Better Call Saul (Season 1)

So I was hesitant to dive in Better Call Saul, mainly for the reason that Breaking Bad seemed to be just a perfectly concise story, any additions whether they be prequel shows or epilogue movies seem a little gratuitous. I don't remember liking the character of Saul Goodman very much so I wasn't sure I was going to really like it. But after the shows been going for 5 seasons now, I've heard enough people say that not only is this show good, it might be just as good as Breaking Bad. Also, I needed a show to get into because I finished Community for the billionth time.

Better Call Saul is a prequel series to Breaking Bad and follows the story of Saul Goodman before he was Saul Goodman (played by Bob Odenkirk). Jimmy Mcgill is a lawyer struggling to make a name for himself in Albuquerque New Mexico. He is a public defender with a propensity for talking his way out of things. He's not particularly good at his job, but part of the show is his journey to figure out what he's good at, all the while running across different characters of varying repute.

On the side of Jimmy's life that is more legitimate, he has a brother (played by Michael Mckean) with an "allergy to electricity". I think when I first heard this, I thought it was kind of weird and a weird way to distinguish the show, but I think they do a relatively good job with it. And Chuck's part in the show is more centered on being a partner of a large law firm and Jimmy's relationship to the people in that law firm, especially an associate named Kim (played by Rhea Seehorn).

On the other side of things, Jimmy finds himself running in with criminal elements, most namely the infamous Mike Ehrmantraut (played again by Jonathan Banks). Additionally, they run across a drug dealer by the name of Taco (played by Michael Mando).

And this is a good place to talk about performances. I can talk more about Bob Odenkirk, but I did want to mention Jonathan Banks and Michael Mando in particular because they were my personal favorites. I think I started this season thinking that Jonathan Banks can only play one character. I said this both because I needed a refresher on Mike's character, but he also played the same role in Community Season 5. And while it's very similar, this season reminded me that while he plays the same role, its one he's very good at.

And Michael Mando, while he's not too much in the show, I think he might end up being one of my favorite characters if they develop him more. I knew Mando mainly from his role in Far Cry 3, but he keeps popping up here and there and I am glad he's getting more work.

Rhea Seehorn and Michael McKean are great along with the other actors, but Odenkirk makes this entire show happen which I did not expect. I always thought Odenkirk was a very good character actor. I don't remember disliking Saul in Breaking Bad, I just thought it was weird that he got the spinoff.

But watching this now, I can say this was a fantastic choice because the character of Jimmy is so unique and off kilter from what you'd expect from a leading person. While it's kind of similar to the formula of Breaking Bad where it's an unlikely middle aged man who has to use his wit and cunning to survive the criminal world, it makes for really good television and allows for these guys who were previously known as character actors to really shine, and that's what Odenkirk does well.

I think the other thing I liked about this season was the format. Breaking Bad was such a unique plot that it's hard to know what a follow up is going to cover. You obviously can't redo the same thing but then where do you go?

The unexpected turn they took was to make it center on Jimmy in a way that makes it feel like a Boston Legal-type legal drama, except it centers on the underbelly and lower lawyers. In fact, the big law firm Jimmy is competing against looks and feels almost like the kind of law firm that was the focus of shows like Boston Legal.

I will say, the show is a little bit scattered at times. Boston Legal was a procedural. Every week had a different case brought to the firm while Better Call Saul has pretty much two major legal cases that they focus on and the rest is the high drama that you'd expect from Vince Gilligan the show creator.

I of course didn't want a procedural and the variety in all reality is good in this show. I think my thought on it is I can't really say what the main goal of this season was. For example, Jimmy is doing his thing with those major cases, peppered in with small montages of him doing public defender work, but then they throw in an episode all about Mike. And the Mike episodes are great. Again, he's one of my favorite parts of this universe. But I get the feeling they needed to pepper his criminal connections into it to keep us engaged in the criminal underworld while Jimmy is still more on the legitimate side as he slowly "breaks bad".

If I had to make a guess, I would imagine that maybe this season was more of an introductory season to these characters and future seasons will be more focused. And if its not, that's fine.

I like this show enough to know that any expectations I had need to go out the window and I just need to enjoy it for the great writing and interesting characters.

It is far too early to decide how it compares to Breaking Bad. I rewatched some of the first few episodes of Breaking Bad a little while ago and I just recognized that that show was something spectacular and hard to compare. I hope Better Call Saul gets up there with every season, but I'll wait until I get to those later seasons to decide.

I think overall, Better Call Saul was an unexpected joy to watch. I knew it was going to be successful, but I didn't know I was going to like the first season as much as I did. I know the people behind the Breaking Bad universe know what they're doing and they're not going to do something like this unless its a good idea. And Better Call Saul is one of those great ideas. I'm not sure if I'll do a review for every season but I wanted to do a review for this season to get my thoughts on the show out.

But what do you think of Better Call Saul? Have you watched past the first season? Should I continue? Are there other spinoffs that could work for this universe? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for shows I should watch in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie and TV news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for Reading!