Breaking Bad spoilers in Better Call Saul threads

February 25, 2015 11:08 AM

Should we have a disclaimer on Better Call Saul posts about allowing/disallowing Breaking Bad spoilers? I am already guilty of this myself.

The show seems to be watchable by those who have not seen Breaking Bad, so it's conceivable that those folks would be put off by Breaking Bad spoilers in Better Call Saul threads.

It seems to me that we should be explicit one way or another on this.

So far, I'm not seeing major recap/review sites breaking out this show with separate threads, the way they handle Game of Thrones between those who've read the books and show-only. Not sure if there's a reason for that- maybe just because it's a new show.

posted by aabbbiee (17 comments total)

I brought this up in the episode one thread and now, four episodes in, it's clear this will be an issue. I'm usually on the side of "reasonable no spoiler policy + personal, informed responsibility to remain spoiler-free" but I don't think it will be avoidable, especially since there will probably be quite a few crossover characters.

I've been trying not to give too much away but I don't think that's really sustainable. I agree that we should decide one way or the other and make it clear. My vote is for a warning that BCS threads will likely contain BB spoilers of some kind.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:43 AM on February 25, 2015

It seems unavoidable to me too. I think most reviewers are treating it as a continuation of Breaking Bad -- at the very least, a continuation of that universe; and so the expectation is that readers are current on that combined work.

I didn't follow the show: were there any crossover spoiler issues between Agents of Shield FanFare threads and the MCU movies (specifically The Winter Soldier)?

Similarly, but another show I didn't follow: how did the FanFare Legend of Korra threads deal with potential spoilers for the previous series Avatar: The Last Airbender?
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 12:14 PM on February 25, 2015

I don't really think it's possible to discuss BCS without talking about the BB world. I mean, you know the guy in the parking lot booth is going to one day have a bigger role in Saul/Jimmy's life. Hell, even the name of the show doesn't make sense unless you know about the world of Breaking Bad.

Take the scene where Tuco yells at his henchman to "stop helping." How can you fully talk about what happened there without giving away the same guys's fate in Breaking Bad?

I'd say we should do our best to avoid BB spoilers if they're not related to what happens in BCS, but since this is a prequel it should be expected that there will be spoilers.

It would be like if we had to discuss Ep. 1 and 2 of Star Wars without spoiling Empire Strikes Back. It's really hard to do.
posted by bondcliff at 1:10 PM on February 25, 2015

It would be like if we had to discuss Ep. 1 and 2 of Star Wars without spoiling Empire Strikes Back. It's really hard to do.

I know.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:08 PM on February 25, 2015 [5 favorites]

I don't think avoiding Breaking Bad spoilers is a reasonable goal for a followup to said show. That's just my two cents, though.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:28 PM on February 25, 2015

I'm surprised that this is a serious question. It seems odd to consider not discussing aspects of a show because of possibly spoiling a different show that people have had years to watch. No one warned me about the Network spoilers in the discussion of the conference room scene or the bible spoilers in the last thread.
posted by snofoam at 4:37 AM on February 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

The question was not should we discuss BB, but should there be a disclaimer about potential BB spoilers for people who may be new to the show(s) since BCS differs from other FanFare shows in the crossover aspect.

And since I wasn't perfectly clear about this, I think having an explicit disclaimer is a good idea. I can't see any down side to extending the courtesy to someone caught unawares. Mods, any thoughts about this?
posted by Room 641-A at 5:29 AM on February 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

Well, the original post says "allowing/disallowing" so it does seem that disallowing was being considered. I don't see anything wrong with a warning, but even that seems unnecessary. Has the world really developed no common standard on the statute of limitations on warning people about spoilers for things that have been viewable for years? It is very courteous to think of it, though (too courteous?).
posted by snofoam at 6:30 AM on February 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

I went back and checked the spoiler policy, and now I think there's an even more important disclaimer that should apply to BCS, since BB alumni actually know the fate of some of the characters. Since discussing future events is normally verboten I think people should be aware BCS deviates from standard Ff policy.

Spoiler policy: We'd like the front page of FanFare to be spoiler-free, so please limit above-the-fold descriptions of a show to the basics. Inside threads, feel free to discuss any plot point in that episode or past episodes, but please refrain from discussing events that take place in future episodes. Also, please be considerate and refrain from discussing future events from other book/film/tv/comic versions of the story. (Note, this policy is different in threads that are labeled "Rewatch" or "Books Included.")
posted by Room 641-A at 7:04 AM on February 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

I don't think that would apply. BB isn't another version of BCS. Although it is nice to have a spoiler policy in general, I don't see how it could make sense to limit discussion of a show to protect a hypothetical participant from seeing spoilers from a different show. One might as well prohibit comments that reference any other book, movie or show that could be potential spoilers.
posted by snofoam at 11:03 AM on February 26, 2015

I mentioned Game of Thrones as a comparison. Walking Dead is another one. The books and the comics have been out for years, but not everyone has read them, so it's common for recap/review sites to separate comment threads for newbies who want to discuss the show only so they don't have to wade through the endless comparisons and discussions of the related media. I think this is reasonable because not everyone has consumed all of the existing media in the world.

I agree with those that want to talk about Breaking Bad in the context of this show, but I think that they should be considered spoilers and we should use a version of the available labels to clarify it for those who are watching BCS without having watched BB. They're different shows- in the same universe, yes, but different shows.
posted by aabbbiee at 1:51 PM on February 26, 2015

This is a little bit of a confusing thread because it seems that three separate things are being discussed without that being explicit: BB spoilers coming up in BCS discussion, hypothetical BCS spoilers from those who have seen BB, and this GoT thing which is more to avoid being overwhelmed by discussion of comparisons than actual spoiling. A spoiler warning would be nice for the hypothetical participants who might be affected and wouldn't have thought of it. It seems pretty clear from the posts so far that discussion of BCS in the context of BB is an integral part of the discussion. It does seem pretty common sense to me that one could expect discussion of the original series to come up when discussing a spin-off.
posted by snofoam at 2:58 PM on February 26, 2015

I think discussion of Breaking Bad should be fair game in Better Call Saul threads. If many people object to that, then I think we should split into two threads with one of the threads allowing discussion of Breaking Bad.
posted by Jacqueline at 9:46 PM on February 26, 2015

I sent a note to the mods.
posted by aabbbiee at 7:23 AM on February 27, 2015

Because it's possible to watch (and tag) episodes as "Show Only," it makes sense to use a semi-kludge and mark episode discussions with references to BB as "Books Included."

On this note, "Books Included" could be re-titled to be "Other Media Included," as there are plenty of shows that reference broader context in a way that could spoil future episodes (Marvel shows come to mind at the moment, with the comic and movie universes sort of overlapping with the TV shows).
posted by filthy light thief at 7:47 AM on February 28, 2015

I am acquainted with someone who is watching Better Call Saul and hasn't finished Breaking Bad (he's been going through stuff and thinks watching the last two seasons right now would be too stressful for him, which is...probably a wise decision?), but I think he's just decided to roll with potential spoilers from other viewers. Breaking Bad ended over a year ago, and has been available to anyone willing to pony up $8 a month to Netflix for most of that time. I hope no one has their enjoyment ruined, but that's pretty avoidable by just watching Breaking Bad.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 4:24 PM on February 28, 2015

As someone who really likes BCS but has only seen a few episodes of BB I would like to heartily encourage all BB spoilers in the discussion. This way I get to not miss out on the context while also not having to back and cram a years-long series for unknown benefit.
posted by bleep at 11:23 PM on March 14, 2015