The Breaking Bad Universe
Chris Nicholson joins Richard Hanania for a new weekly series discussing Better Call Saul. In their first episode, they talk about big ideas in the Breaking Bad universe. Richard argues that one of the main messages of the shows is that there is a weak correlation between likability and morality in individuals, something it is very easy to fool ourselves about. Can people’s personalities and moral outlook change? What is it that separates the characters who are completely irredeemable from those that are more nuanced? Are there different types of “good” characters, and what is the relationship between rule following and morality? Finally, the conversation touches on the treatment, or lack thereof, of race and gender issues in the shows, and what the producers are trying to tell us about the American legal system and institutions more broadly. Watch the video here.
The Breaking Bad Universe
I enjoy better Call Saul for similar reasons as you. One of the patterns that comes out is how the legal system really does keep screwing over poor and working class people. I share your characterization of the show's politics as being 'conservative' and suspect that conservatives will soon see themselves, more and more, as the party of the poor and working class. The idea that it's apolitical seems to fit into the broader thesis of conservatives in America as being, in general, less interested in politics.