Better Call Saul 

The trials and tribulations of criminal lawyer, Jimmy McGill, in the time leading up to establishing his strip-mall law office in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Creators:

Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould

Stars:

Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn, Jonathan Banks

Top Rated TV #102 | Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 22 wins & 135 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Bob Odenkirk	...	Jimmy McGill 40 episodes, 2015-2018
Jonathan Banks	...	Mike Ehrmantraut 40 episodes, 2015-2018
Rhea Seehorn	...	Kim Wexler 40 episodes, 2015-2018
Patrick Fabian	...	Howard Hamlin 40 episodes, 2015-2018
Michael Mando	...	Nacho Varga 40 episodes, 2015-2018
Michael McKean	...	Chuck McGill 32 episodes, 2015-2018
Giancarlo Esposito	...	Gustavo 'Gus' Fring 19 episodes, 2017-2018

Storyline

Before Saul Goodman, he was Jimmy McGill. And if you're calling Jimmy, you're in real trouble. The prequel to "Breaking Bad" follows small-time attorney Jimmy McGill as he transforms into Walter White's morally challenged lawyer, Saul Goodman.

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Plot Keywords:

character flaw | prequel | spin off | financial struggle | shared universe | 

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Taglines:

Make the call

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Official Sites:

Facebook Official Instagram

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Vietnamese

Release Date:

8 February 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Better Call Saul

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

High Bridge Productions, Crystal Diner Productions, Gran Via Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

46 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White (some scenes)

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Season 2 was originally scheduled to be 13 episodes long, but was shortened to 10 at the request of the producers.

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Goofs

In the episode where Mike recalls moving to Albuquerque, he arrives on the Roadrunner Rail line. However the train did not exist at that time.

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Quotes

Saul Goodman: [Saul witnesses a teenager being arrested for stealing] Say nothing, you understand? Get a lawyer! Get a lawyer.

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Connections

Featured in Conan: Kristen Chenoweth/Jonathan Banks/Highasakite (2017)

User Reviews

Better Call Saul challenges 'spin-off' title

Let's retire Better Call Saul's 'spin-off' label. Sure, in it's nature, that's what the show is. But unlike other TV spin-off's that are just 'extra' episodes that degrade the original show, Better Call Saul has significant promise as a standalone series that could come to rival it's predecessor.

From the very beginning, the show returned me to the universe of Breaking Bad. Not in the obvious ways of reviving characters and settings, but through the subtle cinematography and script writing of Vince Gilligan. The camera focus changes and the interesting angled shots are quite unique to Gilligan's shows. This artistic and cinematic experience that begun with Breaking Bad is now continuing with Better Call Saul, once again proving that television can be as good, if not better than films.

The acting in the series is incredible. I don't think anyone will be able to top Cranston's portrayal of Walter White, but Odenkirk forms far more depth in the character of Saul Goodman than we ever see in Breaking Bad. Moving away from just comic relief, Saul is now a darker version of his false identity, and Odenkirk finds the balance between these two personas very well. Hopefully he will continue this standard to give Jimmy McGill a Walter White-like descent into the criminal world.

The humor in Better Call Saul is really well done. The show isn't a comedy, but the occasional funny moments are quite akin to what was done in Breaking Bad. The dark, witty wordplay made me laugh quite a few times at Saul's... sorry, Jimmy's lines, with the subtlety of the script writing shining through.

The music by Dave Porter once again really adds to the engrossing cinematic experience of the show. The musical choices are reminiscent of Breaking Bad, but are moulded in a very different way to form a lighter tone in some of the more comical moments. The weird and wonderful musical montage songs are back (starting in the first scene), which brings us back to Walt and Jesse's cooking (Crystal Blue Persuasion, anyone?).

Gilligan and Gould start the story with quite a lot of missing context surrounding Jimmy's brother Chuck and his law firm. Although this may be confusing in the beginning, I later realized this was intentional. Instead of just spitting out the back story in unnatural ways, the writers make you think about the situations, and gradually piece together what happened before the events of the show. This widens the whole show's time-frame, instead of just being self-contained. The brief flash forward to the fragmented Saul Goodman after Breaking Bad was amazing. I really hope that the writers continue to play around with time, shifting between past and future guises of Saul Goodman.

Better Call Saul has a lot of promise to extend itself beyond its Breaking Bad spin-off status. The show feels individual, but also leaves enough Breaking Bad in there to keep us from leaving the world of Albuquerque that we have grown to love.