Better Call Saul (2015-2022)

Not sure how I managed it, but Better Call Saul ended its six-season run this past year, and I somehow went the entire length of the show without writing about it. Breaking Bad is quintessential peak television, and Better Call Saul is a strong example of a prequel/spinoff show that really works.

Jimmy McGill is hellbent on making it as a lawyer any way he can. After bootstrapping his way through law school, the former conman finds his old instincts coming in handy as he tries to keep his private practice afloat. He’s bursting with ingenuity of questionable ethics and has a strong chip on his shoulder due to old slights. Over the years, his practice—and his own identity—evolves, especially when his work brings him into contact with the Alberqueque meth cartels.

It's hard to sum up Better Call Saul, because it covers so much ground. We explore memories of Jimmy’s childhood and his present-day relationship with his agoraphobic brother, his longstanding resentment toward the firm where he used to work, his pavement-pounding work ethic and flexible attitude toward rules, and his evolution into Saul Goodman. We also meet other Breaking Bad characters in new contexts—most notably Mike and Gus, but numerous characters from the original show make appearances over the years—and slowly work our way up to the events of that show, even jumping beyond it for parts of the last season. Finally, we meet plenty of new characters who were never part of Breaking Bad, major characters in Jimmy’s life that we only see here. There’s his brother Chuck, his confidante and colleague Kim, and his former boss Howard, just to name a few. And on the meth side of the story, we get characters like Nacho Varga, a cartel enforcer who gets in deeper than he wants to, and a ruthless new Salamanca named Lalo.

As with Breaking Bad, the show is both a fascinating character study and a compelling drama with gripping action and intricate storytelling. It explores all kinds of complex themes with its many morally gray characters, and I consistently enjoy seeing how they come to the different choices they make. It teases what’s to come on the main show while also digging deeply into the past, serving as a companion for Breaking Bad but standing on the merits of its own story as well. Another knockout drama from Vince Gilligan (with co-creator Peter Gould)!

Bob Odenkirk is as fantastic as ever as Jimmy/Saul. He inhabits this character so well that’s you’re more than willing to believe that this is a younger version of the character we know, despite Odenkirk being older. The other returning actors, most prominently Giancarlo Esposito and Jonathan Banks, also step effortlessly into their old roles, and it’s exciting to see some of these characters explored in new ways. Rhea Seehorn is excellent as Kim, a dedicated lawyer who’s devoted to Jimmy but struggles not to be compromised herself. Other cast members include Michael McKean as Chuck, Patrick Fabian as Howard (I will always remember him as a guest star in the second episode of Pushing Daisies,) and Michael Mando (Sarah’s ex from Orphan Black) as Nacho.

Unfortunately, Better Call Saul continues Breaking Bad’s practice of casting multiple non-Latino actors to play Latino characters, which is frustrating. Also, I’m more attuned to the use of yellow filters as a visual shorthand now, and the show’s yellow filters for any scenes set in Mexico are pretty glaring.

Warnings

Violence, drinking/smoking/drug use, language, sexual content, strong thematic elements (including suicide,) and non-Latino actors playing Latino characters.

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019)

I didn’t have time to get to this movie right when it first came out, but I saw it over the weekend and am still mulling it over. Breaking Bad has a well-deserved place of respect in the TV canon, and so returning to that world and those characters six years later is a big deal. While I think El Camino isn’t quite all it could be and doesn’t fully recapture the feel of the show, that doesn’t stop it from being damn good (Breaking Bad finale spoilers and premise spoilers for El Camino.)

In the final episode of Breaking Bad, Jesse finally escapes from the bunker where he’s been imprisoned and forced to cook meth for a gang of white supremacists, thanks to an unexpected last-minute save from his erstwhile partner Walt. El Camino follows straight from that expression of giddy release on Jesse’s face as he drives away, bringing him back down to earth as he searches desperately for the means to get out of Alberquerque without running afoul of the cops who are looking for him. He’s still reeling from the psychological effects of his capture, but this Jesse is hardened and wired, not about to go down for anything.

Given the Breaking Bad finale, I knew that this movie would by necessity most likely need to go in its own direction, and that’s not a bad thing. The film pays tribute to its past and everything we love about the show by peppering it with cameos, some of which are awesome from start to finish, some of which feel like obligatory fan service but still score some strong moments. We also see Breaking Bad’s penchant for visually-evocative camera work and a mixture of meandering character moments/flavor and taut narrative suspense.

This is Jesse’s story through and through, and it’s gripping and well-told. The sudden flashes back to Jesse’s captivity are used effectively throughout, conveying the horrors of what he experienced without sinking into torture porn. And I like seeing Jesse’s efforts to get out of town: the ever-evolving plan he formulates, adjusting to the near-constant complications and roadblocks that are thrown in his way. Throughout, he’s simultaneously steely-eyed with determination and barely holding it together.

The movie’s biggest fault is that, as well-made as it is, it really doesn’t need to exist at all. Jesse’s ending on Breaking Bad is open-ended, but in such a way that it invites the audience to picture what they’d like (chiefly, Jesse either getting away or getting caught, most likely depending on your personal feelings about Jesse.) These weren’t big unanswered questions that fans have spent the last six years clamoring for. And if the show was going to make a return through a movie, there are more compelling angles it could’ve focused on than Jesse trying to get out of town. This movie is both good and extraneous (a lot like Toy Story 4 in that way, and yes, that is the only comparison I’ll be making between Breaking Bad and Toy Story.)

The acting throughout is every bit as good as we expect from Breaking Bad. I won’t spoil all the cameos (although, shoutout to Skinny Pete and Badger, whose segment is just terrific,) but everyone slips pretty seamlessly back into these old performances. Yes, everyone’s older and not everyone looks the same, but that doesn’t take away from the acting. And just as it’s Jesse’s story, El Camino is, naturally, Aaron Paul’s movie. Paul is fabulous in the role, taking us exactly where we need to go and holding our attention from start to finish. The flashbacks mean he’s playing this new scarred Jesse along with the character at various points throughout the series, and each one hits the right notes.

Warnings

Violence (including implied torture,) drinking/smoking/drug use, language, sexual content (including nods to prostitution,) and strong thematic elements.