It wasn’t great, but at least you find out what happens to Jesse Pinkman.

This is what happens when you give someone too much money. Not Jesse, but Vince Gilligan. What was notable about “Breaking Bad” was how fast and flat it was shot, demonstrating the capital constraints of basic cable.

And “Breaking Bad” did not really flourish until it was on Netflix, deep into the show’s run. Yes, it did look a bit better thereafter, but still…

“El Camino” is gorgeous. And the camera angles can be startling. With all that cash, Gilligan could deliver what he could not before, a great look, the only thing being the story, the execution of the plot, was not up to the visuals.

Now one thing that was great is there was no catching up and no explaining. No trailer before illustrating what happened previously and no amplification of references. You were supposed to know everything, who the people were, how they figured in, the plot…

This is so different from movies. Most movies are only seen once, it’s all got to be explained. But when something can be repeated and analyzed on the tube which is no longer that, but a flat screen of LED or OLED or…you’re immersed in the medium, in the story.

You’re shocked when Badger and Skinny Pete reappear. You haven’t thought of them for a long time and they look older. But they’re still the same doofuses. And Skinny Pete’s reverence of Jesse is notable, we’ve all got our heroes, yet most people don’t know they serve that role for others.

Pinkman/Aaron Paul also looks older, he now looks mature as opposed to immature, but you adjust.

Which leaves us with the plot.

People were looking forward to “El Camino.” But the reviews were not spectacular, at least not in the mainstream media, and for those of us whose time is as valuable as our money, we still pay attention to these things. I watch nothing without checking Rotten Tomatoes first.

But Rotten Tomatoes gives “El Camino” pretty good ratings.

You see the first hour is slow. And you can’t figure out exactly where it’s going.

But when you do, after Pinkman visits Robert Forster, which is so weird, since he just died, the movie picks up, you’re engaged, how is it going to play out?

Now I’ve got a free subscription to Apple TV+ because I got an iPhone 11 Pro Max (isn’t Promax an energy bar?) You don’t have to buy one, unless you’re still stuck in buttonland, as in an iPhone 7 or 8, sure, the processor is faster than on last year’s phone, and sure the camera is superior, but it’s hard to sense the speed and I haven’t taken a photo since I got it. But I signed up for the new phone every year program, now that the discounts are done. I mean what device do I use more than my iPhone? It’s worth it to have a new one, at least to me! And, I bought the Apple coverage for breakage and loss, so I’ve got peace of mind. I know, I know, it’s a bad deal economically, but I don’t want to have to worry about my phone.

So, Apple TV+ is gonna have a large number of subscribers because everybody who gets a new Apple product will get a year’s free subscription.

As for HBO and Disney’s offerings…

The truth is Nickelodeon has faded, there are so many options for children’s entertainment these days. So, parents don’t have to rush to sign up for Disney Plus, even though it’s so damn cheap. The problem is getting people to sign up to begin with…keeping them engaged, as in paying monthly, is much less difficult.

As for HBO Max… $14.99 is actually more than Netflix, at least for most subscribers. So the channel will be hit dependent. As for decades of previous HBO product…that’s been available for years, it’s not such a draw.

My point is there’s a first mover advantage. It’s kind of like Spotify and Apple Music. People know and trust Apple, but Spotify broke ground first, and although Apple Music’s subscriber number is about the same as Spotify’s in the U.S., it lags greatly in the rest of the world, and will probably never catch up.

Although Spotify and Apple Music feature essentially the same product, which is not the case with these streaming television services.

So, I expect Disney Plus and HBO Max to have millions of subscribers instantly, but it will be a long hard slog to reach Netflix’s numbers, which I don’t think they’ll ever reach, only Disney Plus has a chance, not only because of the price but those damn Marvel movies, which the brain dead watch over and over again.

But streaming television is not about high concept popcorn flicks. Streaming television is about story, it’s about depth.

The world is hooked on story. He or she who can tell a tale well is the winner.

So you’ve got to give Vince Gilligan credit. He’s a great storyteller. But “El Camino” had too much weighing on it, if it were shot quickly on the cheap with less aforethought it would have been better.

Then again, the best part is when Pinkman has breakfast with Heisenberg, proving that “Breaking Bad”‘s success was based on Bryan Cranston and his interaction with Aaron Paul.

So I’ll watch the next “Breaking Bad” movie, if there is one, I know these characters, I’m invested in them.

And what I like most about Vince Gilligan is he respects his viewers. You don’t find this in studio movies, nor on network TV, not even on the channels like HBO and Showtime which dribble their series out, making you wait. Talk about getting blue balls…

We live in an on demand culture, we want it all and we want it now. If you try to artificially prevent this, the joke is on you. People are not gonna buy CDs after they’ve encountered streaming. Of course some will, but most people are addicted to the new paradigm.

And the great thing is if you touch someone, all they want is more. This is what purveyors don’t understand, they’re all caught up in marketing, second-guessing the viewer. Deliver something spectacular, especially on streaming television, and people will find it and spread the word about it, because almost everybody has a subscription, everybody’s searching for stuff to watch and when they have a EUREKA! viewing experience they want to tell everyone about it.

Now a great show does not let your mind wander. And mine did a bit during the first hour or so of “El Camino,” but the concepts are there to ingest and contemplate. I haven’t thrown my popcorn in the trash and forgotten about it. Actually, now that I know what happens, I almost want to watch “El Camino” again, to soak up the other elements.

As for the card to Brock Cantillo…

Gilligan knew viewers would freeze the frame, this is not a movie theatre where you miss something, where the story has to be up front and center. “El Camino” is deep. There’s tons of explanation online, like “Esquire”‘s article delineating all the “Easter Eggs”:

A Comprehensive Guide To Every Breaking Bad Easter Egg in El Camino

It doesn’t really matter what I have to say about “El Camino,” if you watched “Breaking Bad” you must see it, and will.

But to tell you the truth, I’d be more interested in a movie about “The Americans.”

Hillbilly Elegy

Anybody who’s a friend of Peter Thiel is not a friend of mine.

Well, not exactly, but what bugged me about the press for this book is that they neglected to point out J.D. Vance’s entrenchment with right wingers, as in this book was seen as an insight into the poor white underbelly of America which voted for Trump and no one pointed out that this was not written by a neutral party, that Vance might have an agenda.

But Steve Martin at APA sent me a copy and I pulled it up and was shocked to find that “Hillbilly Elegy,” despite the political spin, was really closer to Tara Westover’s “Educated.” You’ve probably read that book, as you should, it’ll make your jaw drop, you won’t believe what happens. Similar deal with “Hillbilly Elegy” re Vance’s parents and upbringing, pretty riveting, easy reading.

But what made the biggest impression upon me was the end, where Vance talks about going to Yale Law School and the doors it opened, that’s why you should read this book.

You see it’s a club and you’re not a member.

As for those in Appalachia…reading this book and Vance’s conclusions make you want to double-down on being a member of the elite, the ignorance and contempt of Vance’s world for the elite is so ridiculous that you want to throw your hands up in the air and move on. Then again, I do not agree with Vance’s conclusion that no aid should be given, that money can’t solve the problems of these people. Sure, their mind-set is ingrained, but you’ve got to start somewhere.

And the place to start is opportunity.

Need-blind. Most people have no idea what that term even means. Which is if you ain’t got the money, you can still go to the college. Yup, almost all of the most elite colleges are need-blind, meaning your ability to pay is not taken into their consideration of whether to admit you or not. And if you are admitted, they give you financial aid up to…a full-ride. I knew a bunch of people at Middlebury who were on a full-ride, this is a good thing.

But most people don’t know about it. Even the middle class…I remember telling friends to have their kids apply to the elite colleges, but they said they were too expensive, so their kids ended up not applying, they just couldn’t wrap their head around the concept of need-blind.

Now interestingly, a large number of need-blind college students were need-blind at prep schools. Don’t get me started on prep schools, what they do prepare you for is life, that it’s all about connections, who you know.

And that’s what’s highlighted at the end of “Hillbilly Elegy.”

Vance says the work at Yale Law School wasn’t that hard, but just by getting in you were part of the connection/favor network. Hell, his mentor is Amy Chua, that’s right, the self-professed “Tiger Mom.”

Most people have no idea how the elite world operates. When it comes to institutions, corporations, politics, just about everything but entertainment and sometimes tech, it depends upon who you know to get ahead…

Let’s see, the two-faced Sheryl Sandberg went to Harvard, hooked up with Larry Summers and not only worked for him in the government as his chief of staff when he was Secretary of the Treasury, she was handed the gig at Google which led to her job at Facebook. As for Facebook’s aggressive tactics, their need to survive and thrive at all costs…don’t only blame Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg is complicit.

But she did not work her way up from the bottom, she wasn’t one of the Harvard bros who built Facebook, but she had the CV, and she knew Summers.

Vance says sending resumes is worthless, you’ve got to know someone to get a gig, someone in the elite, who went to school with a person at the institution which is hiring. And if you’re not part of this club…GOOD LUCK!

Read “Hillbilly Elegy” for all this. Not for the politics, but how Vance leverages his Yale status to get a top clerkship that he desires and then how David Frum gets him into the right law firm.

This is how the world works. And this is why we hate it.

Yup, it’s a club, where favors are owed. And you can’t penetrate it if you ain’t got the CV.

And if you’re not a networker, if you don’t know how to use your relationships, trade favors, forget it. We no longer live in a world of lifetime employment. It’s all about hopping from job to job based on your friends/relationships and most people don’t have elite relationships and never will.

Artists are usually not networkers, that’s a different skill, that’s why they need managers, agents and record labels.

Being talented and doing good work is not enough in this world. The corporations, the government, they’re all tied together via an old boy network fostered by the elite institutions.

That’s right, the game is rigged.

And chances are you can’t even see the board, never mind have a piece on it.

This is what the college admissions scandal is all about. It’s not what you learn in college, but who you befriend at the institution, the relationships you can leverage down the line.

Meritocracy, schmeritocracy.

Attorney extraordinaire Peter Paterno represents a who’s who of clients. Listen to hear his story from Orange County to Harvey Mudd to signing Queen at Hollywood Records to Metallica to Dr. Dre to “Blurred Lines” to…

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What kind of crazy, fucked-up world do we live in where Bernie Sanders has a heart attack and comes back stronger than ever?

One in which Elizabeth Warren is busy snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

The best line of the night?

When Bernie said what the people want, that 71% want Medicare For All.

It is about the voters, right? That Trumps all the triangulation, right?

And speaking of Trump, Warren was so busy worrying about future Republican attacks that she wouldn’t admit Medicare For All would raise people’s taxes. Yes, it would be a net win, but when you can’t answer a direct question over and over again…

You lose your credibility.

And that was Warren’s key.

Does she think we can’t do math? Have Republicans toxified the word “tax” to the point where no one can utter it? Our country runs on taxes, taxes are good. As for government waste…every business has waste, Amazon built distribution infrastructure and then tore it down when it was clear there was a better solution. The government can’t even throw out food. As for the private sector always doing better, how about those for-profit prisons, incentivized to house offenders, with less oversight than publicly-owned prisons with no profit motive. Some things just should not be in the private sector.

So Tulsi was labeled a favorite of the right in the NYT and she can’t get over it. Then she immediately starts talking about the downsides of impeachment and I think the NYT is right. She’s toast, she’s got to go.

As for Amy Klobuchar… I can’t put my finger exactly on why she bugs me. She’s a self-satisfied nerd. It’s like Lil Nas X saying he’s the great hope for saving music. Huh?

Beto’s got to go. He has no chance of winning.

Castro barely talked, kick him off the stage.

Kamala… She tried to attack Warren, as she did Biden in that previous debate, but it turned out Warren was on her side, made Kamala look bad.

Buttigieg. He lifted himself up to the top, surviving tier. He’s young, he’s educated, he’s smart…it’s just that he can’t run the police department of his own damn town, he can’t run on his experience.

Steyer?

Too late, sorry. And no charisma to boot. So you made your money in banking, why should we listen to you? Why don’t you add something to society, build something, create something other than wealth.

Yang?

He talks about the future when no one else does. He’s the antidote to grandpa Biden. Yang knows what’s going on, but that’s about all he knows, he’s got ideas but no experience. I mean why him, just because he’s a rich young techie? Zuckerberg is a rich young techie, he knows what’s going on, do you want him to run the country?

Biden was better.

But he faded. Like he ran out of gas. He started misusing words, stumbling, and while he was busy running on his past…

Sanders zinged him and told him it was about the future.

As for Warren… She didn’t warm up until the end, when most people had given up watching. I mean this debate was an endurance test, you really didn’t miss anything, but the problem is most people watch from the beginning and that’s when Elizabeth refused to admit Medicare For All would involve raising taxes. Isn’t this what we hate about politicians? The duplicity, the dishonesty, the slipperiness?

Which leaves us with Bernie.

Sanders was speaking English. He didn’t pull any punches. He was busy telling the truth. He didn’t blink, he’s not only for Medicare For All, he’s willing to own the process when Warren just talks about people going bankrupt. Bernie gets to the heart of the matter…the damn corporations who are ripping us off.

Biden can’t run because he can’t win. And his son stepping down in China just makes him look guilty. Illustrating, once again, that Biden doesn’t know how to play the game, he’s full of missteps.

Warren’s got to recharge, she’s got to plug herself back into the Tesla supercharger and realize it’s an uphill fight, that nothing really counts until you win the Presidency.

As for Bernie… Sure, he had a heart attack, but he was on his game. He shouted less, he was coherent, all his neurons were firing…

This is why Sanders did so well in 2016. Being honest. Speaking to the human condition in America today. Warren came out removed. In Bernie you saw someone who’s been fighting for the little guy from day one.

But being President means you’ve got to get along with everybody else to get things done. This has not been Bernie’s strong point, certainly not in the Senate.

But one thing’s for sure, no one on stage looked like a sure shot against Trump. Bernie was the only one with any believable zest. Biden got hot under the collar and pounded his fist on the lectern and you reacted, who is this old guy who is out of control?

Trump goes for the hearts and minds of his base, he speaks directly to them.

The only person speaking to the voters tonight was Bernie. Will it bring him back into the race?

All I know is these candidates have to pull themselves up into the national debate. If you’re running for President, weigh in on the shenanigans in D.C. Give Warren credit, she’s stood up against Trump and his crap from the beginning. But when she talked about the number of selfies she’d shot… We hate it when out of touch oldsters try to be young and hip. She’d have been better off talking about the number of likes she had on Instagram, nowhere online do they count the number of selfies.

It was disillusioning.

But on the other side of the aisle, the trials and tribulations of Trump and Rudy…

It’s absolutely horrifying.

P.S. If I’ve forgotten anybody that just means they’ve got to go. (Oh yeah, Booker…SAYONARA!)