Conferences / Symposia, Television

Standard Of Review: Talking 'Saul' At The Vulture Festival

Some fun facts that television critic Harry Graff recently learned about Better Call Saul.

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saulMakeup, post-it notes, and yo-yos.

Those were among the things I learned about at last Saturday’s Better Call Saul panel discussion at the Vulture Festival in New York City, entitled “Breaking Better Call Saul.” Moderated by Vulture and New York Magazine television critic Matt Zoller Seitz, the panel included actors Rhea Seehorn (who plays Kim Wexler) and Michael McKean (who plays Chuck McGill) and co-showrunner Peter Gould. Series star Bob Odenkirk (who plays Jimmy McGill) was scheduled to attend but ended up calling in by phone.

At first, I was a bit disappointed that Odenkirk did not attend in person. The Vulture Festival prominently advertised Odenkirk as an attendee (for example, the program featured a large picture of his face), and I did not receive any notification of a change (plus, my tweet to the Vulture Festival inquiring as to what happened has gone unanswered). However, the lack of Odenkirk in person ended up being a net positive for the panel. As anyone who has watched CNN election coverage or any NFL halftime show can attest, more panelists typically detract from a discussion. And without the star of the show, the panelists were able to focus on secondary characters like Kim and Chuck in greater detail than would have been possible if Odenkirk was present. And, it was pretty amusing when the disembodied voice of Odenkirk would occasionally chime in (although he barely spoke for the last half of the panel), as if he was the world’s most character-development-obsessed ghost.

Without Odenkirk, McKean acted like the star of the show, frequently making smart, sarcastic, pithy comments illustrating his intelligence and his comedy background (after all, he was one of the writers and stars of This is Spinal Tap). The funniest moment of the entire panel occurred when McKean delivered a spot-on imitation of his co-star Jonathan Banks (who plays Mike Ehrmentraut) sending back food at a restaurant. Next season, I demand an Orphan Black-esque scene in which Chuck has to imitate Mike for some reason.

McKean also delved into one of the pivotal scenes of the season – the cold open of the season finale – in which Chuck initially breaks down crying as his mother is dying, and then is appalled when his mother calls out Jimmy’s name with her last words. As McKean explains, although Chuck made his mother “proud” by, among other things, becoming the name partner at a prominent Albuquerque law firm, Jimmy “made her laugh.” And that latter slight provides Chuck with a chip on his shoulder.

McKean added that he immediately signed on to play Chuck without reading a script, because he had a great experience working with Saul co-creator Vince Gilligan on The X-Files. But when McKean initially found out that his character would be afflicted with a mysterious illness, McKean worried that he would have to undergo five hours of makeup every day. McKean was relieved when he found out the illness was electromagnetic hypersensitivity.

Left to right: Matt Zoller Seitz, Rhea Seehorn, Michael McKean, and Peter Gould.

Left to right: Matt Zoller Seitz, Rhea Seehorn, Michael McKean, and Peter Gould.

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Seehorn was tremendous as well. She said that when she was initially fitted for Kim, the Better Call Saul costume designer explained that Kim is not affluent enough to purchase expensive suits, so she shops at Marshall’s and Nordstrom Rack for mismatched suit parts. Seehorn stated that she almost cried at this attention to detail, particularly in comparison with other roles in which costume fittings entailed trying on different types of “hotpants.”

Seehorn was also asked by an attorney audience member about her depiction of an associate at a law firm (which was basically exact the question I was going to ask — thanks a lot, random attorney audience member!). Seehorn (and Gould) said that Better Call Saul frequently seeks out actual attorneys for advice on the legal aspects of the show. This season, the writers asked their attorney friends to name the worst possible job Kim could be given when she finds herself in Howard Hamlin’s doghouse. The answer, of course, was document review. Seehorn actually received lessons from real attorneys about how to review documents (albeit in order to depict document review by hand and without a computer; Seehorn now probably knows more than I do about analog review). Amazingly, the documents Kim reviewed on screen actually had text on them; the writers apparently wrote hundreds of pages of fake contracts or other documents (which would probably be the best job ever). Seehorn added that attorneys come up to her all the time and praise Better Call Saul for actually illustrating what being an attorney is really like (a sentiment with which I wholeheartedly agree).

Seehorn further described the production of the excellent montage in which Kim – stuck in the doghouse and without an office – attempts to drum up business by calling virtually every person she knows and putting numerous post-it notes on the firm walls. Seehorn explained the logistics of filming the scene, including her efforts to keep outfits and post-it notes straight for continuity’s sake. She also stated that she wrote out an actual script for the “other side” of each telephone conversation so that each telephone call would sound more genuine.

Co-creator Gould gave an overview of the process of adapting a prequel. Gould explained the difficulty in pitching stories for Better Call Saul based on the “rules” prescribed in Breaking Bad. For example, Jimmy, Mike, and minor characters like Tuco and Hector Salamanca have to stay alive throughout Better Call Saul. Further, the writers must ensure that Jimmy does not interact with characters that Saul does not seem to know on Breaking Bad.

Finally, the most interesting factoid I learned by attending the panel is the background of Mark Proksch, the actor who plays Mike and Jimmy’s dopey drug-dealing client Pryce Wormald. Well before he was cast on Better Call Saul, Proksch duped a number of local television news shows by pretending to be a yo-yo master. But when asked to perform tricks by the oblivious hosts, Proksch engaged in inept yo-yoing, as his yo-yo would either hit him or fly off in different directions (please YouTube these clips; they are worth it). After watching these videos, I fully demand at least one scene of terrible yo-yoing next season.

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Harry Graff is a litigation associate at a firm, but he spends days wishing that he was writing about film, television, literature, and pop culture instead of writing briefs. If there is a law-related movie, television show, book, or any other form of media that you would like Harry Graff to discuss, he can be reached at harrygraff19@gmail.com. Be sure to follow Harry Graff on Twitter at @harrygraff19.

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