Originally posted by 100TonsofOrangeFury:
OK, let me be more specific. Here are my thoughts:
1) Saul himself is sort a semi-ambitious drifter in life--what is he trying to do? Win the girl? Get rich? Be famous? I think maybe all three but if we don't know that and why by now, why don't we? What is his history with his brother? Why haven't we been made to know or care by now?
2) Blondie is cute but mundane, why does she like this washout lawyer and why do we care about her?
3) Brother is crazy, but at least he's finally evolving. Do we care what he evolves into?
Great shows have great characters whose histories you at least vaguely understand and can rely upon to create in the viewer some desire about where that character should or might go in the future.
"He's troubled but brilliant (Don Draper), how will this shake out?"
"He's dying but noble and possibly capable of mass criminality to achieve his dying wishes (Walter White)"
"He's got a past a mile long, and it may jump up and bite him (Mike Ermentraut)"
These types of characters pull you along in their struggle forward to someplace. Saul seems to be going nowhere in particular for no particular reason, and thus I only mildly care what happens to him.
This is just the absolute definition of the storylines not being well defined or "awesome".