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Better late than never [message #97772]

Sun, 16 June 2024 09:15

Rusty
Messages: 1188
Registered: May 2018
Location: Kansas City Missouri

Illuminati (3rd Degree)

I did some house & critter sitting recently. In the exotic and sophisticated locale of Topeka Kansas. My brother & family took a trip to Italy. Topeka is the capital of the state. And beyond that, a good place to raise a family. Sight seeing will be like the scene from Family Vacation's Chevy Chase looking at the Grand Canyon. Um hum, ok, NEXT.

But, they have Netflix. Allowing me to finally see, in their entirety, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Binging for hours at a time into the night I persevered.
Breaking Bad is a study in degeneracy. The drug trade in crystal meth and it's use in a back drop of an extended families dealing's with cancer and a DEA brother in-law investigating the new powerful and pure product being produced ironically by his wife's sister's husband, Walter White. Who descends into the drug culture of Mexican cartels and its perils and his partners use of the product. The power of his unique chemistry knowledge makes him able to barter with the cartels and feel more alive than he'd ever been in the midst of his past life and current cancer treatment. Eventually becoming a consuming egotistical assault on his family and lives of those prereferral in the drug scene.
A true classic of the contemporary streaming genre.

Better Call Saul is the offshoot of Breaking Bad and every bit as good. Sharing characters with the former. Principally the shyster lawyer Saul Goodman, (s'all good, man) AKA 'Slippin' Jimmy McGill originally from Cicero Illinois. A local confidence man, scoundrel and eventual lawyer. A possible trait inherent to law and politicians.

Jimmy's character Saul is a part of his persona with wise cracking repartee even in the prestigious law firm he gets his start in that his older "legitimate" lawyer brother help found. Who has in this imaginative series, an aversion to electro-magnetic fields. Making him a prisoner in his home devoid of all electrical convenience. Lit by lanterns and candle's.
A really interesting study of two brothers confliction with one another's behaviors. With an ongoing host of shenanigan's that Saul perpetrates through out the series.

After finishing these series towards the end of my stay. All other series I tried to indulge in seemed to wither too soon into their development for me. And I realized that me not buying into the streaming format was justified.
Those two series will suffice for any inkling of my support of pay streaming.

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Re: Better late than never [message #97773 is a reply to message #97772]

Sun, 16 June 2024 09:22

Wayne Parham
Messages: 18786
Registered: January 2001

Illuminati (33rd Degree)

I have a lot of friends with a common bond of abstinence from mood or mind altering substances. It's amazing to me how many of us love those series.

I, myself, hate it. I mean, that's not fair - I never watched it so that's "contempt prior to investigation" - but still, I don't find any interest in watching shows like that.

No judgement though. Like I said, I have dozens of friends that are very dear to me and that love those series. Maybe I'm just a "stick in the mud."

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Re: Better late than never [message #97774 is a reply to message #97773]

Sun, 16 June 2024 11:56

Rusty
Messages: 1188
Registered: May 2018
Location: Kansas City Missouri

Illuminati (3rd Degree)

Different strokes as they say. I don't know anyone at the extreme depicted in these series. Cannabis dependency for one guy I know. There was an element of disgust from the portrayal which was very convincing in the use of hard drugs and the brutality of the distribution business. I came away thinking the liberties taken in producing this series is unfortunately, not too far from its reality. A big problem in our society for a long, long time.

Saul's character, a scheming, conniving and lying reprobate, yet a good hearted scoundrel, is tame to what a current political candidate amounts to.

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Re: Better late than never [message #97775 is a reply to message #97774]

Sun, 16 June 2024 14:48

Wayne Parham
Messages: 18786
Registered: January 2001

Illuminati (33rd Degree)

Being a "twelve-stepper," I've known people at these extremes and even much further. It's a miracle when one of 'em turns their life around - and I've seen dozens, no hundreds, of examples of that kind of miracle. It's amazing.

But I've also seen a lot that went the other way. I've known many that died before being able to get clean.

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Re: Better late than never [message #97776 is a reply to message #97775]

Sun, 16 June 2024 16:13

Rusty
Messages: 1188
Registered: May 2018
Location: Kansas City Missouri

Illuminati (3rd Degree)

No wonder your aversion to such a production. That I can see. My only excess was from the universal lubrication of alcohol. Occasional toke of the weed and a one time snort session of the powder of cocaine. Enough to convince me it was a road to degradation.
Seeing lives distorted by any dependence is sobering. I saw plenty of it from my healthcare position. Young men with bullets and their fragments imbedded within them and their spines amounting to withered limbs from paralysis. Doing the dangerous trade.
That's what this series depicted graphically.
One satisfactory aspect of it though was that Walter managed to take down the cartel from within. I thought it should have ended there. But, as it were, Walter had delusions of grandeur from his ego thinking he could continue on cooking and controlling those around him. His fatal mistake.

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Re: Better late than never [message #97800 is a reply to message #97772]

Tue, 25 June 2024 20:40

Strum Drum
Messages: 229
Registered: November 2017

Master

Have you really never had a Netflix subscription before? I remember that your local library offers OverDrive, or maybe it was Libby, so you have plenty of free stuff to pick from, so maybe that's why. How did Netflix compare?

I liked the first few seasons of Breaking Bad, but I felt it jumped the shark after Season 4. Things got too weird. So, I skipped several seasons after that, but jumped back in for the last couple of shows. The finale was poetic.

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Re: Better late than never [message #97802 is a reply to message #97800]

Wed, 26 June 2024 06:01

Rusty
Messages: 1188
Registered: May 2018
Location: Kansas City Missouri

Illuminati (3rd Degree)

No I'd never subscribed to Netflix or any other streaming service. Other than initially trying out their free period. Which convinced me to not subscribe.
Honestly, I don't know of any series, including air TV shows that didn't have the doldrums in their production quality. Breaking Bad had it like any other. I think the writers of series just run into writers block or something keeping the content moving along. Like you I liked the redemption that Walter managed to salvage for taking down the cartels and saving his partner from death. That's showbiz you know.

I will say that one series that I've watched that kept it's integrity from start to finish. Actually the finish was the least gratifying. But the British production of Endeavor on PBS was my greatest value show I've watched.

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Re: Better late than never [message #97854 is a reply to message #97802]

Wed, 10 July 2024 18:13

Mulcahy
Messages: 38
Registered: May 2021
Location: Queens, NY

Baron

Rusty wrote on Wed, 26 June 2024 06:01

But the British production of Endeavor on PBS was my greatest value show I've watched.

^Agree. It's awesome.

I preferred Better Call Saul over Breaking Bad but can't put my finger on why. Maybe it's the mix of characters in BCS?

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Re: Better late than never [message #97856 is a reply to message #97854]

Thu, 11 July 2024 10:55

Rusty
Messages: 1188
Registered: May 2018
Location: Kansas City Missouri

Illuminati (3rd Degree)

Quote:

I preferred Better Call Saul over Breaking Bad but can't put my finger on why. Maybe it's the mix of characters in BCS?

I'm the same Mulcahy. I think Jimmy,"Saul" was just a more forgiving likable character. Prone to scheming and skullduggery but nonetheless a funny, enjoyable character. Actually Bob Odenkirk was and maybe still is a comedy writer for shows like Sat. Night Live and others. I liked his quick witted repartee's to his clients and... anyone. Plus the series wasn't as morbidly fixed in the despicable drug trade and scene.
But, I'm glad to have seen em' in their entirety, finally.

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