Ty Watches "Better Call Saul" Season 5 Premier

Season five, I believe the penultimate season, of “Better Call Saul” kicked off this past Sunday and Monday with two new episodes, and they were great. I’m a fan of this show.

Originally I was on the fence when they announced it, but when I saw that Bob Oedenkirk and Vince Gilligan were attached, I started to get more on board. Then I watched the first season, and loved it. The same can be said for the next three seasons. They’ve all been great. They have also brought back characters from “Breaking Bad”, many of which I really liked. Mike Erhmantraut, Gus Fring, Lavell Crawford’s character, they’re back and they’re just as wonderful. I also love the new additions. Kim Wexler is wonderful, and I hope she gets an okay outcome, although I don’t think she will. Michael McKean was exceptional as Jimmy/Saul’s bigger, much more successful and smarter brother. McKean’s partner, who I know from “Saved By the Bell: The College Years” is smarmy and slimy and perfect. All the gangsters and dealers, it’s like a glimpse of the “Breaking Bad” future.

As for Jimmy/Saul, he started out the series as a guy that just constantly gets beat down by life. He is getting passed up for every law job, his brother is clearly better than him, he’s looked upon as a second class citizen, things just don’t go his way. As the show has continued, you can slowly see the transformation. He is clearly getting sick of his lot in life, and he’s determined to change it. And, he does it pretty underhanded, and he’s pretty shady. You could really see the transformation at the end of the past season, especially when he does the double finger guns at Kim after winning a case and tells her “it’s Saul Goodman”.

That continues directly at the start of the new season. We do get to see him in Omaha at the Cinnabon he works at, his criminal hiding out/protection stuff. But when they flash back to him becoming Saul, he’s really becoming Saul. He has the Bluetooth, the cheesy clothes, his signature hairdo and his scamming ways are front and center. The way he convinced a lobby worker to jam up the elevator so he could get another lawyer to help him, and his clients out, was Saul at his best, and seemingly earliest. When he also tries to convince Kim to play along with him when she’s struggling with one of her cases, it just oozes slime from his part. And bless her heart, Kim doesn’t want to do immoral and unethical things with him, but she does truly love him, she goes ahead and uses his plan, even though she hates every second of it. And the stuff with Mike and Gus is as thrilling and nail biting and has all the intensity that “Breaking Bad” had. The same can be said for the Mexican drug cartel, especially when they picked up Saul at the end of the second episode. I literally cannot wait to see what happens next week.

All in all though, this show is Bob Oedenkirk’s vehicle, and he is driving it like a master driver. He’s so good in this role. Any hesitations I may have had at the start, they’re long gone by now. This is one of the best shows on TV, and I’m so glad it’s back on, and taking us on this ride once again. “Better Call Saul” is not “Breaking Bad”, hardly any shows are, but this is an excellent off shoot of that wonderful series. And I feel like this season is going to be truly amazing. I’m so happy it’s back.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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