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Details Emerge for Breaking Bad Spinoff Better Call Saul

One of my favorite television series of all time was Breaking Bad. Somehow, every season got better than the last, and they wrapped up the series at the height in a satisfying way. Very few long format serialized shows can say that.

Breaking Bad showrunner and creator, Vince Gilligan, along with the writer who created Saul Goodman, Peter Gould, have been working on a spinoff series based around Bob Odenkirk’s character of a criminal lawyer… as in a lawyer who is a criminal. Other than that, there has been very few details about the show until now.

At the Television Critics Association's summer press tour, AMC and Gilligan released the plot details, two images, and the cast list for the spinoff series Better Call Saul. Obviously Bob Odenkirk is back, but we also get Jonathan Banks reprising his Breaking Bad role of Mike Ehrmantraut. Rounding up the rest of the cast are Rhea Seehorn as Kim, Patrick Fabian as Hamlin, Michael Mando as Nacho, and Michael McKean as Saul's brother Chuck. Here are the first images from the series.

We also finally get when the series is set. AMC describes the plot as the following:

The series is set six years before Saul Goodman meets Walter White. When we meet him, the man who will become Saul Goodman is known as Jimmy McGill, a small-time lawyer searching for his destiny, and, more immediately, hustling to make ends meet. Working alongside, and, often, against Jimmy, is "fixer" Mike Ehrmantraut, a beloved character introduced in 'Breaking Bad.' The series will track Jimmy's transformation into Saul Goodman, the man who puts "criminal" in "Criminal lawyer." The series' tone is dramatic, woven with dark humor.

Now we know Saul Goodman’s real name is Jimmy McGill, and I’m expecting, like Breaking Bad, the main character will become his alter ego. Walter White became Heisenberg, and Jimmy McGill will become Saul Goodman, so I’m looking forward to seeing that transformation.

Gilligan and company actually had a more difficult time crafting a story around Saul Goodman than originally thought. Here’s what he said on making the new series:

I thought it was gonna be kind of easy going forward, knowing who this guy is. But we don't really know who this guy is at all... we know [the end of Breaking Bad is] where the guy is going to end up. We're going to bring him to that point. [And since they began knowing that "Saul Goodman" was an assumed name, that's a starting point.] What problem does being Saul Goodman solve?

As far as cameos go from Breaking Bad, we know that it’s possible we’ll be seeing characters from that show, as Better Call Saul will also borrow some of the time jumping format from its predecessor. Other characters who have died on the previous show can also come back as well although Gilligan is hesitant to bring them back. Regarding bringing back Gustavo Fring who ran Los Pollos Hermanos, Gilligan had this to say:

Gus, there's so much more we have to say about that character... Having said that, we're trying to make something that stands on its own, that has an entertainment value that's not just seeing a series of old favorites, or 'Remember when?' It's not the series equivalent of a clip show. We try to balance these things out. But I agree that there's so much to be said about Gus.

Better Call Saul has already been greenlit for a second 13 episode season. The first 10 episode season will premiere sometime early in 2015.

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