Not directed towards me, but I'm basically ideologically against the idea of 'rooting' for any character, in basically all fiction. Stories aren't sports games where you cheer on your favorite team, your just handicapping your inclination to empathize by tying yourself to one person and wanting him to just win it. Now, I'm not going to tell you I never do it, the same I wouldn't expect you to believe me if I told you that I never tell a lie, but I just don't think it's a good practice to be as a viewer.
So, with regards to Howard being bullied by Jimmy, my framework is that I just empathize with both of them. I empathize with Jimmy's irrational, longstanding hatred of Howard, I empathize with his bitterness, I empathize with Howard trying to extend his open hand, I empathize with his being made a fool of.
Imo, it's the best way to enjoy the drama. You feel for everyone.
I can't say I feel for everyone man. This would make sense for a story like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings (maybe those are bad examples for being fantasy) where it's a clear good vs. evil. What is it about Jimmy's hatred and bitterness that you empathize with?
I think maybe the things people are in fact feeling? Discomfort, disappointment, etc.
That's how I was feeling, but the tone in those scenes - both the bowling ball scene and the hooker scene - to me, come off as pure comedy i.e. meant to make the viewer laugh.
Well Kim for one; but why does the viewer need to "root for" anyone? That always confuses me; seen movie reviews for movies I love where the complaint was there was nobody to root for. If a story is about assholes, then it's a story about assholes.
I stopped rooting for her after episode 1. Once she pulled Jimmy into this and tried to drag in some justice for Acker, I immediately thought she sided with the wrong party and won't be surprised if it destroys her, but she brought it entirely onto herself. We see some backstory and a flashback of hers to fill in why she would want to act the way she does, but her story doesn't mirror Acker's. What she said to him episode 1 stuck with me the most, which was that all of his neighbors had to give in, so he shouldn't deserve any special treatment, yet she pivots and decides he
does deserve special treatment. Maybe she was thinking she was doing the right thing for one person where all the rest weren't able to get moral justice because they had to capitulate to legal justice, or maybe she was convincing herself of that to defy Mesa Verde.
But yes, you have a point that every story doesn't have to have a character that the audience needs to root for. But in the first season, I liked Saul and I felt sympathy for him in that scene where Chuck scolds him. Nonetheless, as you said, this is Jimmy's story, and Jimmy is an asshole. This conversation is specifically about what he's been doing to Howard this season, and I don't enjoy watching the asshole being an asshole without any consequences.
Maybe a small touch of that; like some might think Howard is a rich cornball deserving of the treatment (they show he's still filthy rich, has a corny license plate, etc.).. but I think that's far more subtle than them making Howard look like the good guy in the scenario.
I don't necessarily see Howard as a good guy or a bad guy, for this season I just see him as a bystander in all the other events that are going on. Unfortunately for him because of bad blood, Jimmy has an unforgiving vendetta and won't let up for his own twisted amusement.
I really don't see how it can be interpreted as people are supposed to be rooting for Jimmy; they clearly have repeatedly showed Howard as a pretty good guy.. they show the viewer that it wasn't Howard who wronged Jimmy, but Chuck in past seasons.. They show Howard offering Jimmy a job this season, etc.
Almost everyone who watches the show remarks that they like Howard, I don't think the show runners are unaware of that. And they double downed on his likability this season if anything. Then they have Jimmy acting like a petty psycho towards him. They also have Jimmy acting like an asshole to Kim... I mean seems really obvious to me this is Jimmy falling way over the edge of becoming the "bad guy" AKA Saul.
At most they are still playing the "gray area" thing a bit but it's far more leaning towards him not being the one you are supposed to root for than the other way around.
The way I see it being interpreted as people rooting for Jimmy is, as I stated before, those scenes just being comedy. Not only that, but comedy filler. Again, unless Howard bites back with Jimmy's guard down, Howard's storyline, this part of his arc in BCS is just filler to add comic relief to what is otherwise a serious drama.
I don't see Howard as a good guy or a bad guy. Other than the job offer he gave Jimmy, he's just minding his own business. And I don't know if almost everyone who watches the show likes him. Maybe, maybe not. The only thing I am trying to say in all of this is that if this is all there is to his storyline this season, then this season loses points. In a list of pros and cons, this would be a con in my book, no pun intended.
Are the people rooting for Jimmy people who never saw Breaking Bad? Because we know 100% for sure that Jimmy is not worth rooting for.
I never rooted for Saul in Breaking Bad, but that was Walter White's show, not Saul's. There was a sea of characters to hate and love in Breaking Bad and Saul was one of them and by the time he showed up everybody knew he was a scumbag when he was introduced because of Jesse mentioning him as a
criminal lawyer. So in this sea of characters to despise, among them Saul, I specifically remember him resenting Walter for poisoning Brock. So as much a scumbag he is, the show demonstrated that he has a line he doesn't want to cross and does still have a conscience.
Yeah that's why I'm a bit confused; we know the end of this story arch. We didn't know how the show would start until the brilliant Season 1 gave us Jimmy, a far more likable / complicated character than Saul. But in the back of your mind you have to know he becomes Saul; that's the entire point.
I get the point. And I did like him a lot more in season 1. He's Saul now. I just don't want him to constantly have the Ws without any Ls
