Better Call Saul

After three episodes, I think Jimmy McGill warrants his own thread instead of continuing to ride Ryan Hardy's coattails, lol.

I'm impressed so far with the writing and story-telling, not to mention the acting. Bob Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks were a big part of why I loved Breaking Bad so much and casting Michael McKean as Jimmy's big brother who has gone from power attorney to paranoid OCD wreck seems to have been a great choice on their part.

As for the storytelling, I think they're balancing the back-story with the current storyline perfectly. They're definitely leaving me wanting more each week... which is good, because TWD has started to jump the shark the last few weeks.

ianimal ianimal
Feb '15

I'd agree with that assessment. They really grabbed me with the end of the first episode. I like the little quick hitters with the DA and Jimmy. That seems to be a good aside to the main story.

Haven't watched this week's TWD. Really hope it's not going downhill. Lookout if they try and get Darabont back. That would be a sure sign of disaster.

MeisterNJ MeisterNJ
Feb '15

This weeks walking dead was great.

I'm really hoping we see bill burr show up again as one of Saul's henchmen. He is my favorite stand up comic, if you don't know of him, watch his specials on netflix. They're hilarious.

PenningsLandscaping PenningsLandscaping
Feb '15

Interesting to see how Slippin' Jimmy McGill turns into Saul Goodman .Good cameo by tv vet Jamie Luner as his date in the second episode . She's been on tv since the late 80s sitcom Just the Ten of Us and has still got that cute girl vibe goin' on .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8lmftKu08k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkdvWeTkYfs

Zombo Zombo
Feb '15

Pretty good so far. It's had some great moments. 'I won't take your money, but I will take a retainer'.

MeisterNJ MeisterNJ
Feb '15

Loved Breaking Bad.... but Saul had better pickup soon. They spend too much time on some scenes. I give it two more.... then it's back to the Depression Chanel..... oops, I mean the Learning Chanel.

sallysimpson sallysimpson
Mar '15

I thought the last episode was great... the secessionist client pulls out the big tray full of stacks of $100 bills out of the safe for his $500,000 retainer and when Jimmy slides the bundle slip off, there's a picture of his client instead of Ben Franklin.

"Tax-free and backed by the full faith and credit of the Sovereign Sandia Republic!"

I laughed my ass off... then the creepy pedophile toilet... another laugh riot. Advertising for elder care legal services at the bottom of individually packaged Jello cups at the retirement home... his brother getting tased by the cops... the cliffhanger with Mike. All in all, I thought it was a pretty solid episode.

ianimal ianimal
Mar '15

Yes... that one was good..... that's why I'm hanging in there.

sallysimpson sallysimpson
Mar '15

Loving this show! The toilet was a riot and Bob Odenkirk's wry delivery is just so fun to watch!

I love seeing the beginning of his relationship with Mike.

somechik somechik
Mar '15

The show is definitely getting better as it goes along . I stumbled across the youtube improv imagination video about the show below by Rhea Seehorn (who plays Kim Wexler on the show) and it was pretty funny . Another new show that Breaking Bad genius Vince Gilligan is executive producer on is called Battle Creek . Just saw it on the DVR it and it wasn't that bad . But when it comes to cop shows other than Justified I really like the Rainn Wilson quirky show Backstrom . Of course since I like it - it probably will be canceled .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTw46qQ869A

Zombo Zombo
Mar '15

The Mike Ehrmantraut centered episode was the best yet , answering questions about his cop past in Philadelphia . And casting HBO's Rome actress Kerry Condon (Octavia) as his daughter was just icing on the cake !

Zombo Zombo
Mar '15

I agree what an episode, I am realy enjoying the show, good stuff. I am not sure if you did not see Breaking Bad it would make any sense.

TominWashington TominWashington
Mar '15

It would probably make sense, although I would wonder why they were spending so much time on the Parking Lot Sticker Nazi (-;

ianimal ianimal
Mar '15

Did anyone else notice that the big bearded guy pushing past Jimmy/Saul in the bathroom was one of the guys on the wanted posters at the beginning of the show ? The part with the 70s type jazz/funk music when Mike was setting up the Kettlemans to take their money was way cool ! It sucks that the season is only ten episodes - only three more .

Zombo Zombo
Mar '15

Good pickup, Zombo. Saul is getting very good. Too bad there's only a couple more episodes.

MeisterNJ MeisterNJ
Mar '15

Four Emmy nominations for Better Call Saul . Best drama series , lead actor Bob Odenkirk , supporting actor Jonathon Banks , and best writing for the episode Five-O . Unfortunately nothing for the last season of Justified . I would have nominated the actor (Duke Davis Roberts) who played Choo-Choo at the very least .

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/emmy-award-nominations-2015-full-list-1201537852/

Zombo Zombo
Jul '15

Better Call Saul, Season One is now available on Netflix for binge watching in preparation for the new season. Season Two starts on AMC Monday, February 15th at 10pm.

ianimal ianimal
Feb '16

Should you need to have watched Breaking Bad before watching Better Call Saul?

happycamper happycamper
Feb '16

happycamper - no, you can enjoy Better Call Saul w/o having watched Breaking Bad. It takes place before the timeline in Breaking Bad. You may miss out on some Easter Egg crossovers and have a different perspective not knowing exactly what happens with Saul in BB, but if you enjoy wry humor you'll enjoy BCS for sure!

somechik somechik
Feb '16

Better Call Saul is a "prequel" to Breaking Bad, so no, you don't NEED to have watched Breaking Bad in order to appreciate BCS. Obviously, there are some references that you won't make the connection to, but overall I think it stands on own pretty well.

Once BCS has completely run its course, I plan to go back and watch BB again through the lens of having Saul's and Mike's complete back story.

ianimal ianimal
Feb '16

yep i'm hooked (by one of my kids)

looking forward to this show coming back;

love these lines:

"Did you know you even have rights? Well the Constitution says you do, and I think you do too." (Saul Goodman from one of his TV ads for his law practice)


and this one from his older brother: "Slippin' Jimmy with a law degree is like a chimp with a machine gun!!"

good fun show that has a lot to say about who we are as a culture. imo you don;t want to miss it.

BrotherDog BrotherDog
Feb '16

Where is this on ?

skippy skippy
Feb '16

@Skippy it is on AMC but season 1 was just released on Netflix.

happycamper happycamper
Feb '16

Nice thanks !!

skippy skippy
Feb '16

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/05/better-call-saul-season-2-peter-gould

Better Call Saul co-creator Peter Gould previews season 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1gQl26wzqw

17 Breaking Bad References Hidden in Better Call Saul

Skippy Skippy
Feb '16

The more I watch, the more I think it should be called Better Call Saul and Better Get Mike. Show is half Mr. Ehrmantrout.

MeisterNJ MeisterNJ
Apr '16

Some fan took all the first letters of the season 2 episode titles and unscrambled them to read Frings Back . Just the kind of clue Vince Gilligan likes to leave .So apparently the horn being jammed on Mike's car and the Don't message were from Fring who wants Hector for himself after Hector killed his brother in Mexico right in front of him . Chuck is turning out to be the most hated character on the show - this show's Skyler . Ten episodes isn't enough , should be 12-13 like Justified .

http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/better-call-saul/news/a791326/gus-fring-is-back-on-better-call-saul-but-will-giancarlo-esposito-return-to-play-him/

Zombo Zombo
Apr '16

Who's watching this season?

MeisterNJ MeisterNJ
May '17

couldn't wait for it to start again.


Guilty. Everything seems to be tying in nicely. My only question at this point is how badly this ends for Kim Wexler... whether she ends up dead or just disbarred.

ianimal ianimal
May '17

Ha. Jonathan Banks is the unsung hero of this show. I could seriously watch him do just about anything. He could make knitting interesting. He's been captivating so far. I just finished ep2. Will catch up this week.

MeisterNJ MeisterNJ
May '17

yeah.Kim's going to take a beating. Banks is pretty awesome.


Love Banks! Kim is in too far over her head and is underestimating her opponent. If Chuck will sink to the level of setting up his own brother, what else is he capable of? It is very personal for him, and personal for Hank too as Kim won the Mesa Verde account as a result of the actions that Saul confessed to on the tape, so challenging that is going to open up a whole can of worms for her and it's not going to be pretty!

somechik somechik
May '17

Season 4 of Better Call Saul begins tonight .

97XBAM 97XBAM
Aug '18

It's been so long I've forgotten everything. I almost forgot it was a show.


It got a late renewal from AMC and is supposedly a more ambitious season than previous ones , taking longer to write and film .

https://screenrant.com/better-call-saul-season-4-delay-premiere-date/

97XBAM 97XBAM
Aug '18

does current season get shown on netflix?


Not until the season is over and closer to a DVD release.


thanks. does anyone know if one must pay for current season episodes on Prime? I booted comscam to basic cable so lost amc of course


Re: Better Call Saul

Looks like you WILL need to pay to see current season episodes on Amazon Prime....

ianimal ianimal
Aug '18

Re: Better Call Saul

Maybe you'll be able to stream it through the AMC app?

ianimal ianimal
Aug '18

Nope... you need to prove that you have cable or satellite service in order to stream from the app.

ianimal ianimal
Aug '18

I saw that episode preview page on Prime but couldn't find any price info on if I had to buy current season though I suppose you have to.


Ten minute recap of the first 3 seasons by the cast ;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HwOkNSb_9Q

97XBAM 97XBAM
Aug '18

actually got to watch it free on Prime this morning.


Mike was the best part of this episode . Not one to sit around and wait he figured if I'm getting laundered money as a non-existent security consultant for the Madrigal Corporation , I'll steal an company ID and actually do the job . Lydia Rodarte-Qualye probably spilled her Stevia when she found out !

97XBAM 97XBAM
Aug '18

Mike is the star of the series. He doesn't even need to speak to be captivating.

MeisterNJ MeisterNJ
Aug '18

Remember the song Tune Down playing when Mike was preparing to find the Kettleman money stash ? Or Jimmy's flirtation with Jamie Luner ? Seems like the series is getting pretty dark , but I hope it doesn't totally lose the humor .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zXS8qVyfeY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8lmftKu08k

97XBAM 97XBAM
Aug '18

No Better Call Saul until 2020 . At this rate Saul will end up looking older than Mike .

97XBAM 97XBAM
Apr '19

Show is awesome- but that spacing is horrible!

Who is going to remember what is going on by then?


I agree Josh . It doesn't come close to the way Breaking Bad was presented as a limited series that split season 5 into two parts . Like Game of Thrones which had nothing televised in 2018 . But no way BCS is anywhere near that popular and it needs to end before it gets canceled . With all the Walking Dead shows , Preacher (love that weird crazy show) televising Killing Eve (also good) with BBC - I fear BCS may get lost in the sauce before it ends .

97XBAM 97XBAM
Apr '19

Ohhhhhhh :-(

Darrin Darrin
Apr '19

The thing is we all know how it ends. The s**t hits the fan, he starts a new life, and Saul is 'born'.

USAfirst USAfirst
Apr '19

We don't know how it ends , not for Cinnabon manager Gene . What happens with Saul/Gene and Kim ? Well let's just end the show now and let the ending of the story be up to the imaginations of the show fans who have invested 4 years of watching . Kind of like Lost and the last scene of The Sopranos . Show got canceled or writers got lazy - use your imagination and figure it out for yourselves !

Yeah that will work wonders for AMC's reputation when fans from other AMC shows will wonder if the rug will be pulled out from under their shows like spring football AAF mogul Tom Dundon did with that football league with 2 games left . But we knew that league was never going to make it right ! So screw the medical bills and travel expenses of the players . We all knew it was going to happen so that makes it all A-OK !

97XBAM 97XBAM
Apr '19

Season 5 premiere next Sunday night... can't wait.

ianimal ianimal
Feb '20

Yep. just finished watching Season 4 on Netflix. Might need to get AMC for a month...


Can't wait. At this point it's just Breaking Bad.

S2 of Narcos Mexico dropped last week. Looks like it's going to be awesome. First episode didn't disappoint.

MeisterNJ MeisterNJ
Feb '20

After watching Breaking Bad I heard about the prequel. Recommended by ianimal back then and it is awesome. Does AMC release all or is it one episode per week?


1 episode per week. After being a bit slow in the first couple of seasons, it's all paying off now as it merges with BB.

MeisterNJ MeisterNJ
Feb '20

So I will need AMC for a few months...


First episode was Sunday and Monday was second. Now it will be in each Monday. Man that first episode was so good!!! Really starting to merge things together!
This looks to be the best season yet!

creativemuffin creativemuffin
Feb '20

Loving it! Really enjoying watching his relationship with Kim really start to disintegrate. And his "grand opening" was FANTASTIC!!!

Somechick1 Somechick1
Feb '20

Awesome. First two were great. After starting slow the first two / two and a half seasons, we are getting the payoff now.

MeisterNJ MeisterNJ
Feb '20

Shocking cliffhanger ending of S6 part one . July 11th can't get here fast enough .

https://www.newsweek.com/when-better-call-saul-season-6-part-2-episode-8-will-air-1709023

97XBAM 97XBAM
May '22

Without giving away any spoilers what did everyone think about the Better Call Saul series finale ? I thought it was a fitting end to one of the best shows on tv . I loved the scene on the prison bus !

97XBAM 97XBAM
Aug '22

It was just ok for me. But it was one of the best TV series ever, most end up disappointing me with their finales

Had Enough Had Enough
Aug '22

Thought it was brilliantly conceived and executed, but a bit incongruous.

I wasn't expecting a 180 degree turn like that, but the ending fulfilled one of the two scenarios I had envisioned, at least in terms of how Saul (Jimmy, Gene) ended up.

Great show, I'll miss it.

only one truth only one truth
Aug '22

I thought it was funny that this menacing Mayhew person he talked of meeting in his office was in fact Brandon"Badger" Mayhew , one half of the comic relief duo in Breaking Bad along with Skinny Pete .

97XBAM 97XBAM
Aug '22

Yeah, the comedic aspect of the series gets overwhelmed by the drama, but if you look and listen close enough, there is actually quite a lot of comedy, albeit dark, in there.

In the end, I guess the writers decided to give Jimmy a shot at redemption and retrieving his soul. He sure paid a big price for them, but it's ultimately satisfying that he was successful in that regard. Obviously, the heartbreak is multiple...

1. Jimmy is paying the price for the behavior of "Saul".
2. Jimmy lost everything, including his freedom.
3. Jimmy is left to rot in prison, all the while thinking what could have been.

Like I said, not the ending I expected, but certainly one I can accept. Not that I have a choice.

only one truth only one truth
Aug '22

Walter White said he was Mayhew when he first consulted with Saul. Dad or uncle I forget

Philliesman Philliesman
Aug '22

Terrible final episodes. Lets get a series for Jessie in Alaska. Jessie down on his luck because the fishing boat he worked on went under. He has debt and needs to cook again. At some point he raises a brown bear from a cub and that bear is used as muscle for his drug empire. Now thats a story

danny zucko danny zucko
Aug '22

You re right Phillesman I just remembered Mayhew was Badger's name , but didn't remember the rest of the story . Rewatching S2 Ep8 - Badger got busted in a drug sting , Saul became his lawyer , Walt pretended to be his uncle , and they eventually worked out a deal paying Saul 80K with a pound of the blue meth to hire some bald patsy who took money to go to jail and passed him off as Heisenberg .Now I feel like watching BB again , maybe this winter .

Vince Gilligan said he is done with the Breaking Bad universe , but Rhea Seehorn said she would love to do a Kim Wexler spinoff so he's probably just done with it for now . We shall see .

97XBAM 97XBAM
Aug '22

I thought the last season lost all its steam when Lalo and Howard died. And the way he went down in the last 2 episodes was dumb in my opinion. Goes down because he was stupid and couldn't let one cancer stricken guy go. And I mean he could have just worn sun glasses and bailed his partner out without getting caught. He was the manager of a Cinnabon. People see him in public. Cops wouldn't be thinking Saul Goodman was in Nebraska.

Metsman Metsman
Aug '22

100% Metsman

Had Enough Had Enough
Aug '22

Metsman,

It wasn't stupidity being depicted, Saul's refusal to give the cancer-stricken guy a break was meant to be a dramatic example of just how far off the rails he had gone, as evidenced later when he came close to killing the Carol Burnett character.

The whole 'Saul has gone off the deep end' thing was a setup for the surprising 180 degree turn in the final episode. At that point nobody would have suspected that Jimmy would re-emerge to salvage his soul and gain redemption, especially after Saul had manipulated his way to only a 7-year sentence.

It was a brilliant ending, and the episodes that preceded it were instrumental in arriving there.


@danny zucko,

"Terrible"??? Why, because it didn't play out the way you wanted it to? If you can't recognize the brilliant way BCS concluded, then you missed a lot along the way.

only one truth only one truth
Aug '22

Jimmys change mirrored the change Walter went through.

Roywhite Roywhite
Aug '22

For me, the climax was when Kim left Jimmy. The last three episodes were the denouement... not only for BCS, but for Breaking Bad as well...

ianimal ianimal
Aug '22

only one truth, one would think when you get a new chance to start fresh like he was given after Breaking Bad that he was already in redemptive mode. I would have rather seen it end with him and Kim reconciling somehow and maybe he gets caught that way.

Metsman Metsman
Aug '22

Jimmy/Saul is basically a king in prison trading legal advice for a better cell , protection , that Blue Bell ice cream he likes , and whatever else he might desire . Bob Odenkirk's new show Straight Man is based on a book by Richard Russo who wrote Nobody's Fool which became a very good 1994 movie starring Paul Newman and Bruce Willis .That book is available in ebook form from the Warren County Library cloud and I intend to read it before the series airs .

https://movieweb.com/amc-teases-two-new-shows-starring-bob-odenkirk-and-giancarlo-esposito/

97XBAM 97XBAM
Aug '22

Metsman,

He wasn't anywhere near redemption while in Omaha.

Remember, it had been 6 years since he and Kim last saw each other, but only a little over 1 year since the Breaking Bad timeline landed him in Omaha. Jimmy wasn't triggered until he realized that Kim might become heavily implicated, as he had only just found out that she had recently confessed to Howard's wife about how he was murdered.

In fact, she triggered him twice. First, she triggered his Saul alter ego to re-emerge full force, after he spoke with her from the phone booth. Then later, after he found out about her confession, it triggered Jimmy to finally re-emerge, which led to his full remorse and redemption.

Ultimately, Saul would have wound up going crazy as Gene, living in Omaha and working at the Cinnabon, which in reality felt like a quasi-prison to him. There was no redemption in sight until the wheels were put into motion with that phone call to Kim.

You said you would have preferred that he and Kim reconcile, and that he gets caught that way. But essentially that's what happened, just not the way you envisioned it.

only one truth only one truth
Aug '22

I enjoyed it. Mike, Nacho, and Lalo were the best part of the series. Tough to come off the intensity of the middle of the season. It was a bit slow at the end, but thought it was fitting.

MeisterNJ MeisterNJ
Sep '22

Bob Odenkirk's new series Lucky Hank from the producers of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul debuts tonight on AMC at 9pm and repeats three more times . Enjoy !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY4jhr4_PF0

97XBAM 97XBAM
Mar '23

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