BWW Recap: For Good TV, You BETTER CALL SAUL!
By: Courtney Henley Feb. 08, 2015
It's Sunday. Are you tired, bored, with nothing to do? Need a reason to stay home and eat that pint of ice cream that's been hanging out in your freezer for a little bit too long? Do you miss BREAKING BAD? You're not alone. AMC is here to help. They have what is quite possibly the only series that can fill the Walter White-shaped hole that the BREAKING BAD finale permanently smashed into your heart, and that series is BETTER CALL SAUL.
The BREAKING BAD spin-off takes viewers back to the years before Saul crossed paths with Walter White and Jesse Pinkman; before he set up shop in that now-infamous Albuquerque strip mall; even before he adopted the name Saul Goodman. Although there's no desert meth cooking (or is there?!) over the course of the show's two-night premiere, you can be sure that BETTER CALL SAUL packs the same punch that BREAKING BAD so lovingly delivered each week. True, BETTER CALL SAUL will likely follow a lighter, less life-or-death-centric storyline, given the absence of any terminal illnesses and considering the comedy background of leading man Bob Odenkirk. But it's still set in the same gang-infested, drug-addicted Albuquerque that Heisenberg called home, which pretty much guarantees those good old dramatic twists and turns.
Normally, I'd be worried about possibly over-hyping a show, but in this case, for numerous reasons, I'm pretty sure I'm safe. For one, BETTER CALL SAUL is helmed by the same two geniuses that were responsible for some of the most killer (no pun intended) BREAKING BAD episodes: showrunner Vince Gilligan and writer/producer Peter Gould. I don't think these two could write a boring episode if they wanted to. Secondly, Mike Ehrmantraut is back!!!! If you watched BREAKING BAD and didn't love Ehrmantraut (played by the incredible Jonathan Banks), you're wrong.
Still not convinced? What if I told you that AMC has already picked up the show for a second season? I guess the decision to change the series from a thirty-minute comedy into an hour-long drama paid off in the end.
And then there's this trailer:
Also, did I mention that Mike Ehrmantraut is back?! Because he is. And he's great.
AMC's got you covered if you don't (or can't, I don't judge) want to wait for tonight's episode to get your weekly dose of Saul Goodman. Along with photos and interviews galore, they've also got an alias generator. You know, in case you need to go off the grid and disappear for a while.
If you guys need me, I'll be hanging out in Newford, OR and answering only to Dana Schneider. Or maybe I'll be here, on the west coast, live recapping tonight's premiere. You decide.
The two-part premiere of BETTER CALL SAUL begins tonight at 10 PM on AMC. Join me right here and on Twitter @CourtHenley while I live recap the show's West Coast premiere. We can all freak out over its perfection together!
10:02 : Suddenly, I want Cinnabon.
Two minutes in and already he's hiding from somebody. A sign of good things to come? For us, yes. For him, not so much.
Also, let's talk about the black and white-ness going on here for a moment, shall we? I'ts perfect. Very film noir-esque.
10:06 : Ah, a blank tape of all the things that could've been. Or were. Not really sure of the timeline of this whole thing yet.
In other news, I wonder how many takes they had to do of that dead-silence-in-the-courtroom scene.
AW, little Saul is nervous! Don't worry, little Saul, you can do it!
10:11 : This may be a tiny little courtroom with a pretty insignificant case, but Saul - sorry, Jimmy McGill - is already letting that unconventional charisma fly! Maybe he'll be able to convince the jury to vote in his clients' favor after all! Oh wait, what's this? A TV? Uh oh...right. They're holding a head...that they just sawed off. Sorry, buddy, you lose.
Talk about starting from the bottom. First he loses his case, then he gets a lousy payday for it, then he gets sassed by the secretary. Rough day.
Sidenote: I want a Monty Python-esque spin-off of this spin-off where Bob Odenkirk does the entire show while pretending to be his secretary.
10:15 : OH MY EHRMANTRAUT.
Thank the heavens above he gets out of that little ticket taker kiosk. You're too good for that, Mike!
10:18 : Am I the only one who wants to give poor little Jimmy McGill the world's biggest hug right now?!
10:20 : What?! He hit a guy?! And it was caught on film?! Never mind. NOW I want to give him a hug.
OH WAIT, you go, Jimmy! Call them out on their act! This is the Saul we know and love. Actually, we don't really know Saul just yet, but you know what I mean.
10:23 : Livin' it up in the back of that nail salon, aren't we, Jimmy? Maybe if you stopped ripping up checks for $26,000 you could get yourself a nicer place. I guess, though, that the bigger question is, why are you ripping up checks for $26,000?
We're just about half way through the premiere episode, and I'd say so far, so good! I'm intrigued by the intro and loving that we're getting a glimpse into Jimmy/Saul's background. Keep it coming!
10:31 : Right, so he wants more money. Fair enough. Look at Jimmy go, fighting for the rights of the underrepresented, as always. Except this time, it seems as if he actually is fighting for the good guy: Chuck McGill. Jimmy's had enough of Howard Hamelin's nonsense of questionable legality, and he's letting him know.
10:33 : HA! Jimmy's just hanging out there like, "Oh, don't mind me, I'm just going to yank this cigarette out of your mouth, smoke it, then stick it right back as if nothing happened."
10:42 : No electricity, a typewriter, and a cooler full of ice as a refrigerator. Are they...Amish?
Oh look, Michael McKean! There you are! So now we know: Chuck is Jimmy's older, seemingly more intelligent, patient, ethical brother, who seems to be genuinely trying to help Saul (and vice-versa). But he's also sick - and in denial - and he's not listening to Jimmy.
Jimmy realizes that Hamelin, by paying off Chuck (who we all know is most likely never going back to work), is just trying to cover his own tracks so that down the line, it doesn't seem like he was doing anything wrong. Chuck, on the other hand, is either completely blind to what Hamelin is doing (which seems unlikely), or he's willing to quietly accept the income while he focuses on getting better. My bet's on the latter. Jimmy wants to cut right to the chase: Chuck is never going back to work, so let's just pay him his share of the company now and call it a day.
10:46 : Wait, what's this? Are we witnessing the conception of Saul Goodman?!
10:51 : Oh, how I've missed these crazy angled shots.
10:57 : Come on over, kiddos, it's story time with Jimmy! Slippin' Jimmy, teaching kids how to mess with the legal system since Day 1. Looks like he's found some new proteges...
"I'm number one on your speed dial, right next to your weed dealer." New tagline, please?
"Damn straight. Go with God." I lied. That's the new tagline, please.
11:02 : This whole thing is like a well-oiled machine and yet I am SO nervous for them.
Hit and run!? No one saw that coming. Skateboarding twins hitching a ride on the back of a pick up truck and cutting out the middle man? Oddly enough, that bit seems a little bit more predictable.
HA, "Si, righteous dinero!"
11:15 : All right, Jimmy, you knock on that door and you go get it. Do what you were born to do. Wait, wha---a gun???
OH HEY, TUCO'S BACK!
Oof. I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for tomorrow's episode. I'm ready for it now. Let me know what you thought of the series premiere in the comments below or on Twitter!
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