Aaron Sarnecky – Better Call Saul

Better Call Saul is on another Monthly Pop-5 List, and you better get used to it.

I’ll admit I wasn’t completely sold on the show right away. While I appreciated the tension present in the premiere, it took me some time to warm up to Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) as the protagonist. I hadn’t expected the show to be an origin story, but rather a collection of different cases. However, by the start of March, I got comfortable with Jimmy. Much like how Walter White had to become Heisenberg, Jimmy is in the process of becoming the Saul Goodman we know from Breaking Bad.

That being said, Jimmy is not as innocent as Walt was starting out. While Walt certainly had his demons that contributed to his transformation, Jimmy has a much more checkered past. It’s not always easy to know when he’ll do the right thing. He wants to, but he’s constantly tempted by the easy, less legal way out. And, sometimes, he gives in. It’ll be interesting to see what events lead him to become that dastardly lawyer we love.

Still, creator Vince Gilligan and his writing staff are already treating us to some of the wit and humor that made us want a spin-off in the first place. Jimmy’s not as sharp as Saul, but he’s still got plenty of one-liners. What he really lacks right now is confidence. Maybe a major victory will change that.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Mike (Jonathan Banks). I wasn’t really sure how Gilligan was going to bring Jimmy and Mike together, and I initially found Mike’s parking attendant job pretty strange. I kept waiting for something. Well, boy, has that waiting paid off. Mike has been a fan favorite character for a long time, despite the fact that’s he’s actually a pretty big jerk, when you think about it. Nevertheless, his no-nonsense attitude and his surprisingly paternal nature have won audiences over. And now that he has a more complete backstory, you can’t help but like him even more. While his tragic past confirms what we already thought about him, it also explains some of more contradictory aspects of his personality. I will be very surprised if both Banks and Odenkirk aren’t up for Emmys come award season.

If you’re not watching Better Call Saul, why not give it a shot? You might be able to find it On Demand; you don’t need to have watched Breaking Bad. It’s slow-burn entertainment like its predecessor, so it’s not always the most exciting. However, it’s always just a matter of time before it ramps up.

Check out Pop-Break’s weekly review of Better Call Saul.

[php] wp_link_pages(array(‘before’=>’

‘)); [/php]

============================================================================================================================================