No one thought back when it was announced, that 'Breaking Bad' would have a spin-off series focused on Saul Goodman, that the show would be as good as its mothership. After all, this was one of the greatest TV series of all time, what show could compare to it?
But as it turns out, 'Better Call Saul' is almost as great a masterpiece as 'Breaking Bad'. Half season through, the "comedy" starring Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill (Saul's real name) has proven to be one of the biggest and yet most unexpected surprises of the year. Because there was no doubt the show would be great: it was just that no one expected it to be this great.
Just take episode 6 as an example. In pure BB fashion, the show abandoned its main plot to focus on one of the best characters these two shows have ever had, Mike Ehrmantraut, portrayed by the always superb Jonathan Banks. 'Better Call Saul' spent almost the entire hour without its titular character to show us the much needed backstory of the police turned hitman, and it did it in a way that confirmed two things we had been suspecting all along: that Jonathan Banks deserves an Emmy as soon as possible and that 'Better Call Saul' doesn't need training wheels anymore. It can stand on its own.
For those of you who don't know the plot of the AMC series, 'Better Call Saul' follows the life of the struggling lawyer Jimmy McGill, before he ever knew about Walter White, blue meth and daily murder.
We follow him as he tries to make a living as legal as possible, while he takes care of his elder brother, who is, as Jimmy puts it, "allergic to electricity". Fan-favourite Mike shows up in small doses in the first episodes, but we also get to see some old familiar faces that make the transition from 'Breaking Bad' to 'Better Call Saul' surprisingly easy.
You won't even have the need to see Bryan Cranston or Aaron Paul any time soon.
If you were (and still are) a 'Breaking Bad' fan, this show is not going to disappoint you: in fact, it has just the enough amount of winks to the old show to keep you hooked. And if you have been living isolated from society for the past eight years (because that is the only reason I could admit for "I have never watched Breaking Bad"), then watch 'Better Call Saul' anyway, because it takes place six years before the events depicted on its predecessor. And then when the show ends by 2020 or so, you can start watching Breaking Bad. I know that is what I will do!
Better Call Saul is available on UK Netflix, with new episodes every Tuesday.
