It’s the show we’ve been waiting for ever since the series finale of Breaking Bad! Everyone’s favourite ‘criminal’ lawyer has now got his very own show co-created by Vince Gilligan. Starring comic actor Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul has dropped its first two episodes on blinkbox, with new episodes arriving every week. If the early reviews are anything to go by, this is shaping up to be an awesome show.
Without giving away any spoilers, here are the things you’ll want to know about Better Call Saul.
1. It’s set years before the events of Breaking Bad
The bulk of the first series takes place around 2002, which will mean there’s going to be quite a number of flip-phones on display! Plus characters will probably be heard talking about ‘this Google thing everyone’s using right now’
2. Saul Goodman’s name isn’t Saul Goodman.
In his very first episode of Breaking Bad, Saul tells Walter White he’s of Irish decent. “The Jew thing I just do for the homeboys. They all want a pipe-hitting member of the tribe, so to speak.” In Better Call Saul, we find out he used to go by Jimmy McGill.
3. He wasn’t always the super-slick operator we know and love
An early scene in the first episode, we see Jimmy working as a low-paid public defender representing a group of delinquent teenagers. Without giving away any spoilers, the trial does not go the way he hopes.
4. We’ll see the return of a number of Breaking Bad characters
Seeing how the studio sent this photo out, we guess it’s no secret that Mike the Cleaner (Jonathan Banks) pops up in the show. In fact, he’s part of Better Call Saul‘s main cast. Producer Vince Gilligan has hinted that series 1 could have more cameos from familiar characters.
5. Jimmy has a brother, who’s quite a big deal in Albuquerque
From what we gather, Jimmy’s big brother Chuck McGill was a high-powered lawyer prior to the series premiere. By the time we meet him in the pilot episode, he’s in a less-than-professional state of being. Chuck is played by Michael McKean, who movie fans will best know as Spinal Tap singer Nigel St. Hubbins.
6. There’s a new character named ‘Kim’ who has some sort of past with Jimmy
Saul-Kim
She’s played by Rhea Seehorn, who you won’t recognise unless you’re a fan of Franklin and Bash. One of the big complaints about Breaking Bad was to do with how Skylar White (Anna Gunn) was written. Many critics saw her has a powerless character who existed only to nag at Walt and stop him from doing cool things like cook meth.
This criticism was probably front of mind for Gilligan and his writers, so we suspect they have been very careful in writing this show’s highest billed female character.
7. Co-creator Vince Gilligan is a very loyal man
Gilligan’s writing team on this series features a number of Breaking Bad alums. He shares the show-runner job with Peter Gould, who wrote the very first episode Saul Goodman appeared in. Their staff includes Thomas Schnauz, Gilligan’s classmate at New York’s Tisch Art School who worked with him on The X-Files and The Lone Gunman; and Gennifer Hutchison, a former writer’s assistant on Breaking Bad who went on to become a regular writer on the same show.
On Breaking Bad, he gave a number of his writers the chance to direct episodes, a trend that looks to continue in Better Call Saul.
8. The ‘Better Call Saul Insiders Podcast’ is required listening for any fan.
For years, editor Kelley Dixon [pictured above, right] hosted a weekly Breaking Bad podcast. It featured writers, actors and directors of the show disassembling the episode that just aired, telling anecdotes that gave a lot of insight into the writing and filming process. Dixon has continued this with a weekly Better Call Saul podcast that does very much the same thing.
http://blog.blinkbox.com/(...)ut-better-call-saul/