Over the last several weeks I binge-watched the first five seasons of Better Call Saul. I was a huge fan of Breaking Bad, but for some reason I didn’t find it necessary to watch the movie El Camino or the Better Call Saul TV series. Saul Goodman was one of my least favorite characters from the original show, so that didn’t help things either.
I continued to hear how good this show was, so I finally decided to try it out.
Season one starts out slow. It was difficult for me to get into. By the end of the first season it settled into a nice character drama. That continued through the first 4 seasons. I ended up really enjoying the vibe of the show. Even though I didn’t love Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad, I did quite like Jimmy McGill. I liked that the show centered on his relationship with his brother. That story-line was interesting to me. We also get lots of Mike Ehrmentrout and Gus Fring… which were two of my favorite characters from Breaking Bad.
Better Call Saul exceeded my expectations in every way. I am looking forward to watching the 6th season. I just have to figure out how. I’ll probably buy it on Amazon streaming. My only complaint with the series is that things start to feel exaggerated in season 4. They start to get away from the even-keel character drama and have to set up the character that we get in Breaking Bad. The evolution was believable, but didn’t make me love the direction the show is going.
I loved Breaking Bad, but really felt like the show limped to the finish. I didn’t dislike the ending, but they leaned too much into the action and lost focus on the characters. I haven’t seen the last season of Better Call Saul, but I feel similarly about this show too. Everything is slowly unraveling and it seems like they will continue amping up the stakes and drama.