Better Call Saul – A Worthy Spin-Off

Better Call Saul is an American television crime drama series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. It is a spin-off and prequel of Gilligan’s previous series Breaking Bad. Set in the early to mid 2000s in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series develops Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), an earnest lawyer and former con-man, into a greedy criminal defense attorney known as Saul Goodman. Also shown is the moral descent of retired police officer and caring grandfather, Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), who becomes increasingly involved with affiliates of the Juarez drug cartel. Jimmy and Mike’s interactions remain sporadic until their respective storylines fully converge. The show premiered on AMC on February 8, 2015, airing five seasons to date. A sixth and final season is scheduled to air in 2021, consisting of 13 episodes.

 At the start of the series, Jimmy works as a public defender, using the back room of a nail salon as his office and residence. His romantic interest and former colleague, Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), is an attorney at Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill (HHM), a law firm founded by Jimmy’s brilliant, but unwell brother, Chuck McGill (Michael McKean) and proud associate, Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian). Jimmy’s criminal contacts include legal client Mike and Nacho Varga (Michael Mando), an intelligent drug dealer who later becomes a mole for Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), an ambitious drug lord and legitimate businessman. Their operations are disrupted by members of the violent Salamanca family, including Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton). Odenkirk, Banks, and Esposito reprise their roles from Breaking Bad, as do many other actors who make guest appearances.

Better Call Saul A Spin Off Cash Cow

Better Call Saul joins the list of long running Spin offs of popular TV shows and Films, whether it's worthy or not we have another section up ahead. But on the other hand we have to address that Hollywood would make a story or spin off out of any popular show. 

Star Wars has Mandalorian, Han Solo Rogue One, Game of Thrones are planning to put more spin offs into the world. Even Marvel is planning on more spin offs. Better Call Saul's story is something that needs to be told whereas the other examples are not so much of a draw. A simple line could explain the plot. Although Better Call Saul is probably milking the Walter White saga similar to what El Camino did last year.

 

Better Call Saul Production

Conception

Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould began planning a television spinoff of Breaking Bad as early as 2009. While filming the Breaking Bad episode “Full Measure”, Gilligan asked Bob Odenkirk, his thoughts on a Saul Goodman spinoff.In July 2012, Gilligan publicly hinted at a Goodman spinoff, stating that he liked “the idea of a lawyer show in which the main lawyer will do anything it takes to stay out of court”, including settling on the courthouse steps. During his appearance on Talking Bad, Odenkirk noted that Saul was one of the most popular characters on the show, speculating that the audience likes the character because he is “the program’s least hypocritical figure”, and “is good at his job”.

Gilligan noted that over the course of Breaking Bad, there were a lot of “what ifs” their team considered, such as if the show won a Primetime Emmy Award, or if people would buy “Los Pollos Hermanos” T-shirts. The staff did not expect these events to come to fruition, but after they did, they started considering a spin-off featuring Saul as a thought experiment. Furthermore, Saul’s character on Breaking Bad became much more developed than the staff had planned, as he was originally slated to appear in only three episodes. With the growth of Saul’s character, Gilligan saw ways to explore the character further.

Better Call Saul Development

In April 2013, Better Call Saul was confirmed to be in development by Gilligan and Gould; the latter wrote the Breaking Bad episode that introduced the character. As of July 2013, the series had yet to be greenlighted. Netflix was one of many interested distributors, but ultimately a deal was made between AMC and Breaking Bad production company Sony Pictures Television. Gilligan and Gould serve as co-showrunners, and Gilligan directed the pilot.Former Breaking Bad writers Thomas Schnauz and Gennifer Hutchison joined the writing staff, with Schnauz serving as co-executive producer and Hutchison as supervising producer.Also on the writing staff are Bradley Paul, as well as former writer’s assistant (for Breaking Bad) Gordon Smith.

As Sony and AMC began to commit to a spinoff, Gilligan and Gould worked on what it would be about. They initially considered making it a half-hour show where Saul would see various clients – celebrities in guest roles – in his strip mall office, a format similar to Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, but they had no idea how to write for this type of format, and fell back onto planning for hour-long episodes.Since they had done this format with Breaking Bad, which Gilligan said was “25-percent humor, 75-percent drama”, the two considered reversing that for Better Call Saul. While the intent was to add more humor, the show remained heavy with dramatic elements, with Odenkirk calling the first season “85 percent drama, 15 percent comedy.” Additionally, while several of the characters are lawyers in the show, Gilligan and Gould did not want to write a legal show, but instead a crime show but one that would necessitate some legal elements. To help in these areas, the writers did speak to real lawyers and spent time observing cases at Los Angeles Superior Court, observing that the bulk of the activity in these cases was downtime on waiting for others to complete actions.

 “A worthy successor to Breaking Bad”

Better Call Saul has received critical acclaim, with particular praise for its acting, characters, writing, direction, and cinematography; many critics have called it a worthy successor to Breaking Bad and one of the best prequels ever made, with some deeming it superior to its predecessor. It has garnered many nominations, including a Peabody Award, 23 Primetime Emmy Awards, eleven Writers Guild of America Awards, five Critics’ Choice Television Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. The series premiere held the record for the highest-rated scripted series premiere in basic cable history at the time of its airing.

The Binge Flix Conclusion

How Better Call Saul broke the prequel curse!! Most prequels suck but Better Call Saul gracefully, masterfully sidesteps. It is one of the best spinoffs in existence today! The saddest part about Breaking Bad is the fact that it didn’t last longer, ending at what was arguably the height of its popularity. It started in 2008 and ran for five seasons. It focused on the character of Walter White who was working as a chemistry high school teacher when he found out that he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. One problem with prequels is that they’re rarely planned in advance. Storytellers typically start at the most interesting stage of their stories, when some kind of conflict is happening. Any TV show or movie could have a prequel, but most of them would be boring. Like how people hate the star wars prequels.