I just finished this Breaking Bad spin-off featuring the ‘criminal lawyer’, Saul Goodman, in his life before Walter White, when he was known as James McGill. He’s a struggling public defender living paycheck to paycheck out of an office in the back of a nail salon, looking for a big case to make his name.
I was hooked on this show from the first five minutes. We start with a flash forward, of Jimmy hiding out in his house, alone, watching old video of his advertisements with the ‘better call Saul’ tagline. He’s working at a Cinnabar, he’s looking over his shoulder afraid that every stranger that looks his direction is out to get him. How does he get this way? If we’ve learned anything from Breaking Bad, it’s that Vince Gilligan knows how to complete a story, so I trust that we’ll find out.
The character of ‘Slippin’ Jimmy’ is a refreshing change from Walter White’s character. He’s earnest, funny, likable, a down-trodden underdog, and endlessly resourceful. But from what we’ve seen before in Gilligan’s work, characters can drastically change over the course of a few seasons… even though Saul doesn’t seem to be a villain in BB, the series ends with hint’s of a nefarious future. I hope he doesn’t become a villain on this show. A criminal, sure, that’s inevitable, but I hope he keeps his good heart.
Besides Jimmy, the other characters in this show are just as great. We have his agoraphobic brother, who believes he has an allergy to electricity providing lots of good scenes. We have Mike, making a return from BB, now working as a parking lot ticket taker. And we’ve got plenty of side characters too, who, if BB is any evidence, will continue to serve important roles in the seasons to come.
The show is well coordinated and crafted and one of the more enjoyable shows I’ve watched in a long time.
I really recommend watching this to anyone who was a fan of Breaking Bad, or even anyone who wasn’t or hasn’t even seen the show. It is it’s own show, and you need not know anything about BB to enjoy it.
Check it out!
Jonas David 