WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM THE THIRD SEASON OF “BETTER CALL SAUL”
Another season ends and Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) still has not fully become Saul Goodman. It is true that he finally brought his alter ego to life when he found himself forbidden to practice Law for a year even though he had already bought several time slots for TV commercials. The solution: creating “Saul Goodman” and make ads to sell his slots for other people who wanted to advertise on TV.
However, in this third season, which came to an end this week in the U.S., Jimmy is getting closer and closer to taking on the personality the audience knows from Breaking Bad. He tests the limits of ethics and creates uncomfortable situations for others, as long as he can achieve his goals, however noble they may seem.
The biggest example is the trial during the lawsuit filed against him by his brother Chuck (Michael McKean). As seen in the previous season, Jimmy actually altered data from a case to hurt Chuck and help his girlfriend/partner/only friend Kim (Rhea Seehorn), which caused him to be sued by his own brother. What is the solution found by Jimmy? Create a trap and humiliate Chuck in front of the others in the courtroom.
This season, therefore, saw the end of the brothers’ relationship, as well as the degrading situation of Chuck’s health (that had a tragic ending in the last episode). Although sad, Chuck’s end was predictable, since he is responsible for bringing up Jimmy’s worst side and, without this “push”, Saul Goodman probably would not have become the character known in Breaking Bad.
Mike (Jonathan Banks) continues with his serious expressions and his (too) long scenes for a show with only 10 episodes per season. It is true that he always has a plan to execute, but there is no need to spend precious minutes showing the minutia, with this amount of detail (an example is the scene in which he tears a car apart, almost completely, piece by piece, to find a tracking device).
Other Breaking Bad characters also appear this season, such as Gus (Giancarlo Esposito), and finally the audience may see the beginning of the relationship with Nacho (Michael Mando) and Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis).
The pacing of the show is slower than is usually seen on TV, which ends up generating less excitement at the end of each episode. Only when the season comes to an end is it possible to analyze everything that happened and note that only one year has passed in the lives of the characters in these 3 seasons. It is not known for sure whether it was a full year, since the first season begins in 2002 and this ends in 2003, without making any mention of the months.
So there’s nothing left for the viewers but to wait for the show to be renewed for a fourth season and rely on Vince Gilligan, who is also the creator of Breaking Bad, who certainly already knows where he wants to go with all the characters.
