I am taking great care when writing this Better Call Saul review as I do not want to spoil a single thing for you guys. Breaking Bad is a top ten TV show of all time for me and when I heard it was getting a prequel, why was what I kept asking myself. How could this possibly work and be as good as Breaking Bad?
How to Stream or Download Better Call Saul (TV series)
You can stream it or you can download Better Call Saul from iTunes, Netflix, or Amazon Prime. Click on the Download button at the end of this review.
The Movie Review
Well, my worries were completely unnecessary as this is a fantastic prequel to Breaking Bad, but Better Call Saul also stands very well as a tremendous TV show in its own right. There are some who even prefer this to Breaking Bad and while that is not my take, I can see why someone might prefer this.
The show takes place in the early to mid-00s, before the events of Breaking Bad. We follow Jimmy McGill who goes from being a Chicago conman to becoming a lawyer with “good” intentions to a man who works with a criminal underbelly of society. Seeing Jimmy become Saul is a lot of fun and Bob Odenkirk is just superb in this role.
I was all in from the first episode of this show! Seeing Jimmy get deeper and deeper with the likes of the Salamanca drug cartel, Gus Frings, and so on is awesome stuff. It asks questions that I never even knew I wanted to be answered when I was watching Breaking Bad. On the surface, you may think that this is a show that is just offering fan service with all its cameos and characters from Breaking Bad.
While the familiar faces that show up (and some even stay around for a considerable amount of time) are great. This is a show that is not just trying to skate by on Breaking Bad’s good name. The writing and the acting are impeccable and just as good as Breaking Bad and as I said, I can see why some people do prefer this show.
One of the characters that I liked best here was Mike. We knew him as this gruff, take-no-crap dangerous man who was not shy about killing someone. In Better Call Saul, we do not just get to see how Saul and Mike start working together, but we also get to see why Mike, a retired cop would turn to a life of crime in the first place.
As I write this there are five seasons of Better Call Saul and the sixth and final season is going to start in April. Season six is going to be split into two parts, which seems to be the way shows are doing things these days. I for one cannot wait for this and am very excited to see how it is all going to tie into the start of Breaking Bad.
Could you watch Better Call Saul without watching Breaking Bad? I would have to say yes you could, while it is a prequel to Breaking Bad, it is so good, it stands on its own as a damn fine show. However, I would have to say that you will appreciate this show so much more if you were to watch it after watching Breaking Bad.
