- Network: AMC
- Series Premiere Date: Feb 8, 2015
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Critic Reviews
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It's time that we really consider that Better Call Saul is equalling the quality of Breaking Bad, and in some ways is doing things even better.
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No show on the air does a better job of turning moments that ought to be blips on a viewer’s radar into moments of captivating drama, and as the story moves into increasingly tragic territory in its fourth season, it’s a necessary strength to keep Jimmy’s misfortunes (self-imposed or otherwise) something to care about, rather than to revel in.
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Better Call Saul just keeps on getting better and better. That's an easy call, particularly after seeing the gripping first three episodes of the "Breaking Bad" prequel's fourth season. ... One constant in Better Call Saul is that, as riveting as Odenkirk is as Jimmy, this hardly is a one-actor showcase.
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These first three episodes--all that were available to press--are masterful displays of the subtle impact of tragedy on behavior, all against the backdrop of an increasingly-heated drug war that we know will eventually help turn Jimmy into Saul.
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The precision of "Saul's" craftsmanship--writing, direction, acting, and all the way down to craft services, for all I know--makes this the best series on TV. And there really is no contest.
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How have things changed in Season 4? The answer is simple: just more, but better, deeper, and more daring.
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In order to land some sorrowful emotional beats, these new episodes have to shed some of Better Call Saul’s defining lightheartedness. And make no mistake: The way season four kicks into gear with such confidence and precision has all the markings of Breaking Bad’s clockwork plotting.
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Better Call Saul itself is a haunted work of television, although the spirits surrounding it are hallowed and sacred; it exists as a prequel to one of the finest series of television’s Golden Age, “Breaking Bad.” But Better Call Saul stands on its own.
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The transmutation of Jimmy to Saul (and don’t forget Gene and his season-starting cameos) is likely to produce the best balance of darkness and humor that the series has mustered, if for nothing else than there's a gleeful appreciation on the part of the audience for Saul's shenanigans; their rising occurrence will be amusing while, at the same time, watching the exacting toll it took on Jimmy to get there will be distressing.
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There are a lot of tiny delights. (On this show, making coffee looks Hitchcockian.) But there’s a resistant macro-feeling of: Like, why? ... I’m left with the feeling that the Gus Fring scenes in Better Call Saul are the dark-drama equivalent of the horrible Darth Vader scenes in Rogue One, this looming figure of evil awesomeness brought out of retirement to emanate coolness fumes.
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Old dynamics flip, long-gestating character studies pay off, and feelings geyser up in surprising places.
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This is a series you can’t just half-watch while scrolling your phone, because if you do, you won’t know what’s going on. The show can be hard to follow even if you’re watching closely, because so much of the plot is inferred. ... The pleasures of Better Call Saul are almost entirely visceral and emotional.
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Better Call Saul is TV's version of a Russian nesting doll, slowly adding layers to the "Breaking Bad" prequel, inching toward its logical expiration date. As the new season demonstrates, the AMC show has grown richer in the process, even if the pacing at times remains a trifle sluggish.
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The new season of Better Call Saul starts off slowly and somberly (as of its first three episode available for review), full of silence and tension. Jimmy, Mike, and Nacho are all dealing with the fallout from decisions they’ve made to do what they thought was right--even if what they did to get there is more morally muddled.
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The season premiere, written by Mr. Gould, serves as a warm-up act for the season’s more gripping second episode that features at least two remarkable scenes with bravura performances: Jimmy self-sabotaging and Kim, in a searing performance by Ms. Seehorn, ripping into Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian).
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[Odenkirk's] nervous, shifty quality is perfect for the part, but he doesn’t bring a depth to Jimmy that would account for the character’s contradictions. Season 4 continues to bring Jimmy and Mike together for brief, nonessential meetings, which means that for now Saul continues to be about a third of a really good show--the portion in which Mr. Banks gets to exercise his tremendous authority and subtlety in the story line leading directly to the events of “Breaking Bad,” while Mr. Odenkirk and the other major (non-Hispanic) characters spin their wheels in the legal drama.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 283 out of 294
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Mixed: 4 out of 294
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Negative: 7 out of 294
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Dec 10, 2018That and the three previous seasons 9/10
Vince, don't spoiling everything... in the end ... again. -
Aug 10, 2018
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Aug 8, 2018