The Blogboard Jungle

Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul have created a world where all these criminal masterminds play chess against one another.  A big piece of the business they're into is the cover up. Covering up their misdeeds has created a lot of fictional brands and the biggest to come of it outside of Saul/ Jimmy McGill's business is "Los Pollos Hermanos". AMC jumps all over a show when fans love it and this season of Better Call Saul features the return of Gustavo Fring, played by Giancarlo Esposito. They've made these videos for his business, which have Easter eggs about his real business.  Check it out:

Charles McGill should probably get his own prequel. It should explain why he is such a judgmental douche-bag to his younger brother who for the most part, has helped him through his made-up issue. In the fictional universe of Breaking Bad , all the characters go through an evolution. Something that made them a meth king pin, a shady lawyer, or a lethal bag-man. Charles McGill went from being a successful lawyer to being a crazy jerk-brother. Season two consisted of "Chuck" getting in the way of any small modicum of success Jimmy would ever come close to having. He even finds ways to get over his issues with electricity when he wants to find the fault in which Jimmy is succeeding. The only support Jimmy got all season was from Kim Wexler, who has a soft spot for him because even though she sees Jimmy's faults, she still admires his effort to try and be a good man and a decent lawyer. Something she was not getting at Hamlin, Hamlin, & McGill (HHM), funny ...

Our favorite lawyer has returned and things are at a crossroads at this point in the life of James McGill. Since this all takes place before he transforms into the very well connected "Saul Goodman", he is at a point where he could be an average guy, or an average lawyer. However, like Walter White outside influences will seem to eventually stir him on the path of the "morally flexible" as his soon to be associate Mike puts it. This season starts off like the last, in black and white, with a displaced Saul Goodman managing a Cinnabon. Not what he was used to, but surviving even when he gets locked out of the mall. It would seem each season is a time for reflection on how he wound up where he is. In his pre- Breaking Bad memories, he got out from under his brother's shadow (mostly) and is working for a new law firm that seems to want to good for the elderly at Sandpiper, the retirement community chain McGill/Goodman fell upon while trying to make his wa...

Photo: AMC official site The first season of Better Call Saul is in the can and in a way, it is similar to Breaking Bad .It is similar in that it begins to show how someone trying to do good, see's that it is not worth the effort. Fans saw Jimmy McGill make his best effort to keep from his "Slippin' Jimmy" days only to be brought down by his own brother. Photo: AMC official site  The whole season had viewers wondering where he will go wrong. When will we see the silver tongue of Saul Goodman emerge and begin to make his many connections to the criminal underworld. We did get some of that, and we saw him try to make the right choices. Mike Ehrmantraut and Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman seem to find themselves making choices that lands them in the criminal element. Photo: AMC official site Jimmy, for all his good efforts to please his brother and join him at his law firm are shot down by the very man he tries to help. His own brother tells him to his face ...

Photos from official CBS Battle Creek site. Battle Creek premiered March 1st on CBS, it is produced from the minds that brought fans House M.D. and Breaking Bad . With the name of the show and creative credentials like those you would think you were in for some hardcore drama on the level of Breaking Bad or True Detective . You would be wrong, but you might still like what you see. Some light comedy with familiar faces from the genre. Instead, you get something more along the lines of an interesting buddy cop comedy and your case of the week detective work. It's a formula that has not been on TV since the days of Magnum PI and the only game in town for a while was Psych on the USA network. Dean Winters fits the role of detective well and has played both cop and criminal in the past, it's good he now has a role that he can play every week instead of just guest starring in similar roles. The premise of the show is an FBI agent being sent to Battle Creek, Michi...

Officially Licensed T-Shirt When did prequels become a thing? Was it when Allen Moore wrote The Killing Joke ? Was it when Hollywood decided to make the Star Wars prequels? Where ever the idea came from, thank god it's happening for the story of Saul Goodman. Better Call Saul premiered this past Sunday and Monday in a two night premiere that seemed to being back all the addicts that were fans of Breaking Bad . Named for the advertising slogan of Walter White's consigliere , Saul Goodman the show follows the journey of how a lawyer struggling for success follows a dangerous road that will eventually lead him to the events in Breaking Bad .  Fans will remember, Saul seemed to have an out or an answer for most situations involving clients and himself. This show is the first inkling to what may have happened to anyone in the aftermath of the saga of Walter White. If you remember in the episode Granite State of Breaking Bad, Saul has a connection that helps people disap...

AMC announced a premiere date for the first two episodes of the Breaking Bad spin-off, Better Call Saul . The show will premiere on February 8 and 9 as a two part premiere, which fall on a Sunday and Monday. If you have been missing anything related to the world of Walter White you now have a date to look forward to. One of the many T-shirts from the show. The show is supposed to be set six years before Saul becomes Walter White's attorney so maybe we'll get to see how he makes some of his many connections.  One that is confirmed to make an appearance on the show is Saul's "fixer", Mike Erhmantraut played by Jonathan Banks according to AMC.  Anyone else looking forward to this prequel? Better Call Saul Two-Night Premiere Event Set for Sunday, February 8 and Monday February 9 | via AMCtv.com

It's gone and it isn't coming back, but fans are still paying tribute to one of the most popular shows that ended.  It is good therapy to get over a show that's gone, and even better for people that watch stuff like this.  Check out the video below:

You never know what's going to offend some people.  A woman in Florida got offended by toys being sold that were the likeness of the main characters of one of the most popular shows on recent television Breaking Bad . Some of us really miss the show and deal with our withdrawal in different ways, one of them being to collect stuff about it.  She went as far as to start a petition to ban the toys from being sold and Toys R Us flinched .  Now, they have offended fans of the show that wanted those collectibles as well as one Arron Paul who seems to have started his own petition bases on his recent tweet.  Calm down lady...and let us have our toys! Check it out below: Dear @ToysRUs , We have close to 30,000 signed on the petition, that is 3 times the amount that caused you to remove the toys. Talk to me. Ap — Aaron Paul (@aaronpaul_8) October 24, 2014

   I don't know about you folks, but we're sick of winter here.  If we could kick winter's butt around the parking lot or beat it down in an empty field a-la Office Space we would.  We absolutely hate winter the way Tio Salamanca hated Gus Fring on Breaking Bad .  How did Tio make himself happy? By blowing Gus Fring up. Apparently, I am not alone as Grant Thompson took the time (and explosives) to blow up some winter on +YouTube  .  See his video below:

   It's November, Halloween is over turkey day is around the corner, and soon our shows will take their holiday break that seems like forever.  What do you look forward to now?  Breaking Bad was our show of shows, anything else came second to it but now that it's over it's been pretty "ho-hum" in TV land.  So, what are you watching? If you've been too busy to get into things your friends are talking about, streaming technology can be a life saver when the cold weather comes and leaves you to occupy yourself with something new on TV.  Other than re-watching Breaking Bad its a good chance to find something new to get into.  We, for instance have just re-discovered Doctor Who after not watching it since the 80's, and +Netflix has all of them.  Another very good show is Hell on Wheels , that takes place during the reconstruction era of the United States post Civil War times.  That should be enough, but what if you need a genre break?...

DVD's?      Anybody noticing some really sad people around the water cooler or wherever you talk about TV today?  If you have and you;re one of them then you are part of the 10 million or so people that tuned into last nights Breaking Bad finale  according to Entertainment Weekly.  It's odd that a show would have that effect on so many people, because I think as much as people knew Walter White was going to meet his end, we were still rooting for him. So what now?  Surely we're not shallow enough that this awesome TV show was our reason to get through a weekend.  There's other stuff out there to keep us occupied, it'll be Halloween soon after all and I'm sure there will be plenty of costume ideas you can apply this year to show your love for Breaking Bad among other things . If you need help with some other suggestions, just browse the web and know you are not alone, like this list from Time has some good suggestions.  You can...

So long Mr. White, you owned Sunday nights      It's over, one of the best shows on television in a while has finally come to a close.  Many shows in television history run too long but this story of a nice guy gone bad had an ending when it started.  Last night's episode closed the book on a journey into one man's journey into the world of cartels, kingpins, assassins and betrayal. So goes the story of how Walter White broke bad... Full circle, "Felina", brings us up to speed, we know what the M-60 is for, Walter White finds a way to leave money to his family through his former colleagues at Grey Matter with a little help from fear, Badger and Skinny Pete.  All of Walter's money is gone now, he makes to Skyler and finally admits that all his wrong doing and power moves was not for his family, it was for him and the power he felt from the beginning.  Before that, he has meet with Lidia and Todd in her favorite coffee house at her favorite se...

     The end is definitely nigh for Walter White, Jesse, and so it seems Mr. Goodman at the start of this episode. We finally get to see one of the guys Saul knows to make a person disappear and what that disappearance entails. We also get to see what Jesse's life as a prisoner is like with Jack, Todd and the rest of the Aryan Brotherhood. While Breaking Bad was making it's dominance know at the Emmy's , Walter White and Jesse Pinkman were being tested as they have never been tested before.  When this episode begins we see out favorite quick witted lawyer Saul Goodman being forced to use one of his infamous "guy, who knows a guy" for himself and he gets a ride in that burgundy van Jesse didn't take, and Walter White did when all came crumbling down.  The "guy" in this episode is a pretty well known actor who seems to always be cast as that kind of guy.  Robert Forster, best known to younger folks as the bail bondsman from Jackie Brown plays the...

     Nice memory in the beginning of this one, Walt and Jesse's first cook, Walts first lie, in the same desert we were left in last week where the shootout between hank and Todd's uncle.  AMC showed last weeks episode just before this one popped off and if you didn't notice Marie was wearing all black in a show she consistently wears purple that may have been the firs indication of how Ozymandias was going to begin.      There's no long action sequence, we here the gunshots stop, Hank took one in his leg and Gomi has already fallen to the hail of gunfire. Walter White hasn't been the only character in this show that evolved into something he wasn't when it started.  Hank was a law enforcement stereotype, bad jokes, treated work like a game, even his own courage would come into question with himself when he experienced the level of violence the cartels dealt when he first transferred out of his own department.  Now, in the f...

     Talk about having the rug pulled out from under your feet, if you ever want to ensure your viewers will return for your show next week Vince Gilligan just gave you the formula.  End your show with a standoff, gunfight right when the shots go flying.  If you have not seen last nights episode, stop reading and watch it because you do not want this one spoiled.   Heisenberg move in this episode. A hit is out on Jesse, Jesse and Hank are out to get Walt and Creepy Todd is out to get Lidia in this episode.  This episode was a big chess game between Walt and Jesse in who's going to get who and  where.  The episode was one of them and their display of tactics as one man was trying to lure another.  Th"other way" Jesse referred to last week was to hurt Walter by attacking his money, Walter went after what Jesse holds dear, Brock and his mother.  He did not do it in an aggressive manner, he really didn't do anything...

     Breaking Bad keeps from being predictable once again when they bring us back to Walt rushing home to stop Jesse's rampage only to find he's just not there anymore.  This episode was very Tarantino-esque in that they explain what stopped Jesse's rampage later in the episode with a flashback to fill in the blanks.  The scene with Marie talking to her therapist was a little long but helps explain her non reaction to Hank having Jesse in his house to be his key evidence in bringing down the Heisenberg train.  This happens while Walt makes up some sorry story about a gas pump malfunction and relocating his family to a hotel to protect them from Jesse.  The funny thing about this episode is that Walter's untruths have become readable, even as the audience watches we can tell everyone he's talking to knows he's lying to them.  Pretty much any long winded crazy story Walter tells, while trying to do something around the house and seem innocen...

     If any episode of Breaking Bad made you think Walter White has become a despicable man, it was this past Sundays episode.  Aside from previous seasons, where he's poisoned children, let co-workers girlfriends pass away in their own vomit, and EVERYTHING he does to Jesse.  This weekend, he lied to his handicapped son, threatened to frame his brother in law, and STILL manages to hurt Jesse...again.  The only difference this time, is that Jesse called him on it and knows about some of the things he's been lied to about by Walter. Wore this shirt watching "cofessions", pretty fitting for this episode. Jess gives nothing to Hank in the interrogation room we were left off in last Sunday, other than an "eat me" to Hank when he tried the nice cop approach.  Hard for him to swallow since last time Hank spoke to him it was with his fists.  Saul tosses him out with an awesome Rocky movie reference that makes me laugh as I type this....

     "Am I under arrest!?" There's a way to get out of an awkward conversation with your DEA brother in law if you ever saw one.  The great thing about Breaking Bad is that they do not do predictability in that  show.  The title alone, "Buried" would lead one to believe that someone dies, and while people do die it's not anyone really major to name an episode after this last one. None of the above have been buried...yet. 'Buried' picks up where we were left last week after the Hank and Walter's confrontation with  Walter leaving Hank in his garage after his "Tread lightly" threat.  The persona switch between Heisenberg and Walter white can be comedic at times, watching Walter frantically try and get in touch with his wife and move his mega stacks of cash was comedic yet anxiety driven that it crosses over to the audience.  His quick meeting with "Better Call Saul", was also a good scene that Odenkirk found a way to ins...

     Film noire, or any dark story telling genre is not known for happy endings, so TMZ reporting on Aaron Paul spoiling the ending for everyone should no deter the fans from seeing how it ends.  The characters are bad people, doing bad things and anyone that thinks Walter White or Jesse Pinkman will be riding off into the sunset together have to remember.  These guys are drug dealers and manufacturers, they make and sell a product that has negative effects on peoples lives and those around them. some stuff is too good to spoil. Fanboys of the show, (like myself) will still want to see how they die, if that is the case.  Although the laugh at the end of the clip by Paul can indicate that he was just having a laugh since he was being bothered by Paparazzo.  If anyone thinks the ending will be happy they may have some morality issues.  Enough eater egg foreshadowing is floating around the web to hint at what the video from TMZ is sayi...