Better clear the calendar: Saul returns Monday
It’s exceedingly rare when a sequel (or prequel or spinoff) is as good as the original.
For every outstanding Frasier coming out of Cheers or The Jeffersons spinning out of All in the Family, there are a dozen fizzles, such as Gloria and 704 Hauser (from All in the Family) and Joey (Friends).
Happy Days gave us the memorable Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy, but it also led to the forgettable Blansky’s Beauties and Joanie Loves Chachi.
In the case of Better Call Saul, a prequel to Breaking Bad, I’d say it’s one of the rare gems.
Title trivia: If you’ve ever wondered about the Breaking Bad title, co-creator Vince Gilligan said once, “I come from Virginia and it’s very much a Southern regionalism and means to raise hell. I didn’t realize it was as regional an expression as it is.”
Granted, it would be difficult to equal the seminal magnificence of Breaking Bad, but Saul, starring Bob Odenkirk as sad sack lawyer Jimmy McGill, is an equally fascinating character study.
See for yourself when Better Call Saul returns for Season 3 at 9 p.m. Monday on AMC.
Those unfamiliar with the series might be confused. Saul Goodman was, indeed, Walter White’s notorious criminal attorney in Breaking Bad, but before he transformed himself into Saul, he was McGill, a former con man now a small-time Albuquerque lawyer chasing ambulances, hustling for his underdog clients and just trying to make a name for himself.
Better Call Saul is set six years before the events of Breaking Bad.
At the end of last season (which earned seven Emmy nominations), Jimmy had persuaded his girlfriend, talented lawyer Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), to leave the prestigious (but snooty) firm of Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill and set up her own shop in a building alongside (but separate from) him.
And let’s not forget the nasty McGill family feud between Jimmy and his insecure older brother Chuck (Michael McKean), a victim of electromagnetic hypersensitivity that has made him agoraphobic. And weird.
Chuck is infuriated at the “short cuts” Jimmy took to get a law degree. Chuck sees it as demeaning to his life’s hard work.
“I’ve committed my life to this!” Chuck rants about the legal profession. “You don’t slide into it like a cheap pair of slippers and then reap all the rewards!”
Cliffhanger No. 1: Determined to ruin Jimmy’s law practice, Chuck pulled off an elaborate con last season, secretly recording Jimmy’s confession to a felony.
Cliffhanger No. 2: Former corrupt cop turned parking lot attendant, private eye and “fixer” Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) gets a sniper rifle to take out sociopathic cartel boss Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis), but a honking car horn stops him.
Mike finds a note on his windshield that simply says, “Don’t.” What’s up with that?
What’s ahead for Season 3? The fallout from Chuck’s scheme will affect Jimmy and Kim’s nascent law practices, along with their romance.
And Mike will search for the mysterious person who placed the note on his car. That person knows way too much about Mike’s business.
As the season progresses, we’ll get new characters who will help explain Jimmy’s continued devolution into the Saul we know from Breaking Bad.
Gilligan tells Variety, “Things get quite a bit darker in Season 3. We didn’t set out for that to happen, it came to us organically.”
Odenkirk adds, “There’s more of an internal movement of this really sweet character, Jimmy McGill, who kind of shuts himself down and does some very callous things that are very Saul Goodman-like. It’s just sad. It made me feel bad.”
In another development, it’s in this season that evil, evil methamphetamine distributing Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) joins the series.
“We’re going to see a lot of Gus Fring as he builds his drug empire,” Odenkirk says. “Dominoes start to topple at the end of Season 3. Season 4, if there is one, should be a roller coaster ride.”
I would be stunned if a fourth season is not ordered, and ordered rather quickly.
Rumor we hope is true: Some are hinting that Breaking Bad’s Jesse Pinkman, played by Aaron Paul (full name Aaron Paul Sturtevant) will join Better Call Saul this season. Paul, himself, teased as much on The Ellen Show in January.
That would be icing on the cake.
Fargo news. Many who enjoy Better Call Saul also have Fargo on their DVR. Here’s your reminder. Fargo returns at 9 p.m. April 19 on FX. It will be set in 2010, and deal with twins Emmit and Ray Stussy, played by Ewan McGregor in dual roles.
Homeland. The Season 6 finale airs at 8 p.m. today on Showtime.
Angie Tribeca. Season 3 with Rashida Jones in the title role premieres at 9:30 p.m. Monday on TBS.