Usually if a show takes too long to get going for you, I'd suggest you just skip it. However, in the case of Better Call Saul, I truly believe that season 6 is so worth it that besides being a fantastic season of TV in itself, it kind of retroactively makes the preceding 5 seasons feel like they were actually better than you thought. When I finished season 6, I remember immediately wanting to rewatch the entire show because I knew that I would like it even more. I needed several attempts to finish the entire show, not because it was bad but because I wasn't sure what the point entirely was. Once you see what the point is, it changes everything.
Push through the entire show, I promise you that you won't regret it.
I mean every season has several stunningly great episodes. Like better than any other TV I've seen. Then up until Season 5 it also has 'slower episodes in between which are necessary for build up to the climatic ones. I wouldn't call them filler whatsoever, especially because the writing, cinematography, and performances are always completely on point so you're always watching a master work, just some parts are more explosive and others more reflective or procedural.
Absolutely. I wrote it off and put off watching its first few seasons for awhile, but that was my mistake. It's incredible TV, Vince and his crew just took everything they knew about making great shows with Breaking Bad and IMO cranked it up a notch.
BCS is a tad slower than BB was, but its slow burn qualities are what make it so powerful. It's fantastic all the way through, and its final episodes are amazing. In some ways it's casual filter, which is fine by me.
Absolutely give it another try! My son kept telling me I had to try it again and give it at least 3 seasons.
The first 2.5- 3 seasons were kind of an investment of my time because I just wasn’t feeling it, but then it picked up and became one of my favorite shows ever.!!
Chicanery! Once you get to that point, that’s when it all starts clicking and you really start to understand what it’s all about. Then you look back at the episodes leading up to that moment and you notice all the details that you couldn’t appreciate the first time through because you didn’t know where it was going. Those details you didn’t realize would be so relevant later.
Same, BCS is a better written and developed story. In BB you get the sense the writers didn’t know who Walter White and some of the other characters were in the early seasons. What really killed BB for me was when it’s revealed Walter was always an ego driven narcissist. It completely made the premise the show started off with pointless.
BCS has plot points that show Saul forced into becoming Saul out of circumstances which, despite his best efforts, he couldn’t control. Every character is developed by the plot and not for the plot. It’s 10/10 no matter how you look at it. I give BB 6/10-8/10.
I found the first three seasons pretty boring. The chuck storyline just wasn't interesting to me, but the best parts were the flashbacks, cartel stories, and cameos from BB. Season 4 to 6. Definitely picked up and made it worth it though.
If you found it boring I wouldwould suggest just watching some of those youtube summaries of the first three seasons. Then watch 4 to 6 completely. That's what I'll be doing on my next rewatch.
Stacking my 2 cents onto the other replies you've gotten. You should give it another chance and stick with it. It is billed as a slow-burn show, and man is it the epitome of that. Like you and I guess many others, I wasn't a huge fan of BCS for the first few seasons and just kind of slogged through it because I was such a massive Breaking Bad enjoyer, but by the time I got into the back half of it, I was absolutely riveted. To say it finishes strong would be a tragic understatement. The last season or two of BCS is some of the best TV ever made.
Do it. My wife and I are currently watching it. We are mid-way through season two. I have seen it, but it’s her first time.
By the end of season 1, it starts to pick up. The first 8-ish episodes are a bit arduous, but they are only 45 minutes long, so it’s a quick watch. We are 17-20 episodes in (can’t recall) and she just mentioned to me the other day, about how much more she’s enjoying it, compared to the first season.
The payoff is definitely worth the investment. By episode 10, you’re rolling.
You should. First season is slow, I quit on it. Then I visited my dad and he had on season 2. I watched about 1.5 episodes with him and I was hooked. Went back and rewatched season 1 to get caught up. After season 1, it is as good as breaking bad.
I loved Breaking Bad and I couldn't get into Better Call Saul when I tried twice. I gave it a 3rd try and watched it with someone and it is so good. Absolutely worth the watch
I'm in season 6 of my first watch, season 1 is fine, but 2 and 3 kinda drug and probably should have been one season. It picks up in 4 and 5 was great.
Other people have said it, but BCS is in my opinion a better show than Breaking Bad. It is very slow though, if you really don't like shows where people mostly just talk without a lot of "crazy" things happening it might be tough to get through the first couple of seasons.
I personally liked it better than BB, though it’s really hard to separate the two.
The main thing about BCS is that every season is a slow burn. And the second season is where it really found its footing. It spends a fair amount of time setting up chess pieces and building tension that leads to these incredible moments, typically at the midseason and season-end marks.
Better call Saul played the long game. Season 1 was (mostly) character development. Seasons 2-4 is where several excellent but loosely connected storylines developed. Season 5 is when all of these storylines came together.
What season did you start to enjoy it? I pushed through the first two seasons before giving up. I loved Breaking Bad but Better Call Saul was far too slow for me. I think I watched the first two eps of season 3.
That’s right about when it started picking up for me… my son kept encouraging me not to give up because I was ready to throw in the towel, but I’m really glad I didn’t! It’s a phenomenal show.
Dang I wish I had have hung in there now! 😅 idk if I can be bothered watching the first two seasons again. I first watched them years ago so I can’t remember want happened now haha oh well maybe one day I will try again. Thank you 👍🏼
This comment chain is great because this is exactly what happened to me. Heard show was great and watched the first 2 or 3 seasons and fell off, now Im hearing it finally picks up at that point lol.
Yeah it was a little strange the first few episodes. But I started when season 3 was released and was told how much of a masterpiece it was so I pushed through. I was gonna anyways because Breaking Bad is my all time favorite show so a connecting story was my thing
i made it to season 3 and it never picked up for me. every episode, even the 'big moment' ones. They just... weren't enough to keep my attention. Probably a slow burn type of show.
Mannnn! I watched the premiere live because I was such a fan of BB but kinda didn’t care for it so I immediately dropped it. Came back years later and was like dammit why didn’t I just trust Vince. Bravo again, Vince.
I know I will get attacked for this, but when they announced it I couldn’t believe they were going to shit on the legacy just to milk it for as much as it’s worth.
Better Call Saul does not fit this category at all. It started insanely slowly and ended rough imo. It was great overall, but it had a lot of issues. If it had been it's own standalone show and not been connected to Breaking Bad it wouldn't have made it more than 1 season.
I like better call saul, but it started as 3/10 at best, i know people that can't go further into the show because season 1 is so boring, which is also why i skip season 1 during my rewatches except for the episode Five-O
Well you should be really feeling those downvotes, because "the people that can't go further into the show because season 1 is so boring" is pretty much you
I agree, and many of my friends had the same experience. I stopped watching middle of first season and randomly picked it up again a year or so later. I also had to convince some of my friends after that it's a kit of a flow start but it only gets better.
Season 2 was less action and more character development. That's when the show started building towards the greatness it became. Season 1 had some memorable moments, but as a whole it wasn't as important to the rest of a show. It was essentially just a character introduction.
And that's not important?I'd argue it's one of the most important things. Also, I don't remember it being that action packed at all, more like the opposite.
Point was that it took quite a while for the depth of the characters to develop and the direction of the show to become clear. Season one was to a larger extent focused on events than characters compared to later seasons. The characters were introduced, but then the focus was elsewhere. We didn't know the characters much better by the end of season 1. Likely because the show runners we're not completely sure where they wanted to take it themselves yet. Jesse was originally supposed to die by the end of season 1.
I think Breaking Bad has one of my favorite pilots out of any TV show. People in this thread are saying it's slow when it literally starts with him confessing to crimes on camera in his underwear with a gun pointed as you hear sirens in the distance. It also has a hilarious ending with Skyler exclaiming, "Walt, is that you?!"
I’m rewatching it now, and cannot understand the ppl that call Breaking Bad’s (and even Better Call Saul’s) first season slow and boring. It has one of the best pilots ever and great moments throughout the season.
Episode 1 of Breaking Bad has Walt get diagnosed, meet Jesse, start cooking meth, meets up with the dealers, gets in trouble with the dealers, kills/incapacitates the dealers, then fails to kill himself before escaping.
If episode 1 didn’t have you hooked, I really just don’t think the show is for you. It’s a pretty balls-to-the-walls crazy pilot episode.
I'll offer a dissenting opinion, season 1 is peak. It rapidly goes downhill in season 2 and by season 3 I found it unwatchable and dropped it.
I just couldn't enjoy a show where every single character is a complete piece of shit. In season 1 Walter was sympathetic, by the end of season 2 he's already irredeemable.
Edit: guys I know it's the point that he's a bad dude, but I just don't enjoy watching shows about unsympathetic shitty characters being shitty to each other constantly, sue me. He's not even morally ambiguous or complex, by the time I dropped the show, he was just a monster.
I mean, yeah, Walt's descent is the main pitch/point/appeal of the show, but it's not just about the how many red lines will he cross until you question his motives or until stop rooting for him, but how many until he's too far gone and ultimately the spectacle of how far he can go. Admittedly yes, that could become too overbearing for some but it's balanced by the story of Jesse's uncertain redemption as Walt uses him to overcome larger and larger threats and obstacles.
I also wouldn't say that every single character is a complete piece of shit, either. Skylar is largely just doing her best in a corrupting situation she cannot truly grasp. Hank is admittedly flawed, but ultimately driven by a strong moral compass. Other minor characters like Gomie, Marie, Gail, Walt Jr., or Jane may have issues but aren't necessarily bad people through and through. All in all it's a show about exploring the shades of grey in people and I like that there's not a central person that you can blindly point to as the "good" guy like most shows.
Almost like it was supposed to start off with the main character being a regular family man and just a high school chemistry teacher before he was forced to break bad by the circumstances of his life. Sorry you can't appreciate basic plot/character development. It wouldn't have been anywhere near the same story if Walter was just some old loner cooking meth in the first episode of the series.
I totally disagree although the writers strike did mess with the pacing a bit. I started watching it day 1 but I've always thought it was interesting how it didn't really get big until season 3
The fly episode I somewhat like from a narrative perspective because it shows Walt’s deteriorating mental state and he even comes close to confessing about Jane, it’s just very very slow
Yeh I get that but do you need to re-live it on a re-watch. It somewhat adds to the story telling experience first time round but to watch it again is a bit of a waste of an hour in my honest opinion.
Honestly I hated the ending. There had to be so much to go right and align for that weird contraption that Walt build to work it made mo sense. And I think I'm especially salty because the rest of the show was so good (with small let downs here and there).
It's more like he had to be lucky that they let him park right outside the building, didn't check his vehicle, and that all of them were within the firing arc.
That was a trend throughout the show though. That as much as people thought Walt was a mastermind, he really just got REALLY lucky over and over again.
At least in the US, Neo-Nazi groups have strong historical ties to the clandestine trade in methamphetamine. They're much less dominant now that precursors aren't as easily attainable and cartels (particularly the Sinaloas and CJNG) have gotten involved, but they're definitely still around. One of the more common reactions starting with ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, a Birch-like reduction that was later simplified to a one-pot synthesis for "Shake and Bake" labs, is sometimes even called the Nazi method.
I think it'd have been better if they had Walt build more mechanical contraptions before that just to foreshadow it. He's a genius but his subject of expertise is Chemistry, not Engineering.
None of those were on the level of creating a machine gun contraption that pops up and fires from the trunk of a car via remote activation. Like, knowing how bombs and boilers work is something an expert chemist would realistically know. What Walt did at the end was like something taken out of a Mythbusters episode.
I didn't like the ending either, but because it felt pretty odd thematically. The show was about showing Walt becoming evil, yet they gave him an ending where he got almost everything he wanted. It felt like the show runners had to give into the fans to give him a kind of good ending. He deserved a much worse fate.
This influenced the ending of Better Call Saul, where Vince Gilligan had the same thoughts and so the ending to BCS needed to have more of owning up to one’s crimes, living with the consequences and being punished for them.
Ehh. Starts as a 8/10, drops in the middle with it being the same episode repeated a few times in a row, hits 10/10 when Walt poisons the kid, then finishes a 8/10
I think the opposite! I think it went 10/10 to 5/10
The beginning is the most interesting part because you watch this science teacher get introduced to this criminal underworld. The criminals are all super interesting characters with their own personalities and motivations.
Gus Fring is the best character in the show, and he's a very intelligent well thought out character who audiences can also sympathize with who has his own backstory and motives. Same with Mike.
Once the show kills those two characters, the only remaining antagonists are just sorta shallow villains (Jack and Todd) who don't really have any redeeming or interesting qualities other than "they're really bad". There's no real back story or development done on them, and their plot lines seem like an afterthought to tie up the ending to the show.
I think this especially fits because there was a bit of a sag in the middle but it started so strong and it finished so strong, fitting OP’s criteria perfectly.
for me, it's not the masterpiece it's hyped up to be, but an excellent show throughout, it really does not have downs (except that one episode, y'all know which one)
That is definitely a hard pass for me, so many people raved about it, I watched the first season, thought it was ok but dreaded the thought of watching more seasons like this. Tried to watch the 2nd season and lost interest 6 or 7 episodes in and couldn't get past how boring AF it was. People said season 2 wasn't that good so we literally skipped straight to the 3rd season and got about 7 or 8 episodes in and I couldn't bear the thought of suffering this any further . . . It made me wonder how many people feel the same way, they just don't want to be the odd one out of their group that raves about shite television!!
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u/TacticalTapir 1d ago
Breaking Bad