Better Call Saul Is Better Than Most Shows on Netflix: A Positive Review
Better Call Saul Review
There are currently 4 seasons available on the Netflix UK region, and with the addition of season 4 it really got me rethinking about the whole show as it has run season through season.
Having seen each episode back to back throughout each season there really has been a lot happening, perfectly blending the pre-Breaking Bad life of Saul Goodman (*actually known by his previous name, Jimmy McGill) and the drug dealings of Mike and Gus Fring, which overall creates an original prequel of sorts to the hit show, Breaking Bad.
The show focuses primarily on Jimmy McGill, the small time attorney at law who is struggling to build his solo practice out of small bills. Jimmy is not just a struggling lawyer, but also a fantastic ex con man who could sell dirty water to just about anybody. Jimmy is a struggling lawyer, a beaten down con man, and the brother of one of the biggest lawyers operating within the state who has a mental illness preventing him from leaving his home. Of course, Jimmy, being the good brother takes care of his older brother Chuck by bringing his groceries every morning, picking up his daily newspapers, and refilling the ice in his none electrical applianced cooler, and the last is due to Chuck having an illness that prevents him from having any electricity within his home.
Good old Jimmy is the nice guy around town, but gets into trouble every time he starts slipping into old habits of conning people out of hard earned money. When times get tough Jimmy wants to deal with life all on his own, but this sometimes puts him on a hard place where he must make live altering decisions to keep his head above damning waters.
Better Call Saul is a great fable to the life and rising alter ego of Jimmy McGill as he slowly becomes Saul Goodman, the one we know so well from Breaking Bad. Half the show is all about the struggling lawyer life of Jimmy McGill, whereas the final half of the show is all about Mike as he turns to working for the drug kingpin, Gus Fring, two more characters that we have come to know all but too well from again Breaking Bad.
The show has heart pumping drama from the crashing lives of Jimmy and Chuck McGill, brothers whose relationships between one another are hung by an open thread, and then the thrills that come from the dodgy other side of the law works of Mike and Gus Fring. The whole show sets up perfectly for Breaking Bad, but hits more of a niche audience with the wits and humour of Jimmy McGill, instead of the heater drama that came with Breaking Bad.
The first couple of seasons focus on Jimmy McGill as he struggles to start his law practice out of a back office in a nail salon, as well as introducing us to Mike - the toll taker, Gus Fring - the drug kingpin/burger-joint owner/manager, and there is plenty of cut throat drama between Jimmy and his home bound brother Chuck, mostly revolving around Chuck’s illness with electricity and there relationship as it’s evolved from the past coming into the present.
The third season is mostly focused on Jimmy finding success, but at the same time having some serious decisions to make for as to how his lawyering career is going to shape up moving forward. Chuck is now reaching new stages in his life at home and coping with his illness, meanwhile he and Jimmy are going through a rough patch with more unlikely issues to confront and therefore resolve.
Is Better Call Saul the show for you?... Better Call Saul shares the same style of production value as Breaking Bad, so there’s that, and it truly feels like it has carved out its own unique set of qualities and feelings which gives the show the edge it deservingly needs.
Unlike Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul is far less on the edge of suspense as after-all we are experiencing the predominance life of a rising lawyer, but at the same time we have the relationship between Saul and Mike which brings around some troublesome scenarios which feels like a throwback to the hit show Breaking Bad, the father if you will to the Better Call Saul show.
Just like Saul Goodman, Jimmy McGill is a con artist at his heart, but it is always entertaining to try to watch Jimmy try to be the good lawyer when trouble always seems to be thrown his way which sets back his fruitless efforts to live an ordinary working mans life.
The show touches on mental illness almost entirely for the first few seasons as we follow the rocky relationship between Chuck (the sufferer of a mental illness) and Jimmy, as it has become impossible for Chuck to leave his home which means Jimmy has become a much larger part of Chuck’s life, which is a noticeable change for the both of them. The issue on mental illness throughout the show truly shines light where light is still yet to be shone within the real world of today, making the show somewhat more meaningful that most copycat shows like we see all too often on Netflix today.
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