'Better Call Saul' series premiere review: 'Uno'

Breaking Bad was lightning in a bottle. It was a perfect collision of wits and talents on-and-off screen, realized with a masterfully-tuned balance of humor and gravitas. So to expect that same level of quality from its spin-off prequel/sequel series, Better Call Saul is foolishly optimistic, — even though it's co-created by Bad mastermind Vince Galligan.

That said, however, this pilot, "Uno", is far from a disgrace to the original's legacy. Gilligan still understands and captures what appeals in his fractured universe through recreating its hellbent cynicism with cheeky dark humor. The writing is also still razor sharp and Bob Odenkirk, returning to the titular character, carries with him a refined grace to his character which makes this spin-off prove, at least for now, that Saul can stand on his own two-legs well enough to carry his own series.

But lacking from this pilot is a sense of individual identity and a control of tone. Better Call Saul, for all its references and visual callbacks to its predecessor series, does have some sense of what it wants to be and where it wants to go, and contains enough headiness and formal planning to reveal it has some big ideas in mind, even without one remembering the series that inspired it. But all the winks and nods to the original, be it through cameo appearances or direct callbacks to things that happened in Breaking Bad, are just a little too cutesy and poking to sustain themselves for a whole episode, let alone a whole season or series.

Also not quite laced down is its bouncing desire to recreate Breaking Bad's dark sense of humor, while also making room for drama and reflection. The humor is, as always, top notch, but one would expect that from a show centered on Breaking Bad's most consistently funny character. It's the dramatic moments which are fairly hit or miss. Of course, there are only a couple here so far, but when they appear they come across as too disconnected to the tonality of the previous sequences.

Save for one choice scene and its well-shot future opening, many of these scenes sorta bring Better Call Saul to a halt. It's weird to think this is the case, especially when considering how well Gilligan, who directs this pilot and also co-wrote the teleplay with fellow showrunner Peter Gould, could master these different filmmaking styles so seamlessly in his last series. While Odenkirk has demonstrated himself to be a competently nuanced dramatic actor in the past, and shows strides of it here too, his character never feels comfortable in these darkly-lit moments. They would all feel forced, where it not for the sureguided hands of Gilligan and Gould.

Of course, this is being harasser to Better Call Saul than one should be. All things considered, it's a fine little show. It's well-made, well-shot and, even when it's a tad too on-the-nose, it knows what it wants to say and also how to productively develop its characters. This is also without cutting into the show's pilot and story — except for the one or two moments mentioned above.

In exploring how James M. McGill becomes Saul Goodman, the lawyer we all know and love, it's highly apparent they cookie-cutted their plotting from their previous show. Both, ultimately, explore (or will explore) how one man comes into his new identity in middle-aged nonconformity, and while Breaking Bad ultimately will do this better — most likely — than Better Call Saul, this rise-in-character-structure does work nicely into Saul's journey towards finding (or creating) his persona, while also occasionally reflecting on lost personalities and detachment from said identity — something Breaking Bad explored only in its final episodes, primarily.

All in all, this is a highly entertaining character piece, one that doesn't — thankfully — drown in its lack of thinking but could use some more time by itself and away from its big brother program's shadow. For now, it feel a little too listless to completely shine. But you know Saul, as always, has some big tricks up his cheap suited sleeves.

Image courtesy of INFphoto.com

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