Welcome to GAMbIT’s coverage of Better Call Saul. Margaux and I will be publishing reviews for it on Tuesdays, which means that today you get a bonus, as we look at both parts of the two-part series premiere, “Uno” and “Mijo.”
Margaux: Well, this is the best written and acted show of 2015. Sorry True Detective season 2, you’re DOA.
Trevor: Yeah, consider the bar set. Jesus, what a debut. That opening was brilliant and heartbreaking. Saul really did wind up managing a Cinnabon in Omaha! Bob Odenkirk – who could not be more deserving of this role – not only rocks the shit out of that mustache, but he does such a great job of showing Saul’s – sorry, Jimmy’s – desperation and paranoia. I’m obviously speaking of when he was worried about that skinhead-looking fella in the Cinnabon.
Margaux: That was such a brilliant, hilarious, and heart wrenching moment. The fact that our little catch up with present day “Saul” ends with him re-watching his glory days is not how you how wanted things to have gone for him but there’s a sighing, “of course” to it too, that just makes it sting all the more.
I am still in awe at how perfectly that cold open captured so much, literally said so little, and was a service to Breaking Bad fans without alienating a new fan base. EVERYONE TAKE NOTE, MYSELF INCLUDED. And I didn’t think they could top the photography of Breaking Bad but, we did kids – I’m crying. It’s so gorgeous to look at, even when horrific shit is going down – I’m thinking particularly of Tuco, Jimmy, and the two fuckitos in the middle of the New Mexico desert. I want to have babies with that wide shot.
I’m getting ahead of myself, I have so many positive things to say!
Trevor: One thing’s for sure, Vince Gilligan (who directed “Uno”) has not forgotten how to make a good episode of television.
How great was the first scene? Jimmy (I’m going to call him Jimmy, at least for now) decided a “boys will be boys” defense was the best way to represent three kids who cut off a corpse’s head and defiled it. (I loved hearing Odenkirk shout “They had sex with a head!”) Not only did that perfectly represent how fucking boring court actually is, but we saw a little bit of what would become Saul Goodman’s trademark ability to spin anything into a positive, no matter how depraved or immoral.
Margaux: And how little being a PD pays; I love Jimmy’s small interactions with everyone in the courthouse, which really picks up momentum in “Mijo.” Obviously, Saul was born with the gift of gab and the ability to quite literally, talk himself out of any situation – he honestly could’ve been a very good lawyer, hell, are we sure he didn’t represent O.J. the first time he was arrested?
(I’m always good for a super timely O.J. joke).
Trevor: And obviously we can’t talk about the courtroom scenes without mentioning how great it is to once again see Jonathan Banks as Mike fucking Ehrmantraut, who apparently also had humble beginnings. His sparring with Jimmy over the parking stickers (which would continue in “Mijo”) was a highlight for me.
And speaking of humble beginnings, Jimmy is totally overshadowed by his brother Chuck, played by Michael McKean. Two famous comedic actors just killing it in dramatic scenes. So good to watch. And their scenes together were hugely improved by Gilligan’s stately direction.
Margaux: Glad you brought up Chuck because I have a (somewhat) stupid question to ask, does he have full blown cancer, is it psychosomatic, or a little of both? I ask because after Jimmy goes into Chuck’s former-ish law firm, demanding he get bought out as a partner, after quoting Network perfectly, I had the thought, “oh dead lord, he’s Norman Bates-ing some guy Chuck, isn’t he?”. But it turned out to be sadder and more complex than anticipated.
Trevor: I think it’s a mental illness, albeit a very novel approach to one. Chuck is hypersensitive to electromagnetism, at least according to Chuck. The problem with prequels is that we know Chuck’s fate already, or else he might have popped up in Breaking Bad.
And there’s the central question about Better Call Saul – how interested can we be in a character whose fate we already know? “Uno” answered that pretty perfectly. It’s definitely one of the stronger series premieres I’ve ever seen.
Margaux: The impression I got of Chuck in “Uno” is that he’s a prequel (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?!) to Walt – he’s probably dying (aren’t we all, man) and extremely set in his ways. Oh, and can also be an eloquent dick, this is paraphrased from my memory, “uhhh, bro, you gotta change your crappy ‘law firms’ name.”
It’s an interesting approach to telling the story; we know, more or less, the middle of his life so we get dropped into the sort-of epilogue of Saul that ties pretty neatly to the starting of Jimmy. They’re both at the bottom. Albeit, Jimmy lives in the back of a nail salon and Saul is living in boring terror in Nebraska.
Trevor: When Chuck asked Jimmy (and I’m paraphrasing), “Don’t you want to make your own identity?” there might as well have been a light bulb going off over Jimmy’s head.
So, to segue into “Mijo,” I want to say that as much as I liked seeing Raymond Cruz return as Tuco, the fact that it was Tuco who kidnapped the twins was a little too “small world” for me. That’s seriously my only qualm with “Uno.” Did you feel the same way?
Margaux: My notes for the end of “Uno” and the beginning of “Mijo” are “TIGHT TIGHT TIGHT.” So, to answer your question, I was too busy being a fangirl to really notice.
Trevor: Haha, that sounds about right.
Margaux: I’m gonna go ahead and try to save myself though to say that there must be a reason Tuco’s abuelita’s car was in that couple’s driveway. My theory could be proven in the next episode.
Trevor: That’s a good point – is it racist if I think she was probably the Kettelmans’ maid?
Margaux: Nope. Think about it, when Jimmy is giving the performance of his L-I-F-E in the desert (seriously, I was throwing my underwear at the TV) saving those two fuckitos (no, I will not stop calling them that), Jimmy speaks of their “widowed mother…who cleans of the marble floors of rich people.” This actually gets Tuco to listen to him, he clearly struck a cord and made some quick and smart assumptions about Tuco’s beloved abuelita while he was held at gunpoint in her living room.
By the way, I cannot stress how unbelievably terrified and humored I am by Tuco, I’m so glad Gilligan brought him back, I am so fascinated by Catholic-raised meth-heads.
Trevor: That’s one thing I loved about “Mijo” (directed by Breaking Bad vet Michelle MacLaren, who will also direct Wonder Woman) – seeing a softer side of Tuco. There was a great shot of him holding a gun behind his back and entreating his abuelita to go back upstairs. He’ll get the club soda. And after seeing this side of Tuco, part of me thinks he actually will.
But let’s talk about something you mentioned earlier – the scene in the desert. Holy SHIT what a scene. I need Odenkirk to star in Jeffrey Steele, FBI as soon as possible.
Margaux: Co-starring Bert Macklin, I’d let someone break my legs for that.
DAT SCENE IN DA DESERT DOE. That was very, very, very, very, very tense. It was like watching all six episodes of The Fall, all at once, condensed into 10 minutes.
Trevor: I loved Tuco’s weirdly reasonable henchman Nacho. I loved the way he talked Tuco down and interrogated Jimmy. I was squirming every time he put those wire cutters around Jimmy’s finger.
Margaux: Their interaction reminded me of an extremely capable Joey and Chandler from Friends (I have to make jokes to keep from yelling). Tuco is Joey and Nacho is Chandler, by the way, since you weren’t gonna ask.
Trevor: But it was so good to see both sides of Jimmy. There was the unscrupulous side that told him it was a good idea to mention Operation Kingbreaker (“That makes me the king!” – Tuco), and the good side that made him turn around and bargain for the twins’ lives. Talking Tuco down to a leg-breaking – complete with handshake – was brilliant, well-acted television.
Margaux: Or, as Jimmy put it, “I talked you down from a life sentence to a six month probation”, not be repetitive but in every sense of the word, they fucking nailed it.
Trevor: And when Tuco actually broke their legs – nothing was shown, but Jesus the Foley artist earned his keep with “Mijo,” cause that sound was horrific.
Margaux: And have that have sequence bookended with sound-less date Jimmy should be enjoying but all he can hear are the Goddamn breadsticks crrrrrrracking, and cracking some more. I wanted to puke, too.
Trevor: That date scene was yet another perfect sequence courtesy of Michelle MacLaren. It’s good to know that BCS apparently imported the music department from Breaking Bad, because so far this show is on point musically.
Margaux: I’ve had “Address Unknown,” from “Uno”’s sploosh-worthy open, stuck in my head since last night.
Trevor: I liked seeing Jimmy more confident at work, even though he ultimately gets frustrated (yet another fantastic montage; I swear this show could be nothing but montages and it’d be better than most shows on the air). I like seeing them lay the groundwork for him metamorphosing into Saul.
Margaux: Quick impression about the great montage of Jimmy at the courthouse, bringing his “Showtime” personality, it had some shades of Wes Anderson to it – and I’m not mad at it.
Trevor: Good point, it that Anderson zip and energy to it. Extremely well edited by Breaking Bad’s Skip Macdonald. It’s so good to see these names in the credits. I’m such a douche that I found myself thinking “Oh good, Dave Porter is doing the music!”
Margaux: Okay, so before we can sign off for the Better Call Saul circle jerk we’ve gotta get to, let’s wrap this bitch up.
Nacho (the Chandler to Tuco’s Joey) visits Jimmy’s sad nail salon-office to propose a deal. Now, he doesn’t the pull the whole, “I saved your ass, bruh” card right away but we all know that no matter what he’s about to say, it’s a foregone conclusion that Jimmy doesn’t super have a choice.
Trevor: About to make the transition from a criminal lawyer to a criminal lawyer.
So, stars? This has been one of my favorite reviews to co-write in a long time.
Margaux: I haven’t gotten this excited to review show since we did The Knick, which feels like ages ago in TV time. Considering we’re reviewing “Uno” and “Mijo,” which would have strong whether they were aired back-to-back or not, I think I’m going to give Better Call Saul the full five stars. I mean, BOB ODENKIRK’S ACTING ALONE DESERVES ALL THE STARS IN THE WORLD.
Trevor: You read my mind. Five stars it is. Now take off the space blanket.
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