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.