Pepsi Blue Meth

January 11, 2017 10:17 AM

AMC has just released a commercial for Los Pollos Hermanos that may signal the return of a character from Breaking Bad and a new teaser for season three of Better Call Saul gives a Spring 2017 return date. Better Call Saul on Fanfare. Bonus: 10-hour loop of the Better Call Saul theme. [via Uproxx]
posted by Room 641-A (57 comments total)

That seems like kind of a major spoiler for the season, though I supposed there's nobody who watched BCS last season who isn't expecting Gus to show up.

The "family" comment at the end brought to mind Walt's "We're a family!" plea in the final season of BB.
posted by bondcliff at 10:29 AM on January 11, 2017 [3 favorites]

I could go for a fried chicken and curly fries place.
posted by leotrotsky at 10:35 AM on January 11, 2017 [5 favorites]

I have a Los Pollos Hermanos apron that I just love. I generally save it for when I am cooking poultry. Or meth.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:39 AM on January 11, 2017 [25 favorites]

I don't recall anything in Season 2 that specifically foreshadows Fring's return, although since it was clear that Saul and he went back before the BB storyline, it would be natural.
posted by thelonius at 10:48 AM on January 11, 2017

FRING IT ON.

I've been jonesing for the next season since the end of last season.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:49 AM on January 11, 2017 [15 favorites]

please more fring origin stories. please more fring origin stories.. please more fring origin stories.. please more fring origin stories.. please more fring origin stories.
posted by lalochezia at 10:52 AM on January 11, 2017 [6 favorites]

I don't recall anything in Season 2 that specifically foreshadows Fring's return

I forget the specifics, but didn't the season end with Mike going to kill someone and finding a note that said "don't"? I don't think I was alone in thinking only Gus or Gus' people would have left that note.
posted by bondcliff at 11:00 AM on January 11, 2017 [11 favorites]

I don't recall anything in Season 2 that specifically foreshadows Fring's return

The last episode of BCS wasn't Fring-specific foreshadowing, but the notecard that said "DON'T" did suggest that someone more powerful and much more competent than the Salamancas were following Mike. The fact that they didn't just kill him outright also suggests that the notecard-placer or his bosses think Mike might be worth keeping around, which fits pretty well with how Mike could end up with Fring. I think that's about as close as they can come to saying it was someone from Fring's organization without leaving a box of fried chicken on the car seat.
posted by skewed at 11:01 AM on January 11, 2017 [10 favorites]

Wasn't there some sort of anagram thing with the episode names, too?
posted by Copronymus at 11:03 AM on January 11, 2017 [1 favorite]

> I don't recall anything in Season 2 that specifically foreshadows Fring's return

Well, the identity of the mysterious individual who left the note for Mike saying "don't" could turn out any way they want it at this point, but the episode titles of that season were:

201 Switch
202 Cobbler
203 Amarillo
204 Gloves Off
205 Rebecca
206 Bali Ha'i
207 Inflatable
208 Fifi
209 Nailed
210 Klick

Those initials are SCAGRBIFNK, which anagram to FRINGSBACK.
posted by qntm at 11:05 AM on January 11, 2017 [38 favorites]

Also I listened to the BCS insider podcast last season and Gilligan didn't even attempt to deny the anagram or the fact that Gus would be returning.

I'll bet a nickle Gus will be at least a minor player this season, if not a major one. I'm hoping we see Mike learning the ropes in Gus' organization.
posted by bondcliff at 11:08 AM on January 11, 2017 [2 favorites]

please more fring origin stories. please more fring origin stories.. please more fring origin stories.. please more fring origin stories.. please more fring origin stories.

The one true Fring origin story.
posted by maudlin at 11:11 AM on January 11, 2017 [6 favorites]

I have a Los Pollos Hermanos apron that I just love.

I have a Los Pollos Hermanos t-shirt. When I wear it while I'm out and about and someone indicates that they get the reference, it gives me a little thrill. Bring on season two!
posted by fuse theorem at 11:22 AM on January 11, 2017 [3 favorites]

forgot all about the note - thanks!
posted by thelonius at 11:25 AM on January 11, 2017

Ooh, an anagram! I did not know that.

I think that (a) it was clear from the first announcement of the show that if BCS did well, Gus Frings would be there and (b) we're supposed to think he is coming based on the note.

Part of the fun of the show is the inevitability.
posted by jeather at 11:26 AM on January 11, 2017 [4 favorites]

I feel like they're going to bring out one or two characters from Breaking Bad each season until they have everyone back. Like when a band brings the drummer out first, then the bass player starts jamming with him, then the dude walks up to the keyboards and goes doodledoodledoo, then the spotlight shines on the guitarist just as he goes KACHUNG until finally the singer runs out and asks if the city is ready to rock.
posted by bondcliff at 11:30 AM on January 11, 2017 [25 favorites]

It could also be BRING F SACK. Which, admittedly, means nothing. But it could.

I know we all have strange fantasy versions of things we watch, and I (and I alone) wanted a 70s- or 80s-style situation comedy, shot multi camera on a single stage about Los Pollos Hermanos, perhaps with a live audience. All hugging and learning among the staff and regular customers, and Gus appearing at opportune moments and episode ends to dispense wisdom and sage advice.

And at the end of the season, he gets blown up in a nursing home.
posted by Grangousier at 11:34 AM on January 11, 2017 [15 favorites]

The one true Fring origin story.

He was bitten by a radioactive chicken?
posted by Grangousier at 11:35 AM on January 11, 2017 [11 favorites]

I don't think they'll bring in Walter White or Jesse Pinkman in any regular way (maaaybe a vague Easter Egg reference or cameo at most). They've made it really clear that they want this series to be watchable independent of Breaking Bad, and so far it is.
posted by aabbbiee at 11:36 AM on January 11, 2017 [2 favorites]

It could also mean BIG F'N RACKS, which would signal quite a departure for the show.
posted by skewed at 11:37 AM on January 11, 2017 [18 favorites]

I don't think they'll bring in Walter White or Jesse Pinkman in any regular way

I'm hoping for some Badger
posted by thelonius at 11:40 AM on January 11, 2017 [11 favorites]

Also I listened to the BCS insider podcast last season and Gilligan didn't even attempt to deny the anagram or the fact that Gus would be returning.

As a side note, I found the BCS insider podcast to be great fun. They have different members of the cast and/or crew on, and you get some inside baseball around the shooting of the show, and there's one that corresponds to each episode. They contain spoilers, so are best listened to as a digestif after watching the corresponding episode.

If you're a podcast person and/or you like getting into the technical details of a show, I highly recommend it.

They sound like they're having a blast making it.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:46 AM on January 11, 2017 [2 favorites]

I'm hoping for some Badger

we don't need no stinkin badgers
posted by entropicamericana at 11:50 AM on January 11, 2017 [8 favorites]

Those initials are SCAGRBIFNK, which anagram to FRINGSBACK.

The fact that this was a deliberate anagram has been confirmed.
posted by maxsparber at 11:56 AM on January 11, 2017 [2 favorites]

God, I love BCS. Probably more than I liked Breaking Bad, although the inevitability is part of what makes it so much fun. BB was soured, for me, by the increasingly excessive violence and the worship, among many fans, of Walter, long after he made the leap from anti-hero to villain.

Seen Odenkirk get to portray Saul with all the misguided and twisted heart that you knew he always had is delightful.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:59 AM on January 11, 2017 [12 favorites]

I don't think they'll bring in Walter White or Jesse Pinkman in any regular way (maaaybe a vague Easter Egg reference or cameo at most).

BCS has to end before Walt gets his cancer diagnosis, I think. But Gilligan et al. can basically do no wrong in my mind, having delivered seven consecutive of consistently stellar television set in this little universe. So if BCS goes on long enough that the colour sequences catch up with the B&W sequences and then it keeps going from there, I'll still be watching.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:12 PM on January 11, 2017

I would like them to jump to the future, so we can discover that Huell is still sitting in that hotel room, waiting for Hank and Gomez to come back.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:24 PM on January 11, 2017 [7 favorites]

Seven consecutive seasons, that is. Five of BB and two of BCS. (Which I agree has in a lot of ways become the better show, learning as it has from the bizarre misaimed fandom for Walter White and the even more bizarre misaimed hatedom for Skyler White.)
posted by tobascodagama at 12:24 PM on January 11, 2017

BB was soured, for me, by the increasingly excessive violence and the worship, among many fans, of Walter, long after he made the leap from anti-hero to villain.

This is one of the things I look back on as a success, actually! The creators knew this would happen and did a remarkable job at it. And it's right in the title - at what point does Walter 'break bad' for you? The pilot episode? The fourth season? Never?
posted by naju at 12:50 PM on January 11, 2017 [5 favorites]

(For me, it was the scene with Jesse's... well, spoilers, with a good explanation of that scene)
posted by naju at 12:52 PM on January 11, 2017 [3 favorites]

Yeah, I was a big fan of the way they allowed the audience to be complicit. At what point does Walter become irredeemable? And even then, do you root for him against the other bad guys? Does his final act atone for anything? It's complicated. Which I loved.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:57 PM on January 11, 2017 [5 favorites]

Can I enjoy Better Call Saul without watching Breaking Bad? And is it lighter in tone at all?

The story of Breaking Bad felt like watching an inevitable train wreck. I had to bail out towards the end of Season 2 since you could feel the bad end for Jesse's girlfriend coming a mile away and I couldn't stand to watch it.

I guess I'm asking, is Better Call Saul fun?
posted by JDHarper at 12:57 PM on January 11, 2017

Can I enjoy Better Call Saul without watching Breaking Bad?

Yep! You're likely to get more out of the characters and their arcs if you've seen BB, but this is perfectly standalone too.

It has lots of those fun/light moments - it's wickedly funny, actually - but also gets fairly serious, heartwrenching, and emotionally/morally complicated at times. But not quite in the "I might suffer a stroke watching this play out" sense that BB was good at - more slow-burn twist of the knife sorts of ways. Based on what you've said, I think you'd love BCS.
posted by naju at 1:03 PM on January 11, 2017 [4 favorites]

Yes to both, JDHarper.
(on post: see above!)
posted by Shepherd at 1:04 PM on January 11, 2017

You absolutely don't need to watch BB to enjoy Better Call Saul. Better Call Saul is definitely more fun, on average. But it can also be surprisingly heartfelt and dramatic. And it has its share of tragedy. So, not a lighthearted comedy, and the train wreck is still out there, looming. But I think the characters here are way more sympathetic, at least at this point, and are often very fun to watch and root for.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:08 PM on January 11, 2017 [4 favorites]

Here's a Better Call Saul promo that I really loved but that didn't get much play.
posted by azpenguin at 1:20 PM on January 11, 2017 [5 favorites]

Oh shit, is the theme music also by Junior Brown? Master of the guit-steel!
posted by thelonius at 1:33 PM on January 11, 2017

Certainly less gory and edgy,

For now. I have a feeling that's going to change as we watch Jimmy's tragic decent into Saul.
posted by mondo dentro at 1:39 PM on January 11, 2017

I think it's phenomenal, and though I loved Breaking Bad, I think Better Call Saul is like 2 or 3 times as good. Based on the first couple seasons, it's probably in my top ten TV shows of all time, I think.

I love BB so much, think it's top 10 material, and totally agree that BCS is shaping up to be better. Its first 2 seasons blow BB's first 2 seasons out of the water, that's for sure.

Can I also add my appreciation for how Better Call Saul actually gets the details of being a lawyer right, for a change? I love how it punctures so many holes in the TV legal drama genre by simply depicting the boring, gray reality (whether you're a struggling solo no-name lawyer, or at a successful firm and exiled to endless document review in a windowless basement filled with asbestos)
posted by naju at 1:45 PM on January 11, 2017 [12 favorites]

The first two or 2.5 seasons of Breaking Bad were really tough for me to get through, because of the sheer agony of waiting for the lie to come to light; it was like an in-depth study in breaking up a family, and that was painful. Once the break happened, I felt the rest was much more enjoyable to watch.
posted by Existential Dread at 1:56 PM on January 11, 2017

The Los Pollos Hermanos trailer commercial reminded me that whenever I heard Gus Fring's last name spoken aloud on BB, I would flash back to a Harvey's commercial for "Frings".

By way of explanation: Harvey's is a Canadian hamburger chain with better burgers than McDonald's or Wendy's where you can customize the toppings before your eyes a la Subway, and where I always ask them to go apeshit with the pickles.

Anyway, in the early 1990s they introduced "Frings" as a promotion. As the name suggests, it was just selling you onion rings and French fries at the same time. CRAZY, EH? YOU COULD HAVE BOTH WHO KNEW?

And they actually make a pretty decent veggie burger for a fast food joint.

Sorry for the derail.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:01 PM on January 11, 2017 [2 favorites]

Oh shit, is the theme music also by Junior Brown? Master of the guit-steel!

The "Better Call Saul" song is by Junior Brown but the theme song in the intro is by these people like all title sequence music.

As for "lighter in tone" -- If I had to guess, I expect "Better Call Saul" to end on a lighter note than Breaking Bad -- family drama and people facing consequences rather than major drugs and violence -- but I expect to feel much worse about it because I actually *care* about this character.

(I loved Breaking Bad, but my love for Walt himself ended about halfway through the 2nd episode of the show.)
posted by mmoncur at 3:04 PM on January 11, 2017 [4 favorites]

but I expect to feel much worse about it because I actually *care* about this character.

Kim Wexler, too, for me. And since she wasn't in BB at all, I do actually worry about her making it through this series OK. :(
posted by naju at 3:33 PM on January 11, 2017 [7 favorites]

On the other hand, maybe Kim is the one character in the BB universe who ends up happy and fulfilled!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:36 PM on January 11, 2017 [6 favorites]

On the other hand, maybe Kim is the one character in the BB universe who ends up happy and fulfilled!

*knocks on cocobolo*

I would love to see that. (Count me as another person who was riveted to BB, but still prefer BCS by a factor of 2-3.)
posted by mordax at 3:47 PM on January 11, 2017 [4 favorites]

Gus Fring is one of my top 5 tv characters of all time, and Better Call Saul is one of my top 5 shows. I cannot wait for more Gus.
posted by minsies at 3:48 PM on January 11, 2017 [4 favorites]

And they actually make a pretty decent veggie burger for a fast food joint.

It is known.

On the other hand, maybe Kim is the one character in the BB universe who ends up happy and fulfilled!

Dr. Delcavoli seemed to do okay. And do not forget staunch APD detectives Kalanchoe and Munn, who are ripe for a BCS appearance!
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:03 PM on January 11, 2017

We were team Jesse Pinkman in our household from the get-go, and we're totally team Kim Wexler, now. Walt was always fascinating to watch, but I can't say that we ever liked him. We do actually like Jimmy McGill, AKA Saul Goodman, but he will lose BIG POINTS, MISTER, the day he causes true harm or heartache for Kim. BIG POINTS!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:26 PM on January 11, 2017 [10 favorites]

On the other hand, maybe Kim is the one character in the BB universe who ends up happy and fulfilled!

I can believe it. I actually expect it. I'm pretty sure Kim eventually does get a happy ending.

But damn if the show doesn't intend to scare the shit out of us before she gets it.
posted by tobascodagama at 5:45 PM on January 11, 2017 [3 favorites]

Better Call Saul takes place in 2002. At this point in the timeline, Aaron Paul is almost twenty years older than the offstage Jesse Pinkman is in the Albuquerque of BCS. Short of some Rogue One trickery, an appearance by (the future) Cap'n Cook seems... unlikely.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:18 PM on January 11, 2017

They sound like they're having a blast making it.

I'm so, so impressed with how generous Vince Gillian is with his time and also how quick he is to take nearly any compliment and turn around and give credit to to the crew member(s) who either actually came up with the idea or executed it. I highly recommend his Kevin Pollack Chat Show interview; it's a master class in writing and graciousness. And Bob Odenkirk, wow.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:35 PM on January 11, 2017 [5 favorites]

Fring is a great character and the actor is sublime. I worry, though, that seeing him will simply remind me of how thrilling, how edge-of-your-seat, how can't-wait-for-next-week Breaking Bad was, and how "might as well watch the latest episode or whatever, since Goliath and Quarry aren't back yet" Better Call Saul is.
posted by turbid dahlia at 7:25 PM on January 11, 2017 [2 favorites]

Squat cobbler
posted by aabbbiee at 11:12 AM on January 12, 2017 [1 favorite]

The BCS podcast for the cobbler episode talks about this in great depth, with guest Odenkirk. It's fantastic!
posted by Room 641-A at 11:37 AM on January 12, 2017

Bring on season two!

Gah, make that season three.

since Goliath and Quarry aren't back yet

Don't know about Quarry but it's still uncertain whether Goliath is coming back. I keep checking IMDb for good news but there's none yet.
posted by fuse theorem at 6:07 AM on January 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

Vanity Fair: Breaking Bad Alum Giancarlo Esposito Explains the Return of Gus Fring on Better Call Saul
posted by Room 641-A at 8:10 PM on January 14, 2017

Was going to give up on BCS as I found the first 2 seasons really slow but I will give it a watch if Gus is going to be involved
posted by rubymurray at 2:27 AM on January 16, 2017