The weirdest thing about Better Call Saul: how fast it exploded from a Breaking Bad spin-off prequel into a classic American crime story all its own. When it began a year ago, all anybody really asked for was the chance to spend a few more hours in the same room as Saul Goodman, the hilarious sleazebag lawyer created by Bob Odenkirk, the hardest-sweating man in show business. We already know where this tale is heading at some point, the Albuquerque shyster Jimmy McGill will change his name to Saul, lower whats left of his already-shaky ethical standards and jump into an all-out life of crime. By the time he enters the Breaking Bad timeline, when he meets a mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher named Walter White leading a secret life as a desert drug lord, Saul is already a lost cause. And when Bryan Cranstons Mr. Chips meets Scarface antihero reaches the bloody end of his brief-but-glorious career as the meth chef Heisenberg, the attorney hits the road, buys himself yet another new name, and hides out managing a Cinnabon in Omaha.
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But what nobody could have predicted probably not even Vince Gilligan and the rest of the Breaking Bad creative team was what a swank villain Jimmy McGill makes. Odenkirk brings so much hangdog verve and pathos to the role of Slippin Jimmy, the small-time con man with a cheap law degree making a semi-sincere stumble at a psuedo-respectable life. And the show also goes deep into the heartbreaking origin story of Jonathan Banks tough mug Mike Ehrmantraut, who turns out to be a Philly ex-cop with the wrong blood on his hands.
The whole premiere season of Better Call Saul picked up steam as it went along, and as it got so much better than anyone expected, it gave fans a case of nerves. (Hey, Jimmy wont go Full Saul too fast, will he?) So now its in the position of a prequel trying to slow down the clock. Its the opposite of St. Augustines famous prayer Make me chaste, but not yet watching BCS means praying, Let him break bad, but not yet.
In the superb new season, its still 2002, and Jimmy hasnt transformed into Saul yet. But hes a ticking time bomb. When he snarls, Ive been doing the right thing for all these years now and where has it gotten me? Nowhere!, we already know nowhere means a Cinnabon nametag and Nebraska plates. (Its so poignant to see the fugitive Saul/Jimmy carve S.G. was here on a backroom wall.) The first season ended with Jimmy in his car blasting Smoke on the Water, vowing to give up on the straight life once and for all. What could slow him down?
A woman, naturally: Rhea Seehorns Kim, who makes him wonder if theres still time to change the road hes on and build himself an honest career, the kind of life where he could actually hold on to her. Shes a fellow lawyer who gets an erotic kick out of his criminal side, especially when he lets her play a supporting role in his scams. But for Kim, its just a walk on the wild side. For Jimmy, this moral sewer is the place he calls home.
So now Jimmy has a posh corporate-law gig in Santa Fe, with a fancy office and a Mercedes to replace that beat-up Sukuzi Esteem. But hes still a small-stakes grifter at heart, the kind of liar who cant resist a juicy chance to show off. Forced to make up a quick cover story for a couple of Albuquerque cops, he invents a whole new sex fetish the Hoboken Squat Cobbler, which involves asses and pies. Odenkirk turns it into a wild-eyed comic riff as funny as anything he ever did on Mr. Show.
But he also brings all this guys moral fractures to life. He makes an odd couple with Banks Mike Erhmantraut, who sees himself as a noble outlaw with a strong code of honor, whereas Jimmy just sees his conscience as a hangover he cant shake off. Hes not in any hurry to hustle into Saul-hood he likes being Jimmy McGill. And the most surprising delight about Better Call Saul is that we like him too, and were conflicted about losing him.