Review Writing Assignment

Better Call Saul, is the story of a witty lawyer who couldn’t help but to cut corners in order to get ahead of his competition. The prequel to Breaking Bad, also created by Vince Giligan and Peter Gould, has seemingly exploded in popularity in the anticipation and aftermath of its final season, but it is definitely no stranger to criticisms being raised against it.

 

To better understand Saul Goodman as a character and his show, it is customary that one watches its sequel beforehand: Breaking Bad. Breaking Bad is a crime drama which takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico which explores the life of a 50 year old former chemistry teacher and drug kingpin, Walter White. Walter receives the gut wrenching news that he has cancer at the age of 50. Already working two jobs and struggling to make ends meet before this message, now with the added costs of Chemotherapy and the grim possibility of Walter passing away and leaving his pregnant wife; and son who suffers from cerebral palsy to live on their own; Walter decides to produce and sell methamphetamine. After months of being in the methamphetamine business, Walter realizes he needs a lawyer to help launder his money and get one of his employees out of jail, the lawyer being Saul Goodman.

 

Better Call Saul began production in 2015, two years after Breaking Bad finished. The reason for a person to watch Breaking Bad (the sequel) before Better Call Saul is because many scenes in Better Call Saul (the black & white ones) take place after the events of Breaking Bad, so it helps knowing the context. However, the majority of the show remains a prequel. Saul Goodman, who’s real name is James “Jimmy” McGill, brings a sort of light-heartedness and humour to the crime based world around him,. It'sit’s quite refreshing and it’s clear why many fans see him as their favourite character and have demanded his own show, which obviously came to fruition. It has received a 98% on rotten tomatoes from critics, and a 99% from top critics, with a 96% average audience score as well.

 

One of the main criticisms imposed against Better Call Saul is its pace. The first few seasons of Better Call Saul really take their time to introduce characters and lay the groundwork for the future seasons and the context behind both Better Call Saul and the events of Breaking Bad too. It doesn’t introduce many household names in the series until seasons 2-3., Untiluntil then, it’s just Saul and two others. While this is undoubtedly a huge problem for Better Call Saul because many people might have stopped watching early on, one might argue that it was necessary for the plot of both Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad. and since  Since they filmed the prequel after the sequel, they needed time to tie everything in together., Also,also the slow artistic shots of cinematography in Better Call Saul is unique and unmatched. This is what Judy Berman of Time Magazine had to say about Better Call Saul: “One of the most visually gorgeous, carefully plotted, and emotionally involving shows in the history of TV.” - (Berman, The 10 Best TV Shows of 2022). 

 

Better Call Saul ties in both aspects of tragedy, and comedy in the crime ridden world of Albuquerque to take the audience on a slow and long rollercoaster of experiences and emotions in the life of Saul Goodman. 

 

Work Cited

Berman, Judy. “The 10 Best TV Shows of 2022.” TIME, 30 November 2022, https://time.com/6235712/best-tv-shows-2022/. Accessed 5 May 2023.