Breaking Bad (2008-2013) is by far the best thing I have personally watched in my 15 years of experience watching movies and shows on television. On levels of acting, directing, writing and even cinematography you can't ask for anything more than what you get from that TV-show. It reaches pretty much perfection across the board.
So even if the same exact team behind that masterpiece is announcing in 2014 that they are planning a return to the same universe with a prequel series, focusing on several of the secondary characters from that show, there is actual basis for me to be nervous: RARELY does that work. I can't help but remember the frustration so many projects leave me with because the creators just won't understand that it is far better to leave something successful alone, rather than keep going until you reach bottom. How many times have we seen this mistake? Depending on the success of a project, producers and directors get caught up in the moment, return with sequels, prequels and alike only to end up destroying something unique and beautiful.
And yet... Better Call Saul's Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould were not only able to make this prequel story work, but ultimately write a second masterpiece that completely enhances and capitalizes every single thing that made Breaking Bad a great show. This is world building at its best and I really hope writers and producers around the globe take an example of how to concept new stories on already established characters and properties.
After immersing in the world of Breaking Bad, the first season of Better Call Saul is not going to be a surprise to anyone. It is only dedicated to slowly explore the characters and get to know their traits. Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill, Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler and Jonathan Banks as Mike Ermehntraut are the stand outs from the very beginning. Many returning characters from Breaking Bad appear throughout, but I won't spoil anything for anyone who hasn't seen it/them. Beginning the series, Jimmy is a lawyer who is trying his best to make it big whatever the cost it seems to have by the law or his private life. Kim is a uniquely skilled and respected lawyer who is apparently attracted to the whimsical skills and traits of Jimmy, even when he crosses the line. And Mike is a man of many capabilities who gets in deep with all kinds of wrong people while managing to keep his private life to himself. These 3 different lives and paths are crossed in several ways and come to test all boundaries of right and wrong. And what is left in the end of the first season is an apparent fondness) of all these people to cross boundaries at the first sight they can; whether it is by choice or not.
Now I won't continue to describe in detail, because I trust it's so much better to not know very much in order to enjoy. What I wanted to focus on is the general themes of this incredible story that we are told and the things we should all benefit from attending. Since the very first moment and throughout the 6 years of its run, the story describing what happened up until the last scene of the very last episode is something that I could describe as a study of human emotion. The heart of this series is the underlying sadness of all participants. There are many moments of happiness, there are many points of joy, delight and blissfulness but especially at the end it all feels like it was deprived, depressed and underprivileged. There comes a point in your life where every single choice you ever made is put to the test and Better Call Saul is a primary example of people paying their life debt in horrific ways.
And this is something that Vince Gilligan and all the other writers have done before.
Breaking Bad had the power of seducing you to dark sides of human behavior by making it seem like it was the only way to rise in power or be respected by others. The whole story of Walter White's character for example, had so many scenes along his journey making us believe he wasn't only doing what he did for himself, but it was the only way for him to get the money and the respect we believed he deserved. That recurring theme is one of the only to be so apparently the same in the character of Jimmy McGill. Especially in the beginning, we are actually rooting for him to be successful and when the right ways and legal ways simply won't help him, we accept his decisions to rise above certain circumstances because we see it like he doesn't have any other choice. Same thing happens with Mike and Kim at several situations.
As the show goes on however, we get to know more. And man, is it exciting. I can't even explain the exceptional writing that made me so disarrayed about how to feel and for who. In most cases, that last sentence would of course sound as something bad from a screenwriting perspective... you apparently are supposed to know who is the hero and who is the antagonist in the process. But this is so not what happens here. As pasts are unfolded and cases collide rapidly, the morals of every character become all the more fragile. Ways of thinking you thought you knew have changed to the core and it never comes down to a simple scene or moment that defines everything... it is slow-burning darkness resisting the light within them, only to be detected when it will be already too late.
The key to all success here is patience. This series is a perfect example of what you can get in return of waiting for the right moment to shine. The last two episodes capture the magic feeling of nostalgia and completion because the characters within this universe commanded it. We feel obligated to sense their feelings and understand their emotions. It has been 7 years since the beginning of this terrific ride and the ending was fully satisfying for what it had to do. If you haven't been able to check it out, I suggest you do. Otherwise you'll be missing on something you may not be able to find ever again.
So even if the same exact team behind that masterpiece is announcing in 2014 that they are planning a return to the same universe with a prequel series, focusing on several of the secondary characters from that show, there is actual basis for me to be nervous: RARELY does that work. I can't help but remember the frustration so many projects leave me with because the creators just won't understand that it is far better to leave something successful alone, rather than keep going until you reach bottom. How many times have we seen this mistake? Depending on the success of a project, producers and directors get caught up in the moment, return with sequels, prequels and alike only to end up destroying something unique and beautiful.
And yet... Better Call Saul's Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould were not only able to make this prequel story work, but ultimately write a second masterpiece that completely enhances and capitalizes every single thing that made Breaking Bad a great show. This is world building at its best and I really hope writers and producers around the globe take an example of how to concept new stories on already established characters and properties.
After immersing in the world of Breaking Bad, the first season of Better Call Saul is not going to be a surprise to anyone. It is only dedicated to slowly explore the characters and get to know their traits. Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill, Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler and Jonathan Banks as Mike Ermehntraut are the stand outs from the very beginning. Many returning characters from Breaking Bad appear throughout, but I won't spoil anything for anyone who hasn't seen it/them. Beginning the series, Jimmy is a lawyer who is trying his best to make it big whatever the cost it seems to have by the law or his private life. Kim is a uniquely skilled and respected lawyer who is apparently attracted to the whimsical skills and traits of Jimmy, even when he crosses the line. And Mike is a man of many capabilities who gets in deep with all kinds of wrong people while managing to keep his private life to himself. These 3 different lives and paths are crossed in several ways and come to test all boundaries of right and wrong. And what is left in the end of the first season is an apparent fondness) of all these people to cross boundaries at the first sight they can; whether it is by choice or not.
Now I won't continue to describe in detail, because I trust it's so much better to not know very much in order to enjoy. What I wanted to focus on is the general themes of this incredible story that we are told and the things we should all benefit from attending. Since the very first moment and throughout the 6 years of its run, the story describing what happened up until the last scene of the very last episode is something that I could describe as a study of human emotion. The heart of this series is the underlying sadness of all participants. There are many moments of happiness, there are many points of joy, delight and blissfulness but especially at the end it all feels like it was deprived, depressed and underprivileged. There comes a point in your life where every single choice you ever made is put to the test and Better Call Saul is a primary example of people paying their life debt in horrific ways.
And this is something that Vince Gilligan and all the other writers have done before.
Breaking Bad had the power of seducing you to dark sides of human behavior by making it seem like it was the only way to rise in power or be respected by others. The whole story of Walter White's character for example, had so many scenes along his journey making us believe he wasn't only doing what he did for himself, but it was the only way for him to get the money and the respect we believed he deserved. That recurring theme is one of the only to be so apparently the same in the character of Jimmy McGill. Especially in the beginning, we are actually rooting for him to be successful and when the right ways and legal ways simply won't help him, we accept his decisions to rise above certain circumstances because we see it like he doesn't have any other choice. Same thing happens with Mike and Kim at several situations.
As the show goes on however, we get to know more. And man, is it exciting. I can't even explain the exceptional writing that made me so disarrayed about how to feel and for who. In most cases, that last sentence would of course sound as something bad from a screenwriting perspective... you apparently are supposed to know who is the hero and who is the antagonist in the process. But this is so not what happens here. As pasts are unfolded and cases collide rapidly, the morals of every character become all the more fragile. Ways of thinking you thought you knew have changed to the core and it never comes down to a simple scene or moment that defines everything... it is slow-burning darkness resisting the light within them, only to be detected when it will be already too late.
The key to all success here is patience. This series is a perfect example of what you can get in return of waiting for the right moment to shine. The last two episodes capture the magic feeling of nostalgia and completion because the characters within this universe commanded it. We feel obligated to sense their feelings and understand their emotions. It has been 7 years since the beginning of this terrific ride and the ending was fully satisfying for what it had to do. If you haven't been able to check it out, I suggest you do. Otherwise you'll be missing on something you may not be able to find ever again.
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