For seven years,Better Call Saul overcame all odds to succeed. At the height of the popularity of the AMC crime drama envisioned as a spin-off of Breaking Bad,Saul could work . His hour-long drama about the character – the talking bawdy lawyer played by Bob Odenkirk – was, in all intents and purposes, just comic relief? The only word more ominous to viewers than 'spin-off' is 'prequel', andSaul was both. Half of the cast has him over the age of 15 in the roles he plays. Still, this didn't matter. Whether or not you think Saul has outdone its predecessor, you've teamed up with creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould to create a brilliant, compelling, and infinitely original series. , silenced nearly all skeptics. This was true to the end.
Saul closed last night (August 15th). "Saul Gone" is a deftly cathartic episode where we finally meet Jimmy/Saul (Bob Odenkirk). Confront his many, many misdeeds. “So Gone” opens with a man on the run after being brought in by the police by Marion (Carol Burnett) at the end of last week’s episode. This is necessarily short-lived. For the last half season, Jimmy clearly acted like a man desperate to get caught. Finally, he is. For a little extra legal firepower, Jimmy hires his old buddy Bill Oakley (the always funny Peter Disces). But in the end, what Jimmy is after is not a legal calculation, but a moral one.
Interspersed with scenes of Jimmy in custody – filmed in black and white, as all the "current" sequences were – are a series of flashbacks. Mike Ermantraut (Jonathan Banks), Walter White (Bryan Cranston), and his younger brother Chuck (Michael McKean), each showing a conversation with Saul. In a clumsy script, this comes across as a sentimental indulgence. Instead, the scene remains laser-focused on the issue at hand: Jimmy himself. No attempt to steal focus. All of these characters have had their moments in the sun. All eyes are now on Saul and Odenkirk. Former Mr. Show comedian's turn on Saul was something to behold. If last week's "Waterworks" gave Lea Seehorn the climactic spotlight of her dazzling character work, "Saul Gone" represents, for my money, the best performance of Odenkirk's entire run.
Breaking Bad's bullet-puffed finale pleased the majority of viewers and critics at the time, but its reputation has faded since. rice field. Too pretentious to begin with, and not enough mercurial quirkiness to make it such a special series in the first place. The show has always excelled at visual storytelling, trusting its viewers to notice and interpret various symbols and mirror images without over-explaining things. “Saul Gone” is dense with them, evoking numerous images from past episodes to absolutely devastating effect.
Sometimes letting things unfold calmly is the most moving and satisfying ending. In Bang v Wimper, this judge will rule in favor of the defendant.
