"Better Call Saul" has set an unfortunate Emmys record for most losses ever. It received 53 Emmy nominations during its run and never won a single one.
This is my last episode of
#BetterCallSaul
. Ever. I hope most of you like it. I hope a small portion of you (and you know who you are) are bored senseless by it and consider it the worst episode ever.
Incredibly sad news. Mark made me laugh every time we were together on set. I was lucky to have his character Tio walk and talk and teach his nephews a lesson in my very first ep of Breaking Bad. My love to his family and many, many friends.
As usual, let's start the
#BetterCallSaul
ep 611 "Breaking Bad" thread with: The Board.
All the writers talked over the beats of the episode & I distilled the scenes as much as possible into these index cards. Some are stacked because I wrote too many cards & ran out of room.
We filmed my final episode of Breaking Bad at the end of 2012/2013, split by the Christmas break. I was home in New Jersey when my dad passed away in early January 2013 after a year fighting lung cancer. Vince graciously added this card to the end of episode 510 before it aired.
#BetterCallSaul
finale tonight! Can't believe it's all over. Here's pic
@futurejenn
Carroll took on 1st day of filming on S1, before any of us knew what the hell the show was, but thru
@petergould
's amazing guidance, it turned into something very special. Peter brings it home!
Missing
#BetterCallSaul
this week? Well, I'm going to try my best to fill your hole.
Over the next few days I'll post some pics & behind-the-scenes stuff & answer your questions for Ep
#607
"Plan and Execution" in the thread that follows...
Just to warn everyone: we wrote S6 of
#BetterCallSaul
to be aired as 13 continuous episodes, but various delays split the season in half. So 607 was not written or filmed as a traditional "cliffhanger."
For anyone who didn't notice, when I directed the
#BetterCallSaul
Season 2 opener, "Switch," I mirrored this cool
@petergould
shot from the Season 1 finale to show Jimmy in the same head space as before.
Anyone interested to see how a
#BetterCallSaul
board gets turned into a script? Starting Monday I'll be tweeting out cards from 509 "Bad Choice Road" scenes with script pages and notes!
On
#BetterCallSaul
,
@petergould
, Vince & Melissa Bernstein hire the best people, including costume designer extraordinaire Jenn Bryan. She sent me this message from Jonathan Banks during his wardrobe fitting...
All credit goes to producer
@futurejenn
Carroll for picking the title of the next
#BetterCallSaul
episode. She emailed me the 611 title "Breaking Bad" and I thought, "Perfect."
Such a pleasure to with with the great Patrick Fabian. Yes, he looks good and smells good, but the son-of-a-bitch can also act. He made several very complex scenes easy to direct.
I didn't get a chance to direct a
#BetterCallSaul
ep in Season 4 because of complications after surgery for my colon cancer, so having this opportunity in Season 5 was huge for me. Thank you to the amazing cast & crew for knocking it out of the park, & big thanks to
@petergould
!
Tonight! A brand new
#BetterCallSaul
, written by the amazing Alison Tatlock, and returning to the director's chair, the one & only Michelle
@MMMacLaren
!
To quote Mike Ehrmantraut: "Whatever happens next, it's not gonna go down the way you think it is."
One great advantage as a director is having enormously talented & thoughtful actors like
@mrbobodenkirk
,
@rheaseehorn
&
@Daltontony
, but they also made time to rehearse the enormous final scene, saving a TON of time on the 2 days we filmed.
#BetterCallSaul
509 "Bad Choice Road"
I'll talk more about tonight's episode of
#BetterCallSaul
in a few days, just to give those catching up on their DVRs a chance, but nice to see we're trending
#1
!
If you all could help me start a credible rumor that Taylor Swift just bought the complete seasons of both
#BreakingBad
&
#BetterCallSaul
to binge-watch with Travis Kelce, that would be awesome.
This date in
#BetterCallSaul
history: we wrote the final card while breaking the final ep, and then we labeled and had this Sharpie put in lucite for Peter G.
Here's your
#BetterCallSaul
update for October 21, 2020.
No one has been caught masturbating during our Zoom meetings yet.
And that's your
#BetterCallSaul
update for October 21, 2020.
The original location where
#BreakingBad
208 shot Saul at the grave doesn't exist anymore, so for
#BetterCallSaul
611 we found the field you see in daytime pic & plowed it over to look like the nighttime shots. And how great was
@mrbobodenkirk
going classic Saul Goodman?!?
I'll be posting some behind-the-scenes pics and a board breakdown and all the usual stuff in the coming days for
#BetterCallSaul
ep 611 "Breaking Bad." Just letting the DVR watchers a chance to catch up...
We spoke to
#BetterCallSaul
executive producer
@TomSchnauz
about why now was the moment to feature Walt and Jesse, staging Gene’s latest con, and why even a hint of Kim is enough to send Gene down a “dangerous” path. Give it a read:
One year ago today lives were altered forever when the shockingly brilliant
#BetterCallSaul
midseason finale 'Plan and Execution' aired.
(23 May 2022) 🕯️
And thank you Rhea for insisting we get Patrick off the show. We did it for convenience, but man, did it work out dramatically! Thank goodness for happy accidents, etc.
Monday night was a phenomenally great episode by
@TomSchnauz
! AND, a stunning, nuanced, tour de force performance by
@PatrickFabian
from beginning to end! Holy cow!!! 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Obviously,
#BetterCallSaul
is not for everyone. Objectively, Howard didn't deserve anything that happened. From Jimmy & Kim's POV: Howard kept Jimmy out of an HHM job he deserved, he mistreated Kim (doc review, etc) & he wasn't a good lawyer who got to the top because of his dad.
Better Call Saul fans, explain to me why Howard is so hated. I don't get it. The obsession with destroying Howard seems unsupported. Why Kim Wexler would go along seems like bad script writing. I don't get the Howard hate. Just started season 6.
Starting at the beginning: The Board. Much different than other seasons because of Zoom. I'd write cards at home as we broke plot, photograph then send to producer
@futurejenn
, who created this image for writers to share (that's why weird colors on cards: digital photos w flash).
Exactly 7 years ago, this is where we were in breaking the
#BreakingBad
finale, "Felina." Act 4 a work in progress, and in Act 1 Walt has a run-in with a former student (cut before production).
An amazing THANK YOU to all our
#BetterCallSaul
writes who helped build this script and our season, & thank you to Bob, Rhea, Banks, GE, & the whole cast, especially Patrick Fabian, who just kicked ass.
Big, congrats to Tom Schnauz! What a great writer, and a great person! Love this guy thank you for all the wonderful scripts Tom – – and thanks to all the writers on our final season of Better Call Saul!!!
So many people asking about Bob because he is so loved and respected.
I am not in Albuquerque, and I don't have any news, but even if I did know something (which I don't) it is a private medical issue that Bob and his family will comment on when and if they want to.
As you may have noticed, for the 1st time in the BB/BCS Universe, we had to recast a role. Our original Jeff/Cab Driver, the great Don Harvey, was under contract with another show & sadly unable to return. Luckily, the fantastic
@Pat_Healy
was available & is AWESOME as Jeff.
Phisherman "Bootlegger Who Pays the Highest Price"
We did put our final card on the board today. Now that I look at it up close, the penmanship is a little sloppy, but this was a hard one to put up.
#BetterCallSaul
And again, for those interested in the writing process: the board for
#BetterCallSaul
ep 509 "Bad Choice Road." I erased an Act 2 Nacho/Lalo scene that we shot but deleted for time (in case we decide to use elements in a future ep).
After all his years in the business, I didn't think it would mean that much, but the look of joy on Kevin Costner's face here says so much. Congrats on your star!
Here's your
#BetterCallSaul
update for Jan 24, 2019:
We are currently writing new episodes. They will be approximately 47 minutes in length & will have several Act Breaks to make room for commercials.
And that's your
#BetterCallSaul
update for Jan 24, 2019.
No,
#BetterCallSaul
didn't win any Emmys, but my son Jack's team the Cubs won their Pinto 7 league so I'm going to experience winning thru my children.
We love sharing how the sausage is made here at
#BetterCallSaul
, so here is the beat board that
@petergould
worked from to write ep 501, "Magic Man."
Some stuff didn't make it into final ep, like gift basket scene in Act 3.
Today begins prep of
#BetterCallSaul
Ep.
#509
. Over next bunch of days I'll try to describe what that process is (without giving anything away).
First thing arriving at the studio, a Teamster told me, "Banks wanted me to tell you 'Go fuck yourself.'" So off to the right start!
This is stuntman Gabe Nunez as Lalo. The jump as scouted during "Bagman" was about 10 ft. Between eps, Esteem had to be removed then put back because of rain. Water erosion increased jump to over 15 ft on day of shoot! Gabe nailed it.
#BetterCallSaul
509 "Bad Choice Road"
Stayed up very late to finish a
#BetterCallSaul
scene, so now today is one of those days I stare at my screen for an hour at a word like "license" and say, "That can't be spelled right."
And with this tiny slate, we wrap Season 4 production of
#BetterCallSaul
. (It says episode 401 because we've been picking up shots and inserts for the entire season... we just happened to end where we began.)
I was waiting for some viewers to catch up with
#BetterCallSaul
before talking about our special guests in "Carrot and Stick," but we were so lucky to have back
@julieannemery
&
@jeremyshamos
as the Kettlemans! So much fun to write for...
Your
#BetterCallSaul
update for Jan 19, 2018.
Production on my first ep of Season 4 has begun! A
#BrBa10
reunion with kickass director Michelle
@MMMacLaren
!