpassed it already for me.
 
DrewFu

DrewFu

Attempted to circumvent ban with an alt-account
Banned
Apr 19, 2018
10,360
Man, I can't wait for the new season.
 
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Nappuccino

Nappuccino

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
13,091
Does Better Call Saul stand on its own? I can't deny that Breaking Bad is super well done, but I found the core premise just so distressing and depressing that I couldn't keep watching.

I sat out on BCS because even though I know it's a prequel, it felt like BB was essential viewing for it.
 
DrewFu

DrewFu

Attempted to circumvent ban with an alt-account
Banned
Apr 19, 2018
10,360
Nappuccino said:
Does Better Call Saul stand on its own? I can't deny that Breaking Bad is super well done, but I found the core premise just so distressing and depressing that I couldn't keep watching.

I sat out on BCS because even though I know it's a prequel, it felt like BB was essential viewing for it.
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If you found BB to be depressing, you ain't seen nothing. BCS takes it to amazing new levels.

It does completely stand on its own though.
 

Deleted member 16876

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
39,148
The biggest problem with BB was the family shit and this has none of that. I get why the family stuff existed but I don't like it.

Better Call Saul also gave us this gem:
 

Deleted member 2809

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Oct 25, 2017
25,478
Nappuccino said:
Does Better Call Saul stand on its own? I can't deny that Breaking Bad is super well done, but I found the core premise just so distressing and depressing that I couldn't keep watching.

I sat out on BCS because even though I know it's a prequel, it felt like BB was essential viewing for it.
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You only need to see like 2-3 seasons of BB to have enough context for BCS. Well.. kinda. There's another small thing they dedicate a little bit of time every season that relates to BB.
There's flashforwards of what saul does after breaking bad when he got a new identity, but it's minor
 
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Piston

Piston

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,200
Nappuccino said:
Does Better Call Saul stand on its own? I can't deny that Breaking Bad is super well done, but I found the core premise just so distressing and depressing that I couldn't keep watching.

I sat out on BCS because even though I know it's a prequel, it felt like BB was essential viewing for it.
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It's not the same type of distressing and depressing as Breaking Bad. If you met Saul in BB, you could always sense the pain underneath his salesman shell, that's what the show explores. I find it much more relatable than what Walt and Jesse go through.
 
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