I love Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Breaking Bad was an amazing show driven by story and characters and it wrapped up so well. Everything introduced throughout Breaking Bad’s five seasons paid off in the end. The team behind arguably one of the greatest TV shows of all time wanted to explore the universe a little more. They decided on a prequel, Better Call Saul. What guts. They followed up a huge show and had to figure out how to expand, redefine, and intertwine while not upsetting the huge fanbase of Breaking Bad. I think that they accomplished and great a great TV show. They didn’t play it safe, they made something truly remarkable.
Better Call Saul is now in its sixth and final season. These final 13 episodes might be the last chapter in the Breaking Bad universe and I have been savoring the experience. Season six of Better Call Saul premiered on April 18, 2022, and wraps up on August 15th. The season has been torture waiting for each episode, cliffhangers, and a six-week midseason break. I decided to watch and experience this last season in a new way.
- I watch the episodes live. Every Monday night, I focus my attention for an hour as the episode plays out all swiss chessed by commercial breaks. I haven’t watch a show this way in awhile and it has some benefits. Breaks give you a change to process, guess on what’s coming next, and build some suspense. I also don’t want to have anything spioled if I venture onto BCS Twitter.
- Right after the episode, I join the OneTake livestream on YouTube. The OneTake brothers go live right after the episode and give their instant take on the episodes. I sometimes jump in the chat and add thoughts, but I mostly listen and revel in the episode that we all just watched together. This has been a fun way to go a little deeper into the story and join a community of folks sharing an experience together.
- The day after the episode, I listen to the Better Call Saul Insider Podcast. This podcast puts out a new episode on the following day of the AMC aired show and features hosts Chris McCaleb and Kelley Dixon with the people actually behind the show. It is such a great podcast. They often give you a little insight into what they were think as the “break the episode” and how they technically pulled off complex shots or sequences. Again, this really helps build up the episode.
- Throught the rest of the week, I watch a few recap vidoes on YouTube. There are some really great YouTubers who breakdown the recent episode, give some thoughts, and clear up some things for the audience. They are fun to watch as they compete to get their recap episode on YouTube before everyone esle. I highly recommend TheVividKiWi, OneTake, Courtney’s Reviews, and Pete Peppers.
With all of this, I am just trying to be in the moment an dextend the moment as long as I can. Are you watching the show? How do you watch your favoite show?