Of course, you really should have watched Breaking Bad. (And if you haven’t seen it, you’ve probably already heard that advice 100 times.)
Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) served as the comic relief for Breaking Bad, playing Walter White’s (Bryan Cranston, not yet introduced in Saul) colorful, sleazy dial-a-lawyer, which should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Odenkirk’s previous comedic work. Even his moniker, a pun on the phrase “S’all good, man,” is a joke. Saul — real name: Jimmy McGill — however, is not.
He went on to become a more well-rounded character in later seasons of Bad, but it’s here that we truly see the many sides of the man — not just his work as a scheming attorney, but his complicated relationship with his older brother, Chuck (Michael McKean).
Chuck is a talented lawyer who worked very hard for everything in life, but his younger, happy-go-lucky charmer brother Jimmy always seemed to catch favor — and a break. After spending his early adulthood running cons, regularly getting bailed out by Chuck, Jimmy eventually goes legit, starting in the mailroom of Chuck’s law firm. But then Jimmy himself becomes a lawyer, determined to make it on his own terms (even when some of those terms are less than scrupulous), leading Chuck to resent him and frequently stand in the way of his success.
Their relationship is further complicated by Chuck’s electromagnetic hypersensitivity — a rare and disputed condition that leaves him in pain whenever in the presence of electricity. This puts Jimmy in a tough spot — he cares for and worries about his brother. The man is struggling with a debilitating illness, either real or imagined, which in itself is worrisome.
McKean shines as the resentful brother — whenever Jimmy (and the audience) pities Chuck, the latter proves his wit by turning on the former. This brotherly rivalry, completely absent from Bad, is a constant in Better Call Saul and seems to really be reaching a level where there is no looking back for these two. There’s been too much deceit, betrayal and revenge. Is this part of why there is no Chuck in Bad?
We saw the birth of the Saul Goodman moniker in Season 1 — a name Jimmy uses when pulling a con. The second coming of Saul Goodman is revealed this season, when Jimmy’s law license is suspended and he moonlights as a commercial director using that name. Little by little, Jimmy is becoming Saul.
In my opinion, Better Call Saul is actually a more enjoyable watch than Breaking Bad, which I hold in the highest regards as one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. But where Walter White’s well-meaning protagonist deteriorates into a monster you can barely root for, Jimmy/Saul has a realistic balance of hero and villain. It’s fun to watch Jimmy run a con — we’re rooting for him to get away with it, just one last time. Perhaps that reveals the mix of good and Bad in all of us.
Picks of the Week
Orange Is the New Black (Season Premiere, Friday, Netflix) – In a stylistic change, all 13 episodes of this fifth season of the highly regarded series will cover the span of just three days in Litchfield Penitentiary, starting with a tense inmate takeover and prison riot.
Claws (Series Premiere, 9 p.m. Sunday, TNT) – A Florida nail salon becomes the center of an organized crime scheme when five manicurists (Niecy Nash, Carrie Preston and Judy Reyes, among others) begin laundering money for a “pill mill” pain clinic.
CONTACT JAC KERN: @jackern
