Friday, April 1, 2022

Better Call Saul: The fun of being always wrong



The lovely wife and I have only just caught up with the most recent episodes of Better Call Saul, just in time for the final season, and we both think it's an absolute goddam delight, full of twists and turns and people doing desperate things in desperate circumstances. Plus Kim is the best.

And one of the most intriguing things about it is that we are just always wrong about how things are going to unfold on the show, to a ridiculous degree. 

The show's creators are obviously manipulating us, relying on a lifetime of movies and TV to offer up red herrings and false narrative turns. We're so used to close ups of important things that are going to matter later, but this show is dropping that kind of thing all over the place, and there is no way to tell what is there for mood, and what is there for plot.

Unsurprisingly, the same thing happened with nearly every damn episode of Breaking Bad, and it's good to have that cluelessness back. Because I fucking love it when I get it all wrong.

I don't care if I'm right. I don't want to dictate the story, I want to see where it takes me, and the more misdirection and confusion there is, the better. I don't mind the fact that Tuco hasn't shown up yet, I'm still gonna say out loud 'Oh my God it's Tuco!' every time a shadowy figure appears.

I mean, I could get annoyed that I'm not getting what I want, but it's much, much more fun this way.

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