Apparently not everyone in the UK is watching Better Call Saul, the superlative prequel spin-off of Breaking Bad, so we’ve taken the liberty of addressing some of the potential reasons that you haven’t dived in yet.
New episodes of the ten-part first season are available each week for streaming exclusively on Netflix every Tuesday at 7am UK time.
Let’s see if we can persuade you to start watching…
I don’t like the character of Saul Goodman
That’s fine, he’s a dodgy lawyer with a currently poorly-defined rationale, but that’s the entire point of the series, to get to know Saul (or, as he was originally known, Jimmy McGill) a little better.
However, if he’s not enough for you, the series has a trump card in that it also delves into the backstory of another notable Breaking Bad character, badass former cop Mike Ehrmantraut, who is arguably more fascinating.
It’s a prequel; we’ve already seen what’s going to happen
Just because you’ve seen the future of a character doesn’t mean you’ve seen all they have to offer you. In fact, Better Call Saul’s sixth episode alone gives us more of a sense of Mike than his entire run on Breaking Bad.
Also, were you aware of Saul’s brother, Chuck, and his health problems? Finally, in another well-kept secret, the series is not just a prequel – we’ve already seen a post-Breaking Bad version of Saul and it’s clear we’re going to see more.
It’s not Breaking Bad
Well, that’s true, but everything should have its own identity. If you want Breaking Bad, then watch that again.
That being said, Better Call Saul shares the look, musical sensibilities and sheer scripting quality of that series, frequently thought of as one of the best television series ever made. The Last Supper isn’t the Mona Lisa either but, y’know, the skill of the artist shows in both.
I didn’t like Breaking Bad
Well, that’s good too because, as you’ve already seen, it’s not Breaking Bad. Forget that series even existed, here you’ve got a stylish comedy drama about a resourceful, shifty attorney and an ex-cop who slowly position themselves at the centre of Albuquerque’s criminal underworld.
If that’s not enough, it provides regular screen time to the extremely talented, This Is Spinal Tap legend Michael McKean as the afore-mentioned Chuck who suffers from a mental condition (a perceived weakness to electromagnetic forces) that a lesser series would play for laughs but which Better Call Saul has used to provide an electrifying and terrifying sequence of Chuck attempting to leave his house.
I want to binge-watch the whole season once it’s available
It’s an increasingly popular way to watch a series nowadays, but in this instance we’d recommend against it. Breaking Bad had some astonishing cliffhangers, and waiting for the next week or the next season was a big part of their power. It’s only a matter of time before Better Call Saul pulls a big enough cliffhanger to justify weekly watching.
I don’t want to get into it yet in case it’s cancelled
Ah, well the universe is on your side on this one, because the second season has already been commissioned so you’re guaranteed a decent chunk of quality television.
I don’t like nice things to happen to me
While that’s undeniably a shame, it’s outside the scope of either CultBox or Better Call Saul to fix, but we wish you all the best.
Okay, I’ll watch it; give me some useless trivia I can amaze friends with
The team wanted every episode title in Season 1 to be one word ending with the letter “o” but they ran into a copyright issue with Episode 5 which they were hoping to call ‘Jell-O’. When permission was refused, they opted to call it ‘Alpine Shepherd Boy’ instead.
Why aren’t you watching Better Call Saul? Let us know below…