When AMC announced that there would be a prequel series to the fantastic Breaking Bad, I thought they were setting themselves up for failure. There would be no way they could make this series, especially one that is focused on the pathetic Saul Goodman, anywhere near as good as the father series. People, I was wrong. Not only with this episode but in episodes to come, Vince Gilligan/Peter Gould created a series that while similar to Breaking Bad and features some of the same characters but has its own heart and able to stand on its own.
Let's talk about the series premiere, "Uno" which was directed by Vince Gilligan. The episode starts off in a very cold, detailed open. It's all black-and-white which you can assume this takes place after everything happened. Saul is now the manager of a Cinnabon in a mall. You catch all the details including the making of the dough, but there is this one guy who has an eye on Saul and may be coming for him.
Now we head to the early 2000's where we meet Saul by his old name, Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk). This episode has plenty of backstory, which makes sense. He is a public defender who earns very little pay and his office is essentially a cramped room in the back of a salon. We see him poorly defend his teenage clients who are accused of having sex with a corpse's head (ugh!). Then we see him get tangled with our favorite parking attendant, Mike Ehrmantraut(!!) (Jonathan Banks) over the price of a three-dollar ticket. At his office, Jimmy sees a check from a law firm called Hamlin & Hamlin & McGill, where Jimmy's older brother, Chuck (Michael McKean) works. Chuck has taken a leave of absence because of his illness, an electromagnetic hypersensitivity disorder, but Jimmy believes they are screwing over his brother. He heads to the firm and pulls a Network on the senior partner, Howard (Patrick Fabian). Speaking of Chuck, he lives very old-fashioned. No lights, no electronics, etc. Visitors would need to place their electronics in the mailbox outside his home.
With no income headed his way, Jimmy becomes Slippin' Jimmy and works within the fine line of the laws to get cash needed to pay the bills. He enlists the services of a couple skateboarders to go after the county treasurer's wife, Betsy Kettleman (Julie Ann Emery). They plan their strategy to have Betsy hit the skateboarders, but she misses them and instead an older Hispanic lady hits them. An older Hispanic lady....that may have ties to Tuco Salamanca (Raymond Cruz). Jimmy is already getting in trouble, tsk tsk tsk.
The performances were fantastic especially from our veteran Breaking Bad alums. Bob Odenkirk played the sleazy Saul Goodman so well in the main series, so it was guaranteed he would make Jimmy McGill a fantastic character to watch. Jonathan Banks, our favorite fixer, works as a parking attendant but still maintains his tough, "no bs" attitude. It looks like Patrick Fabian is going to be the show's sleazebag, and Michael McKean will definitely add some depth to Jimmy's brother, Chuck.
I got to give it Vince Gilligan and company. They set up this series incredibly well. Excellent lines of dialogue were everywhere, including Jimmy imitating 1977's Network. There were tense moments during the whole scheme to set up Betsy Kettleman. Finally, the ending! When Tuco pokes his head out of the door, I nearly lost it. This is the definite series opener designed to hook you in, and it did so very well. Oh how I missed you, Albuquerque!
My Grade: A
Let's talk about the series premiere, "Uno" which was directed by Vince Gilligan. The episode starts off in a very cold, detailed open. It's all black-and-white which you can assume this takes place after everything happened. Saul is now the manager of a Cinnabon in a mall. You catch all the details including the making of the dough, but there is this one guy who has an eye on Saul and may be coming for him.
Now we head to the early 2000's where we meet Saul by his old name, Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk). This episode has plenty of backstory, which makes sense. He is a public defender who earns very little pay and his office is essentially a cramped room in the back of a salon. We see him poorly defend his teenage clients who are accused of having sex with a corpse's head (ugh!). Then we see him get tangled with our favorite parking attendant, Mike Ehrmantraut(!!) (Jonathan Banks) over the price of a three-dollar ticket. At his office, Jimmy sees a check from a law firm called Hamlin & Hamlin & McGill, where Jimmy's older brother, Chuck (Michael McKean) works. Chuck has taken a leave of absence because of his illness, an electromagnetic hypersensitivity disorder, but Jimmy believes they are screwing over his brother. He heads to the firm and pulls a Network on the senior partner, Howard (Patrick Fabian). Speaking of Chuck, he lives very old-fashioned. No lights, no electronics, etc. Visitors would need to place their electronics in the mailbox outside his home.
With no income headed his way, Jimmy becomes Slippin' Jimmy and works within the fine line of the laws to get cash needed to pay the bills. He enlists the services of a couple skateboarders to go after the county treasurer's wife, Betsy Kettleman (Julie Ann Emery). They plan their strategy to have Betsy hit the skateboarders, but she misses them and instead an older Hispanic lady hits them. An older Hispanic lady....that may have ties to Tuco Salamanca (Raymond Cruz). Jimmy is already getting in trouble, tsk tsk tsk.
The performances were fantastic especially from our veteran Breaking Bad alums. Bob Odenkirk played the sleazy Saul Goodman so well in the main series, so it was guaranteed he would make Jimmy McGill a fantastic character to watch. Jonathan Banks, our favorite fixer, works as a parking attendant but still maintains his tough, "no bs" attitude. It looks like Patrick Fabian is going to be the show's sleazebag, and Michael McKean will definitely add some depth to Jimmy's brother, Chuck.
I got to give it Vince Gilligan and company. They set up this series incredibly well. Excellent lines of dialogue were everywhere, including Jimmy imitating 1977's Network. There were tense moments during the whole scheme to set up Betsy Kettleman. Finally, the ending! When Tuco pokes his head out of the door, I nearly lost it. This is the definite series opener designed to hook you in, and it did so very well. Oh how I missed you, Albuquerque!
My Grade: A