Better Call Saul (Series 3)

Creators: Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould
Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn, Jonathan Banks 

Rating: 7/10

Ok before I tell you what I think, let me bring you up to speed. Better Call Saul focuses on Saul Goodman (of Breaking Bad fame) many years before he became ‘Saul Goodman’. In this series he is Jimmy McGill – his actual persona – and the show looks at his path from being Jimmy to becoming Saul and all the bumps in between. In series three we meet Jimmy at a time where his confession to his brother Chuck (about sabotaging Chuck’s bid for the coveted Mesa Verde contract) is on the brink of being revealed. This starts to unravel Jimmy’s relationships – initially with Kim and then subsequently with Chuck - and this is the general theme through out the series. Jimmy always means well, but his natural tendency is toward developing schemes which, to quote Chuck, “always end up hurting people”.

When watching all three series of Better Call Saul, I always felt like there was an inside joke that I was not party to. Like I was the new kid who didn’t get all the references but felt like I had to smile and play along so as not to upset anyone. Despite this I actually quite liked the show. I was intrigued to find out what happened but that disconnect between me and the programme never really went away.

Maybe this is due to it being quite a male driven programme where the only regular female character is Kim Wexler – played by the fantastic Rhea Seehorn. Kim is not just Jimmy’s love interest – in fact that seems almost secondary to her by the end of the series - she is an intelligent, dedicated, hard-working lawyer who believes in Jimmy, sometimes to her detriment. But this show, and particularly this series, is all about consequences. What happens when you push the button a little bit too far? And this is something Kim will discover as the series develops.

Another niggling issue I have is that you can never be sure whether you are rooting for Jimmy or not. That’s the intrigue. Do I like him? Should I like him? On one hand this seems clever but it does leave you with an uncomfortable feeling which isn’t always enjoyable.

An element of the show which I really admire though, is the writing. The delicate building of how Saul, Mike Ehrmantrout and Gus Fring become connected is something to behold. There would be a temptation to throw them all into the mix very early to please the Breaking Bad fans, but they haven’t done that and I think it’s to the show’s credit. That, for me, is the pull that keeps you watching. How does this all become what we know it does?

This is not one of those fast-paced, edge of your seat type thrillers. If that’s what you are after, then this is not the show for you. It moves along at a very respectful, leisurely pace. Always intriguing but nothing to raise your heartrate!

There is also very little exposition in this series – which of course is a good thing. The writers respect the viewers and leave some avenues up to your interpretation. Sometimes this can fall short though, which is why you end up feeling a little left out at times. There really is no pleasing us sometimes!

Something that is standout for this programme is the cinematography. Each shot feels very stylised, well thought out and full of little details which you could miss if you weren’t paying attention. This is helped by the pacing as it gives you time to look around and absorb the wonderful view.

Netflix has announced that there will be a fourth series in 2018 and with the series ending on a massive cliffhanger (no spoilers here) this never seemed in doubt. It is thought that Rhea Seehorn (Wexler), Giancarlo Esposito (Fring) and Jonathan Banks (Ehrmantraut) will also return for series four to watch Jimmy McGill plunge headfirst into becoming Saul Goodman.

So to summarise, should you watch it? Yeah, its enjoyable especially if you liked Breaking Bad, but there are other TV shows out there which I would recommend ahead of this.