Written by Michael Vacchiano
After a near year-and-a-half hiatus, Better Call Saul is back and fans of the entire Breaking Bad canon, myself included, couldn’t be more thrilled. The journey and evolution of struggling yet shady lawyer Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) has been a fascinating one thus far. But the two-night premiere of the show’s fifth season has made one thing extremely clear for viewers: Saul Goodman has finally arrived.
The first episode of the two-part Better Call Saul Season 5 premiere, “Magic Man,” picks up exactly where last season left off, with Jimmy having successfully duped the New Mexico bar association into granting him reinstatement. To the shock and dismay of his girlfriend and fellow attorney Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), Jimmy begins practicing law under the series’ title moniker. Jimmy/Saul immediately gets to work recruiting clients in the vein of his used-car-salesman persona, which would become his trademark in Breaking Bad.
Saul/Jimmy even operates out of a parking lot tent, offering promotions and free phones to all of Albuquerque’s most guilty low-level criminals. To put even further emphasis on Saul’s early sales pitches, the title of the second part of the Better Call Saul Season 5 premiere is aptly named “50% Off.” Giving out business cards and vouchers for half-priced legal services, it’s noted by Kim that Saul/Jimmy seems to be encouraging his clients to, in fact, break the law. In other words, Jimmy McGill is now the Saul Goodman we all knew Jimmy would inevitably become.
Perhaps the best reason Better Call Saul has established its own identity and footing as stellar television is its central performance. Mostly serving as comedy relief during Breaking Bad’s run, Bob Odenkirk has consistently brought nuance and pathos to Jimmy that none of us could have ever expected. The effects of his tragically deteriorated relationship with his late brother Chuck (Michael McKean) and his impulsive need to constantly bend the rules testing his ethics have led to the emergence of Saul. The character’s metamorphosis is in sync with Odenkirk’s brilliant maturation as a serious actor.
Showrunners Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould deserve massive credit for expertly crafting this origin story, as well as that of the other Breaking Bad alum of the series. Former dirty cop Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) has now reached the final stages of his own descent into purgatory. Having reluctantly embraced his status as a hitman/fixer, Mike is nonetheless still feeling remorse for having to kill an innocent friend last season, all in the name of his profession. The always exceptional Banks is amazing here, starting to show some of the emotional cracks under Mike’s no-nonsense, all-business exterior.
Saul’s other major recurring storyline, that of the burgeoning local drug trade, got some serious juice with these early episodes. The uneasy alliance/rivalry between the Salamanca family and soon-to-be meth kingpin Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) now has a serious X-factor in the mix in the form of Hector’s nephew Lalo. Newest cast member Tony Dalton fits in the show with ease, oozing sleazy charm and restrained menace in every scene. And then there’s poor Nacho (Michael Mando), who’s still being coerced and threatened by Gus to serve as his double agent against the Salamancas. The tension and anxiety on this side of the show is as present as ever, even if we know that Fring will ultimately rule more than just the fried chicken empire of the Southwest.
Despite all the illegal activity that the characters are involved in, it is Kim, Better Call Saul’s moral compass, who just might be the show’s unofficial MVP. While not getting to be as flashy as her costars, Seehorn continues to prove herself in understated fashion as the wounded woman holding the last string of Jimmy’s humanity. As the now-Saul slips further down the path of no redemption, the ever-loyal yet suffering Kim is starting to realize that the proverbial light she sees in him is getting dimmer by the day. The under-appreciated Seehorn has quietly built her case, no pun intended, as the series’ breakout star, and we fans hope Kim’s unknown fate will have a somewhat happy ending.
Better Call Saul Season 5 premiere double header sees the odyssey of Jimmy McGill has firmly reached its final chapters. We even got more glimpses into Saul Goodman’s colorless future post-Breaking Bad as Cinnabon manager Gene Takovic. These flash forwards have become the norm for all the show’s season debuts. Despite what viewers think they know about the destiny of our favorite “criminal” lawyer, this penultimate season is proving to be as surprising and enthralling as ever before. And it’ll be a sad day when Gilligan & Co. take us to the finish line next year. But until then…’S’all good, man!
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Better Call Saul Season 5 Premiere is currently streaming on AMC’s website, app, and on demand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYkrXFq3U9g
