“Breaking Bad” may have ended a few years ago, but its legacy lives on. The first season of “Better Call Saul,” which premiered last spring, was a wild success, showing viewers the backstory of sleazy lawyer Saul Goodman from “Breaking Bad.” The second season premiere of “Better Call Saul” proved once again that this show stands well above being just a spin-off.
The premiere starts off right where the first season finale left off — Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) turns down a job at a prestigious law firm, vowing he is done with doing the right thing. McGill then declares he is retired from law. It’s not until Jimmy’s friend Kim (Rhea Seehorn) pulls him out of his lazy funk that he eventually takes the position at the office.
Like many of the episodes before it, this premiere was a slow burn. This doesn’t mean the “Better Call Saul” is boring — if anything, this is one of the show’s greatest strengths. The early episodes plant seeds that seem meaningless but end up flipping the script in later episodes. It seems odd that after Jimmy drives away from the big law job, he turns right back around in the beginning of this season, unless this is all one big con.
The ultimate tragedy of “Better Call Saul” is that we know how it ends. “Saul” takes place in 2002, and down the road the kind and forgiving Jimmy somehow turns into the Saul we all know from “Breaking Bad.” Jimmy struggles with doing the right thing. Yet, despite every step he takes towards the good, he will inevitably turn into someone so hurt that he resorts to his evil practices in “Breaking Bad.”
Executive producers and showrunners Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould are extremely confident in their storytelling. Everything, from the beautiful direction to Bob Odenkirk’s performance as Jimmy, is simply exquisite. Just like “Breaking Bad,” there’s a sense of comfort in this show — you know that by the end of the season, everything will come together and present itself in a satisfying but shocking way.
“Better Call Saul” is the cream of the crop when it comes to television. The second season premiere felt even more confident in the storytelling, with the viewers becoming more acquainted with the supporting cast of characters. There is little doubt that this season will top the first.
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