he left the driver alive and they ended up killing an innocent bystander. This also changes him and he realizes killing people in the game is ultimately always better than killing innocent people
I'm pretty sure he also goes out of his way to recover the body so the dead man's family can finally have some comfort. Pretty nice they made a cold ruthless grandpa into a troubled moral man
I just want Vince Gilligan and company to keep on doing more series; I don’t need more breaking bads, I need more of that type of writing and directing; could be any subject or matter, their work it’s too good to be true in the current webseries/apps world
There is no better writing, directing or cinematography in Television. There are tons of great shows that have come out recently (Fargo, Mr. Robot, Succession, Barry, just to name a few) but Vince, Peter and their crew are practically untouchable. This is the caliber of writing George Lucas (and subsequently, Disney) wishes he (they) possessed. " It's like poetry, it has to rhyme."
@@MeanStreamFraudCast Im sorry but "Fargo" is on another tier from Mr Robot, Sucession and Barry. Its an insult to include Fargo with those shows and I enjoy Barry. Succession and Mr Robot are honestly corny in my opinion.
The creators and writers of BCS and BB are truly on another level of storytelling, character building, attention to detail, cinematography and casting. There truly is nothing else out there touching Better Call Saul and ive seen all the "supposed" other great shows but all pale in comparison.
That scene in particular (where Saul realizes Walt killed Mike) is one of my few issues with BCS. In that scene, Saul doesn't really react all that emotionally when confronting the killer of a man he had a pretty tight bond with. In BB we just really got the impression that he was just a 'fixer' type dude that Saul occasionally employed, but in BCS we learn that they have this mutual respect thing and of course about Mike having saved Jimmy's life in the desert. Makes me wonder if there's some sort of falling out between them at end of this show.
@@wyomingptt there's a lot of sauls personal life we don't get to see. I can imagine he was scared to show disapproval in front of Heisenberg. Also at this point he's more corrupted than we saw in BCS. He suggested to Walt to kill someone to get rid of them, which I can't yet picture Jimmy doing. Also also, Mikes in the game and knew the risk, maybe he sees it like that.
Well I don't think I'm in the minority when I say Mike was never a sadistic guy in Breaking Bad, compared to someone like Tuco that enjoys violence. I always viewed it just as a very efficient guy, he doesn't enjoy killing but he also doesn't lie to himself or try to justify his actions, he knows who he is. The parallel between Walt and Werner was cool though I didn't know that
He did start off as a more ruthless character who would kill or injure anyone who stood in his way or whoever he was order to by Gus. He did try to kill both Jesse and Walt at different points and threatened to kill Saul and bury him in the desert if he didn’t give up Jesse. I think BB and (even more so) BCS had to soften his edges in order to make him more likable. Same with Nacho…and probably a bit too much so. He was a foot soilder for the cartel but he was morphed into a bit of a teddy bear/wounded puppy. I understand why, just didn’t make sense overall
@@patrickthomas8890 weird criticism. breaking bad and better call Saul are shows entirely about people losing their moral compass and slowly turning into monsters because of circumstance. As for Nacho, he was always a small time thug. He’s scary in season 1 because we only really see him through Jimmy’s perspective. He steals and rips people off, but he’s not a sadistic killer like the Salamancas and Gus
@@patrickthomas8890 I don't think it's bad or unnatural for Nacho or Mike, as we got to see more of them we see they have family's and at least understood and accepted they weren't exactly doing good things. Even when Nacho's trying to get out of the game by killing Hector they make it a point he's still willing to beat the shit out of Krazy8 without complaint. I'm honestly more curious about Saul, in BCS he's corrupt no doubt, but he's still against killing. Compare this to BB where Saul suggests killing Badger, Hank, and Jesse and has his suggestions shot down by Walt.
@@patrickthomas8890 BB is about characters becoming morally compromised because of the terrible things they do, and you dont think it makes sense for mike to start off as a nicer guy in the prequel? Come on bro
Same feeling when I rewatch Mike & Jesse's road trip, and Mike start to like and protect Jesse like an uncle all along the season 4 of Breaking Bad. in BCS after the "Nacho fate episode", the fact that Mike failed to save"the kid" make me look his relationship with Jesse with more tenderness. I like to think Mike still have Nacho in mind when he helps the "new kid".
The scene where Mike says, "I broke my boy and they killed him anyway," changed the ending in Breaking Bad where Mike dies so completely - it is such genius because he ended up doing the same thing to his crew and Heisenberg kills them all in prison. It's just the same thing over and over.
And not only that, but with Walter breaking his OWN family. I think Jesse was the only one who broke the cycle of constantly doing the same thing over, and over again. He (Jesse) went down the road, but in the end, he didn't have to anything like Mike, or Walt.
An even more clear way in which new subtext is added to Breaking Bad through Better Call Saul is how Gus eventually turns Mike's words of "I don't believe fear is an effective motivator" back on him. This packs a lot of meaning now that we have full context of how Mike was right on how the fear approach backfired on Nacho.
@@juliang8676 Threatening Nacho's father opened up the possibility for a lot of things to go wrong. Nacho was extremely close to going rogue before the Salamanca twins found him and he only went along with Gus' plan after Mike guaranteed his father's safety (ie. Dropping the fear approach) and not even smoothly at that when Nacho's last stand could've put Gus and everyone there in immediate danger had he not gone out on his own terms.
"Werner" "Heisenberg" It's why Mike underestimated Walt in that moment. He thought he was killing another milquetoast guy ike Werner who made some big mistakes. But he underestimated him. "Full Measure" is my favorite episode out of either series.
I actually thought Mike was sincere when he said it, without seeing BCS. Mike goes out of his way to counsel Walt a few times. Which is why I thought he at least mildly liked Walt.
Yeah I never took his words to be hollow in BB either. He was resigned to the fact and was going to do it without hesitation, but I did take his words as genuine.
He hated Walt later on. I don't think he ever liked him, I do agree his words aren't hollow though. He is apologising, but he won't lose any sleep over it.
@@jamesduffy7549 Well I mean yeah, he ruined his plans and shot him. I also didn't say he wouldn't lose sleep over it. I'm just saying I felt he meant it, before BCS revealed more of his character. Mike is practical. His killing always seemed like business. You see him with his grand daughter, you see him with Jesse. His shields his heart from the work. A lot of people do that.
I love how when Jesse and Walt kidnap Saul, the first thing he asks is if they're with Lalo, it's terrifying to think that the end of BCS will either have Saul not knowing if Lalo is alive or dead, or both Saul and us, the audience, not knowing
He's definitely dead, Gus knows he's 100% still alive, cause he heard him on the phone recording when he called his uncle. And Lalo isn't just going to forgive Gus or move on, he's out for revenge, so it can only end up one way. Specially cause he would never abandon family
It's a prequel but there's a sequel timeline (Gene's), that helps a lot with what you said about the prequel problem of knowing what is going to happen to the characters. And to be fair, the uncertainty of Kim's fate is what carries the show.
@@RenaldyCalixte It's depiction of pre-dark side Vader is still class though and makes him easier to sympathise with in ROTJ (despite a particular scene involving younglings)
Extremely impressive analysis from the one and only “Tuff Specialist”. The way he breaks down subtle clues and adds depth to his analysis by showcasing relevant analogies, Mr. Specialist creates a wonderful viewing experience for his target audience. These videos are so good that I lose track of all time, watching each video on replay from sun up to sun down. Cheers to you Mr. Specialist, you’ve changed my life forever.
"There are two types of heists. Those where the guys get away with it and those that leave witnesses" -Mike in Breaking Bad It's very interesting when you consider the fact that, in BCS, Nacho and the Salamanca members are surprised by Mike's decision to spare the driver. Leaving behind witnesses was something the old Mike WAS capable of
Jonathan Banks is such a great actor I felt all that subtext of him talking to Walt even before Better Call Saul confirmed it. What a terrific actor and man.
Honestly on a simpler note, i love that lives actually mean something in Better Call Saul. I had no problem with people dying and killing in BB (maybe besides crazy eight) and the cartel in BB was more of a little team that Walter White would beat easily. but in Better Call Saul i really feel for lives lost and really feel the danger of the cartel.
I understood why BCS is enhancing BB so much when I thought about Werner's fate. I wondered if Werner was buried in that lab, which would add so much sad detail to just the background of many scenes in Breaking Bad. Either way, everytime I see Jesse jumping around in there like a balloon or anything else happening, like the fly, I think of naive Werner dying for it.
Also explains why Mike was so mad at and ready to kill Walt when he found out about Fring's death and the destruction of the lab. He realized that Walt was more dangerous than before and could ruin decades of hard work easily.
Mikes speach about choices is the backbone of what breaking bad and better call saul was built on. Such a brilliant segment from the actor that plays mike
Yeah, Peter Gould and Vince said that we gonna start to see de BrBa characters in a different way, and that's true. Mike in BrBa was just a executioner for me until season 5, and after BCS I could understand how deep and sad this character is, that he don't love to do it, and that after going through so much he will do anything to take care of what left in his life, even if he has to do what he hates most: kill. *I don't speak english very well yet, maybe theres some errors in the comment.*
I write in English for a living and your comment is fine! Not everything is strictly "correct" but it's easy to parse and understand, and any "errors" are roughly in line with how a lot of English slang speakers end up talking anyway, especially online. You're doin' good, dude.
Good English my guy, like the other comment said “don’t” just replace it with doesn’t except for when you write something like “I don’t speak English very well yet”, where you used don’t correctly
Also just to add to this, after watching bcs you really see Walter as more of an evil villain for everything he has done to these characters we’ve started to consider just as central as Jesse or Walter now.
I’m 100% sure this has been said before, but I also like how Mike’s relationship with Nacho parallels his relationship with Jesse, and adds a whole new layer of tragedy and heart to how it ends in Breaking Bad.
Every scene is a classic. When a new episode comes I realise how lucky I am to experience for the first time. No other series comes close for me - In terms of how much it engages me from the dialogue, to the camera angles, not without mentions the actual story that’s going on. Peter and Vince are maters of their craft. Very Tarantinoesque
Don’t you just love the algorithm sometimes? Channel with 5k subs is getting some shine because they hit the sweet spot for the algorithm. Hope this spells some success for you my dude.
I also like to think that bcs and brb did similar things to their main characters, but do them in opposite ways. Breaking bad starts off with Walter being somewhat sympathetic, he’s a man with cancer and is just trying to leave something for his family, but as the story progresses you see that vault is truly kinda a scumbag and eventually absolutely insane and kinda evil. In better call Saul we get to see the opposite, our starting impression of Saul going into the prequel (assuming you’ve watch breaking bad) is that he was going to be a sleazy womanizing criminal lawyer. But what we see is the tragic sympathetic tale of how someone like jimmy could become Saul
I think part of the reason why BCS worked so well is because it focused on characters who were fairly disconnected to the main series’ plot, characters and their inner circles. For example, a prequel focused on Skylar or Jesse wouldn’t have been as impactful as what we have now. Another example is that I highly doubt a prequel trilogy with Star Wars would have done as well if it focused on Leia, her adoptive family and the workings of Alderaan
The biggest complaints about the prequels were Vader’s origins, the prequel trilogy was way more bogged down by its connections to the original trilogy and fan service. Of course it’s fine if people like Anakin in the prequels but it’s inevitable that the backstory for such an iconic villain would disappoint people.
3:40 I see the Mike story in this episode as an elaborate way to answer the question Nacho asks in the end. When Mike talks to the gun salesman, the moment he decides to leave and chooses not the purchase a gun is when he remembers the original use of the weapons. He complains about the decision to send the fragile guns into a jungle, implying that he served in Vietnam. The Vietnam war and atrocities committed there are likely the motivators for his pacifism we see in his early years in Albuquerque.
This was a fantastic watch, and the editing that goes along with the narration is top-notch. Wow! I’d love to see you do a similar video, but with Jimmy/Saul scenes. Boy, am I gonna miss this show!
It amazes me that Hollywood has thousands upon thousands of writers and directors; and it seems like only a very small handful can create such a beautiful art.
@@MitsubishiLancerEvo and then the irony is they end up making money… you’d think Hollywood would catch on. I guess their whole thing is pumping out crap on the smallest budget and wondering why it isn’t working out for them!
@Raylan Givens Shitty movies and shitty TV shows that did nothing but try and make money have always existed. It's not a new thing. The reason why you do not know about them is because of the simple reason of they weren't going for anything but money and have been forgotten to time. Movies/TV are about making money. It may not matter if the person writing or directing it cares about the money, but the producers and ever single "little guy" working on it does care about money. Now making something someone might get something out of and also making money while you're at it is what makes film making stand out from other jobs.
I could figure out just by the thumbnail and title that this must be comparing Mike and Werner to Mike and Walt. Helluva parallel and contrast. Glad I knocked right.
I never thought Mike heartless, even in Breaking Bad. And though Better Call Saul does add nouance to this already good character, I believed Mike without that context, that he was sorry and that it was unfortunate. He didn't really wanted to do it, but saw no other way (to not end up a target himself). He was more sympathetic for me, than what Walter would become (and already was at that point). I still like your insights here. Thanks for a cool video.
6:47 just brought back a lot of nostalgia . It was dec 2014, and I randomly click the Amc channel cuz I needed something playing in the background while I played smash bros for the Wii U and a show called “breaking bad” was having a marathon . First scene I watched was a old man and a guy with blonde hair riding a car , dropping off things while a Spanish song played in the background . Then during commercials the better call Saul “ coming soon” commercial would play . Didn’t know who the fuck Saul was or why a old man is giving this guy who is just trying to smoke a cig a pimento sandwich .😂. Don’t worry a couple years later around 2017 I finally watched breaking bad and all it’s glory
Thinking about Werner, it’s crazy how Mike saw Walt as just another problem employee who broke Gus’ trust and needed to be dealt with. Imagine how crazy the following events would look if we didn’t follow Walt’s story and just saw Mike’s perspective leading on from BCS
something to add: after mike spared the truck driver but they got killed anyway, i think he took on a mindset of "if it's not me killing them it'd be someone else," hence why finger started killing more after that.
Hey man, your channel is incredible. You do an amazing job with the quality of what you’re putting out. Definitely underrated. I expect to see this channel blow up at some point very soon. Can’t wait to say I’ve been here since around 3.5k subscribers! Very well done. Excited to see more of your work.
This was a great breakdown of how character development is so impressive in this series. Would love to see you do one on Gus as well if you haven't already!
I love this video so much and I always come back to it. Idc what anyone says “the guy.” Monologue was about nacho. Sure it was originally about Vincent. But with the context, it becomes “I have never felt so worried about my life since nacho. However, nacho was worth worrying about. You are not.”
I don’t know about you guys, but my Breaking Bad DVD set already came with subtext. You just need to turn them on in the options menu. Hope this helps somebody!
we know we are going to see walter and jesse in better call saul season 6 yes, but i just hope we see jimmys reaction to mikes death! we never really saw him react or mention anything about his former companion in crime , and it would be a good time to show it before ending the story
At this point, I think the more spin off shows about breaking bad characters the better. Let's get a show about Holly and Flynn and how hard it is for them to grow up with everyone knowing their dad was the most infamous drug kingpin in the history of the United States. Let's get a show about the Salamancas rise to power and infamy in Mexico. Fuck it. Let's get a show all about Huell
I agree to some extent, but I'm troubled with few other aspects in the subtexting between BB and BCS. Remember the ticking time bomb comment from mike? He saw Walter's lust for power and was alarmed by it. Then why is he fine with Gus is acting in BCS? Is it because Mike sees that Walter is turning out just like Gus? This could make sense if it was not for the sentence Mike said right before he died: 'We had a good thing you stupid ***, we had Fring .....(etc.)'. He appears to value Gus over the moon. When I saw this, I interpreted it the way that Gus really was a good and honourable man. Our perspective through Walter is just biased and Walter is the real bad guy. Then we get BCS. Gus makes Mike murder Werner, forces Nacho in a helpless position and finally makes Nacho kill himself. What a monster! At the time of Mike's words Walter was nowhere near as evil as Gus. You can argue that Walter was after these 9 men of Gus in prison, but on the other hand, killing dozens of people wasn't any big deal for Mike when the Gus asked for it. Somehow Mike regards Gus highly through BB, which doesn't make any sense for me. Especially after how he's been shown to act in BCS.
I didn't get the impression that Mike thought Gus was a good man. Only that he ran a tight operation and provided him with a fortune. Mike respected Gus and the stable business he ran. Still he wasn't that attached to Gus, since he was willing to work with the people who killed him.
It's a bit of cruel irony just how opposite the two instances are when Mike was going to kill Walter vs how Walter killed Mike. Mike takes no pleasure in killing Walt / Walt kills Mike out of spite. Walt offers to rat out Jesse to save himself / Mike refuses to release the names of his men "Mike, you don't have to do this" / "I'm sorry Mike. This.. this whole thing could have been avoided"
Exactly. When I first watched BB, even though I enjoyed the character of Mike, I simply saw Mike as a cold-blooded killer villain. I was even relieved when Mike died. After watching BCS, I changed my view of him, his death now makes me choke. Now he is my favorite character.
you should do an analysis on gus fring saying he doesnt thing fear is a proper motivator, and then parallel it back to Mike's same sentiment. Show the change in Gus's character throughout his rise and fall. It's probably my favorite character arc and commitment to nuance that never wavers. Giancarlo is so consistent, whether he's vile and ruthless in BCS, or has mellowed and sincerely trying to be better as we come to see him in BB.
Mike may have started as an add-on character... But he's quickly proven to be the one that has the strongest code, a code that he fights for all the time, even with Gus...
His “older” look in BCS could be explained by him previously being a heavy drinker and depressed over his sons death, and the renewed sense of purpose in providing for his granddaughter and working for Gus brought him back down a few ages.
Instant follow! Such a good show. Saul's character change from better call saul to bb is heartbreaking. It's like he becomes a caricature of himself in bb.
This universe is so good that words simply cannot give enough credit to how fantastic of a job has been done by every part. Never have I ever been as invested to dig out and thoroughly enjoy watching BTS, interviews, podcasts, AD campaigns, essay's, extra content.. whatever you can name. August is going to be a exciting month, almost unfathomable that the universe is coming to a close. As you said, they truly caught lightning in a bottle twice.