I've recently brought myself to grind through the second season, and while I was thoroughly engaged, I couldn't help but feel that I wasn't sure how this show even exists. On the surface, its a prequel to Breaking Bad, it's kind of a lawyer show, it's a kind of a crime show, and it's kind of a family drama. It does a good job at all of these, but it rarely ever feels like two of these aspects ever benefit without feeling sidelined. This show is never all of these three, at it's best its either a crime show and a drama or a drama and a family show, but never all three. One reviewer praised this show for defying genre expectations, existing in a gray area that operated in multiple shades. So it's not quite a drama, it's not quite a family show, it's not quite a crime show... Then what is it? It's a complete mess. I like Better Call Saul, but I don't love it. I've felt tense, I've laughed out loud, I've felt for the characters, but the show itself feels like it jumps from plot point to plot point with little notion as to how they all connect. I'm pointing out season 2 specifically because Mike is now a much larger character. If season 1 was all about Jimmy McGill, season 2 feels much more focused on developing Mike and his descent into the American southwest crime scene. But herein is the problem, "Better Call Saul" is the name of the show, and as much as it's trying to be its own thing, EVERYTHING about this show exists to tell you it stands on the shoulders of giants (that being Breaking Bad). I don't know who this show is appealing to. It fills my need of nostalgia, reminds me how much I love characters from Breaking Bad and details their backstories, but it also wants to do its own thing. This should work, but it can't seem to balance between the two. You've got a dual story line in this season and it all comes to a head in the season finale (normal storytelling stuff). The thing is, these two stories are NOT related to each other. We have Jimmy dealing with the drama at his firm and his relationship with his brother, and meanwhile Mike is poking a hornet's nest of the Cartel north of the border. Both of these stories are good. But both of these stories really have no right being so forcibly connected when there isn't much of a connection. I bring this up because Jimmy and Mike were connected in Season 1. In season 2, they interact about a handful of times, most of which, are in complete passing. They are two separate worlds, and maybe its to highlight the eventual decline Saul will face when brought into the criminal underworld, but it just doesn't add up. The only reason most people are willing to let this slide is because we know of their eventual connection in Breaking Bad. Emphasis on the eventual. It would kind of be like if Jesse and Todd from Breaking Bad bumped into each other, worked together very briefly in season 1, then went their separate ways for a few seasons before clashing again. Sure, we'd learn more about Todd, but these stories wouldn't serve each other the way they were supposed to. The idea behind dual stories is often summed up to a phrase, "meanwhile, back at the ranch". The hypothetical ranch in question is important because it has to do with the hypothetical farmer, he's off at the hypothetical store and he's left his hypothetical wife to herd the cattle back at the farm. If there is a connection between Jimmy and Mike, it's not happening now, and it certainly didn't progress in this season. Some would call it a slow burn, me, I'd just call it fan service. Better Call Saul is a little brother, in some rebellious teen phase, it demands to be taken as it's own entity but can't help but rely on the success of its sibling to carry it. This show isn't really appealing to a post-breaking bad audience because its half baking two story lines and it isn't really appealing to a never-seen- breaking-bad audience because it's relying too much on Breaking Bad to be coherent. So what would make it better? I'm caught at a cross roads. On a purely visceral level Mike's story is to be enjoyed but it's clear most of the love is funneled through Jimmy and his brother. It's the real core of the show. So, cut out the parts that aren't supporting this thesis. I love Mike, but his story has nothing to do with anything other than tickle my desire for Breaking Bad nostalgia. And I know what you're thinking, "woah wait! That's gonna make the story too confusing!" No, it will not. In fact it won't change Jimmy's story at all, and that's my point. Mike's scuffling with the cartel has NOTHING TO DO with Jimmy and his brother. With that gone, Better Call Saul is no longer a mix of muddled genres, but a coherent narrative. This has been a long rant, but what I'm trying to get at is Better Call Saul is a good show, it's just confused in it's delivery. There's no denying the sound, cinematography, acting, and choreography are probably the best in the game, but it's got a structural problem that needs to be addressed.
Not without it's highlights, Better Call Saul is having an identity crisis.
28 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers