In the spirit of spin-offs I bring you Better Call Saul.
I'm sure you have heard of a little award winning show called Breaking Bad. If you haven't then I suggest getting Netflix for under your rock because you're going to want to binge watch this show from beginning to end. Breaking Bad will need it's own post but for now let's focus on one character who was so liked by fans that he got his own television series: Saul Goodman. Appearing in 43 of 62 episodes of Breaking Bad, Bob Odenkirk played a loveable lawyer who always manged to get himself into trouble. Saul Goodman is a smart man with a fast mouth but he gets himself into sticky situations that make views both cringe and laugh.
Fans were devastated when Breaking Bad came to an end. Five heart pumping seasons of Walter White doing the unimaginable just to pay his medical bills. However, the phoenix rose from the ashes and AMC brought us Better Call Saul.
Vince Gillian is a master of creation and brought fans a new show that allows us to truly connect with the characters. I'm going out on a limb to state that this may be one of the best spin-offs ever created. Better Call Saul is already Emmy nominated and it's easy to see why. The camera work and editing is beautiful. The casting is great with some characters crossing over from Breaking Bad, such as Tuco. Bob Odenkirk is a talented actor and brings everything fans loved about Saul into an entirely new place. This is a show that can stand on its own without even needing to be labeled as a spin-off.
Better Call Saul takes us deeper into who Jimmy McGill really is. How did he get started? How did he end up such an illegal mess? How did he become Saul Goodman? I'm still finding the answers to these questions while I watch season one. Check back soon for Better Call Saul: Part Two.
Season two will be starting up February 15, 2016 on AMC at 10/9c. If you need to catch up than season one is streaming right now on Netflix, along with Breaking Bad. I know what I'll be doing for the next couple of weeks!
HAPPY OCTOBER! October is my favorite month of the year. Why? Because the whole month is dedicated to celebrating Halloween! Halloween is my favorite holiday! There is just something about Halloween that makes me extraordinarily happy. The decorations, the celebration, the costumes, and of course the candy. Also, with October comes Autumn, my favorite season of the year. I live in Maine and Fall in Maine is gorgeous! Fall in Maine means cooler weather, beautiful changing leaves, and pumpkin flavored everything. What's not to like? So, dressed in plaid flannel and boots all October I will be writing strictly about horror! I'm hoping to write a new horror post each week of October in celebration of Halloween! So, to start us off I bring you The Walking Dead.
I admit, I was late jumping on this bandwagon. The Walking Dead series has been in my Netflix instant queue for at least a year, maybe more if it's even been on Netflix that long. Finally last week I decided it was time to give it a try. I'm not really sure why it took me so long to watch but it just never felt right. But holy-moly I'm glad I finally gave it a shot. The Walking Dead is AMAZING. There is so much to talk about and I know I won't even be able to touch on it all. First of all, let me start by saying how great it is to have a gory horror television series. Besides American Horror Story, there really are no other horror shows out there. Which is too bad because horror is a wonderfully disgusting and much loved genre that could be touched on a bit more on television.
This horror/drama series follows a group of people led by former Sheriff Rick Grimes. I suppose Rick is the main protagonist of the show, as the series started with just him and he is the leader of the group. The rest of the group does question his authority and decisions from time to time, including his own wife and son, but I find Rick to be a solid leader and his choices for the group usually have a way of working out.
For those of you unfamiliar with the AMC original show The Walking Dead, let me offer a little plot. The series was created in 2010 by Frank Darabont and is basically about a zombie apocalypse. Though, in the show no one ever refers to them as zombies, they call them "Walkers" and also one group calls them "Biters." The world, or at least we assume the entire world, somehow gets overtaken by Walkers and most people either die or get turned into a Walker. It is a creative take on the whole zombie thing, which is a popular topic in horror right now.
The show is totally gruesome and graphic, so if you don't like gore than this is probably not the show for you. There are some heavy zombie head bashing moments but also quieter human interaction moments. The acting on The Walking Dead is superb! The intense fighting or conversation moments between characters are just so well written and acted.
Because there are so many main characters I will list them to help you get a clear picture. Now, of course with a show like this there are many casualties! So, some of these characters last a long time, some a short time, and some are not introduced for quite a while. Here's the main players:
Rick Grimes: Played by Andrew Lincoln, is the leader of the group, a decent father and husband though he does like to go off and save the world, and an all around nice guy.
Lori Grimes: Played by Sarah Wayne Callies, is Rick's wife, she's kind of annoying but she's a good worker and a solid character.
Carl Grimes: Played by Chandler Riggs, Carl is Rick and Lori's son. He's pretty young but he carries a gun and wants to help, almost to a fault.
Glenn Rhee: Played by Steven Yeun, Glenn is one of my favorite characters. He's the token Asian and a very good guy.
Daryl Dixon: Played by Norman Reedus, is my favorite character and will probably be yours as well. You want to hate him at first but quickly learn he's a super dude.
Dale Horvath: Played by Jeffrey DeMunn, is the voice of reason and understanding in the group. Dale is the group mechanic and is an excellent and willing lookout.
Andrea: Played by Laurie Holden, Andrea is kind of annoying and does not listen to people. She gets herself into trouble by not listening to people like Dale and Michonne.
Shane Walsh: Played by Jon Bernthal, Shane pretends to be a good guy but is he really?
Merle Dixon: Played by Michael Rooker, Merle quickly gets cut off from the group (get it??) but I always knew he'd be back. No body, not dead. That's my slogan for The Walked Dead.
Carol Peletier: Played by Melissa McBride, I weirdly really like Carol. She's a little pathetic at first, well kind of the whole show. Her husband is a jerk-face but Carol makes it through. I'm rooting for a relationship between Carol and Daryl. I'm pretty sure it will happen.
Sophia Peletier: Played by Madison Lintz, Sophia is Carol's daughter. She gets lost in the woods and Daryl stops at nothing to find her. That's why I think he and Carol will get together, because he cared about Sophia so greatly.
Maggie Greene: Played by Lauren Cohan, Maggie is Hershel's daughter and Glenn's love. She and Glenn immediately fall in love, it's pretty sweet. She's one of the few female characters I like in the show.
Hershel Greene: Played by Scott Wilson, Hershel is cool! At first I wasn't sure about him, he seemed kind of mean and harsh. But he quickly becomes a total bad-ass.
Beth Greene: Played by Emily Kinney, Beth is Hershel's younger daughter. Her character is fairly minor but she's always there. I have a feeling she'll somehow become more focused upon.
Michonne: Played by Danai Gurira, Michonne is AWESOME. I liked her the second the saw her slice a Walker's head off with her sword. Oh yeah, she carries a SWORD. It does not get any cooler than a sword.
The Governor: Played by David Morrissey, this guy is a total DB (douche bag, for those of you who don't know what that stands for). I hate him because he's crooked but pretends to be perfect.
T-Dog: Played by IronE Singleton, T-Dog is just a good man. Super nice, puts his life in jeopardy for others and has a very unfortunate nickname. I mean, T-Dog, really? How much more stereotypical can you get for the token black man of the show? Geesh.
I hope that's everybody important! There are tons of characters, as you can see. Something neat about The Walking Dead, if you look at the cast on IMDB, it lists people as "Walker" and they'll be in like thirteen episodes which I think is super cool. They don't just have random people every single time they need Walkers, they use the same actors over and over. How cool must that job be? Sit around for a few hours, get made up into a zombie, then walk around making gross noises! Sounds fun to me!
The Walking Dead can be complicated and there is a lot of story-line that happens fairly quickly, so I don't want to go into any more detail on the show. I suggest you check it out if you haven't already. The first three seasons are streaming on Netflix! Netflix actually just added the third season a couple days ago, I'm assuming because the fourth season will be starting soon on AMC. So you better get caught up now! I'm almost finished the third season and I KNOW a lot will happen. I honestly cannot rave enough about his awesome horror show. Go check it out and as always, enjoy! Here's a clip about season four!
Bryan Cranston is the man. You cannot get cooler than a chemistry teacher with cancer turned criminal cooking meth. He rocks bald better than anyone, in fact it makes him look even more bad-ass.
If you don't already know the greatness I am talking about, it's Breaking Bad. Breaking Bad is a series created and produced by Vince Gilligan and first premiered in January 2008. The show is set and produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico and follows the story of chemistry teacher Walter White and former student Jesse Pinkman, played by Aaron Paul. Walter discovers he has lung cancer and wants to secure his families financial future before he dies. So, with the help of drug addict Jesse the two manufacture and sell methamphetamine. Like all television shows, this shit gets dramatic. Very dramatic.
The show features a stellar cast, music, settings, storyline, and just overall awesomeness. It's a show I did not think I would like but was talked into watching. I breezed through the first two seasons on Netflix like it was nothing. Then I got stuck in season three. Apparently that happens, or so I was told. It took me a long time to get through it and I took a hiatus from watching the show. Finally I got back into season four and hope to catch up soon to the final season which is currently running on AMC.
Breaking Bad has some great characters and actors. Anna Gunn plays Skyler White, Walters wife. Betsy Brant plays Marie Schrader, Hanks wife and Skyler's sister. And then there's the talented Dean Norris who plays Hank Schrader. Schrader has been in a number of television series including the current Under the Dome, which is a mini-series by Stephen King. If you have Amazon Prime you can watch all the current episodes of Under the Dome for free.
Breaking Bad is one of those programs where you cheer for the bad guys. Walter and Jesse are the main characters, we all root for them but they are breaking the law big time! They cook crystal meth! Yet, they make you understand their feelings and the show can be a real roller-coaster of emotions.
Seriescreator Vince Gilligan was afraid his show would be too similar to Weeds but I think it stands independently on it's own. Weeds always felt more like a comedy to me and Breaking Bad is definitely a drama. The series, with its writing and characters, feels unique and the show becomes addictive.
Gilligan uses the help of Dr. Donna Nelson at the University of Oklahoma to check chemistry facts and make sure the scientific information is all correct. Dr. Nelson will write down chemical equations and structures that the show uses as props. While the show does not have a full-time person on to assist checking facts, Gilligan wanted to be sure all the information was correct so Dr. Nelson is on call when an expert is needed.
The actor who plays Walt Jr., RJ Mitt, actually has cerebral palsy in real life. Mitt's condition is much milder than Walt Jr's, so he learned to walk with crutches and slow his speech for the part.
Characters on the show who are smoking meth are actually smoking sugar or rock candy but do not inhale
In the beginning of each episode, the chemical formula C10H15N along
with the number 149.24 and the word "Meth" can be seen just before the
title Breaking Bad appears. C10H15N is the formula for methamphetamine,
which has the molecular weight of 149.24.
Bryan Cranston stated in an interview that the term "breaking bad" is a southern
colloquialism and it means when someone who has taken a turn off the
path of the straight and narrow, when they've gone wrong. And that could
be for that day or for a lifetime
Betsy Brant was
pregnant during season two. Whenever she reached the point in the
pregnancy that Skyler was supposed to be, the producers would do pick-up
shots with her as the fake bare belly on Anna Gunn.
10 actors cast on the show have previously appeared in the Vince Gilligan produced The X-Files.
Sony and AMC were initially reluctant to cast Bryan Cranston because of his previous comedic roles and considered both John Cusack and Matthew Broderick for Walter White. When they both declined, Vince Gilligan got to cast Cranston.
Bryan Cranston has a Breaking Bad tattoo on his ring finger.
The first episode to the second half of Season 5 is dedicated to Kevin
Cordasco, a teen Superfan of the show who died of cancer in March of
2013. Before his death Kevin was able to meet Bryan Cranston, Vince Gilligan, and other prominent members of the Breaking Bad family, and he was even
offered the chance to read the final scripts of the series so he would
know how the show ends. Kevin denied, as he didn't think he could keep
the secret
So, basically, Breaking Bad is awesome. I am super glad that Cranston was cast as Walter White because I cannot even imagine Cusack or Broderick in that role. I love both of them but this role needed a slightly lesser known face. As I've stated before, I love when unknown actors (even if they're just unknown to me) are cast in movies and shows.
If you haven't already, please go check out the first four and half seasons streaming on Netflix right now. Netflix is on it and offers the most up-to-date season of the series. Season five, the final season, was broken up into two parts and the first half is available on Netflix. If you get bogged down in season three just press on! You will get through it! If you are already a Breaking Bad lover then enjoy the new episodes of the final season.
One of my favorite things about Breaking Bad is Jesse Pinkman and his mouth. He ends most sentences with "bitch" so please enjoy the video montage of Jesse using his favorite word.
