Season 5 episodes 1-2
Created by Vince Gilligan
Starring Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn, Giancarlo Esposito
Network: Stan
Better Call Saul’s fifth season is looking to be one of its strongest yet. Picking up right where we left off, Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) has just used his signature con-artist superpower to regain his status as a lawyer. His chains are off from the very beginning, and there’s no stopping this monster now.
But it s’all good, man. As Jimmy immediately starts making moves, viewers get a sense that he is now pathologically blinded by the fear of feeling worthless and incapable again. He makes changes that are a symbolic gesture of leaving his old life behind. It’s now clear that he’s prepared to take any step that gets him as far away from his old self as possible, even if it means turning his back on the law.
What’s bittersweet about Jimmy is that the superpower which gives him success is also his curse, but he doesn’t seem to mind. An entertaining aspect to season five is that Jimmy’s devilishly creative juices are free to flow now that his morals have been overshadowed. Immediately he’s in the zone as we finally see the ‘criminal for hire’ in his clown-like suits from Breaking Bad return – or better yet, begin.
His girlfriend, Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), has been one of the most compelling characters in the entire series. Even though she has sporadically shown an affinity for conning people herself, she has constantly balanced this with her duty to uphold the law. We sense she won’t be able to juggle apples and oranges for much longer as we know she is nowhere to be seen in Breaking Bad. It’s safe to assume that she either leaves Jimmy, or worse, ends up on the wrong side of a gun. Either way, it will be because her morality will have no place in Jimmy’s new life.
A highlight of this season is the bubbling feud between Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) and Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). With Nacho Varga (Michael Mando) caught in between both kingpins, he could very likely be crushed as a result of their eventual clash as he too is nowhere to be seen in Breaking Bad. Lalo’s addition has been a breath of fresh air. His charming-yet-chilling demeanour is the perfect amount of crazy as he is wildly unpredictable. Even though we suspect Gus to eventually ‘dispose’ of Lalo along his path to becoming head honcho, watching them duke it out this season is sure to be entertaining.
While watching Jimmy’s character develop over this prequel series, his ‘Saulness’ has seeped out here and there but has rarely stayed for long. This meant that the dramatic sides of the show have dominated and the more exciting parts had to take a back seat, a large downfall for the series. However, if you’ve stuck around till now, it was worth the wait.
SHAQUILLE STIRLING
