B+
We all saw the last season of “Breaking Bad” and we watched as Walter White destroyed his entire family’s life and somehow managed to avoid the law, but whatever happened to his scandalous lawyer Saul Goodman?
The last time we saw Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) on “Breaking Bad,” he was stuffing his bag with the illegal money he earned from White’s meth-cooking business and going into hiding somewhere in Nebraska to begin his new life. Since then, we haven’t thought much of Saul…
Until now.
“If I’m lucky, a month from now, best-case scenario, I’m managing a Cinnabon in Omaha!” Goodman said in the final season of “Breaking Bad."
And that is indeed what he ended up doing.
"Better Call Saul," the prequel to "Breaking Bad," premiered the first episode, "Uno," of its two-part premiere on Sunday, February 8 and its second episode, “Mijo,” the following night.
The highly anticipated spin-off series started off in black and white with the same reversed chronological appeal that sucked us all into “Breaking Bad." A glimpse of Saul’s post-“Breaking Bad” life can be seen as his mustached disguised character stands behind the counter at Cinnabon in Omaha, Nebraska, and then later drinking wine in his home while watching old commercials of his shattered law firm in New Mexico.
The show then flashes back to 2002, where Saul, who in this show is referred to as his real name Jimmy McGill, is working as a public defender for $700 a case and struggling to make ends meet in a world that just seems to be working against him.
Almost immediately, characters from "Breaking Bad" begin making connections to Saul. Mike Ehrmantraut, the hitman Saul and Walter call on frequently in "Breaking Bad," can briefly be seen working the toll booth in a parking lot at the courthouse. Later on, Tuco Salamanca, the crazy drug dealer whom Jesse Pinkman gets his meth from before he and White go into business together, is featured.
"Better Call Saul" is the perfect second go at a show like "Breaking Bad." Directors Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould found an interesting and unexpected way to bring back the "Breaking Bad" legacy after more than a year has passed.
They still portray that pathetic, desperate and mopey feel of the characters in which so many of the viewers found to be so appealing in "Breaking Bad." By bringing back the story line and digging into the background of other characters, a whole new door has been opened that will answer questions that arose from "Breaking Bad."
Viewers can look forward to an intense show filled with sketchy situations, old and new characters and an unforeseen plot twist. Get ready to see how Jimmy McGill came to be Saul Goodman, the fast-talking, sleazy, immoral man that everyone grew to love in "Breaking Bad" and that everyone will grow to love even more in "Better Call Saul."