Watched two finales tonight. First I watched Better Call Saul, the second was The Plot Against America. This really drove home for me how mediocre Better Call Saul actually is. I know comparing anyone or anything to a David Simon project is completely unfair, but man watching those back to back was a contrast on how very little I've gotten out of BCS with the five year investment. The only character who has developed, at all, is Kim and I get no pleasure essentially watching her devolve. There was value having her as the moral string holding this together. I raised this question during the first season, and the fact that I'm asking it after the fifth is damning. Isn't this show much more enjoyable if you watched and liked Breaking Bad? I don't get how this holds up as great without that crutch.
The Plot Against America was a ride. The only reason I watched after episode 1 was because of David Simon. I knew it would pick up, come together, and make perfect sense. The characters were all great and the story was fantastic. I think this was my first historical fiction show, Treme kinda fits but not really, and I liked it. My only beef with the show is that Simon could have been more subtle with what he was illustrating with the show. This didn't have some coincidental parallels with our current political environment, it was just a straight dollar for dollar rip off of some of the things we argue about now. This was most apparent with the election day scene that wraps up the show. I guess when he's only working with five hours instead of several seasons, there isn't much time for subtlety. Anyway, it's pretty obvious this show is going to get a lot of Emmy nominations.
The last episodes take away any doubt about the statement he's making. Frankly, following him on twitter, I'm surprised it took him four years to make a show that expressed this sentiment.
The only thing I can't figure out, and it's an important piece of this, is the parallel of the rabbi. Maybe the rabbi character is a red herring?
I just finished this last night, really enjoyed it, but it's rough ridin' heavy. As a Joco white dude I've got it pretty easy, though my wife is Jewish, so watching that hit home a little bit sort of.
My thought on the Rabbi is that it parallels the religious right as a whole hitching their wagons to DJT and MAGA? For the rabbi he sold his people out to the nazis for personal power and prestige, the religious right sold out to MAGA for the anti-abortion judges. Or it could be just a parallel to any one of numerous grifters who compromised themselves to be in the Trump orbit. Just an idea, have you thought about it more? I haven't read any internet theories on it or anything.