Better Call Saul Archives - Page 2 of 2

Michael McKean as Chuck McGill and Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill in Better Call Saul episode 8

Better Call Saul recap episode 8: “Rico”

March 24, 2015 Lori Acken Comments Off

So many revelations in Better Call Saul episode 8’s opening flashback moments. First we get confirmation that Jimmy did indeed work for Hamlin, Hamlin and McGill back in the day — in the mailroom. And he and Kim were indeed an item. When he wheels his cart into her office and hands her a letter, it’s actually addressed to him. She opens it, blinks, grins and plants a smooch on her man. Jimmy passed the bar. Heading for Chuck’s corner office, Jimmy reveals to his brother that — with Kim as his inspiration — he completed the few credits he had left to […]

Recap: Better Call Saul Episode 7 “Bingo”

March 16, 2015 Lori Acken Comments Off

The further we get into Season 1 of AMC’s Better Call Saul!, the harder it’s becoming for me to accept the inevitable: That Jimmy McGill will become Saul Goodman, that everything won’t turn out just fine for our intrepid hero and his damaged brother, that Jimmy won’t get the girl and the corner office. He’ll get a visor, a name tag, a complex and a handful of dough in Nebraska. Jimmy is no Walter White in Matlock’s clothing, i.e., a good guy in a terrible spot driven to do awful things for a very good reason — who discovers that “bad” […]

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Better Call Saul episode 6 recap: “Five-O”

March 9, 2015 Lori Acken 2

Better Call Saul episode 6 is arguably the hour most Saul fans have been longing for since it was announced that Jonathan Banks’ stone-faced fixer Mike Ehrmantraut would be part of the story. And one most Breaking Bad fans hoped for, too, before Saul was even a twinkle in AMC’s eye. More than any this season, this episode also adds fuel to the burning question of whether or not you really must be a disciple of Breaking Bad to truly get the most from Saul. In this episode, we only see our titular hero for a few moments — priceless moments to be sure, but the […]

Better Call Saul episode 5 recap: “Alpine Shepherd Boy”

March 2, 2015 Lori Acken Comments Off

When we left the McGill brothers at the end of last week’s Better Call Saul, things were looking up for Jimmy and not so much for Chuck, who risked going to outside long enough to make an unauthorized purchase of his neighbor’s paper only to be further traumatized by what he found on the front page. And that is where we pick up in this week’s episode, “Alpine Shepherd Boy.” When a pair of cops appear on Chuck’s doorstep to investigate the “crime,” Chuck points out that the neighbor actually made a tidy profit on the exchange and then attempts to engage […]

Better Call Saul episode 4 recap: “Hero”

February 23, 2015 Lori Acken Comments Off

We’re four episodes into AMC’s Better Call Saul, and Slippin’ Jimmy, Jimmy McGill and Saul Goodman are, by turns, thrashing, banana-peeling and tip-toeing their way to becoming the same guy, on the screen and in viewers’ minds. And by the end of tonight’s outing, “Hero,” I found myself wondering for the first time if Jimmy ever really wanted be a lawyer in the first place, or if he’s just trying mightily to fill his big brother’s shoes and avenge — carry on? live up to? — the family name, using the best gift the universe bestowed on him: The ability to spin […]

Better Call Saul episode 3 recap: Nacho, Problem

February 16, 2015 Lori Acken Comments Off

At the end of last week’s Better Call Saul!, Jimmy’s loafered toe had grazed the legal and moral banana peel that will ostensibly slide him — by chance or choice or a complex combination — into Saul-dom. Having been made an offer he’d love to refuse by Tuco’s business associate Nacho, Jimmy realizes that, in saving his own life in the desert, he’s put those of the conniving Kettleman family in some serious danger by blabbing. They might be crooks, but they don’t deserve to die for it because of some bungled street corner shakedown of the wrong person’s grandma. […]

Better Call Saul episode 2 recap: Crunch time!

February 9, 2015 Lori Acken Comments Off

The first lesson of Better Call Saul! episode 2, “Mijo,” is that you do not call Tuco Salamanca’s grandma a “biznatch.” You do not. You can call the cops. You can demand dinero. But you do not. Call. Grandma. Biznatch. For Breaking Bad fans, this goes without saying. For those of you new to Tuco and his business methods, this episode is all about where it lands you. We backtrack a few moments from the conclusion of last night’s series premiere. With the twins towering behind her and everyone looking hard at Tuco, Abuelita whimpers with worry. Tuco sends her up to watch […]

Better Call Saul! premiere recap: Did you ground yourself?

February 8, 2015 Lori Acken 1

Turns out Breaking Bad’s fallen jurist Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) wasn’t just a’kiddin’ when he offered this assessment of his future before climbing into Ed the Extractor’s van in the series’ penultimate episode: “Best case scenario, I’m managing a Cinnabon in Omaha.” In the black-and-white opening moments of Better Call Saul!, Odenkirk’s new AMC series from Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, we discover that that is just exactly where Goodman ended up — massaging giant wads of dough into sticky, high-cal treats and looking entirely unconvinced that his wire rims, hefty mustache and expanding bald spot can mask his identity from whatever […]

Big night for AMC! Few program notes for Walking Dead, Talking Dead, Better Call Saul

February 8, 2015 Barb Oates 1

Tonight is a HUGE night on AMC. It’s the return of the second half of Season 5 of The Walking Dead and the premiere of the highly anticipated Breaking Bad prequel — Better Call Saul. It also involves a slight change in the network’s long standing Sunday lineup (but just for tonight), as Talking Dead moves to a later slot. Here’s a quick breakdown of how things shake out tonight (Sunday, Feb. 8). When does Talking Dead air tonight? We’ve gotten a lot of questions surrounding this already about people not liking the break between Walking Dead and Talking Dead […]