Has anyone heard of this show? It's pretty interesting.
Support my work if you'd like to: / whatstherapy
Or by becoming a KZhead channel supporter: / @whatstherapy
For channel supporters on Patreon and the KZhead members page there are many cool things:
1) a bonus video of me responding to a bunch of interesting questions on a community post about watching Breaking Bad after Better Call Saul
2) a nice long conversation Simply Snaps and I had about the script and the two shows
3) an in depth behind the scenes making-of video where I narrate and attempt to explain the absurd process of putting together a video like this
4) the full 27,000-word file of all the notes I took while watching Breaking Bad
5) a weird little essay of thoughts related to masculinity that were too outlandish to fit into this short video
Thank you to Simply Snaps for consulting on this script with me! Check out her channel here: / @simplysnaps
Check out Tim's video essay I referenced: • Yes, Breaking Bad is A...
Past livestreams and other stuff at the side channel: / whatstherapystreams
Follow up live stream from one week after this video was released: kzhead.infosmPleGwgM68
Minor epilepsy warning related to the repeated zany visuals in this video.
Spoiler warnings for both shows obviously, all the way through the finales of season 5 for Breaking Bad and season 6 for Better Call Saul.
The Better Call Saul series: (no need to watch in order)
Part 1 ➪ Better Call Saul: Can People Change? - • Better Call Saul: Can ...
Part 2 ➪ Better Call Saul: Ethics Are Strange - • Better Call Saul: Ethi...
Part 3 ➪ Better Call Saul: Kim & Jimmy's Love - • Better Call Saul: Kim ...
Part 4 ➪ Better Call Saul: Nature vs. Nurture - • Better Call Saul: Natu...
Part 5 ➪ Better Call Saul: Wolves & Sheep - • Better Call Saul: Wolv...
Part 6 ➪ Better Call Saul: Real Redemption? - • Better Call Saul: Real...
Part 7 ➪ Better Call Saul: The Artist's Journey - • Better Call Saul: The ...
Part 8 ➪ Better Call Saul: Is Revenge Enough? - • Better Call Saul: Is R...
Better Call Saul being the bigger story makes Walt seem like an insane side character who just came along and destroyed everything the other characters had built up
I had kinda gotten that impression from seasons 3 and 4 with Walt and Gus
thats basically what he did
i wholeheartedly agree with that statement. He's just a dude who came outta nowhere into this established business with rules and hierarchies and he just lit it on fire and built his own empire on the ashes. You can still understand that by watching Breaking Bad first, but it's gotta be way more evident if you watch them the other way around.
i mean that is accurate
Which makes him badass
The biggest tragedy here is that nobody told you to NOT watch the last 4 episodes of BCS until you watch Breaking Bad.
@Selo It was the El Camino for Better Call Saul
@Selo Nah the last few episodes of BCS were peak
@@jale9619El camino was great too
@Selo you make it sound like El Camino was bad? Lol
@Selo incredibly good, yeah
Smoking for Kim and Jimmy is a symbol. It is a symbol for the bond they share. They connect over self destructive behaviour. Smoking represents the scamming that is the foundation to their relationship
Damn. That makes a lot of sense.
But also this ritual look so cool, making them looking like Bonny and Clyde.
After watching Better Call Saul, then watching Breaking Bad again, you can REALLY feel the ghosts of Nacho and Lalo in literally every Breaking Bad episode.
I just finished bcs and decided to rewatch bb. I was losing my mind at all the references
@@emipexu2779care to share? Of course the scene where Saul mentions lalo when kidnapped by Walt and Jesse, but what other are there?
@@user-bx7hx3xd3xany scene with Hector does it for me
@@user-bx7hx3xd3xwell for one, when Mike tells Jesse that he’s “not the guy. I had a guy and now I don’t. You are not the guy”, he’s referring to Nacho
Nah, you're trying to make something profound out of nothing. I've rewatched Breaking Bad after BCS ended, and I only thought of Nacho or Lalo when they were mentioned, and maybe in a few Tuco scenes and Hector scenes. I think you were just wanting to see connections, so you went on a confirmation bias hunt for it.
I appreciate calling Bill Burr's character "Bill Burr"
LMAO
what even is the character's name lol
@@pyramidteam9961 Kuby
@@pyramidteam9961 bill burr
@@erict2282 kirby
My body physically cannot take enough multi hour-long Breaking Bad / Better Call Saul analysis videos
real
Well can you handle Thevividkiwi Better Call Saul, and Breaking Bad tier list retrospective?
@abramsullivan7764 of course lol
It's the guy who did the Lanky Kong Elden Ring challenge!
Haveta admit, every time I haughtily tell myself "I've heard enough opinions from others", I go for another and another and another. May soon be in need of some kind of AA-type therapy group.
There’s an interesting parallel I haven’t seen anyone talk about between Walt’s “I am the danger!" speech and Jimmy’s "Lightning bolts shoot from my fingertips!" rant. In both scenes, they’re told by someone who doesn’t occupy the same criminal world as them that it’s normal for them to experience an emotion. For Walt, it’s fear. For Jimmy, it’s sadness. Both react by very aggressively insisting that they are above those emotions, that their life is more dangerous and therefore more important than the lives of "normal" people and they deserve more respect. But whereas Walt’s performance is very menacing and his claims mostly truthful, Jimmy’s performance seems almost childish and his words ring hollow. It’s a perfect encapsulation of the differing way the two shows present "The Game". In Breaking Bad, it’s larger than life. It feels so much more important than Walt’s boring suburban day-to-day existence. But in Better Call Saul, it’s just messy and terrible. It doesn’t bring any purpose or meaning to Jimmy, it’s just something he backslides into when he’s shut out of an opportunity at a real life. He only flaunts his place in it to scare people away from him so he can avoid ever having any difficult or genuine conversation. It’s so interesting going from a story about someone who’s never been a criminal and thinks it’s something worth bragging about to a story about someone who’s always been a criminal and wishes they could be something better.
What an excellent observation! That’s probably why I liked Better Call Saul more, I was rooting for Walter’s downfall since episode five of season one where he was offered a legal job to pay for the cancer treatment and his family. I no longer saw any good in him when he had the solution right there and denied it, while Jimmy was always down and tried to do good (the furthering slip into immorality made it hard to gauge when I should stop rooting for him).
love it man
The only thing I disagree with here is walt being “the danger”, this is largely an ego trip and he was in fact the one in danger at this part of the story
Walt was projecting so hard, t was stressed about Gus so bad 😭
the thing no one seems to point out about the "I am the danger" speech is it's in reference to gale's death. but HE didn't kill gale. like watching that scene back to back with him crying and sobbing and trying to get jesse to kill gale so they dont both die, it really highlights how BADLY walt wants to be seen as dangerous and cool and it rings just as childish and hollow, I feel.
My theory on how Walt can be as disconnected from Gale's death as he is, is in part that... well, he didn't see it. He wasn't there. He told Jesse to do it and that's when it was over for him. He didn't have to look Gale in the eyes while he begged for his life. He can compartmentalize, maybe, in a way of not feeling like Gale actually died, but more thinking of him like a dog he liked that was taken away to some farm.
Also, most of Walter’s fear that night was either because he thought he was literally about to be murdered & then fear/stress wondering if Jesse would make it to Gale’s in time, & then once again being in fear of his life. Obviously Walt has no issues killing people that are in his way/need to go, but on his list of thoughts that night I bet “Gale’s Death” was pretty low because he would be thinking about Jesse’s timing with the whole thing & if Jesse could pull it off. Not trying to justify Walt’s actions or anything - I was just trying to view it from his end.
@@nikkydalby7126yeah, for walt that night was primarily a victory, when he beat mike and (to a small degree) gus. he successfully hid jesse from them, he learned where gale lived despite their best efforts, and then he manipulated mike into letting him call jesse and get a head start. it was a massive ego boost for him, both due to his planning and his unnaturally good luck. plus it was another moment trauma bonding jesse to him even stronger, and he didn't have to suffer for it.
Gale wasn’t some innocent bystander. He got himself involved in the illegal drug trade working for the cartel making filth that causes millions of people and their loved ones to suffer from addiction and death. He is no better than Walt. The real victims of this universe were Drew Sharp and Howard Hamlin.
Imagine going on KZhead and finding out your therapist makes Breaking bad & better call Saul analysis videos
😂🎉❤
@@louisedow6489 what does this mean what
@@Maraak13 fr
@louise dow get help
@@Maraak13I guess one this KZheadr clients found his channel imo (not shaming neurodivergent people, I myself do therapy weekly, just a cheeky joke)
Honestly I did too, I watched Better Call Saul in 2021 and then I watched Breaking Bad. My dad was showing us the show and he instructed me and my brother to watch it in this order, and it honestly made so much sense. The weirder part is that because season 6 of BCS hadn't been released yet, I ended up watching the first 5 seasons of BCS, finishing BB, watching El Camino, and then ending on season 6 of BCS. And somehow I feel this was just the perfect way to watch everything.
Nice
this is exactly the order in which i watched the trilogy 😭 but it was because my dad is strict and he thought breaking bad was too “mature” for us at the time (i was 14 this was in 2021)
How'd you understand the black and white stuff?
Well in the first five seasons of BCS they don't do too many black and white scenes. And those scenes just show snippets of Saul's life far in the future, and so it makes sense and is pretty self-explanatory. Breaking bad isn't necessary for seasons 1-5 to make sense unlike season 6.@@errwhattheflip
Ahh, the machete order, interesting
My mom did this. I tried to get her to watch BB with me 10 years ago but she wasn't feeling it. Then i started binging BCS and she got really in to it. But she kept asking me all these questions that I couldn't answer because it was a spoiler lol. We JUST finished BB a few days ago and she looooves both of the shows.
Glad your mom finally joined the BB & BCS fan clubs 😉
My parents watched BB and BCS with me in the release order but my mom loved BCS much more too :) They still really liked BB too tho.
Tru
I love you
Cool. My mom refuses to watch the shows because she thinks they glorify meth use.
When Hank tells Walt to "be a man" and admit what he did, he's not saying "man" as opposed to "woman" but "man" as opposed to "boy"
👏 EXACTLY
I think he just had to "hank" onto something
He absolutely meant both, and there's no way people these days see it as offensive. If they do, they need to man up. Sincerely, a woman.
@@TaysanGalovuyap
It's both, actually.
About walt's backstory and pilot actions: "He got that dawg in him"
He can beat that black bear
Sorry but I’m gonna go with the black bear (21F)
😂😂
It's more of a tiger 🐅 >🐕
I can imagine that seeing it backwards makes Mike's death way more tragic. His death was already senseless and a sad moment but it would definitely hit harder. Yes, in BB he was an ally but always ready to pull the trigger on Walt if ordered to and knew he was a ticking timebomb - but in BCS he has gone out of his way to save Saul's life so many times, we know his whole tragic backstory and his humanity is fleshed out much more.
How was mikes death senseless? Live by the sword die by the sword
@@redrepublic5557 as true as that is, even Walt agreed it could have been avoided. As they would never have seen each other again. Walt killed him out of pure impulse because he attacked his ego. That being said - he was already wanted and had to flee, so killing his men wouldn't have changed much for him. The list was more to save Walt's ass
yeah, sauls POV of mike and walts POV of mike were incredibly different. i know theres not much more to tell about his story but i want more mike, easily in my top 3 characters of the series. just behind jesse and ahead of nacho
Your video is why I watched BC Saul. I then saw B B afterwards like you.
Then you remember Werner, and when you tie him to Walter you realize that Mike was wrong and deserved to die at the end cause he killed an innocent man
It was continuously my impression that Walter did indeed feel guilt and a lot of it, but that his way of coping with the guilt is that he tries to make himself right in order to not have to feel it anymore. This causes him to double down again and again encouraging his destructive behaviour even more. The more he causes damage, the more he is forced to live his power fantasy.
One of the dangers of someone as smart as Walter is that they can find a way to justify almost anything to themselves.
I'm a diagnosed narcissist just like walt, and yes you're exactly right. That's how we cope with things. We lie to ourselves so that we were the correct ones, so much so that we end up even convincing ourselves. It's all to cope with selfishness. Walter is what happens when a narc lacks self awareness and doesnt seek mental help
Case in point: the way he discussed the plane crash during the school assembly. That was the intense denial of a man who knew he was to blame. Trying to talk a school full of people into believing it wasn't that bad. Desperately attempting to prove to himself that he's right by gaslighting an entire school.
@@christophervalencia5919 Well if that’s true then you have made considerably progress just by admitting that
i needed to hear you talk about jesse and walt’s horrible relationship so bad im gonna cry
Same!
The quick cut, after Hank gets fired, of him crying in Marie’s arms blew me away the first time. The way Hank’s growth and change parallels Walt’s degeneration as a man was always one of my favorite aspects of the show. Hanks journey is just as compelling to me.
Hank and Howard both had similar paths
I see hank as the fallen and walt as the evolved.
@@user-yf5dw8tz2nwell that's quite retarded
Completely agree
@@user-yf5dw8tz2n should absolutely be the other way around lmao
I'd like to make a correction. Kim doesn't become Giselle. She becomes Slippin' Kimmy.
XD
Charlize Hustle
slipped-in kimmy
Dumb name. You made that up. You’re an embarrassment to the human race
i love you
20:10 Just wanna pop in really quick and say, I dont think Kim actually wanted to steal at all, that scene ends with the realization that her mom ordered her to steal the jewelry for her own benefit.
All my favorite breaking bad video essays contain the sentence, "I don't care how much you like feet"
What
Don't kink-shame.
@@ErebosGR thats so irrelevant wth
they are two completely different shows that happen to co exist. it's really amazing how detailed the writers are for both
the cinematography and visuals on both, and the audio sound engineering are incredible on both
Yeah I noticed that as well, for being in the same universe they really are quite different. I loved BCS but couldn't get into BB
Keeping the same core writers was the key. Most shows go off the rails because of writer turnover. It’s gotta be wild seeing these shows for the first time in chronological order. My parents did that with Fargo. Going season two, one, then three. And we can forget that season four ever happened.
@@jpmnky Season 3 of Fargo is so ridiculously underrated, Varga is just as good of a villain as Lorne Malvo was
@@jonnykindasucks5215 They had to be different. From the moment Breaking Bad started, it was edge of your seat intensity, with the viewer not having a clue who would die. So it had a high stress way of viewing. BCS is much more of a slow burn telling the back story of how Jimmy became Saul. From the first episode with Tuco taking Saul & the skateboarders to the desert.... you knew that Tuco wasn't going to die. You certainly knew Saul wouldn't die. So it required Gilligan and Gould to use more details to tell the story of Saul & Mike getting from point A to point B. Better Call Saul had us asking 5 major questions. 1. What happens to Kim 2. What happens to Nacho 3. What happens to Lalo 4. What happens to Howard 5. What happens to Gene. I've watched Breaking Bad a dozen times (Maybe more - I watch it while working. So it's on... but I'm not locked in like the first 2-3 times I watched). I've watched Saul 4 times now. And I can firmly say that I enjoy Saul more. Not because it's better. But because it's different & it's just a better story. How Jimmy became Saul to me is more fascinating than high school chemistry teacher working with a former student creating an uber meth & becoming a kingpin. I just watched Saul for the 4th time & fired through Breaking Bad afterwards. It's STILL fantastic & their attention to detail is second to none. My favorite thing to say to people, who often refer to it all as the "Breaking Bad Universe", is that in reality it's the Saul Goodman universe. It just so happens that Kim, Howard, Francesca, Gus, Lalo, Nacho, Walt, Jesse, Hank, etc... all just passed through Slippin' Jimmy's universe along the way to Gene getting arrested.
1:08:13 "Breaking Bad cuts from Skylar crying to Walter calmly and happily measuring his yield, not strongly affected by events." And it's literally a close-up of a bug crawling around his cook site. If the "contaminant" in the Fly episode represents Walter's guilt, those concerns are long gone. At this point he is specifically setting up shop in homes infested with roaches and doesn't give a fuck.
_”It’s all contaminated.”_
Flipping a coin is a great way to choose between 2 options because the outcome will show you which choice you actually want to make.
I love how later when skyler goes “I thought you were the danger Walt?” And he just shrinks and goes “well I might’ve overstated that…” lmao the only one that can deflate his massive ego is his wife.
kim didnt enjoy stealing as a kid. it was the way she got love, approval, and time with her mom so she did it. there was no hint of enjoyment in her face when her mother was talking about it or when she gave Kim what she stole for her.
i dont think theres enough in BCS shown to deny either possibility. u can say u didnt think she enjoyed it, but flat out saying she didnt doesnt make sense with the show's vague presentation of events
@@moriahmars1462 I get what you're saying but we're only shown her being used by her mother as an accessory and forced into it. And we're also shown that Kim is generally disgusted by her mother. I wouldn't think they would show multiple versions of the same event to be like "sometimes she liked it sometimes she didn't" I think we were shown that specific version of it to show how Kim responded to this activity overall. However I'm sure those events probably had an impact on Kims pseudo comfort with criminal activity later in life.
I think Kim had a thrill of getting away with it. A lot of the important moments in Better Call Saul are just based on facial expressions. Often that's all the show gives us. But as she was driving away, she seemed happy.
@@William-the-Guy it develops into a thrill but initially she is not into it, they explicitly show that.
@@obscure.reference We only got 2 scenes withyoung Kim, not sure which one you're referring to. The one where mom forgot to pick her up after school because she was drinking Kim is certainly pissed at her mom, but we don't know that's related to scamming. The one that starts with the store guy yelling at she looks unhappy at first, but maybe that was just a performance for the store guy. My personal take was Kim herself isn't sure which part is acting and which part isn't.
I also caught that Jimmy wasn't Kim's introduction into "slippen" behavior. Jimmy was merely an extension of Kim's Mother. He felt familiar.
Oh my god.. You're right!
No shit??
@@redrepublic5557 it's kind of an obvious observation but i honestly didnt think about it like that til now
@@redrepublic5557 wow that rudeness was very necessary and makes you look so cool
@@redrepublic5557 no need to be a dick man
I recommend making a follow-up if you plan to watch El Camino. That wraps up Jesse’s story in the same way the tail end of BCS wraps up Sauls.
He did watch it. He mentioned it on the forgetting segment
It is interesting how the take away after people watched breaking bad was Walt being an anti-hero(and that’s how I viewed him as well) instead of a straight up villain. But after having more time with the characters from BCS and then watching BB, the character of Walter doesn’t seem as nuanced. Breaking Bad wasn’t a show about a wholesome, sweater wearing dad and high school teacher becoming a ruthless drug lord. Breaking Bad is a show about ruthless drug lord that disguised himself as a wholesome, sweater wearing, high school teacher and dad. We only think Walt is an Anti-hero, because the show is shot from his perspective but anytime you see that world from anyone else’s, it’s clear how terrifying he was.
Walt was a resentful guy most of his life because of Gray Metter ,In the pilot episode you can see Walt's eyes shining seeing the amount of money that the meth game can make in the television report before he even receives the cancer diagnosis, with his Empire He's making the money he thought he deserved because of Gray Metter, it's kind of a twisted form of revenge against Elliot and Gretchen in his head
There's one other component of Walter's past I think is important. In season four, Walter tells Walter Junior (or Flynn) about his own father's death from Huntington's disease, describing it as a "nasty disease" which "terrified his mother." Walter confides in Walter Junior, revisiting the only memory he has of his dad: a man bedridden, unable to recognize him, contorted and struggling to breath. I think this dialogue is pivotal in explaining the ego and control obsession we see as his own health deteriorates. It's a blink and you'll miss it moment but so monumental at the same time.
oh wow yeah.... and a parallel to jimmy seeing his father's "weakness"
Probably the most important pieces of dialogue in the show. It really shows where Walter’s motivations come from. It’s also very realistic because our childhood experiences have huge ramifications for us when we become adults.
You're absolutely right. What's funny? I've watched Breaking Bad maybe a dozen times. Maybe more. I work from home so I rewatch many shows so I can actually get work done. Basically background noise while I'm working. I have 2 episodes that I usually skip now that I've watched the show on repeat. That episode or specifically that scene with Walt & Walt Jr. is one of them. The other is the Fly episode. Which I think is great. But it's just slow, and while important, from a repeat viewing, I don't need to watch it over and over again. But yes. That frame of mind from Walt about his father is VERY important to his story. It's one of only a handful of "backstories" we get any details on about Walt's past, specifically his youth.
Shut up with the ego. If you think Walt does it coz of ego then the whole show is badly written by Vince who takes time to painstakingly explain how & why Walt broke bad. That dumbass Mike was a blithering idiot when he said that. By his logic Gus was also egoistic and should've cooperated with Cartel. It's call self pride that comes out of excellence,, Walt had that.
That’s one of the reasons ‘Salud’ is in my top 5 of episodes. It’s a short yer significant epiphany about Walter and what he seizes control of when he can’t control his own body. The main reason of course is POOL PARTY REVENGE.
When Walter punches the hand-dryer after finding out the cancer has gone into remission, I interpreted his reasoning as: Walter lived an unfulfilling, boring, suburban life, after giving up his destiny as a rich and powerful business founder. Then with the cancer diagnosis, he finally had the ability to take a risk and live on the edge, because there was nothing to lose. And after taking a risk, he has become so much more alive and fulfilled, he feels strong and powerful and dangerous. So when the cancer goes into remission, he feels like that should be the end of his risktaking life. There's no longer any reason to cook and sell meth. But that gives up his newly awakened life for the drab, boring, unfulfilling purgatory he used to live, and that frustrates him so much he punches the dryer. Of course, he later decides that he doens't need the excuse, and he lives out his desires anyway. It's the first real moment that makes it clear that any explanation he offers that he's doing this for his family is a lie he's telling himself.
Excellent write
I’m confused as to how it could be interpreted as anything else. It’s not like you had to read inbetween the lines to come to this conclusion
@@clappedcircle5301 You kinda do. The scene is hard to digest at that point in the story without knowledge of his downfall
@@clappedcircle5301 they aren't in the same frame of mind, it's why he is a hero, normal to some people.
Personally I think he destroyed the dryer because he, like you said finally took risks and owned it. But it ended up with people killed. Knowing the cancer was going into remission gave him an anger that he knows that it didn't need to happen. I think he was pissed off because it's a slight bit of guilt of what he did.
That was the longest short outro I ever stuck around for.
Omg walterrificcc ❤
You actual ducking dog shirt creator wannabe, you really think you an individual huh, a real somebody. You ain't. Get an actual job and stop disappointing and disgusting everyone around you.
I have noticed that those (including myself) that started watching Breaking Bad long after it came out, and binged it over a few weeks, tend to look at Walter White as a "Villain", and not the "Anti-Hero" a certain generation holds him as. Perhaps when it originally aired, the waiting from week to week, and sometimes years between seasons, created a more positive discourse about Walter? It always seemed clear to me that Hank was the true "Hero" of the show. And that Walter White was selfishly victimizing his family.
Walter White is awful, but Hank is no hero. He’s equally as selfish. He’s racist and misogynistic. He simply chose an appropriate occupation for those traits
I watched the first season when I was a teen, like 14 or so, and wasn't that much into it. I've watched the show now from start to finish and I couldn't stand Walter sometimes. The line between antihero and villain with him gets very blurry. Great show nonetheless
I'm 27 and watching the show with my dad right now (who watched it when it first came out and loves it), and he's mentioned that seeing it through my lens as a woman and an adult over a decade after its release has shifted his perspective of Walter a lot, because I cannot stand him. He's constantly putting himself above his family and putting them at risk for the better of his ego. I told my dad I keep trying to root for the anti-hero part of him but I just can't find it. He's through and through a villain by the end and I was shocked when my dad told me that he didn't have to be an anti-hero to me, simply because he wasn't. I couldn't agree with your comment more!
Walt only ever came off as an anti hero in the first few episodes. Everyone acknowledged he was a villain as the series went on he was just a good monstrous villain except the weirdos who hated skyler for not wanting to do crime. Comments like this come off like "I'm not like other girls"
as much as a I agree hank isn't a hero either he's definitely a better character than Walt and I personally kinda love hank but as a police officer he's corrupt hero police officers do not go beat up suspects for no legal cause and he can be racist and generally not great of a person sometimes. Regardless I love hank still and there's purposely no one person in the show who is completely moral, no hero.
I love how Better Call Saul acts as both a prequel and sequel to Breaking Bad.
Which makes BB a side story in the larger story that is BCS, as it should be
@@coleintheville117nice troll
@@sashimi879 How am I trolling, that's genuinely how I feel, having watched bb way before bcs no less
It's not really a side story considering it's the main thing that drives everything to shit@@coleintheville117
@@sashimi879I like Breaking Bad more overall but what they said is pretty much true, BCS covered the stories and origins of far more characters that Walter just ended up getting in the middle of.
It's amazing that *you* exist to tell us your experience. I always wondered what is like to see Better Call Saul first.
FR
@Tokyo100 exact same here. I think it’s because a lot of people only really started hearing about the show during the last seasons, which is kinda weird because breaking bad was so massive
@Purg breaking bad actually didn't blow up until it's last 2 seasons either if my memory serves
I also watched Better Caul Saul before Breaking Bad, though I had BB spoiled for me beforehand
It was interesting I knew there was characters from BB but i didn’t know the HYPE of them I just knew they were BB characters, I’m watching in Chronological order and after BB imma finish the rest of BCS It’s kinda weird not seeing Jimmy as the lead character but it’s all good man
Comparing Walt killing the first 2 guys in actual immediate self defense - they had a gun to his head, to his killing of "innocent" or otherwise not immediately threatening people he simply perceives as a threat is a bit weird. And he probably said "I think" after making that correction because he realized he's in the presence of 2 DEA agents in the midst of busting a meth lab.
Regarding toxic masculinity in the show... Like the whole speach Gustavo uses to convince Walter that loosing his family is part of the job is the same speech my dad used to pulled on me and my brothers, that a man doesn't need to be loved that a man does what i takes despite consecuences because a man PROVIDES. Like it takes more than just becoming a bank for your family's, a man and a father need to be present, support them. And what i see with a lot of toxic masculinity is that some men think the only thing that matter is to get money, when in reality sometimes your loved ones just need you to be a father, not a bank where they can withdraw money from
"Toxic masculinity" is the pussiest term this generation had the disgrace to create. Gustavo's speech was about how a man has to fullfil his duty no matter what, kinda like a soldier, since they are involved in serious stuff where you have to have resolve and shit
@@abeldniteOh boy, there's the idiot who doesn't know what toxic masculinity means. I swear as soon as the term is mentioned, you little creeps wriggle out of nowhere. The idea of a man providing, even at the cost of love and respect, is literally the core values of Walter and many men in the show. Walts ego and fragile masculinity are key points the show always focusses on.
@@gabagabago0l There’s no such thing as toxic masculinity, just toxic people. The only people that think otherwise are the definition of toxic themselves. Man hating misandrists and nothing more. Creeps indeed.
Bro being a soldier who follows orders is not often some honourable thing. It’s usually the rich and old taking advantage of the young and the bold
@@abeldniteGustavo obviously wasn't speaking from his heart there. He has no family and no intention to provide for anyone. His motives are mostly if not fully destructive and he would say anything to get what ge wants. Photos in his house are fake and everything he says about his children is a lie cause he has none.
The true experience is watching better call Saul up until “fun and games” then watching breaking bad all the way, finally watching the final episodes of bcs. I’m sure Topher Grace is putting this project together as we speak
The casual 120 hour edit. Only takes 5 days to watch if you dont eat or sleep!
I watched all the way until Nippy (but stopped right there and didn't watch nippy), then saw the entirety of Breaking bad, then went back to the Gene Takovich mini series and finished it off with El Camino. Couldn't recommend this watch order more to be honest
Had my father do that. He has a great time
I’m watching BCS with my girlfriend atm and we just made it to season 5 episode 3 she cried when Werner Ziegler died ofc and I’m planning on getting up to nippy and then going to breaking bad. I’ve seen all the shows already but I wanted to watch it with her and have her see it too. I definitely should’ve made a reaction channel out of it haha. She loves it
@@Mblazo289that’s an awesome way to do it
One parallel I found is Nacho visiting Jimmy in the nail salon is sort of similar to Saul visiting Walter in his classroom. It's the consequences of their alter ego's actions creeping into their legitimate front where they're unguarded.
I feel like Walt's attempt to take his own life instead of getting caught has to do more with pride than anything. He didn't want to be seen as the guy who tried to cook meth only to fail and get arrested on his first day
What I think when people say "Be a man" I think it's more like you need to face the adverseties you are currently facing and try to overcome them OR they say it as in to say that you need to show a positive action to those around you, like if you act cowardy people might ask you to "Man up" become braver. I wouldn't call those moment toxic masculinity, it's not "You gota become an emotionless hard ass who acts like a psycho" it's "You gotta face these advenertesies and face them, you cannot run away and let down those around you because of your own selfish needs"
Same. It’s really just another way to say “be an ADULT” - but since you are talking to an adult MALE, a “man” is a way of saying an adult of the male sex. So…when talking to a man - you say “be a man!” And when talking to a woman - you say “be an adult!” Or “woman up!” Or “grow up!” Or “take responsibility!”….etc etc etc. But they all basically mean the same thing: “stop acting like a baby, be more mature, be less self-centered, be brave, and do what needs to be done”
With the “Walter might have already been thinking about making meth” apparently meth is literally one of the easiest chemistry creations to make so someone as smart as Walter wouldn’t have had to look up/look into how it’s made, he probably just knew how to make it. Which is why he was able to answer Hank so quickly
does this guy not know that Walter had a PhD in chemistry? Seems like a totally oafish thing to not realize
@@pyropulseIXXI i don't think it's oafish at all to assume that knowing the formula for meth isn't a standard chemist thing
@@moriahmars1462 here’s the thing, Walt isn’t just a chemist, he’s the best crystallographer that there is.
@@philleotardo7016 most college professors can easily make meth
@@moriahmars1462 Walter has a PhD FFS. A non-chemist can easily learn how to make meth with no prior experience. Imagine what someone with a PhD could do. This absolutely would be base line level knowledge of a BS in Chemistry, let alone a god damn PhD. it is no proof that Walter was already thinking about doing it
It's interesting how when Kim and Saul are together, there's chemistry, some might even say "true love", but it creates chaos. It brings out the "Slipping" in Slipping Jimmy and in Kim as well, to the point that they elaborately prank their former boss who more or less didn't deserve how far the prank went. It isn't until Kim is distant with him that she can go back to being a law abiding citizen, a non-rule bender. When Walter and Skyler are together, it's boring, some might even say "platonic", but there's peace. Being a family man is what kept Walter out of what he calls "the empire business" for decades, it kept him content with normalcy. It isn't until he's distant with Skyler, keeping secrets, sometimes even hating her, that he is free to pursue his desire and create chaos.
Insane observation....the parallels are so accurate 👍
Howard deserved everything (except getting killed). Why? Howard was a pompous sanctimonious self righteous dick to Jimmy. Jimmy was actually trying to do right and be a legit lawyer but howard blocked him on every move, refused to let him get his foot in the door, refused to give him a chance.
@@redrustyhill2 wasn't Jimmy's brother the one who didn't want to see Jimmy succeed?
@FiatTenebris both chuck and howard were complete dicks toward jimmy. One thing nobody seems to realize is jimmy only ever scammed azzholes who really deserved it, usually after they were rude or demeaning to him.
6:50 aside from the ‘youre flooding the engine’ being a direct dialgoue callback to breaking bad, the fact that saul and the college student are wearing green and red is a reference to walt and jessie since those are the colors they typically wear
2:19:48. This line Skylar said was probably 1 of the most BADASS lines I’ve heard her say & in the show. It should definitely be up there as a “Quotable”. Also, I like how you can Talk about these Shows for DECADES. That is so cool.
There's a scene in BB where Saul is expecting a phone call and he says to himself "this is a bad idea" before answering. It felt like I was watching Jimmy in BCS about to do something stupid. Amazing writing!
Jimmy also looks really similar to Saul, cool reference by Vince!
@@em_the_bee think that’s a bit of a stretch :/
@@em_the_beeBravo Vince!👏
It’s cool that someone who never saw the over the top action and suspense of BB still recognized the show BCS for how great it was with no nostalgia goggles or loyalty to the series. Says a lot.
it shouldn't be surprising or cool
Doing that now personally(i was more interested in watching BCS than BB) and it's great
I don't think so there was an over the top suspense in Breaking Bad it was kept as grounded as possible it was also a nuanced subtle character study the think here is Breaking Bad had more Stakes than BCS....which stands BCS apart as one of the greatest character journeys and possibly the greatest prequel
if anything bcs had more over the top action bb action was relatively smaller in scope train heist being the biggest in scope bcs almost everything was as big as the train heist also the suspense is very real not over the top bb wasnt just a action hate it when people say that
@@sahenbannanaje3321The formatting and lack of grammar in your comment makes it hard to fully understand, but from what I gather you're saying everything in BCS was as over the top as the train heist? Excuse me?! Lmao what?! In what world, and HOW?
Thank you for your talk about suicide & emotional/mental hell. Man I feel like I go through it alone and it scares me so bad when I start realizing how people get to committing suicide, & how I end up exploring options in a serious & quiet manner. Not a peep from me, no indicator to anyone outside that I am indeed suicidal. I haven’t felt quite that bad in a couple weeks, so I’m in the path trying to beat it. Therapy starting again soon, medical treatment options have been explored. This HAS to be talked about in this way by more people. I appreciate your honesty and openness to compare a serious personal situation to a character like Walter White. Keep the grind up man, hope things keep going your way!!
my favorite part of the essay was the tangent about S.I. Thank you for expressing the need for more societal support for people to stay hopeful, despite passing thoughts and expectations
What S.I stand for
@@Xenovation3334 suicidal ideation
I think Walter's rapid transformation early on was largely a case of the writers needing to sell a story about a person changing in this way the first time. The second time, people knew more about what to expect and the writers knew they accepted it already, so they had a lot more room to breathe.
It could be the 2 murders getting kidnapped and losing a bunch of money
Obviously. I mean walts chemistry speech is pretty much the pitch for the show
I agree, and i think it was a marketing decision as well to sell the pilot and it worked
Agree. Breaking Bad is a rollercoaster ride, by comparison Better Call Saul is the sinking of the Titanic. You know it's coming and at first it's slow and steady, but by the end all hell breaks loose as the catastrophe truly unfolds
I think you're right
I feel like the most amazing way to watch Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul for someone who hasn't seen either would be to watch the first 59 episodes of Better Call Saul (through 609 Fun and Games), then watch Breaking Bad in its entirely, and finally watch the last four episodes of Better Call Saul at the end since they kind of serve as a beautiful epilogue for both shows. In any case, thanks for giving your unique analysis as someone who watched Breaking Bad second!
El Camino, then the last episodes of Better Caul Saul.
@@FreeOpenTruthexactly
Nah they have to watch slipping jimmy first since it completes the whole story in a satisfying way
@@bingusdingus39 - OH no! Not that abomination!
I would agree but the problem is by the time you come back to the Gene story it would have been so long since you last saw Kim on screen that it might not matter as much
I remember seeing that Giancarlo interview and it made me wonder what it would be like to rewatch the shows in reverse order, but I realised not long after that... I can't have that experience, being "enlightened in a different way" because I've already seem them, nothing can compare to the experience you have watching something for the first time, so it would just be... pointless. This video was a great watch and I envy that you were able to experience the series this way!
not gonna lie man i just found your channel and it’s great, i can’t afford therapy, and i just went through some really messed up shit, so some of the feelings and objectives you discuss are really making me think and helping me work through it. thank you.
10:30 Skylar's actions lead to Huell being happy, so she obviously commands the moral high ground here.
Reasonably
A therapist who watched BCS before BB is a godsend in analysis.
This guy is an actual therapist? No wonder the field is useless. Not a single insight I hadn't already thought of, and he was off basis on a lot of things (quite minor things, admittedly).
@@pyropulseIXXI yikes
@@maggotthemadman8142 dude needs to check his ego
@@IngeniousReaper needs a therapist 🤣
@@maggotthemadman8142 lol
"I got that wolf in me too jimbo" is the best line never said.
This is how I experienced the Red Dead Redemption series for the first time. Playing them in timeline order and going in blind was a really immersive experience and I'm glad I originally passed up on the first game. I've set out to try and do that more often, when I can, it's a whole different vibe.
I think my favourite example of Walt’s good luck is the entire scenario of the Twins arriving at Walt’s house. Firstly, Junior’s at school and Skyler and Holly are at work, and Walt just happened to choose that moment to move back in. It also happens to be the exact same moment Mike happened to be around just after planting the bug in Walt’s house, which Saul has him do completely in his own self-interest uncalled for. Just those two things happening at the same time is already incalculable odds. Then we have the Twins showing up just as Mike is about to leave. Walt happens to be in the shower at the time which gives him time to wait because the Twins aren’t animals and they won’t kill a man until he’s put on some clothes. It’s also at this moment we get a really bizarre intersection of the plot lines up to that point with Marco picking up the Teddy Bear’s eye from the plane crash which Walt packed with him. Mike noticed the Twins, calls Victor, who tells Gus, who texts the Twins to meet with him immediately. The Twins leave and the only evidence Walt ever has of them being there is that Marco put the Teddy Bear’s eye back in a slightly difference place. The Cousins are Fate playing out an entire greek tragedy completely without Walter’s knowledge. He never even meets Leonel, and he only sees Marco in the hospital whereupon he has this cascading realisation as to who these guys were. But not only was Walt lucky enough that there was someone else involved in Tuco’s shooting for Gus to divert the Twins to, but he was *un*lucky enough that that was his own brother-in-law. And this is not even beginning to explore the sheer coincidence of Hank looking for Jesse to find Walt and happening to find Tuco in the first place. All these dominos falling into place protecting Walt with him only barely conscious of them.
I ain’t reading allat🤣
@IPwnISmakkEgos And yet you had the time to let us know, thanks for sharing with the class. Your username is cringe btw.
@OhYeahIt'sThatGuy Breaking Bad is one of the few shows were that amount of staggering dumb luck actually reduces my need for a suspension of disbelief rather than increase it. That episode with the twins, and Mike's bug is one of my favorites. In any other show, that would all feel so unbelievably contrived and REAL CONVENIENT for the writers. In this show however... Walt is a damn highschool chemistry teacher, and in the first three seasons, it shows just how far out of his element he really is. He does slowly learn, and change, and morphe into a kingpin... But he gets there on the backs of others, and through sheer dumb luck. There is no other way a 50 something highschool teacher with cancer is navigating the world of organized crime into that position WITHOUT luck and help from others. In a realistic universe, he would have been killed by the cartel 500 times over before falling @$$ backwards into becoming top dog in meth dealing... So naturally, we get shown the utterly insane universe where he's successful in accomplishing all that, and the only reason he is, is because of the occasional insane coincidence and the intervention of others. It's also a bit balanced in that it also happens to be his downfall. Just when he almost gets away scott free to live in essentially retirement, his brother HAPPENS to pick up that gift book and connect all the dots. It was really dumb luck for him to pick that book up and have the glass shatter. But it's also not particularly contrived. Walter, the narcissist that he is, would never throw out a gift like that. But he also never cared about the book, or the guy who gave it to him. So the back of the guest bathroom toilet is the most natural place for it to end up... And it was NEVER a huge jump in logic for Hank to figure out Walter was Heisenberg, the possibility just... Hadnt ever once crossed his mind till he found a direct link between the two chemists, no matter how small. Like, none of this contrived for the sake of shoving the plot down the road no matter how sloppily. But both moments are utterly pivotal, and wouldnt ever have worked out without coincidence.
You got Marco and Leonel mixed up. Leonel was the one who died in the hospital
There's another level of sheer luck involved: Mike just so happening to work for both Gus and Saul. If Mike were just another non-cartel-involved fixer that Saul hired to bug Walt's house, then it's likely he wouldn't have intervened since he has no idea how dangerous the Twins are aside from one of them carrying a fire axe (assuming Mike was carrying a gun and thus having a chance of taking them on) and Mike doesn't seem the type to risk his life for some man he doesn't care about, especially when he has a daughter-in-law and granddaughter he cares for. The most Mike would've been able to do in this theoretical scenario would be to call Saul to tell him know that Walt is about to literally get axed and since Walt was taking a shower, it's not like Saul would've been able to warn Walt the way Gus did for Hank; not like Walt had much of a chance against the Twins in a physical altercation anyway.
What I find interesting about the comparisons between Kim and Skyler is that Skyler clearly opposed Walt's behavior as much as she could, and there's an element of disdain she receives from the audience because of it. Even if she was in the right, the show is set up for you to root for the protagonist's goals, and audiences found it frustrating to see her get in the way of that. Meanwhile, with Kim, you see what happens when you have a partner who is enabling and encouraging. From a TV perspective, it's great. You see them on these hijinx together and it's exciting and you can't help but root for them. But in the end, is it worth it? There were many times Jimmy tried to rein it in and Kim just encouraged him to take it further instead. If she was more like Skyler, maybe they could have had a future where they grew old together. (Obviously that'd make for boring television - not that that matters when talking about ethical dilemmas lol)
Skyler opposed Walter in the beginning then later worked with him and helped him out. She should've turned him into the police as soon as she found out he was a meth dealer/manufacturer. The reason people like Kim more is that she isn't a hypocrite that pretends to be a hostage. Skyler acts like she's being forced to help Walter which wasn't true at all. Kim holds herself accountable for her actions towards Howard and tells Jimmy to turn himself into. I think Kim is just written better. The fandom (especially this uploader) likes to ignore that Skyler is a 3 dimensional character with her flaws like anyone else. She even breaks bad outside of Walter's influence (cooking Ted's books) but the show doesn't do a good job at acknowledging her faults. And yes before anyone responds with an angry comment I know Walter is way worse he's literally a murderous prideful meth dealer.
@@jackflynn412 I agree Skyler wasn't some one-dimensional victim who could have made more responsible choices, but at least in this comparison with Kim, her actions seem a lot more...coerced, I guess. Like she has a gun pointed to her family and she had to tread lightly, which I guess invokes more sympathy.
@@wiIIothewisp That is true. Kim had more of a choice to break bad as she messes with Howard just out of spite where as Skyler was put in a horrible situation by Walter. I agree with ya 👍
@@jackflynn412 ☝🏽This. Every choice that Skylar made was in the interest of damage control. She neither wanted nor deserved to be put in this situation in the first place, she had no good way to escape it, and Walt blocked her whenever she tried. She wasn’t perfect but she shouldn’t be disparaged for playing the hand she was dealt in a game she didn’t choose to join.
True to some extent..... I don't know about others, but the reason why I root Jimmy and Kim is bcs they love each other..... If Skyler was Kim, then she would be f-ing Howard....
the effort you put into this down to the clips used and the insights you provide is AMAZING.
While I understand the conventional attitudes about death and especially the interaction of these attitudes in the context of therapy, I feel like its a significant limiting factor in how you frame Walter's internal struggle and the dynamics with his family. I think a very important part of why Walt's frustrations don't have a proper outlet to address themselves in a healthy manner isn't just the failure of his financial and medical support system, but his emotional and family support system as well. I'm not a big fan of Walt and Breaking Bad, but what always struck me in the early parts of the series is how the people he's close to fail to meet Walt where he's at mentally and emotionally. He doesn't feel understood, he feels like he's the only "sane" person in the room in regards to his cancer, and nobody takes his mindset seriously. The family sessions to me, do not conclude in any sufficient confrontation of Walt's despair and grief towards his diagnosis, because in the end he learns that his family will not entertain any discussion of it. Sure Walt is rather incapable of communicating it properly, but in the times where he succeeded to take a step forward in making himself vulnerable, like in expressing how he feels that the cancer diagnosis is out of his control and it's in everyone's best interests to accept his death, his family just shuts him down. They don't talk in detail about the financials, they don't talk about Walt's emotions and values, and they ultimately shut him down and disincentivize him to truly bare himself in their presence. Instead put on a mask and play Walt the "good" husband and father that he is so terrible at performing. On every watch I've been through, it's this part of his emotional arc that stands out a lot to me, and I like the first season most because of it. It's the season that most effectively sees through the initial theme the show had in mind, "I prefer to see [chemistry], as the study of change." And admittedly it might be because a lot of me agrees with Walt on that regard. That in my mind, pursuing a few more months of questionable quality of life living, with a slim chance of surviving beyond it, and at the cost of great financial and emotional burden to my family, is a choice that I would not want to take and would resent being coerced into. This is an arguable thing in essence and in context. Whether the life having is indeed questionable, whether the chance of surviving is sizable and worthwhile, whether the burden is or is not outweighed by what is possible and what is left, whether it is agency or it is fate, things like this. He's had a few warm and tender moments with his family, and those are the parts that hurt the most, because as much as it was possible I felt that rarely did any character ever step forward to sustain the vulnerability and trust necessary to cultivate a relationship like that, of course especially Walt himself. But Walt learned that honesty would do nothing for him, even if that was false. I admit I was a bit taken aback when I found that the parts of this video discussing death, made me relive Walt's family talking at Walt instead of talking to or with him. Still! Enjoyable video and I look forward to what you'll tackle next :)
Walter family' reaction is a common response to this terminal diseases situations. You see a lot in other media, the complete rejection of the idea that your beloved is going to idea that manifest in many ways.
I always felt like the most fascinating and unremarked upon moment in the series was Walt trying to off himself in the pilot. He’s pretty cavalier about it too. Seeing you break down his suicidal ideation throughout the series was really insightful. Fantastic stuff.
Walt never really cared about the cancer, only reason he hated himself in the first place was because of his mundane boring life. It was his ego that turned his mundane life into a criminal kingpin life, but it was also his downfall cause even though with all the money in the world and a legendary drug kingpin status, everyone that loved or valued him abandoned him or died because of him.
@@hughjaenus2235breaking bad fans love thinking they are deep by saying "ego" we knowwwww
I'm literally going through some heavy shit right now, and out of the blue, a Breaking Bad video with the phrase: "If they're just coping with it in their own way, not a terrible way, and the loved one encouraging a different approach is the main cause of their suffering, this is when the advice being given is more clearly seen as self interested". Thanks, sir. I needed that.
Hang in there man ❤
Hey, hope you’re doing well
Hope you get better
@@jabreelyusuf14 thx, it's going to take a while, but I'm on my way
Hope you're doing well man 💪 Hang in there. Thought I'd share the timestamp for the quote for anyone else that's looking for it: 57:45
The show does a good job at making you like the villain, Walter, and hate the “hero,” Skylar. Anna Gunn played the role perfectly. I understand the hate for the character, she gets in the way of Walt doing cool shit, but if the show was real, she would be the main victim of Walt, and deserves sympathy. Skylar is a parent, she loves and takes care of the kids, Walt should be a parent, but sees that as being a provider and nothing else. My mom was a stay at home parent, loved and took care of us, my dad worked and also loved and took care of us. I would rather that be the case then how Walter saw it.
My favorite analysis of the "I am the one who knocks" speech was made by Aleczandxr on KZhead because it's spot-on. What Walt did here wasn't as much of a badass boast as he presumably thought it was. It was more like a child going "nuh-uh" after being insulted, and coming from a fifty-year-old man, it comes off as quaintly pathetic. It's probably one of the sadest reflections of who Walt really is deep down. Not in a "I'm going to cry" sort of way, but in a "you need to fix your shit" sort of way.
This is the ideal What's Therapy? video length. Anyone who says otherwise is lying
Bit short, to be honest.
Should be a full 8-10 hours. This dude is slacking
A cool two hours and forty-three minutes. Snappy snappy. Bigadiboo.
@@RiC_Davidwhat
Wow, what a ride! It was such a honor working on this with you, and I enjoyed watching the final product just as much as I enjoyed reading/editing along the way during production. Thanks so much for involving me in this project, I really think this is something special! I have so much to say, but I guess that's incentive for people to become a member and catch our 2hr podcast where we discuss the script and a bunch of things that didn't even make it in???? Thanks to everyone who watched and liked this video, and thanks to What's Therapy for making it! I absolutely cannot wait to see what comes next for this channel! Even if analytics dip due to a shift in subject matter, I know we've got a great community here who will stick around to see what's next! Let's all just take a deep breath and enjoy this wonderful story for a while. Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad are amazing, and it's so nice that we finally get to enjoy it as one big, complete package. Bravo, Vince. And bravo, What's Therapy! This is the moment my comment became over.
Bot?
@@SomDudRmanianope
I feel like a lot of fans are going to argue for years about when this comment truly became "over". Some could say it was over as soon as it was posted. But that's too obvious imo, it goes deeper than that. Perhaps the point you thanked the viewers was when it mentally transitioned to "over", but honestly I think this comment became over before it even got started if you really think about the context. It was always over, your words just brought those qualities to the surface.
You got my sub. I love the way you formatted/organized this video essay. Can’t wait to see you page keep growing
27:30 Walt’s inner “bad guy” was inside him ever since Gretchen and Elliot became super rich off of his Grey Matter business….yes he willingly sold his share, but he felt wronged by them when they didn’t give him any of the multibillion dollar profits later on…that’s where his manipulative side was created and it stewed under the surface until his diagnosis. The prospect of his fast approaching demise gave him the power to unleash what he had been harboring inside for years. Which is why he seemed to have no problem making risky decisions.
That five or six minutes about Louis was peak commentary. No, seriously, your capacity for compelling analysis that eludes my ability to tell if you're joking is fascinating and it's why I subbed.
So funny I kept yelling oh my god stop bc it was so silly yet some points were real?? So confused haha
I think it's cool af to hear this perspective of seeing Better Call Saul first. It goes to show how good of a show Better Call Saul is without knowing the context of Breaking Bad.
I watched the first few seasons of bcs before I saw breaking bad (I think the first 4 seasons) and it absolutely holds up at its own show
What a fantastic video and I am also a behavioral health professional, was a pleasure to find your channel. I have brought this up to my friends and I'm so glad you speak to it around 2:13:00 It would truly take strength for Walt to swallow his pride, work at Grey Matter, and ACTUALLY provide for his family in a completely legitimate way. But instead he's backed himself into a corner working in a high school grossly underutilizing his talent because his fragile ego couldn't handle being involved with a woman with a rich family where he wasn't "the man". But of course he doesn't do it. I think it's fascinating that in the era it came out BB was often almost idolized, Walt was this anti-hero, cool guy kind of image. I am the Danger was everywhere. But now as a 40-something year old, multiple children, adult I saw this man plainly as deeply flawed and harmful to those around him from the beginning, whereas at first viewing he felt so sympathetic to me and I was rooting for him far longer than I should have, justifying his horrible actions to myself in the same way that he did. After all, he's only doing these things to help his family right?! Great content, easiest "subscribe" decision I've made in years!
I'd neither seen BCS or BB about a year ago (outside of the occasional memes). I'm so grateful I was recommended Better Call Saul first, but explicitly being told not to watch the last 4 episodes for the final season, as they required BB context. So I watched up till that point, watched BB, watched El Camino, then came back to the final 4 episodes. I did notice a bit of a dip in quality, coming from season 6 BCS to BB season 1, but given the huge time jump (15 year time span of Vince developing his craft) I completely understand. But overall I did very much enjoy BB!! Still prefer BCS personally though.
How would you rank the Seasons of BB and BCS??
it's really hard to give fresh and interesting insights on a show almost two decades old. you should be really proud, i'm sure the creators of these shows would be really proud to see someone making such mature and thought out analysis of the characters feelings and circumstances like this. bravo on a great video i'm sure was a really long process to release!!
i didn't even realize how popular this video was damn congrats ive loved your channel since the last season started airing and it's really cool to see you hit the algorithm sweet spot, you deserve it!!
I wish people would stop crediting Vince so much with Saul. It was truly Peter’s baby.
I made this joke before and it was in short "man I wish we had more brba like a mike spin off or atleast a saul but it probably wouldn't be as good" But i am astonished that saul of everyone got a spin off. Remove bcs and the charaters we have are. Jesse which just ended up being el camino. Mike or gus. But saul in brba was just a comic relief like the cinibon line in breaking bad is funny but in bcs it's sad. Saul being threatened by lalo is funny in brba but given bcs it kind of shows how he left his mark. Saul wasn't a bad charater but imagine if in season 5 if br ba saul died. I would of been like not the lawyer dude. But thanks to bcs I would be like saul Noooooo But bcs fleshed him out
Also according to imdb both pete and Vince wrote 63 episodes of bcs. Which to your point Everyone keeps saying bravo vince But never say bravo peter
@@somedorkydude6483 Stay Gold, Gould.
It's so annoying especially since Vince literally left the show during early Season 3 and only came back for Season 6. Gould even wrote the episode of Breaking Bad thst introduced Saul. I'm tired of the "Bravo Vince" meme.
@@jackflynn412 ^ that part
10 years later and its the first time i ever heard that Gale might have had a crush on Walt mindblowing and it makes the whole thing a lot more sad
How could you have possibly missed that? Lol. It’s all but spelled out.
@@doodooswaggy3825 im not geh i guess to me its subtle af lol
@@doodooswaggy3825 but generally i notice new details on every rewatch
Legit, one of favorite content creators, love these type of video and the live streams. I know a lot of preparation goes into these videos, so I know whatever you have coming out next is going to be great!
Your commentary is so nuanced and (possibly due to your experience) transcends the typical disccusions of these shows. It's very admirable.
"People move on." - "Kim had the guts to start over. She left town, but I'm the one who ran away." As the show progresses, Saul is the only one left wearing the ribbon about the tragedy with the airplanes. At first, it seems like it shows his bottomless greed as someone trying to profit off of the victims. But given that he chooses to wear it in his final court appearance, after he'd already decided to make a full confession and not try to garner any more sympathy, I think it functions as a tangible symbol of his prior inability to move on from all traumatic events in his life. I guess choosing to appear as Saul Goodman, colorful suit and everything, also works towards that metaphor.
But he didnt decide to do that preemptively, so he did wear that as a way to garner sympathy lol
@@kingcrustytut7544 What? Of course he decided preemptively. What are you talking about?
Finally someone acknowledges Louis and how important he is to the plot. Good job!
2:13:41 thing is, and i want to know if anyone thinks so too, Walter doesn't really like his family. He doesn't really like his son, he only pities him and sees him as a responsibility, and he certainly doesn't like Skyler. He probably loved Gretchen a lot more and it turned into hatred, and Skyler was just a wife he had to get because of male expectations
totally. walt is very psychopathic. i struggle to see him as someone capable of loving anyone genuinely. everyone is just means to ends, or as you point out a burden in the case of flynn. he likely would have been a terrible partner to gretchen because he's at heart a selfish person, but maybe i'm getting ahead of myself. perhaps he was different back then and losing her was his very first breaking point.
@@rafaelarevalo8047i might be projecting but i feel like his dislike for his family comes from his frustrations, he had very specific expectations about himself, these expectations got "frustrated" and from the moment he leaves GM he tries to move on but he can only think of what he wanted and can't have. I do think he "like" his family to some extent but he would love them if they were in the successful he would've lived if he never left GM
Jesse has plenty of anti-forgetting moments when it comes to Jane. Keeping her cigarette in his car, continuously calling to hear her until her phone number was put out of service. "Making the feeling last." Hector also falls in the anti-forgetting category, as he's asked by the cartel time and time again to leave his beef with Gus in the past and him choosing not to.
Interesting that you point out Walter's fixation with the mustard stain as unhealthy at around @39:30. That scene seemed like a realistic reaction to me because after my brother got paralyzed, I remember my dad, on the ride home from the hospital, could only say "I need a friggin' bowl of cereal." I've never thought about how that could be a reflection of unhealthy coping mechanisms. I just assumed trauma broke your brain a little bit. Fantastic video
I also feel the same way about walter. It’s nice to hear someone else feel the same way. It got hard for me to feel bad for him at all, he mostly just made me feel embarrassed because of how cringeworthy his actions were. I also really appreciated the segment about masculinity. I think a large portion of the male fanbase takes the theme of masculinity at face value. Seeing walter as some sort of “sigma male” lmao. Similar to the way people misunderstand patrick bateman as a character
Started watching your analysis and couldn’t stop. One thing that I would add was in the music choices used. The final scenes uses of “Baby Blue” by Bad Finger was spot on.
According to Vince Gilligan, a lot of the car stuiff came from his brother, including how Ken Wins' car ends up. When they were in HS, his brother actually fried his car in their front yard, accidentally, the same way.
I think Walt has assertiveness training from dealing with students. I started out as a timid college instructor. In fact, my boss told me that I needed to be more assertive. He was previously a Naval Drill Sargeant. I quickly learned. Walter dealt with students lying to him and trying to manipulate him. He learned how to counteract. Combine that with the frustration with teaching at a high school when he could have been making billions. With a terminal cancer diagnosis, Walter saw this as a way to live dangerously. It wasn't about the bills or the family, it was about the thrill. A line from a James Bond movie, "There's no point of living if you can't feel alive." Walter always had it in him. He explains chemical reactions with harmless elements combining to creating sudden bursts of energy.
This might be one of the most interesting channels i have found in a while. Therapy and psychology? Love it. BB and BCS? Love it. Long philosophical videos? Love it.
Walt didn't kill Mike because it was "them or him". Go back and watch, and that should be obvious.
What I have noticed is both shows display men who end up hurting or destroying everyone around them, despite Saul and Walter's destructive nature you still find yourself rooting for them as if they are anti-heroes when they are intrinsically not anti-heroes. Very well written shows.
Watching BCS after BB makes the micro easter egg and cameos feel even more special. There are definitely merits of going by order but the Jesse scene in BCS with Kim will never feel the same if you go by order
I like how even though he enjoys BCS more, he general has more to say about BB.
I rarely am compelled to like yt videos and even more rarely comment but this video is so genuinely incredible I wanted to share my enjoyment of it. I love your analysis and your exceptional interweaving of your philosophical viewpoints. Truly excellent 👏
Pre-cancer Walter represents what happens when a man has no ambition or self-worth. Post-cancer Walter is what happens when a man's ambition and self-worth (or ego) are inflated to a dangerous level. (I know Walt's self-worth is probably subconsciously very low because of how sensitive he is to criticism or disrespect, but on a conscious level he definitely believes himself to be some meth messiah).
After watching better Call Saul and then seeing Breaking Bad again you realize Poor Howard was buried under the lab floor the whole time . 😢
And poor Lalo*
@@dielaughing73 Not exactly poor
@@dielaughing73 You got the perfect name for mentioning Lalo’s death
Skyler is a criminal. She became a criminal the moment she decided not turn Walt in. I take that back, it was the moment she didn't turn Ted in.
Theres another parallel between the main couple of each show
Gosh, this is such an insightful and perfect video
I feel like Kim and Jimmy genuinely love each other in addition to them both getting off on the scams. In fact, Kim and Jimmy's mutual obsession with these scams is part of what makes their love for each other feel so genuine and believable despite it ultimately being their downfall. There is a very real mutual connection between them: something that we never really feel ever existed between Skylar and Walt. To be honest, I never felt any real love between Walt and Skylar but I do think that Skylar does actually "get off" on "breaking bad" because in the end, she's damn good at it. Skylar would probably be the last one to admit it but I think she absolutely IS turned on by her skills as a criminal and how it finally allows her to feel some power of her own outside of being the bossy, once head of a slightly dull and dysfunctional household who sells knick-knacks on Ebay. To imply that Skylar is doing it all just because she "has to" is just as dishonest as Walt saying that he's doing it all "for his family". She may regret it all in the end but there is no doubt in my mind that at one point she was loving every minute of it almost as much as Walt was. In the end, there's no real context given to make us feel that Walt and Skylar were ever truly "in love" whereas Kim and Jimmy's relationship feels so incredibly tangible and their personalities compliment each other so well that it's almost impossible to argue against it. Also, there's so much more careful backstory and insight given into Jimmy's character versus Walt. I think that's why in the end, "Better Call Saul" accomplishes so much more when it comes to character development as a whole. Despite this, I do think "Breaking Bad" does a really good job of exploring Jessie and his actions/behaviors are fleshed out incredibly well through his backstory as well as his reactions to what occurs during the timeline of "Breaking Bad". And although we get few details of Hank's backstory, even his character is better understood and developed versus Walt's. As for Skylar and Marie, their characters were pretty neglected as a whole. This doesn't mean that I think "Breaking Bad" is not as good as "Better Call Saul" or that I enjoyed it less but it would have been that much "better" if the creators had given Walt and the other characters as much attention as Jessie's or even Hank's. As for "Better Call Saul", it's clear that the writers were cognizant of these issues and they did their best to address them. I mean almost all of the central characters in "Better Call Saul" have such spectacular depth and careful writing that I was far more invested them in the end. That being said, there is a different sort of humor, ferocity, violence and pacing that "Saul" doesn't have when compared to "Breaking Bad" and in the end both compliment each other perfectly. I think I'll give it maybe 5-10 years and watch them both again starting with "Better Call Saul" because I'm sure it will all hit slightly differently.
I read allat
I ain’t readin all that I’ll be real g, but I’m glad we all love these shows so much
Nahh i dont think Skylar "loved" it the same way Walt and Kim loved it... I mean she may have enjoyed it a little in season 4 but she was genuinely getting very difficult by season 5. But yeah, Walt and Skylars relationship was more or less the slow deterioration of a longstanding relationship. While Saul and Kim was the evolution of one(up until the sudden break). Also I'd have to disagree with that sentiment of Walt not being as well developed as Jessie or Hank...
Another one in the long list of downsides for the existence of internet: any ignorant dumbass can say whatever he wants and can ignore the corrections. Walter doesn't need an elaborate backstory because all of his story is happening in the present. He spent his whole life on the straight and narrow path, with his long buried ego being the only pulsing shred of darkness that marred him. Jimmy, on the other hand, has been slippin' since the day that man scammed his father at the store. He was on a long and winding road to become Saul Goodman and Better Call Saul shows us the climax of that story. All we need to know about Walter are the reasons for his feelings of inadequacy (his breakdown with Schwartzes) and his fear of losing respect from his family (his only memory of his cancer ridden father). That's all we need to understand why and how he'd get where he is. TL;DR Better Call Saul shows us the end of Jimmy's long road into corruption, while Breaking Bad shows us the entirety of Walt's corruption because it was the only time Walter feels he mattered.
@@nirjhar4803 I disagree, I think she got off on the whole process of it for sure. Not only did she get to show off her quick thinking and skills as a competent yet manipulative business woman, she actually got to feel some sort of power and control in a situation where she really had neither. It may have all been an illusion but the fact that she got to step out of the role of a victim and into one as a perceived "boss" was very satisfying for her and for once she got to feel like she was in the driver's seat. You can't tell me that she didn't enjoy the money laundering, being the car wash boss and playing the role of Ted's ditzy bookkeeper. Not to mention saving Walt's skin in the moment by coming up with whole gambling story. She may not have liked why she was doing it in the first place or where it got her in the end but she was definitely getting off on it all in some twisted fashion while it was happening. As for Walt's character not being as well developed as Jesse or Hank's, there's just no real justification or context as to why he became the monster that he did aside from "he's just a narcissist and/or a sociopath". There's no real context or backstory as to why he transformed into such a ruthless monstrosity. Being "trapped" in a dull/ loveless marriage or going through some sort of midlife crisis and trying to make up for regrets of the past simply doesn't explain his beyond extreme behavior. I mean it doesn't ruin his character or anything, I just think the creators could have done a better job with it. Perhaps if they did, I would felt some shred of empathy for him versus just watching him devolve into a ruthless murderer simply because "he liked it". While I felt real emotion and empathy for both Jesse and Hank, I felt nothing when Walt died at the end. I was just kind of like "thank god he's done for". But maybe that was the point and we were just meant to enjoy the whole spectacle of what is Walter White. And in the end, I'm ok with that because there's no denying it was entertaining to watch. They just did such a better job with Saul and it makes sense as they had the whole experience of creating Walt and they learned how to better develop characters by the time "Better Call Saul" came into creation.
I JUST realized this Walt tells Hank "Maybe your best course of action would be to tread lightly" Which mirrors what Skyler told Walt earlier: "Maybe our best move here is to stay quiet" Even the pause in both sentences is at the same moment.
What you said about revisiting memories in 53:00 was extremely insightful and helped me reflex about what i should do about my past issues
ive been subbed since the first better call saul video you made, and i love how you just stopped uploading all together after this one lmaoo, theres no other show to analyze this deeply anymore
Lol thank you, there will be future uploads eventually