By Tyler Goucher,
Reporter
February 24, 2015
Filed under Opinion, Reviews
Bakersfield College: The Renegade Rip Newspaper
The AMC follow-up to one of the most critically claimed
shows ever made, “Breaking Bad,” manages to surprise fans with returning key
characters and a story arch that explores events both before and after Walter
White.
Although the show was written by Peter Gould and Vince
Gilligan with intentions to stand on its own without having to rely heavily on
success of “Breaking Bad,” it’s clear that they are not yet finished with the
overall story.
The series premier opens up in black and white with a
present day look at character Saul Goodman’s newly appointed life working as a
cashier for a Cinnabon in Omaha, Nebraska. Now a balding alcoholic with a
severe case of paranoia, Saul lives his life in the shadow of his legacy. I
thought this was an intriguing way to start the series because it really does
give viewers a sense that “Breaking Bad” isn’t necessarily over yet.
After reminiscing over his earlier successes as a shady
defense attorney, the real story begins as we travel back in time to the
beginning of everything.
The year is 2002 and good work is hard to find for
small-time defense attorney, Jimmy McGill. The only paychecks Jimmy is pulling
in are from being a public defender where the workload is at a maximum and the
pay is at a minimum.
I love how they show a hardworking McGill doing everything
in his power to make an honest living in a world that is anything but honest.
Especially when we compare his character in “Better Call Saul” to his character
in “Breaking Bad,” which at least in the first two episodes, are completely
night and day.
After dealing with issues regarding his mentally unstable
brother, Chuck, and Chuck’s law firm trying to rip him off, Jimmy finally comes
to a breaking point. In other words, much like Walter White, he decides to
break bad.
He sets up a scheme to have a couple of knucklehead
skateboarders scam someone into becoming one of his clients. In the process of
doing so, he ends up having a run-in with a one of Breaking Bad’s oldest, most
feared villains, Tuco Salamanca, ending the series premier on a spectacularly high
point.
In Monday night’s follow-up episode, Jimmy spends his day in
the hot Albuquerque sun at gun point, in the middle of nowhere, attempting to
talk his way out of a death sentence for both him and the two skateboarders he
used to scam Tuco’s lovely abuelita. It was quite hilarious how the writers
turned the whole scene into a courtroom as Jimmy fights for the two
skateboarder’s lives as if he is their defense attorney and Tuco is the
unforgiving judge.
After all is said and done, Jimmy leaves Tuco and his squad
of drug dealing cronies on somewhat good terms.
Although the episode was a bit long and drawn out, it was a
good set-up for what’s to come in the future episodes of “Better Call Saul” and
it proves once again that AMC is the still the reigning king of cable dramas.
- See more at:
http://www.therip.com/reviews/2015/02/24/saul-shows-that-amc-still-has-it/#sthash.MQg9MqNF.dpuf
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