Subdivisions

The launch of Better Call Saul is not wholly what I expected, not the 75% comedy that it was advertised as.  It's better than that.  It is a continuation of Breaking Bad, and everything about that show that was great TV.  Stylistically, the shots consisting of a slow tempo and attention to the trivial, mundane details with a Zen-like quality.  Thematically, this show continues to explore what happens within the cracks of society -those gaps and spaces that are ignored by the social construct in the postmodern age.  On top of that is the resulting malleability of everything, particularly ethics and identity.  The empty deserts and ominous late night streets apparently contrast with the world of bland mini-malls, carefully manicured lawns and suburban homes.  The contrast between the urban and the empty natural open up a gateway- which leads to the space of the Real - the articulated potential experience that exists outside of the carefully structured world.  These two shows represent Baudrillard's America, and the escape from the empty blandness of the contemporary era, as presented in the works of Douglas Coupland.  When the modern constructs fail to give one authenticity, the only path to self hood is though the wilderness of the Real, in which self-chosen acts facilitate meaning, create a purpose, and allow control over one's own life.  These are the worlds obscured by "normal" society.