Breaking Bad after watching Better Call Saul - no contest

hitmy

It really seems to be no contest. Maybe it's mostly Bryan Cranston, and his relationship as portrayed with Aaron Paul, but I'm about done with watching "Fly," and it's moving like nothing I've seen in BCS.

I can think of a few other similar episodes. Two Minutes where Hank faces off against the Twins. Many of the culminating episodes that finished off the series.

Perhaps season 5 of BCS will have episodes of similar caliber. But I doubt it. 

Thoughts?

Walnut Frey

I totally agree, but this is a cold take. Maybe coldest of cold. It’s like saying Godfather 1 & 2 are way better than 3, amiright?

Doctor_Nick

No, influential people have started saying they appreciate BCS more than Breaking Bad.  I think it would have taken something really remarkable to get out from under the constraint of being a prequel.

Frakkin T

I don't think it's a no contest or a Godfather 1&2 vs 3 situation; it's a lot closer for me. Breaking Bad has more tension and more cool moments, Cranston is by far the superior actor vs Odenkirk, but for me BCS has more layered character moments that are given time to breathe plus it has a much richer bench of supporting characters (largely due to them starting on BrBa, I'll give you that.) I'm not saying one way or the other; I think I need to see how BCS wraps up, but I'm ready to allow that it might be even better than BrBa.

Dee

I enjoyed the first couple of seasons of BCS more than the whole of Breaking Bad. I wouldn’t say objectively it’s a better show, but I like it better, even though this season just gone was kind of lacklustre. 

Aww_PHuuCk

I don't think BCS will ever reach the highs of Breaking Bad, but I don't think it's ever reached the lows either. To me BCS episode to episode has maintained a consistent quality while I found Breaking Bad to be very meh in season 1 & 2. Even BB Season 5 I thought was a step down from BB 4 on exception of Ozymandias, because the white supremacists were to me weak narrative foil following the cartel and Gus.

BCS is just tailor made for me I think. I only really began to care about BB when Saul and Gus appeared plus I just have a thing for watching the mundane and slow reflective character building, which BCS excels at (I also understand this is a flaw to many BB enthusiasts)

hitmy

Yeah.... those white supremacists guys were a pretty weak final "big bad"

rhcoop

Doctor_Nick said:

No, influential people have started saying they appreciate BCS more than Breaking Bad.  I think it would have taken something really remarkable to get out from under the constraint of being a prequel.

I think all of that is recency bias.  BCS is fun, but the story isn't anywhere near as interesting or as exciting as BB was/is.

Graham

The main reason I (and likely other people) enjoyed Better Call Saul is because of the success of Breaking Bad. Had BCS come out first, we wouldn't have as much faith in the Villigang going into it. We tolerated the slow pacing because we know roughly what lies at the end of a lot of these characters, and the tension came from how they will get there. Of course now even that handicap is starting to wear off, unfortunately.

Aww_PHuuCk

@Graham you're absolutely right. I neglected to mention that though I prefer BCS quite a bit, I absolutely recognize that the quality I'm enjoying owes a lot to BB.

I think something many agree with though is that BCS is probably already one of the finest, if not best, prequel ever made. I mean they have to really screw the pooch in the final seasons to change the trajectory of that. 

Garthgou81

hitmy said:

Yeah.... those white supremacists guys were a pretty weak final "big bad"

Yes they were, but I also think that was the point. That Walt's hubris, which consistently got him into trouble, let him overlook the threat they posed. After taking out Gus, Walt thought he was untouchable. It was somewhat poetic that assholes like them took down the great Heisenberg.