Better Call Saul
Better Call Saul Reminds Us That This Was Never a Love Story: Review
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Better Call Saul, Season 6 Episode 9, “Fun and Games.”] For the past few episodes of Better Call Saul, a pretty dark pattern has emerged: As the countdown towards the end of the series continues, each week we’ve seen one of the show’s primary characters, who we always knew didn’t appear in sequel series Breaking Bad, be eliminated. Episode 7 ended with the casual execution of Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian). In Episode 8, Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) laughed his last laugh after a fierce firefight with Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). And Episode 9, “Fun and Games,” also ended with a casualty: Specifically, the death of Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), with the shell of Saul Goodman left behind in his place. Advertisement Of course, another...
Better Call Saul’s Mid-Season Premiere Proves That Compelling Prequels Are Possible: Review
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Better Call Saul, Season 4 Episode 8, “Point and Shoot.”] After tonight, the number of remaining Better Call Saul episodes can be counted on one hand, and “Point and Shoot” does an exquisite job of making clear why that is so simultaneously exciting and sad. While it’s yet to be seen if one of TV’s great artistic achievements will fully stick the landing, the beginning of the show’s final run of new episodes packs an entire season’s worth of stress into its slightly extended runtime, while also continuing to deliver the kind of nuanced, character-driven moments which make the show so unforgettable. It’s a pretty remarkable achievement given the nature of the series, which jumps back and forth occasionally in its timeline but for the bulk ...
The Better Call Saul Mid-Season Finale Was the True Beginning of the End
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Better Call Saul, Season 6, Episode 7, “Plan and Execution.”] What other show would devote a five-minute sequence to establishing its villain’s shower and nap routine? What other show would make it so captivating? That’s the special magic of Better Call Saul, which delivered a mid-season finale on Monday that redefined the concept of changing the game. For a good long portion of its runtime, so much of “Plan and Execution” fits with Better Call Saul as we’ve always known it. Central to the episode is the ultimate culmination of Jimmy and Kim’s plan to force a settlement of the Sandpiper lawsuit by ruining Howard Hamlin’s (Patrick Fabian) reputation — a combination of actual justice and petty revenge, motivations which both Jimmy (Bob Oden...
Better Call Saul Recap: There’s Proving and Then There’s Knowing
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Better Call Saul Season 6 Episode 4, “Hit and Run.”] Case Summary After last week’s seismic installment, Episode 4 of Better Call Saul was a bit more easygoing, even if things grow more and more uneasy for everyone. As the old saying goes, it’s not paranoia if someone is actually out to get you, and while things actually do seem to be going pretty well for Kim Wexler and Saul Goodman, attorneys-at-law, Kim at least is not sleeping easy these days. The centerpiece scam this time focused on Jimmy and Kim’s ongoing campaign to ruin Howard Hamlin’s reputation, which pays off last week’s key-copying adventure. While a blissfully ignorant Howard sits down for therapy, Jimmy uses his duplicate key for Howard’s car for a wild little bit of sketch...
Better Call Saul Recap: When You Can’t Run Any Further
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Better Call Saul Season 6 Episode 3, “Rock and Hard Place.” For our recap of Episode 2, click here] Case Summary While other things happen in the third episode of Better Call Saul, “Rock and Hard Place” should be forever remembered as The Nacho Episode, for very good reason. Nacho isn’t the first series regular to perish over the course of the show’s run — that honor belongs to Chuck McGill (Michael McKean). But Michael Mando delivers a simply staggering performance in his theoretical swan song, facing a fate which might have seemed inevitable from the beginning, but is still heartbreaking to watch. Writer/director Gordon Smith delivers Nacho to his end with an episode so deliberately paced that the dread builds more and more with each de...
Better Call Saul Recap: A Season Premiere That Revs the Story Into Gear
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Better Call Saul Season 6 Episode 1, “Wine and Roses.”] Case Summary When last we left our heroes (as far as heroes exist on Better Call Saul), Nacho was fleeing the scene of Lalo’s attempted assassination in Mexico — which Lalo had the bad manners and quick wit to avoid, meaning that as the season begins he’s still alive, on his own, and determined to bring those who tried to have him killed to his own sort of justice. Nacho, meanwhile, has only a tenuous lifeline to help in escaping Mexico himself, making his way on foot from Lalo’s compound to hide out in a seemingly deserted motel to wait for instructions; his fate is just one of many that Gus seems to hold in his hand at the moment, showing no inclination to rush into a move. Adverti...
Better Call Saul Recap: Nacho’s on the Move, and Kim’s Got Plans
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Better Call Saul Season 6 Episode 2, “Carrot and Stick.” For our recap of Episode 1, click here.] Case Summary The title of Better Call Saul Season 6, Episode 2, refers to how Jimmy and Kim continue to develop their plan to sabotage Harold Hamlin’s career, this time bringing in the once-familiar faces of Betsy and Craig Kellerman. You might remember this vindictive pair from Season 1, when Jimmy McGill represented them as Craig faced charges over his illicit bookkeeping for Bernalillo County — since then, Craig’s done some time, and he and Betsy are attempting to rebuild with a new business preparing tax returns for people who don’t spend enough time looking over the fine print to make sure that they’re not being ripped off (something we’...
Better Call Saul: Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul to Return For Final Season
Better Call Saul will end with the beginning in more ways than one, as series co-creator Peter Gould has confirmed that Breaking Bad stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul would be returning for the final season of the AMC prequel as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. Exact details as to how their return may happen were left unclear by Gould during a Paleyfest panel on Saturday evening. “I don’t want to spoil things for the audience, but I will say the first question we had when we started the show was, ‘Are we gonna see Walt and Jesse on the show?’ Instead of evading, I’ll just say yeah. How or the circumstances or anything, you’ll just have to discover that for yourself, but I have to say that’s one of many things that I think you’ll discover this season,” Gould said. The Better Call Saul cast...
Better Call Saul Season 6 Review: The Beginning of the End Is As Exquisitely Stressful As Ever
The Pitch: “Meticulous.” “Chilling.” “Engrossing.” There are so many words that come to mind when sitting down with a new installment of Better Call Saul, the Breaking Bad spin-off which has somehow soared to a whole new tier of quality over the years. No spoilers (for fear of the Salamancas knocking at the door), but it can be said that the first two episodes of Season 6 keep this proud tradition going. As the show gears up for its last hurrah (the first seven episodes of the final season debut starting Monday, April 18th, with the second half of the season returning in July), every element of one of TV’s best-made shows is working hard to invest us in so many of the show’s biggest questions, including the most important one of all: How’s it going to end? Where Were We? Season 5 of Saul e...
Jimmy McGill Reaches His Final Form in Trailer for Final Season of Better Call Saul: Watch
The sixth and final season of Better Call Saul is fast-approaching, and if the official trailer is any indication, it’s going to satisfy ravenous fans of Breaking Bad and its spin-off. Check it out below. After an ominous shot of the Salamanca twins, Kim (Rhea Seehorn) asks Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), “You ever feel like you’re being followed?” He responds, “You know what they say, the wicked flee when no man pursueth,” to which Kim asks, “You think we’re wicked?” From there, the trailer pans to the office of the recently christened Saul Goodman, full of eager clients. The Twins reenter the picture, with shots of Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), Mike (Jonathan Banks), Nacho (Michael Mando), and Lalo (Tony Dalton), who are locked in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Advertisement Related Vide...
Better Call Saul Animated Spinoff Slippin’ Jimmy Unveils Preview Clip: Watch
The world of Better Call Saul just got a little more colorful. AMC has shared a preview clip of Slippin’ Jimmy, a new animated spinoff series that follows Jimmy McGill years before he started calling himself Saul Goodman. Slippin’ Jimmy will have a six-episode run sometime this spring. Produced by Rick and Morty animators Starburn Industries, and written by BCS veterans Ariel Levine and Kathleen Williams-Foshee, the show will be a highly stylized take on Jimmy’s youth in Chicago, Illinois. Chi McBride, Laraine Newman, and Sean Giambrone are among the vocal talent. The overall aesthetic is inspired by 1970s cartoons, but each episode will also be an ode to a classic movie genre, from the silent slapstick of Buster Keaton to the atmospheric horror of&n...
Breaking Bad’s Music Supervisor, Lady Gaga’s Ex-Manager, and More on the Do’s and Don’ts of Networking: Watch
Today, Consequence continues its instructional partnership with CREATV University to help provide insight on succeeding in music and media. This time, we’re revisiting the importance of building relationships in the industry for round two of Networking: Do’s and Don’ts. Whether it be mentorships, college programs, internships, or simply meeting someone for coffee, the power of relationships is deeply important when starting out in the industry. The goal is to have someone create an opportunity for you, but in order for them to do that, someone has to create opportunities for them, and so on and so forth. But how exactly does this process get started? There are hundreds of ways to meet important people and build lasting professional relationships with them, but the road isn’t always ea...
