2/March/2022. Watched.
My rating: 8.8/10.
"Breaking Bad is perhaps the best television series that was ever made", so many people have said it that it has almost become a fact. And I'm among them so many people.
Better Call Saul is a spin-off show of the said series and I've been putting it off since I finished Breaking Bad back in early 2020. I was afraid that like most spin-off shows go (looking at you Joey and That 80s' Show) it was gonna stink of a lot of poo-poo. But, as fate would have it, in Vince Gilligan's hands the poo-poo doth not stink! Its great in fact!
Alright, yeah, I got a bit carried away with my analogy but hear me out. Better Call Saul follows Jimmy McGill, a struggling lawyer who gets cheques which go from hand to mouth. Every lead turns out to be a dead end and every client a schmuck. Its attorney at law vs the world at its most classical sense. Only, here he is trying to prove a case for himself.
Bob Odenkirk proves to be a great vehicle for this show. He very well might be the perfect leading man when it comes to a story like this. Yes, he plays a sleazy swindler sort of person but he brings this earnestness to the character which is rather difficult to incorporate if you don't have an exceptional acting talent on screen.
And if that wasn't enough, Jonathan Banks reprises his role of the stone cold killer Mike Ehrmentraut who was last seen with Walter White in Breaking Bad under unfortunate circumstances. Being a man of a few words, his characters lends himself to this wonderfully visual performance of subtlety which Banks makes the most out of. And I doubt it would've worked if it were played by a lesser actor.
Some of the notable new faces of this universe are of course Rhea Seehorn's Kim Wexler, a lawyer and Jimmy's best friend, and Michael Mando's Nacho Varga. Now, I've been a huge Michael Mando fan for quite some time now because of his chilling performance as Vaas in the video game, Far Cry 3 (2012). I was infatuated with his cut scenes in that game. I used to watch the live action Far Cry Experience series over and over again in which Vaas delightfully tortures Christopher Mintz-Plasse. And I love that he gets to shine here as well with his intimidating stance.
Talking of video games, I must mention that Steven Ogg who played Trevor in GTA V also showed up in this as a cameo. Steven Ogg was also a cast member in Westworld. I had watched the first 2 episodes of Westworld's second season before I dropped it and decided to watch BCS instead. The second episode had Giancarlo Esposito though, the legendary Gus Fring from Breaking Bad.
It does get a bit dull here and there especially with the Chuck subplot but other than that its a pretty solid show. So yes, I'm very impressed and satisfied with Better Call Saul and I'd recommend it to any fan of the original series.
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