Better Call Saul, despite being a very good show, has always had something of an identity problem. It frequently can’t seem to figure out whether it wants to stand on its own or to provide fan service to lovers of Breaking Bad. Despite the fact that Breaking Bad is my favorite show of all time, I have always thought that Better Call Saul is strongest when it tells new stories with new characters. That issue is readily apparent in the first two episodes of Better Call Saul’s third season, which premiered on April 10. While both episodes are terrific television, the show is creeping closer and closer to becoming Breaking Bad-lite with the addition of a major Breaking Bad character (this review will contain spoilers through this past Monday’s second episode of the season).
The third season picks up minutes after the second season ended, as Jimmy McGill (as usual, I will refer to this character as “Jimmy McGill” for events taking place on Better Call Saul and as “Saul Goodman” for events taking place on Breaking Bad) has admitted to his brother Chuck that he intentionally sabotaged Chuck’s firm by altering documents kept in Chuck’s house that led to prominent client Mesa Verde firing Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill and deciding to hire Kim Wexler instead. Chuck surreptitiously tapes Jimmy making this confession, and he baits Jimmy into attempting to steal the tape, thus committing a crime in front of witnesses. Despite running her own firm and landing a huge client in Mesa Verde, Kim feels extremely guilty that she only got the business due to Jimmy’s meddling, not by her own merit. And Mike Ehrmantraut diligently works to figure out who prevented him from killing Hector Salamanca in the Season 2 finale. His investigation leads him to Pollos Hermanos (and we know from Breaking Bad who works there) only to discover that his quarry knows that Mike is watching.
Jimmy and Kim continue to demonstrate that sharing office space is a bad idea. In the premiere, an Air Force Captain who Jimmy previously conned upbraids Jimmy in the office, in front of his clients. Jimmy’s antics are thus surely going to eventually embarrass Kim, particularly because her main client is a bank. In Monday’s episode, Jimmy angers Kim when he hires secretary Francesca Liddy (who was also Saul’s secretary on Breaking Bad) on the spot during the interview despite asking softball questions and without consulting Kim or interviewing other candidates (though, in Jimmy’s defense, Francesca is very competent and is a hit with Jimmy’s elderly clients).
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Jimmy and Kim’s shared professional life is further complicated by the fact that they are still in a relationship with each other. And Kim is still upset about the fact that Jimmy undermined HHM, leading to Kim landing Mesa Verde on false pretenses. Actress Rhea Seehorn perfectly plays Kim’s unease when her contact at Mesa Verde badmouths HHM’s supposed incompetence to her; Kim is unable to pile on HHM because she knows the truth about how she actually obtained the business.
Better Call Saul is typically not a show like, say, Mad Men, in which characters’ storylines have parallel themes even if those characters do not interact. Indeed, for most of last season, Mike was essentially in his own show, rarely interacting with Jimmy. That remains somewhat true in the third season, as Mike spends the entire premiere and about half of the second episode apart from Jimmy. But in Monday’s episode, Mike recruits Jimmy to help him catch whoever placed a tracker in Mike’s car; Mike follows the unknown man to Pollos Hermanos but he does not know what happens inside. Jimmy eats breakfast at Pollos Hermanos but the unknown man does not contact anyone while there. Jimmy is a horrible spy in this scene, as he is overtly watching the man, and even moves his seat to be closer to him. Jimmy’s lack of skill is questionable given his history as a con man; one would think that Jimmy would excel at this task.
Jimmy, unsurprisingly, runs into Breaking Bad’s Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) while at Pollos Hermanos. I have mixed feelings about Gus’s return. Gus is a fantastic character, one of the greatest television villains of all time. But Gus on Breaking Bad is so perfect that I worry that his legacy will be somehow tarnished on Better Call Saul. Furthermore, I am always for Better Call Saul standing as its own show instead of constantly parading in actors from Breaking Bad.
Mike’s storyline also somewhat parallels Chuck. Both Mike and Chuck engage in relatively complicated plans to catch someone (there are even parallel scenes in which Mike and Chuck clandestinely watch out of their windows). Mike fools the men watching him into believing that the tracker they placed in Mike’s car is low on battery, but once they take the tracker away, Mike is able to track them. This leads to a great, albeit long, scene, in which Mike follows one of the trackers from afar as the man makes several stops, picks up unknown packages from secret locations, and ultimately arrives at Pollos Hermanos.
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Chuck’s plan is even more complicated. He realizes that Jimmy’s confession about doctoring HHM documents is unlikely to be admissible. He therefore “accidentally” plays part of the tape for Ernesto, an HHM employee who likes Jimmy. Ernesto is so troubled by the tape that he tells Kim, who in turn tells Jimmy. Chuck expects Jimmy to react with anger and to steal the tape, so he hires a private investigator as a witness. And that is exactly what happens; Jimmy angrily fights his way into Chuck’s house (albeit in the middle of the day instead of under the cover of darkness, as Chuck expected) and attempts to destroy the tape, witnessed by both the investigator and Howard Hamlin. Surprisingly, Chuck’s plan is more successful than Mike’s when it is revealed that the men Mike is spying on are aware they are being watched.
I will definitely check in on Better Call Saul several times this season to see how the show utilizes Gus while staying true to the legal story it has set up over the past two seasons. And if Better Call Saul decides to bring in more Breaking Bad actors, let it be one less notable, such as the pizza that Walter White threw onto the roof of his house.
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 [email protected]. Be sure to follow Harry Graff on Twitter at @harrygraff19.