better call saul
The US channel AMC has just started showing Better Call Saul, a tv series about the ups and downs of a lawyer in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Saul’s not just any old lawyer: he’s Walter White’s lawyer. Better Call Saul, in fact, is a spin-off from Breaking Bad. We take it for granted you know what a spin-off is. If what you’ve just read doesn’t make much sense to you… don’t carry on reading. Skip to the next article. Now you’ve got this far, it’s clear you’re one of the fortunate people who know these characters. Or maybe you’ve decided not to accept our pedantic recommendation not to carry on reading and you’ve promised yourself that you’ll read on until the end of the article. Whatever it is, you’re hooked by now. The same thing happened with Breaking Bad tv series. After starting watching the series, Walter White and Jesse Pickman’s ups and downs moved us more deeply that we would have expected. But whoever’s tried those blue meth can’t take anything else and gets completely addicted in those clone buildings stolen from the desert on the outskirts of Albuquerque, buildings in which the air conditioning is left on throughout the year.
We’re taken back to that scenery, so full of trash, by the tv series Better Call Saul; the action takes places six years before the teacher from Breaking Bad, Walter White, is diagnosed with
cancer. At that time, Saul Goodman (is that the most appropriate surname ever for a lawyer?) becomes the area’s ill-doers’ and mob men’s favourite lawyer. And, that way, he weaves together a network of clients which is as considerable as it is dangerous. Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad, is also the person behind Better Call Saul. He’s worked with the same production, script and technical group and, while it’s early yet to start forming opinions, we can mention at least one interesting feature to the series: its flexible use of time. While the action starts six years before Breaking Bad, the episodes and times will catch up with Breaking Bad and also go beyond it. Better Call Saul is going to be BrBd’s prequel and sequel at the same time. The action will take place before Breaking Bad, during Breaking Bad and after Breaking Bad too, and, in that way, we will have the opportunity to see characters who disappeared and died during BrBd. Will we see Walter White again? There’s no way of knowing. But we do know that Bryan Cranston, who played him, is going to direct some episodes of Better Call Saul. So do know that Heisenberg will be in the desert one way or another.
One of the main pieces in both series is Mike Ehrmantraut, the fixer we meet in BrBd (played by the magnificent character actor Jonathan Banks). While the presence of actor Bob Odenkirk, who plays Saul Goodman so well, means we can expect a bit of comedy, Gilligan has said that 80% of the series will be drama and 20% (black).
Spin-off: A new tv series put together using the characters from a previous series. Better Call Saul is probably going to be the most difficult spin-off yet created. Making an offshoot of a series as mythical as Breaking Bad is an incredible challenge. There have been a lot of spin-offs in recent years. Some have become famous and others have cult status. Frasier came out of Cheers, for instance, and may be an example of a spin-off which is better than the original series. Family Matters (in which the mythical Steve Urkel appears) came out of Perfect Strangers. The beautiful young people in Melrose Place came from a series about adolescents. The producers of Beverly 90210 found, when Kelly hitched up with Dylan’s biker friends, that good-looking Jack had another audience. Doctor Addison came out of Grey´s Anatomy to star in Private Practice, and Joey came out of Friends. The Lone Gunmen is a less well-known series, a spin-off from The X-Files in which lead characters Mulder and Scully help conspiracy theory freaks. Not many people know that The Simpsons, too, is a spin-off. For three years is was part of The Tracey Ullman Show, and who remembers Tracey Ullman now? Closer to home, Siete Vidas gave rise to Aida and Goenkale gave us Hasiberriak.
We’re taken back to that scenery, so full of trash, by the tv series Better Call Saul; the action takes places six years before the teacher from Breaking Bad, Walter White, is diagnosed with
cancer. At that time, Saul Goodman (is that the most appropriate surname ever for a lawyer?) becomes the area’s ill-doers’ and mob men’s favourite lawyer. And, that way, he weaves together a network of clients which is as considerable as it is dangerous. Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad, is also the person behind Better Call Saul. He’s worked with the same production, script and technical group and, while it’s early yet to start forming opinions, we can mention at least one interesting feature to the series: its flexible use of time. While the action starts six years before Breaking Bad, the episodes and times will catch up with Breaking Bad and also go beyond it. Better Call Saul is going to be BrBd’s prequel and sequel at the same time. The action will take place before Breaking Bad, during Breaking Bad and after Breaking Bad too, and, in that way, we will have the opportunity to see characters who disappeared and died during BrBd. Will we see Walter White again? There’s no way of knowing. But we do know that Bryan Cranston, who played him, is going to direct some episodes of Better Call Saul. So do know that Heisenberg will be in the desert one way or another.
One of the main pieces in both series is Mike Ehrmantraut, the fixer we meet in BrBd (played by the magnificent character actor Jonathan Banks). While the presence of actor Bob Odenkirk, who plays Saul Goodman so well, means we can expect a bit of comedy, Gilligan has said that 80% of the series will be drama and 20% (black).
Spin-off: A new tv series put together using the characters from a previous series. Better Call Saul is probably going to be the most difficult spin-off yet created. Making an offshoot of a series as mythical as Breaking Bad is an incredible challenge. There have been a lot of spin-offs in recent years. Some have become famous and others have cult status. Frasier came out of Cheers, for instance, and may be an example of a spin-off which is better than the original series. Family Matters (in which the mythical Steve Urkel appears) came out of Perfect Strangers. The beautiful young people in Melrose Place came from a series about adolescents. The producers of Beverly 90210 found, when Kelly hitched up with Dylan’s biker friends, that good-looking Jack had another audience. Doctor Addison came out of Grey´s Anatomy to star in Private Practice, and Joey came out of Friends. The Lone Gunmen is a less well-known series, a spin-off from The X-Files in which lead characters Mulder and Scully help conspiracy theory freaks. Not many people know that The Simpsons, too, is a spin-off. For three years is was part of The Tracey Ullman Show, and who remembers Tracey Ullman now? Closer to home, Siete Vidas gave rise to Aida and Goenkale gave us Hasiberriak.
