I enjoyed the finale. My girlfriend didn’t. I wasn’t bothered by all of the timeline jumping like she was. I think I found it more satisfying than the BB finale. Definitely liked it more than the Sopranos finale.

Clyde wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 2:58 pm...these last few episodes have really laid it on thick, too. Part of the appeal of Saul as a character is his gleeful/self-hating amorality, but they've practically turned him into Snidely Whiplash (stealing from the kind-hearted cancer guy, about ready to strangle the sweet old lady)...

Was concerned they were gonna miss the offramp before heading irrevocably down the AMC's Answer to Gaspar Noe Highway. While sure to produce some rough chuckles, that would've contradicted much of the series as a whole, in terms of Jimmy/Saul's character beats.

How they did end things--without blabbing any spoilers here--is more consistent with the overall scope of his psychology. And Kim's. More the stuff of "dramedy" than a quasi-actioner or irredeemable-anti-hero odyssey.

jfv wrote:I need to watch the finale again. Maybe not in the same room as my wife next time.

What's the fun in watching things with others if there's no threat of it derailing your enjoyment??

DaveA wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 10:59 pm

jfv wrote:I need to watch the finale again. Maybe not in the same room as my wife next time.

What's the fun in watching things with others if there's no threat of it derailing your enjoyment??

I'll get her back..!

She's learned her lesson on what happens if she watches The Bachelor (or any of its variations) in my presence.

I'm going to miss Kim (!!!), Lalo (!!), Mike, Nacho, and Gus.

I have mixed feelings about Jimmy/Saul/Gene. Bob Odenkirk was great portraying each, but I found it difficult to enjoy most of the Gene timeline. I also had mixed feelings about Howard's character. Going back a few seasons, I did not like the character of Chuck, but again no fault of Michael McKean (in fact, maybe to his credit)... I just despised the character.

Without getting into spoilers, I thought the last episode was very good, but didn't care much for the lead-in episodes.

I'm sad this show is over.

I have a pretty mad fictional crush on Kim.

missed opportunity to call the last episode "That's Saul Folks!"

jfv wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 7:27 pm I have a pretty mad fictional crush on Kim.

This seems to be universal.

Series went out on a fine note. I thought the finale flashbacks were used to great effect.

I do not get the phenomena of armchair-quarterbacking plots and scripts. The whole point is enjoying stuff or not based on how it does play out, all the "what if"s are so pointless.

Bernardo wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 5:43 pmI do not get the phenomena of armchair-quarterbacking plots and scripts.

If that's how you feel, then dude . . . STAY AWAY from the internet!

I do understand how such talk could be irksome after a while. Better Call Saul is an interesting case though because when it started out there was a fair amount of speculation as to whether it would grow its own legs, have its own feel, or instead just be a spinoff riding Breaking Bad's coattails, with not enough heft of its own to justify its existence. IIRC in the original thread you yourself had your doubts at first. I think a number of people did, because if nothing else there wasn't lots to go on. Waiting and waiting for episodes to arrive, even before COVID, certainly fueled the fire.

It can be nerdy to speculate about where a narrative will go, and later on, feel relief or misgivings about where it did or didn't, but so many people do this online and IRL at this point, it's beyond normalized. Seeing if/how the pieces fit together is a big draw in the narrative arts.

DaveA wrote: Fri Aug 19, 2022 3:39 pmSeeing if/how the pieces fit together is a big draw in the narrative arts.

Nowt wrong with that, but I'd say it's distinct from armchair-quarterbacking, which is maddening. Way back when I was doing work on shows with some cultural heft, I'd always make sure not to let slip about it just to dodge the inevitable ear-bashing.

My missus at the time let slip about one show her brother-in-law was into and fuck me.... I had to stop going around to their place. Oh for the confidence of a viewer who's never so much as whittled down a scene.

A_Man_Who_Tries wrote: Fri Aug 19, 2022 4:04 pm

DaveA wrote: Fri Aug 19, 2022 3:39 pmSeeing if/how the pieces fit together is a big draw in the narrative arts.

Nowt wrong with that, but I'd say it's distinct from armchair-quarterbacking, which is maddening. Way back when I was doing work on shows with some cultural heft, I'd always make sure not to let slip about it just to dodge the inevitable ear-bashing.

My missus at the time let slip about one show her brother-in-law was into and fuck me.... I had to stop going around to their place. Oh for the confidence of a viewer who's never so much as whittled down a scene.

Whatever *it* is--could be sports, politics, the arts, whatever--there's gonna be chatter surrounding it if it's popular enough. And that chatter will often run the gamut!

It's worth noting here that I did enjoy reading what people had to say about the finale before and after it. As far as "stuff you can see on the internet," it would go in the "Not Crap" pile.