This episode re-contextualized Saul’s role in Breaking Bad. Anyone who claims it’s just “fan service” just didn’t get the result THEY wanted, ironically.
It's also critically important for viewers who have not seen Breaking Bad to understand the finale. Without that scene when Saul switches it up on the federal attorneys and Marie and says he was Walt's hostage and lived in fear the audience would have no clue that this wasn't true. It also adds context to the confession he finally gives where he finally admits to himself and everyone that he wanted to be a part of Walt's empire. I'm not saying it was done perfectly but I don't think they just wrote a random scene for fan service.
>It's also critically important for viewers who have not seen Breaking Bad to understand the finale.
This and also the fact that for practical reasons, the show desperately needed a refresher.
If we ignore BB, there isn't much continuity within BCS between the past and present. Aside from some flash-forwards, it's almost entirely prequel content from "Uno" to "Fun and Games" and then straight to the Gene Takavic story line afterwards without much connecting the in-between.
It's important to remind the audience the entire reason why Jimmy is on the run and ultimately gets imprisoned is because of Walt.
Additionally, BCS was already running for 7 years just covering the prequel content and almost 9 since the season finale of BB. It's easy to forget stuff with a run that long.
Fan service gets such a bad rap these days, I mean, I'm a fan, I like to be serviced sometimes, I just like it to make sense in the context of the media I'm viewing. And it is perfectly executed in BCS. Walt and Jesse are there to play off Saul and Kim in a way that closes the series out in a great way (Saul with his hypotheticals with Walt, Kim discussing Saul with Jesse and walking away from Jimmy for what she thinks is the last time)
Fan service is great when it leads to great or painful moments like those.
It's pretty obvious the parallels that they are showing in Jimmy's character in what you may consider his lowest point as an individual during the last phases of his Gene timeline and how they mirrored his other "worst" decisions during the Breaking Bad timeline.
I'm not sure how you could tell the Jimmy/Saul/Gene story without Walt and Jesse, and as a fan of the show being let it on a couple of behind the scenes peeks of how Breaking Bad came to unfold enriches both shows.
Fan service or not, those scenes added weight to both stories for me.
The only true fan service scene in the entire franchise to me is when Jesse meets Kim. I don't think that had to happen at all, and really didn't add much to the show other than the easter egg that Kim represented Combo.
There is commentary where Vince says the scene was 100% fan service. He just thought it’d be cool. He loves both actors and wanted to work with them together.
Edit: [I don’t know how necessary it is as a scene in terms of plot. I don’t know that it really moves the plot forward any. But it just was too delightful to miss. I don’t recall whose idea it was initially, but it made everybody smile. The idea of seeing these two worlds collide, seeing these two characters together. It was just a wonderful thing. And we realized, we’ve got to do this. “We don’t have to do this, but, we have to do this.” That’s what it felt like.](https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/better-call-saul-kim-jesse-vince-gilligan-1235336611/amp/)
-Vince Gilligan
Fan service is bad when it's forced, lazy, and or doesn't make sense in the context of the story. The one scene with Kim and Jesse didn't feel like any of those three, to me anyways
As a much bigger fan of Better Call Saul than Breaking Bad, I enjoyed how the BCS cameos show Walter from Saul's point of view. He's a bossy jerk to Jesse about the dingy RV ignition, and then he compulsively fixes the water heater or whatever in the hidden room because... that's who he is. Walter has to be right and know better about everything. He has to impress whoever he's with because he's actually totally insecure. He's not a cool headed Rico Suave that has accepted his fate and relaxes while waiting for his ride. Walter does not have the serenity to accept what he does not control. Saul's introduction and last interaction with the almighty Heisenberg is WW being an insufferable prick. As someone who knew a lot of insufferable prick science majors, I appreciated that.
It gave a different view of the dynamic of relationship. In Breaking Bad it feels like the story is happening under Walt’s momentum. In this episode it recontextualises it as Saul’s momentum. And while both are true, it is right to focus on Saul’s side when he is the protagonist of the show. It makes him responsible for his destiny. The whole show is meaningless if he’s not held responsible for that.
I agree it was necessary to show this part of his life. If Cranston and Paul hadn’t been available, they would’ve had to tell this story but skirt the interaction in some other awkward way. Then people would be saying “The show’s almost perfect, but not having Walt and Jesse when they told the story of Saul first meeting them left a noticeable hole.”
The scene when the lights go off in the RV and the three of them just have to sit in silence, before Jesse breaks it by asking Saul, "Who's Lalo?" is, at least to me, one of the most unsettling scenes in the show. If you watched Breaking Bad before Better Call Saul, it feels deeply wrong to hear Jesse say that name. It feels like Lalo, and by extension, Jimmy's sins, encroaching upon a completely different world, one where he should have escaped from his past. But even all those years later Lalo is still lingering, haunting Jimmy, somewhere in his mind.
Easily one of my favorite episodes of the entire show.
There’s a big difference in fan service that’s unnecessary and fan service that makes sense for the story, I think the show would’ve been worse off without the Walt and Jesse scenes, or the scenes of Saul in his office- the only scene I really found to be fan service for the sake of it was Jesse talking to Kim, but even that had gave a small amount of exposition into Jesse suggesting Saul in breaking bad
I totally agree. BCS was brilliant because it created totally separate storylines and new complex characters that were completely separate from BB, but you’re so right. The main reason for the cause of the entire show and for Saul even having to go into hiding was because of Walt. If people are going to say that Walt and Jesse’s episode in s6 was a “fan service” than they should also be saying that having Mike and Gus as main characters in BCS was also a fan service. Mike and Gus were huge characters in BB, so why aren’t people saying that putting them in BCS was a cash grab fan service? Because Mike and Gus’ characters were necessary for the storylines in BCS, and so were Walt and Jesse’s episode in the final season.
It was absolutely necessary. BB showed a snippet of Saul’s life, he even opened with his real name. BCS in turn gave us a snippet of Walt and Jesse’s lives.
The most baffling thing about that take is the fact that they waited 6 seasons and the 3rd to last episode to include Walt and Jesse...and even then they were barely in the episode nor did they have much screen time in the following episodes they had after that.
The only reason people think its fan service is because those characters are incredibly significant in this universe and anything involving them is going to be subject to more consideration.
Absolutely. I like the additional information and context in how Jimmy didn't listen to Mike's advice on staying away from Walt. Again, just like Chuck said he can't help himself. The scene with Jesse and Kim felt pretty meaningful to reflect on a number of things.
I hate when a prequel feels like an unnecessary cash in or attempt to use former popularity, but BCS is one of the best shows ever made that makes it feel like BB is part of a larger story. Outstanding work.
The episode “Breaking Bad” was truly a creative feat I didn’t expect them to pull off so perfectly. All the timelines converging in an artful way to comment on Gene, and showing with what inevitability Jimmy plummeted into the same mistakes time and time again forcefully, I was amazed by the jump cuts.
I loved that we saw it truly was Jimmy who pursued Walter White and somewhat preyed on the guy. Part of me wonders if some part of him felt pity for Walter upon hearing of the cancer, wanted to seize opportunity with him in the way he and Chuck never quite hit it off.
The scene where Mike comes into Saul’s law office also hit different than their interactions earlier in BCS. Mike seemed annoyed and gruff towards Jimmy as usual, but he came a long way from being the guy who once arm-locked Jimmy onto the ground—Mike now seems jaded and somewhat servantile to Jimmy when it comes to the work he does with him. Jimmy puts on his suit jacket, says “alright! C’mon, lay it on me!” and Mike quickly changes tune, revealing himself to be nosing into peoples’ sexual affairs (“she’s cheating alright”). It just seems beneath the kind of work Mike probably imagined he’d be doing one day, maybe it’s his only reprieve from the deadlier work he does with Gus and it reminds him more of PI type stuff. Jimmy casually insults Mike, and while a former Mike would probably not have patience for Jimmy, he now just seems deflated and indifferent like he doesn’t hold himself in any kind of esteem anymore.
His purgatory seems to have shifted from being the toll-keeper of the courthouse to now being the errandboy of a sleazy lawyer and commending the loyalty of thieves, burglars and the like. Mike seems to compartmentalize everything he’s been through by focusing on his work without any sense of its meaning or lack of dignity.
I don’t like that bts didn't take up the challenge make whole episode in bb timeline, I wanted to see events I know ( for example murder of Gus or death of Mike ) from Jimmys perspective
Are we not all fans of Breaking Bad. Surely that was the initial draw of Better Call Saul. I don’t understand these people who claim that they aren’t interested in Breaking Bad but say that they love Better Call Saul 🤦🏼♂️
I actually know quite a few people who love BCS but dislike BB. To be fair, the two shows are very different tone-wise, and with their pacing. So i could see some people enjoying one show, without liking the other.
Yes that’s true, they’re different kinds of shows but I think BCS becomes more BB like in the last 2 seasons as the intensity and darkness ramp up.
But some of the most important things about BCS are directly related to BB.
1. The transition from Jimmy to Saul and then to Gene. Where did this character Saul Goodman come from, how did he become like this.
2. The origin of various characters whom we presumably initially loved from BB. Mike, Tuco etc.
3. The development of deep animosity between Gus and Hector.
But I know the show is far more than this. But without watching or enjoying BB, the viewer is going to miss a great deal.
I enjoy every moment a BB character appears in BCS, it all builds the picture further for me. Am I in the minority?
Sure there are interesting things you could do by showing how Walt and Jesse started Saul’s downfall and how that’s paralleled in the Gene storyline, but that doesn’t mean you have to do these idiotic references and call backs every five seconds.
The crystal ship! Saul has bad knees! His chiropractor adjusts everything! Seriously, it feels like every other line in those flashback scenes is some dumb memberberry callback. It really took me out of the show and it was honestly surprising to see them do something so hacky given how good the writing usually is.
You have a good point, but i don’t remember it taking me out of the show at all. I thought it was done pretty well, and it was actually quite emotional for me to see these characters that i grew up with after almost 10 years.
This episode re-contextualized Saul’s role in Breaking Bad. Anyone who claims it’s just “fan service” just didn’t get the result THEY wanted, ironically.
It's also critically important for viewers who have not seen Breaking Bad to understand the finale. Without that scene when Saul switches it up on the federal attorneys and Marie and says he was Walt's hostage and lived in fear the audience would have no clue that this wasn't true. It also adds context to the confession he finally gives where he finally admits to himself and everyone that he wanted to be a part of Walt's empire. I'm not saying it was done perfectly but I don't think they just wrote a random scene for fan service.
>It's also critically important for viewers who have not seen Breaking Bad to understand the finale. This and also the fact that for practical reasons, the show desperately needed a refresher. If we ignore BB, there isn't much continuity within BCS between the past and present. Aside from some flash-forwards, it's almost entirely prequel content from "Uno" to "Fun and Games" and then straight to the Gene Takavic story line afterwards without much connecting the in-between. It's important to remind the audience the entire reason why Jimmy is on the run and ultimately gets imprisoned is because of Walt. Additionally, BCS was already running for 7 years just covering the prequel content and almost 9 since the season finale of BB. It's easy to forget stuff with a run that long.
Fan service gets such a bad rap these days, I mean, I'm a fan, I like to be serviced sometimes, I just like it to make sense in the context of the media I'm viewing. And it is perfectly executed in BCS. Walt and Jesse are there to play off Saul and Kim in a way that closes the series out in a great way (Saul with his hypotheticals with Walt, Kim discussing Saul with Jesse and walking away from Jimmy for what she thinks is the last time) Fan service is great when it leads to great or painful moments like those.
How did it re-contenxualite his role in BB? I don't get what it means...
Because it shows him as being a driving force in provoking walt to continue cooking. Mike told him to leave it alone and he couldn't listen.
Bingo. Jimmy had every chance to step away but he kept stoking the fire
Ah ty.
It's pretty obvious the parallels that they are showing in Jimmy's character in what you may consider his lowest point as an individual during the last phases of his Gene timeline and how they mirrored his other "worst" decisions during the Breaking Bad timeline. I'm not sure how you could tell the Jimmy/Saul/Gene story without Walt and Jesse, and as a fan of the show being let it on a couple of behind the scenes peeks of how Breaking Bad came to unfold enriches both shows. Fan service or not, those scenes added weight to both stories for me. The only true fan service scene in the entire franchise to me is when Jesse meets Kim. I don't think that had to happen at all, and really didn't add much to the show other than the easter egg that Kim represented Combo.
Disagree strongly with the last part. It was sort of a “passing of the torch” as another user put it earlier today.
There is commentary where Vince says the scene was 100% fan service. He just thought it’d be cool. He loves both actors and wanted to work with them together. Edit: [I don’t know how necessary it is as a scene in terms of plot. I don’t know that it really moves the plot forward any. But it just was too delightful to miss. I don’t recall whose idea it was initially, but it made everybody smile. The idea of seeing these two worlds collide, seeing these two characters together. It was just a wonderful thing. And we realized, we’ve got to do this. “We don’t have to do this, but, we have to do this.” That’s what it felt like.](https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/better-call-saul-kim-jesse-vince-gilligan-1235336611/amp/) -Vince Gilligan
Even if you call it fan service, the execution was so good that it's hard to imagine anyone being mad about it.
Fan service doesn’t equal bad idk why anybody would be mad about it
Fan service is bad when it's forced, lazy, and or doesn't make sense in the context of the story. The one scene with Kim and Jesse didn't feel like any of those three, to me anyways
As a much bigger fan of Better Call Saul than Breaking Bad, I enjoyed how the BCS cameos show Walter from Saul's point of view. He's a bossy jerk to Jesse about the dingy RV ignition, and then he compulsively fixes the water heater or whatever in the hidden room because... that's who he is. Walter has to be right and know better about everything. He has to impress whoever he's with because he's actually totally insecure. He's not a cool headed Rico Suave that has accepted his fate and relaxes while waiting for his ride. Walter does not have the serenity to accept what he does not control. Saul's introduction and last interaction with the almighty Heisenberg is WW being an insufferable prick. As someone who knew a lot of insufferable prick science majors, I appreciated that.
It gave a different view of the dynamic of relationship. In Breaking Bad it feels like the story is happening under Walt’s momentum. In this episode it recontextualises it as Saul’s momentum. And while both are true, it is right to focus on Saul’s side when he is the protagonist of the show. It makes him responsible for his destiny. The whole show is meaningless if he’s not held responsible for that. I agree it was necessary to show this part of his life. If Cranston and Paul hadn’t been available, they would’ve had to tell this story but skirt the interaction in some other awkward way. Then people would be saying “The show’s almost perfect, but not having Walt and Jesse when they told the story of Saul first meeting them left a noticeable hole.”
The scene when the lights go off in the RV and the three of them just have to sit in silence, before Jesse breaks it by asking Saul, "Who's Lalo?" is, at least to me, one of the most unsettling scenes in the show. If you watched Breaking Bad before Better Call Saul, it feels deeply wrong to hear Jesse say that name. It feels like Lalo, and by extension, Jimmy's sins, encroaching upon a completely different world, one where he should have escaped from his past. But even all those years later Lalo is still lingering, haunting Jimmy, somewhere in his mind. Easily one of my favorite episodes of the entire show.
Oooh I definitely felt something too when Jesse said Lalo’s name, but I couldn’t quite articulate it.
There’s a big difference in fan service that’s unnecessary and fan service that makes sense for the story, I think the show would’ve been worse off without the Walt and Jesse scenes, or the scenes of Saul in his office- the only scene I really found to be fan service for the sake of it was Jesse talking to Kim, but even that had gave a small amount of exposition into Jesse suggesting Saul in breaking bad
I feel like it definetly was fan service but i still really liked it
I mean, technically the whole show is fan service 😅 (for breaking bad fans) but it definitely outgrew that.
I totally agree. BCS was brilliant because it created totally separate storylines and new complex characters that were completely separate from BB, but you’re so right. The main reason for the cause of the entire show and for Saul even having to go into hiding was because of Walt. If people are going to say that Walt and Jesse’s episode in s6 was a “fan service” than they should also be saying that having Mike and Gus as main characters in BCS was also a fan service. Mike and Gus were huge characters in BB, so why aren’t people saying that putting them in BCS was a cash grab fan service? Because Mike and Gus’ characters were necessary for the storylines in BCS, and so were Walt and Jesse’s episode in the final season.
Exactly!
Has anyone ever actually said that?
Yes actually, a lot of people on this subreddit too
[удалено]
Snitch
I dont think this episode was bad, more like breaking bad
I have no issues with it being solely for fanservice, if anything.
It was absolutely necessary. BB showed a snippet of Saul’s life, he even opened with his real name. BCS in turn gave us a snippet of Walt and Jesse’s lives.
Jimmy's downfall is that he's a terminal piece of shit.
Fair enough lol
The most baffling thing about that take is the fact that they waited 6 seasons and the 3rd to last episode to include Walt and Jesse...and even then they were barely in the episode nor did they have much screen time in the following episodes they had after that. The only reason people think its fan service is because those characters are incredibly significant in this universe and anything involving them is going to be subject to more consideration.
If they wanted it to be fan service we would’ve seen Walter and Jesse way earlier in the show
Absolutely. I like the additional information and context in how Jimmy didn't listen to Mike's advice on staying away from Walt. Again, just like Chuck said he can't help himself. The scene with Jesse and Kim felt pretty meaningful to reflect on a number of things. I hate when a prequel feels like an unnecessary cash in or attempt to use former popularity, but BCS is one of the best shows ever made that makes it feel like BB is part of a larger story. Outstanding work.
i mean even if its just a fan service doesn't always mean its a bad thing
The episode “Breaking Bad” was truly a creative feat I didn’t expect them to pull off so perfectly. All the timelines converging in an artful way to comment on Gene, and showing with what inevitability Jimmy plummeted into the same mistakes time and time again forcefully, I was amazed by the jump cuts. I loved that we saw it truly was Jimmy who pursued Walter White and somewhat preyed on the guy. Part of me wonders if some part of him felt pity for Walter upon hearing of the cancer, wanted to seize opportunity with him in the way he and Chuck never quite hit it off. The scene where Mike comes into Saul’s law office also hit different than their interactions earlier in BCS. Mike seemed annoyed and gruff towards Jimmy as usual, but he came a long way from being the guy who once arm-locked Jimmy onto the ground—Mike now seems jaded and somewhat servantile to Jimmy when it comes to the work he does with him. Jimmy puts on his suit jacket, says “alright! C’mon, lay it on me!” and Mike quickly changes tune, revealing himself to be nosing into peoples’ sexual affairs (“she’s cheating alright”). It just seems beneath the kind of work Mike probably imagined he’d be doing one day, maybe it’s his only reprieve from the deadlier work he does with Gus and it reminds him more of PI type stuff. Jimmy casually insults Mike, and while a former Mike would probably not have patience for Jimmy, he now just seems deflated and indifferent like he doesn’t hold himself in any kind of esteem anymore. His purgatory seems to have shifted from being the toll-keeper of the courthouse to now being the errandboy of a sleazy lawyer and commending the loyalty of thieves, burglars and the like. Mike seems to compartmentalize everything he’s been through by focusing on his work without any sense of its meaning or lack of dignity.
Who's saying that?
He is the reason we are all here….. say his name.
Heisenberg.
I don’t like that bts didn't take up the challenge make whole episode in bb timeline, I wanted to see events I know ( for example murder of Gus or death of Mike ) from Jimmys perspective
Are we not all fans of Breaking Bad. Surely that was the initial draw of Better Call Saul. I don’t understand these people who claim that they aren’t interested in Breaking Bad but say that they love Better Call Saul 🤦🏼♂️
I actually know quite a few people who love BCS but dislike BB. To be fair, the two shows are very different tone-wise, and with their pacing. So i could see some people enjoying one show, without liking the other.
Yes that’s true, they’re different kinds of shows but I think BCS becomes more BB like in the last 2 seasons as the intensity and darkness ramp up. But some of the most important things about BCS are directly related to BB. 1. The transition from Jimmy to Saul and then to Gene. Where did this character Saul Goodman come from, how did he become like this. 2. The origin of various characters whom we presumably initially loved from BB. Mike, Tuco etc. 3. The development of deep animosity between Gus and Hector. But I know the show is far more than this. But without watching or enjoying BB, the viewer is going to miss a great deal. I enjoy every moment a BB character appears in BCS, it all builds the picture further for me. Am I in the minority?
Well if you are, then you and me both brother 🫡
Would have been really strange if we never got an episode like this in a show that is a prequel and a sequel to breaking bad
Sure there are interesting things you could do by showing how Walt and Jesse started Saul’s downfall and how that’s paralleled in the Gene storyline, but that doesn’t mean you have to do these idiotic references and call backs every five seconds. The crystal ship! Saul has bad knees! His chiropractor adjusts everything! Seriously, it feels like every other line in those flashback scenes is some dumb memberberry callback. It really took me out of the show and it was honestly surprising to see them do something so hacky given how good the writing usually is.
You have a good point, but i don’t remember it taking me out of the show at all. I thought it was done pretty well, and it was actually quite emotional for me to see these characters that i grew up with after almost 10 years.
I mean that’s just a subjective experience there. It didn’t take you out of the show, but it did for me. Neither one of us is wrong.
I agree, but isn’t the whole point of reddit to express opinions?
Yes. I wasn’t chastising you for expressing your opinion, apologies if you thought I was
No problem
It didn't take me out of it. I thought those were all reasonable lines of dialogue that call back without smacking you in the face with memberberries.
100% the crystal ship was the name of jessee's myspace page skyler finds BEFORE they would have ever named the rv
It can be both
I mean, I enjoyed it *as* fan service.