caballero-19 Reviews

The Sopranos: Made in America (2007) Season 6, Episode 21

What the duck? This was absolutely perfect.

[10/10 · 13 October 2023]

I knew there was some controversy around the last ep of The Sopranos, besides the last scene, I don't actually understand how this could not be considering by all people as the best finale this show could ever have.

The series accumulated a lot of tension in the final stretch of the last season, in the episodes The Second Coming and Blue Comet, David Chase and company wrote with great excitement and clarity the fall of the Soprano family empire, "they don't touch families" Tony said to Carmela, that affirms that the confrontation will not be tragic for those around Tony, so how does David Chase generate that grayish suspense in the last scene of this episode?

Tony Soprano is a character who tries to change, few of the multiple sessions with his psychiatrist feel like real progress, Tony could have changed but his problem was always that he never understood the world outside his own, characters like Christopher showed this cold truth, when Chrissy began to see a life beyond her "profession." Tony marked Chrissy as a potential danger to him, and when he had the opportunity to make him go, he took it, from that moment on Tony lost all possible salvation as a person, but he thinks that one day he will be able to make it through and be alright, but the end suggests that that will never happen just like those ducks that never returned to Tony's pool, it's a false hope I mean, He could find redemption in prison or in hell, depends on your final reading.

Tony: You and my Dad, you two ran North Jersey

Junior: We did?

Tony: Yeah

Junior: Hm, that's nice.

I'm gonna miss these Italians so much...

The Wire: -30- (2008) Season 5, Episode 10

All still in the game yo

[10/10 · 4 September 2023]

The Wire last episode might be the best one of the whole series, the titled card in the beginning is 'The Life of the Kings' it's basically what the show is all about. I was very intriguing about how the show was about to deal with the gangster stuff, because they can close a police case like in the previous seasons and take it for granted, but what about the streets? That stuff is never done so how it was going to be in this last episode? Well, David Simon worked out an incredible and affective finale in every aspect of the show, specially for this last one, the criminal tide might be down for the moment but it'll be high at some point now with the new players replacing the ogs, it's incredible how I could recognize the old patterns and schemes, that means that they did an excellent job setting up the world of The Wire through all the seasons so you can feel that something changed but also everything is the same. The show is over when Jimmy McNulty is not longer a police officer, he was the head and soul of every case since the beginning, so it makes senses that David S shut the party down when the main character's development is not longer in relation with the other points of interest of his creator.

I have to say that I was so moved when I see the conclusion of Reginald (Bubbles), I can't be more happy for him... Michale being the new Omar was an unpredictable and perfect way to draw the never ending violence circle.

The Wire: Clarifications (2008) Season 5, Episode 8

The Man Who Broke His Word

[10/10 · 30 August 2023]

About a month ago I watched my favorite episode from one of my favorites series and in that episode one of the main characters died, that was the second best send-off I had ever seen, it was a flurried but beautiful farewell, but now Omar's death is the best send-off I've seen, and his death is neither glorious, beautiful or dreadful, Omar's death is just realistic cuz that's how it happens in Baltimore's streets

It's interesting the way it happened, a little kid did it by doing a replication of what he sees and hears on the corners, just like another kid acting like Omar in previous episodes.

Six Feet Under: Ecotone (2005) Season 5, Episode 9

I'll keep you company a little while...

[10/10 · 21 July 2023]

I can't believe it, I can't believe it. This is the second best send-off I have ever seen in a tv show, this is genius writing work you only see once in a million of years, the incredible character work all over these seasons feels so real when moments like the one in Ecotone, where you feeling like you are the person on that bed, where you feel that last dream is your dream too, where you are in that room with all those people you feel like family, Ecotone is an exquisite and important proof piece of writing that frames a farewell to someone else's life but ours too in an episode of just 50 minutes.

Dickinson: We Lose - Because We Win (2019) Season 1, Episode 7

Felliniesque

[9/10 · 17 February 2023]

I just loved the circus sequence, I loved how it started and how it ended, in the last shot, Hailee Steinfeld radiates a deep and dry pain that illuminates the misfortune in Emily Dickinson's life.

I'm not sure if the circus sequence was a little bit to Fellini, but it just felt like a Fellini movie, I liked the true colors element, like the dad masquerade on Austin's face, the multiple shapes of nature in Emily's skin, or the kiss between the two men, surreal but admirable.

I hope the next couple of episodes will continue like this one, when the series displays more of this fateful moments.

Better Call Saul: Waterworks (2022) Season 6, Episode 12

this guy, any good?

[10/10 · 10 August 2022]

I waited to long for the Kim Wexler and Jesse Pinkman meeting, it wasn't never confirmed of course, but deep down I always believed that those people will be in the same room some day, I don't know why but I always believed. The breaking news is that this moment is here and I couldn't ask for anything else, they wrote it and it was so perfect, Kim Wexler says goodbye and Jesse Pinkman gets in the game.

Jimmy is Saul Goodman and it is really bad for us to see him as Saul because everything we loved about Saul in Breaking Bad was his position towards Walter, Mike, Gustavo, even Jesse, people who are in danger or they are the danger, Saul Goodman is just a nice and strong support for them, like a therapist, but his personal life is really boring because there is nothing left, everybody left him because his actions, Saul being Saul in his own television show is pretty sad and petty, he covers all his pain and we know, all this time we knew it, that's why wanna cry when Kim told Jesse: He was good when I met him.

However I hope we'll see some Gene redemption in the last episode (I can't believe it's gonna be over) because after all this time I think Gene/Jimmy/Saul really deserve to be happy, but you know, you can be happy in prison jajaja Flawless episode as always, so well written and directed by the Maestro; Vince Gilligan, thank you for giving us this world Vince! You freaking genius.

The finale is gonna be so difficult to process...

Better Call Saul: Axe and Grind (2022) Season 6, Episode 6

This is how Better Call Saul works, a game of patience.

[10/10 · 18 May 2022]

Yes, once again more than ever, I'm concerned by Kim Wexler's fate. I love how the writers don't make Jimmy (their protagonist), the protagonist in this episode, unlike Jimmy, when Kim does her cons, there is a side of her screaming: STOP, but she doesn't stop because her excuse is - as we saw in this new flashback - her disappointment of the real world and the people she loves.

The whole episode smells bad to me, I smell tragedy, we don't even know how exactly this plan against Howard will turn out, but knowing how the series is I'm pretty sure we'll have a Chicanery's twin brother very, very soon. I could wait for another couple of episodes about Saul and Kim building their plan, because I know the result will be something unforgettable.

Also, that scene when Mike is helping his grandchild to find the stars, c'mon, I wouldn't change that for anything, when the show feels real and touching, that is probably one of my favorite Mike's scenes ever.

Ozark: The Cousin of Death (2022) Season 4, Episode 8

Shocking sadness.

[10/10 · 29 April 2022]

I never thought she actually would've done that, so early, so fast, but I'm happy with that choice because now we have more and bigger problems, that's the price of revenge.

The writing of this episode feels like a movie by itself, we have all the three acts of a classic movie, we have character's desire and obstacle, we have the antagonist and why is that person(a) the antagonist, feels like a movie, and they made of this episode an extraordinary Ruth Langmore movie, btw, I freaking love the flashbacks, specially that one when Ruth and Wyatt were children. That's so sad, man.

This was a great but a little confuse episode, we know is more about Ruth all the time, so, how is this season gonna end if Ruth is kinda useless for Marty and Wendy's plot line?, I'm intrigued by that.

Better Call Saul: Rock and Hard Place (2022) Season 6, Episode 3

A man, a hero.

[10/10 · 27 April 2022]

Nacho Varga, the character with the most debatable destiny after Kim Wexler, and now, Nacho Varga has faced his destiny, as a man and a hero.

Extraordinary episode, extraordinary writing, extraordinary direction, one of the most poetic and outstanding episodes of this entire universe. And remember, this is just the beginning.

Better Call Saul: JMM (2020) Season 5, Episode 7

Saul, ¿Goodman?

[10/10 · 19 April 2022]

It is impressive that one of the best series of all time and what seems to me to be the best spin off of all time came out of a charismatic and stiff character. Even at this point in the series Jimmy's transformation to Saul is so difficult to follow, Jimmy's limit is the same limit for Saul, such as: Defending the lives of his clients, but in this episode JMM is one of those rare times where we see Jimmy/Saul in pain, and if it weren't for Saul's attitude, Jimmy McGill would be lost in pain.

This comment is explained very well in the last scene of the episode, when Jimmy, after taking away the opportunity to a family for peace, he has a conversation with Howard, he is like a shadow of Chuck that Jimmy see in him, and after do what he did for Lalo, that shadow appears to remind him: I told you. This is what you do, you hurt people.

Chuck was always right and the sad thing is that we always knew it.

Better Call Saul: Winner (2018) Season 4, Episode 10

THE RISE OF SAUL GOODMAN!

[10/10 · 8 April 2022]

This is my favorite story ever, Winner, it's a perfect episode.

Flashback: The flashback resource had never been used as well as Better Call Saul does, in the movies the flashback is used to reveal a secret that was kept hidden during the course of the narrative, and tv shows dedicated an entire episode to this resource to give context to the situation that started the main conflict of the season, with these two examples we understand that the flashback is a narrative resource to reveal a moment which was kept on hold or arrives to give the context of a problem. Note: I'm not saying that all movies or series see the same, but it is a fact that many do use flashback this way.

In Better Call Saul the flashback is an essential resource, it's used to understand some of the decisions of our characters in the present, the series looks for a key point in the past and make questions: How did it start? How was this before? These are the questions that Better Call Saul's flashbacks answer, but sometimes the writers make flashbacks outside this margin, like they did in Winner, Peter Gould, Vince Gilligan and Thomas Schunz are not interested in exposing the origin of a behavior, Winner's flashback is a memory without this intention, it's nothing more than the memory itself, that's why I like it so much, because it doesn't have anything new to reveal about Jimmy or Chuck, but still the writers have the audacity to return just to - as a way of saying goodbye to Charles McGill's character - take one last look at the McGill brothers in a moment where all was calm and harmony, this flashback is a farewell sigh.

SO, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE RISE OF SAUL GOODMAN.

Finally, Saul Goodman has arrived! This colorful and cynical character that captivated us all in Breaking Bad is back in his own series, this is a rare event in the history of the series, how to make the story of a criminal lawyer interesting? The best thing is that Jimmy before Saul was hardly a petty criminal, it's in this fourth season that Jimmy unleashes more of his criminal skills (ironic because he's supposed to stay clean after his discrediting as an Attorney) In the end, the saddest thing of all is how stupendously effective Saul Goodman is, that tell us that Saul is a person who knows how to play his cards but it also tells us something about the legal system and its polarizing sense of justice, we saw it in Coushatta, when they wanted to lock Huell up for two years! Oh my God! As if Huell had killed that policeman, Kim tries and tries to free him for good but she just can't do justice, and it's as if they're allowing people like Saul Goodman to exist, to fight injustice vs. Injustice. And that's why Chuck McGill was an extraordinary defender of the law and as a symbol, the loss of Chuck is also the loss of justice in the series, the balance has tilted more towards to the bad side.

Everybody wins, for now.

Better Call Saul: Coushatta (2018) Season 4, Episode 8

¡Bienvenido, Lalo Salamanca!

[10/10 · 27 March 2022]

What a piece of episode, I feel that they gave me more than I needed, first Kim and Jimmy's extraordinary plan to free Huell from jail, very funny, intelligent and even charming. Near the end, Jimmy says again that those actions will not happen again, while Jimmy thinks throughout the episode that Kim is upset because he is forcing her to commit a crime (and several more), the reality is that Kim is watching how the world forces a person to commit small crimes to achieve true justice. Here is where the moral fall of both characters is defined.

Another character who is incredible with just one minute on screen is the great Lalo Salamanca. The introduction of this character is iconic and will be forever, everyone already associates Lalo Salamanca as a character who, in his best intentions, is in fact a very charismatic character. Really worrying and exciting about the inclusion of this character, I smell chaos.

Better Call Saul: Smoke (2018) Season 4, Episode 1

Find the stars.

[10/10 · 22 March 2022]

Like much of Better Call Saul, Smoke is a very slow episode, and not slow on the pacing of a story - although that might be the case with the series as a whole - it's slow on sitting down to what each character is thinking or doing.

After what happened with Chuck, Jimmy spends time deeply sad and thinking: if only I would done this differently, if this had not happened like that. He's carrying the guilt of the death of his brother, a guilt that - miserably - not even Saul Goodman himself could have endured. The important thing about Jimmy as a character in this series is his elusive responsibility for the consequences that he provokes, and in Smoke at least for 25 minutes we could see Jimmy taking the blame for one of his actions, because yeah, Chuck's suicide is Jimmy's fault, maybe not all, but it's a big part of the reason why Chuck did what he did. And as viewers we have the fortune -or misfortune- to know the whole truth about what lies behind these characters and their relationships. And it's in cases like this episode where the characters are on the same narrative page as we are, this makes an intimate and outstanding tv show.

Quick note: That scene of Mike writing down: Find the stars. Bravo! I would never change that scene for another one with bullets or explosions. That's how you write a tv show la chsm.

Better Call Saul: Chicanery (2017) Season 3, Episode 5

Artimaña.

[10/10 · 18 March 2022]

This was the best episode of the series at the time, it is still among the best, and me, personally Chicanery is among my trio of favorites, and if in the future I reach out to put my mind at ease and critically to make a top of the best episodes of television, without second thoughts, this episode would enter in the best ten.

It's necessary to observe in detail and appreciate how the visual language is always there for the story that is being told, because Chicanery is a lot of dialogue, excessive, so there is a limit room for the amount of visual language that other episodes usually have, however, it doesn't feel a lack of visual power, Better Call Saul's camera finds in every corner a very useful tool to enhance, support and complete the event, like the parallel entries of the duo, Jimmy and Kim, with those of the other pair, Charles and Howard.

Chicanery may not be the best episode of the series, but it doesn't seem like an exaggeration to me if I say it's the episode with the best writing of all, each line is important and with a lot of subjectivity that -here is where the magic of the series comes in- anyone can interpret each gesture and word as it best suits their image of the character(s).

Better Call Saul: Fifi (2016) Season 2, Episode 8

LAWYER-UP

[9/10 · 14 March 2022]

How does Chuck know what Kim Wexler told Mesa Verda? How does he know what kind of sales strategy Kim used? Kim Wexler admits not to be the safe option but instead she feels like the correct one, this is what she sells to Mesa Verde, meanwhile, Chuck does the opposite, He proposes HHM firm as a safe and reliable option and hence the correct option. This same thing cannot be applied with Kim's equation, Kim's plan is to be the right choice and that's it, there is no way out of selling herself as the safe choice.

But how is it that Chuck -more than knowing- managed to seduce Mesa Verde with the same speech as Kim but switched it to his favor? The only right answer is that Chuck is an extraordinary lawyer.

Better Call Saul: Bingo (2015) Season 1, Episode 7

Christ, you should see my office.

[10/10 · 11 March 2022]

The most powerful thing about the scene between Jimmy and The Kettleman is to observe the true entities of these people, the scene could be named as: Three sad criminals compete to see who is more guilty of their respective crimes.

It's there that for the first time Jimmy exposes and properly accepts his reality as an unsuccessful lawyer, quite the opposite of what his brother and even his friend (his future wife) represent. It's in this episode where we empathize with these petty criminals, each one must have had their reasons for breaking the law but that is not where Better Call Saul explores their conflicts in BINGO, in the series what is really devastating is to observe these People (criminals) deny their nature out of pride and self-sanity.

However, it is "nice" to see Jimmy doing the right thing, he's still not a ruthless criminal and much less passionate as Saul Goodman is, that's why I love this facet of Jimmy, it's so human and relatable.

Breaking Bad: Felina (2013) Season 5, Episode 16

All Hail The King.

[10/10 · 8 March 2022]

This is it, this is how it ends, a perfect, beautiful, simple and poetic ending, just the way it had to be, Vince Gilligan crafted one of the best epic fiction narrative story of the world and my favorite tale in the world, a story about a dying man whose only thing he wanted was provide for his family with his own money, it's amazing how crazy and excited this ride was and only because of that, it says a lot about humanity complex and the broken bounds of morality. We do what we do for us, and If we are mature enough we all can say and say it louder: All Hail The King, Heisenberg!.

Breaking Bad: Ozymandias (2013) Season 5, Episode 14

Fall.

[10/10 · 6 March 2022]

The absolute fall of Heisenberg and Walter White, there is no solution to this gigantic family problem, there is not excuse that saves Walter's external and internal reputation, the worst has just happened, the river has been stained with blood.

About Ozymandias, is it perfect?, yes, is it the best one in the whole series? Yes, is it my favorite? I don't know, it's definitely in my first three and I have to say what is obvious, there will never be an episode as great and unforgettable as Ozymandias, not everything is a fight here and conflicts there, it's the breaking of the personality of man whose life went to hell for making the same mistake more than twice. It's a deserving tragedy for him but not for the others, that is what hurts the most about Ozymandias, because is the episode where seeing Walter winning is no longer an illustrious moment, it's an eternal silence, a moment where we all close our eyes while we shake our heads. This fall triggers the worst between Walter and his family, the writing has never been so precise in every word and action, my second favorite moment is when Walter has to pretend to be Heisenberg on that phone call, and as always, we will never know when the lie begins and when it ends, Bryan Cranston's acting enriches the moment and take it among the best scenes of the entire series.

For the conclusion it'll be short: The king has fallen but he has not been sacrificed.

Breaking Bad: Rabid Dog (2013) Season 5, Episode 12

What's one more?

[10/10 · 5 March 2022]

Nothing stops this train, the end is here.

The next episodes after this one all are catastrophic. Everything has been summed up in a Walt versus Jesse situation but it is actually Walt versus Jesse and Hank, this union is what will cause a problem that Walt won't be able to solve, this situation although similar, is not the same as it was with krazy 8, Tuco Salamanca and much less with Gustavo Fring. It's Jesse and therefore it's Hank. It is a limit that not even Walter as Heisenberg dares to cross. So when Skyler says: What's one more? (About killing Jesse) Walt and the audience are surprised by such a cold and crude proposal from Skyler, this proves once again that character development in Breaking Bad is so subtle that some of these people change in front of our eyes and we don't realize it until a scene like this one happens, Skyler's terrifying and fascinating development.

It's all set for the last and best 197 minutes of any piece of narrative fiction I've ever seen.

Breaking Bad: Buyout (2012) Season 5, Episode 6

Everybody wins.

[10/10 · 3 March 2022]

What a disturbing and hilarious episode, the rhythm and tone of Buyout are perfectly balanced.

I'm still thinking about how writers make so much room for Walter's internal motivations and how they still can make it feel real and even necessary for us as a viewers, the problema with Walt as many of us know is his personal vendettas (same thing Charles "Chuck" McGill has in Better Call Saul) those personal vendettas drives the character so far from his personal well being and it just ends up hurting people, of course they don't know exactly how much is the cost but they still want to take the risks, specially Walter. If he had taken his five millions maybe his family would have returned to home, but this is when the real masquerade comes out, at this point Heisenberg is only interesting about power. Power feels good.

I love that you actually feel the desesperación about his desire to cock and make an empire, I want to see him win and it's not because he'll keep cocking and putting himself in troubles, meaning more action in the series, it's just because I love Heisenberg as Heisenberg, that's it. I know I should not but what can I do. Just watch.

Also, what a funny piece of moment is the dinner scene, I laughed as hell.

Breaking Bad: Hazard Pay (2012) Season 5, Episode 3

Walter is a monster.

[10/10 · 2 March 2022]

It hurts to say it but it is what that is, Walter is a monster, he is greedy, over ambitious, manipulator, cold and unchaste.

First time watching the scene between Walt and Jesse after cooking, I thought that Walter told Jesse all that stuff about Andrea to make him feel better and help him to reach happiness with that girl, I still thinking that some part of that conversation is genuinely Walt trying to tell Jesse that he appreciate doing business with him, that's all that matters to Walt at his point, Business.

Meanwhile Skyler is having a identity crisis about her own husband. Walt is shown as this dark shape moving around the house, terrifying.

Breaking Bad: Face Off (2011) Season 4, Episode 13

Winner.

[10/10 · 1 March 2022]

The confrontation between Gus and Walter has been building up for a almost two seasons, this duel to death reaches personal levels for both men, Walter with his future and Gus with his past.

Final seasons of Breaking Bad have never been as epic as in Face Off, not only Walter or Jesse are involved, we also have Hector with the Salamanca dynasty on his back, plus there is Hank's (DEA) fortuitous interest on Gustavo Fring.

It's a war that has deep and rigorous dimensions where we are the only one to see all the emotional and historical meaning behind of this final event.

This is possibly the best episode of Breaking Bad.

Breaking Bad: Cornered (2011) Season 4, Episode 6

Skyler MF White, yo!

[10/10 · 24 February 2022]

Truly explosive and incredible Anna Gunn's acting as Skyler White, the last moment became the reason why Skyler maybe doesn't always agree with Walter's criminal life but she always tries to tolerate it, that's a pretty hard position to be in.

I absolutely love every line of dialogue and the delivery of actors, in the first beginning Bryan Cranston gave us one of the most iconic moment of Heisenberg, the famous line: I'M NOT IN DANGER, SKYLER, I AM THE DANGER, A GUY OPENS HIS DOOR YOU THINK THAT OF ME? NO, I AM THE ONE WHO KNOCKS!

Powerful.

Breaking Bad: ABQ (2009) Season 2, Episode 13

SEVEN THIRTY-SEVEN-DOWN-OVER-ABQ.

[10/10 · 17 February 2022]

Final season full of details and only one reveal.

It's impressive that small details are what lead this manufactured episode.

The writing is impeccable, as always, this has been an unrepeatable experience for me, the writers and Vince Gilligan chose to take their characters into very dark places, those decisions have surprisingly little to do with the leading premise of the series.

Because everything is a consequence, like for Walter a death (murder) it was something that happens, he thought that, in the ending Walter aka Heisenberg is going to learn that you can also kill even when dead and he'll use it as a profit.

Breaking Bad: Over (2009) Season 2, Episode 10

Esto es vida.

[8/10 · 17 February 2022]

Walter is okay with Heisenberg, because under that gray layer he can do and say what he kept quiet for many years, and with the death just around the corner, tell me, who wouldn't cling to being the person he always thought he was?

Heisenberg is not a nice person, but even in his early stage he is not a villain either.

At this moment Heisenberg is the voice that Walter uses to feel alive, to feel that he is really dying for something.