S01.E01: Uno

[halgia]

Jimmy works magic in the courtroom; after being inspired unexpectedly, Jimmy tries an unconventional method for pursuing potential clients.

[Primetimer]

AMC's Breaking Bad spinoff prequel arrives freighted with expectations. How well does it meet them?

Read the story

[Tabasco Cat]

Really looking forward to this. Let's hope Vince Gilligan and his writers can work the same magic with Bob Odenkirk in the lead role as they did with Bryan Cranston.

[millennium]

.

Edited February 9, 2015 by millennium

[CletusMusashi]

This is exactly what I feared. Certainly nothing I can take seriously as a dramatic series, so, basically a comedy... except with no laughs. Odenkirk, as usual, does nothing technically wrong. He's not a bad actor in any way that I can specifically put my finger on. In fact, he has a great sense of what is funny, and a long history of associating himself with, and even writing for, really brilliant hilarious stuff. But he himself, on camera, is a comedy vacuum. I just never laugh at him. He's one of those guys like Ricky Gervais who I know I'm supposed to find hilarious, and must be some kind of illiterate barbarian if I don't, so when the punchline is over I'm still sitting there waiting for it, and feeling vaguely guilty for not appreciating him more.

[Umbelina]

Holy crap!  I wasn't expecting Tuco!

Edited February 9, 2015 by Umbelina

[Eegah]

Holy crap, I love that Gilligan was able to get Raymond Cruz back, and more importantly keep it secret. And since Tuco was already dead by the time Saul entered Breaking Bad, there's no continuity hiccups to worry about. Well played, sir.

[Bryce Lynch]

First episode was only so so. Kind of slow moving and amusing at times but not super funny.

Hopefully episode 2 with lots more Tuco will be better.

[Umbelina]

They are setting it up, I'll definitely give this a few more episodes.  Oh, what am I saying?  I'm in for the duration.

[portia7]

Tuco and Mike!

[TVFan17]

I'm on stupid West Coast time, so I'm still waiting to see BCS. 

 

I am hoping that all of the other characters on the show (and any possible cameos, such as the Tuco appearance) are going to make it worth watching.  I'll stick with it through the season, of course, but there is only so much of Saul's shtick that I can take.  He was a bit of comic relief in the midst of the ensuing mayhem on BrBa, but I don't need a whole show revolving around him cracking jokes.  I don't even know that I necessarily care how Jimmy became Saul -- unless it involves interesting new characters and/or familiar faces along the way. 

 

Vince Gilligan must feel pretty confident that Saul is an interesting enough character to carry a whole series, so I am trying to trust his judgment.

[SignGuy]

They had me at Cinnabon in Nebraska.

[Valny]

It wasn't the greatest pilot but I will give it time, especially with Tuco back!!!

 

I thought it was it was so funny they actually took it to Cinnabon.

Edited February 9, 2015 by Valny

[benteen]

I thought it was good.  Some good stuff in the premiere although I don't quite know what they were trying to do at times.  Not perfect but good.  I liked the first episode of Breaking Bad when I saw it but it was the second episode of that show that got me hooked.

 

Odenkirk is terrific as always and it's always good to see Michael McKean.  Mike!  And Tuco!  He was a legitimate surprise.

 

Was that the nail salon that Saul wanted Jesse to buy?

 

Cool showing the post-BB flash forward.  I know that Saul ended up in Nebraska because Odenkirk was shooting a film called Nebraska at the time.  They apparently borrowed the black and white from that film too.

Edited February 9, 2015 by benteen

[DrSpaceman]

I agree the first episode was a bit slow and a whole lot of set up, but I am willing to give it time.

Breaking Bad started slow as well, in much the same way, and just built up and up from there to almost the very end.

Defintely was not expecting Tuco

The show does need more than just Saul, but I think that will happen. The opener just focused on him.

The series seems to be focusing the same way on Saul's transformation as breaking bad did on Walter's.

[Dianaofthehunt]

Tuco? Where was he in Episode 1? What scene? I completely missed him.

[Umbelina]

Yeah, when Saul was going into hiding, he told Walt he'd be lucky to be managing a Cinnabon.  Nice touch.

 

This isn't supposed to be a comedy, any more than Mad Men or Breaking Bad is a comedy, at best, "dramady" which is just about my favorite kind of show.  I'm sure he had a bumpy ride to becoming Saul, so riding along sounds good to me.

Tuco? Where was he in Episode 1? What scene? I completely missed him.

He answered the door, last scene. 

 

Did your DVD cut off or something, this show ran long.

[Dianaofthehunt]

I never saw that scene! The episode ended when Jimmy McG was at the street corner plotting the faux-fall with the two skateboarders. Right after that, Talking Heads came on. I wuz cheated!

[Blakeston]

I was very confused by two plot points:

 

1. What, exactly, the kids in the video were having sex with. I knew it was some sort of skull, but I didn't realize until I read it online that they went into a funeral home and sawed off a corpse's head.

 

2. How Jimmy/Saul ended up at the door of Tuco's relative. I figured he had gone to Betsy's house. How would he have tracked the woman down? 

[SignGuy]

Cant blame AMC for trying to catch some of the walking dead audience, but glad Saul's headed to Mondays.

[bmoore4026]

Seeing the present day in black and white and the past in color was a nice touch.  Also, Bob Odenkirk did an exquisite job during the present day sequence, how Saul is work a paltry job and living in fear and wanting his old life back.  Touching.

 

Don't much care for Michael McKean's character.  I find him boring and a load.

 

That being said, those skater boys are fucked, aren't they?  They screwed with the wrong elderly Hispanic lady.

[Tabasco Cat]

I knew something weird was going to happen at that house, but I wasn't expecting Tuco. That woman is probably Tuco's mother and Tio Hector's sister.

What's up with Chuck? Is he Jimmy's older brother? Father? And what is he hoping to recover from? Sounds like some sort of phobia about electricity. He seemed rational enough, but Jimmy's sure he's never going back to work at HHM.

[Nashville]

2. How Jimmy/Saul ended up at the door of Tuco's relative. I figured he had gone to Betsy's house. How would he have tracked the woman down? 

 

Before the skateboarders hung up on Saul, they told him (a) they were following the station wagon after the hit-and-run, and (b) what neighborhood they were in.  Saul was looking for them, saw the car and the skateboards in the front yard, saw the shattered windshield, and - voila!

[SignGuy]

2. How Jimmy/Saul ended up at the door of Tuco's relative. I figured he had gone to Betsy's house. How would he have tracked the woman down?

He had Huell lift the old lady's gps when she wasn't looking.

[thuganomics85]

I thought it was OK.  I'm trying to just keep telling myself not to compare it to Breaking Bad, and enjoy it on it's own merits.  Still, there were some slow moments, and I'm not sure yet if they can develop non-BB characters as well as the others.  I didn't find Saul/Jimmy's brother all that interesting, the rival law firm seems like stereotypes, and the skater bros were amusing, but also made me yearn for Badger and Skinny Pete.

 

I did love Bob Odenkirk.  Besides BB, I really enjoyed him on FX's Fargo, so I'm all for him taking lead here, and I think he can make it work.  Saul was mainly a comic relief character, but I think they can make him compelling, if the writing and acting are tight enough. I do like that they are already showing him lose cases and have his big plan completely crash and burn, so he isn't going to be some kind of perfect unstoppable force, which would have been ridiculous.

 

Loved the Mike appearance.  Amused that they did the whole "hide the face" thing at first, even though it was obvious since Jonathan Banks' voice is very distinctive.  I'm curious as to why he was a parking lot employee before he becomes what he was on BB.  A review spoiled that someone else from BB was going to appear, but I totally didn't call it being Tuco, so that was great when he showed up at the end.

 

Liked the post-Breaking Bad scene, and that Saul actually is working at a Cinnabon, like he said he would probably end up doing. Cool that the company was OK with them using their logo and stuff, even thought the scene made it look like it would be extremely boring and soul-crushing to work there.

 

Overall, I'm in.  It showed enough promise to give it a few more episodes.

Edited February 9, 2015 by thuganomics85

[Tabasco Cat]

Liked the post-Breaking Bad scene, and that Saul actually is working at a Cinnabon, like he said he would probably end up doing. Cool that the company was OK with them using their logo and stuff, even thought the scene made it look like it would be extremely boring and soul-crushing to work there.

That was maybe, literally, the final scene from the Breaking Bad story. Sad to see Saul living in fear, all alone and re-playing that VHS tape with all his old BCS television commercials on it.

[portia7]

So Chuck is Jimmy's brother? I didn't get that at all. I just figured he was paying for cancer treatments and couldn't pay his electricity bill.

[Umbelina]

They are going to show this one before tomorrow night's part two, so I'm sure I'll catch more the second time around.

[Nashville]

So Chuck is Jimmy's brother? I didn't get that at all. I just figured he was paying for cancer treatments and couldn't pay his electricity bill.

 

Chuck was the McGill in Hamlin, Hamlin, & McGill.  Which is why he had a claim on 1/3 of the firm.

[portia7]

I totally missed that! I thought the McGill was Jimmy. Urg, I'm dense sometimes.

[Pike Ludwell]

It's a little distracting to see these guys all looking so much older in this stuff happening years earlier. But that's inherent in prequels using the same actors. I'd rather have it than not, and I'll get used to the appearances. Good episode, but not what I expected. After the beginning b&w I'd have gone with a faster pace, more color, and more interesting interactions - just a whole different route. Seemed a little depressing. Maybe it will pick up. 

Edited February 9, 2015 by riverclown

[Tabasco Cat]

I totally missed that! I thought the McGill was Jimmy. Urg, I'm dense sometimes.

They're both McGills, hence the question about how they're related. (Sure in RL two people can share the same last name and not be related but I think it's pretty safe to assume they're somehow related in the show.)

[benteen]

I kept expecting the Nebraska scene to end with Saul learning what happened to Walt on the news.

[HappyDancex2]

I love the slow story tell.... While rapid plot points is usually an easier sell, Vince always seems to surprise and use all these nuances to tell his story and I admire that. He has the difficult task of integrating characters whose forward stories we are well aware of and new characters that we care less about at least right now. We're watching the people we know and looking for possible BB crossover characters....poking holes in plot continuity and rewriting the story WE think is the most plausible.....I really think Vince has his hands full.

[placate]

I really hope they bring Francesca into this.  I want to see the talk around the water cooler with Francesca, Huel, and Kuby.

[Tabasco Cat]

I love the slow story tell.... While rapid plot points is usually an easier sell, Vince always seems to surprise and use all these nuances to tell his story and I admire that. He has the difficult task of integrating characters whose forward stories we are well aware of and new characters that we care less about at least right now. We're watching the people we know and looking for possible BB crossover characters....poking holes in plot continuity and rewriting the story WE think is the most plausible.....I really think Vince has his hands full.

Agree completely. We knew Vince was going to turn Walter White from Mr. Chips into Scarface, but we didn't know how. We already know, from the B&W cold open, exactly where Jimmy McGill aka Saul Goodman is going to end up. How he gets to the point where we meet him in BrBa is going to take some very creative storytelling to keep it interesting. I'm willing to trust Vince Gilligan for a while, he's earned that imo.

[dbro]

Also confused: How did Betsy driving the car turn into Tuco's mom driving the car?

[Umbelina]

We don't know yet. 

 

Was that the same house?  At first I thought Tuco's mom might be her maid or nanny, and she called her to come take the car home.  ??  I really need to watch this again, I was distracted for parts of it. 

[Irlandesa]

That was maybe, literally, the final scene from the Breaking Bad story. Sad to see Saul living in fear, all alone and re-playing that VHS tape with all his old BCS television commercials on it.

 

Possibly.  But if Gilligan/Gould reach the point where they feel they've told the prequel story, they could always switch to the sequel.  Heck, we could even learn what happened to Jesse. 

 

Was that the same house?  At first I thought Tuco's mom might be her maid or nanny, and she called her to come take the car home.  ??  I really need to watch this again, I was distracted for parts of it. 

They never specified but I also thought Tuco's mom (or grandma?) could be the maid/nanny.  Jimmy pointed out the car to the kids but I'm wondering if he didn't actually know what they drove.  He just assumed that the car in the driveway was theirs. 

 

I liked the episode more than I thought I would.  The biggest hurdle this show has is its relationship to Breaking Bad.  Breaking Bad took a time to build but by the third season, it was at a very fast pace.  It also had a very distinctive hook--Mr. Chips to Scarface--while he was also being chased by death.  Better Call Saul doesn't have that very distinctive hook.  It was entertaining enough for me to watch to see what this show becomes.

Edited February 9, 2015 by Irlandesa

[Nashville]

Possibly.  But if Gilligan/Gould reach the point where they feel they've told the prequel story, they could always switch to the sequel.  Heck, we could even learn what happened to Jesse. 

 

They never specified but I also thought Tuco's mom (or grandma?) could be the maid/nanny.  Jimmy pointed out the car to the kids but I'm wondering if he didn't actually know what they drove.  He just assumed that the car in the driveway was theirs. 

 

That, or skaterboi just plowed onto the hood of the wrong dern station wagon. 

Similar baby-poop-brown color notwithstanding.

[Tabasco Cat]

I think the skateboard scammers just picked the wrong car to crash into. Coincidence that there just happened to be another sandalwood mercury station wagon (or whatever it was) coming down the street at that moment.

[shapeshifter]

...I'm willing to trust Vince Gilligan for a while, he's earned that imo.

Yeah, but I'm not seeing Odenkirk being able to fill Cranston's shoes. This still reminds me of The X-Files spinoff, The Lone Gunmen. The highlight was Tuco/Raymond Cruz' surprise appearance at the end. Everything else was kind of meh. Well, the bit when Jimmy kicked the fake injured skateboarder through the line about his car only being worth $500 if there was a $300 hooker sitting in it was pretty good. But not great.

I was very confused by two plot points:

...

2. How Jimmy/Saul ended up at the door of Tuco's relative. I figured he had gone to Betsy's house. How would he have tracked the woman down?

Just in case this still isn't clear: The rich owner of the car, boat, and house wasn't driving. The probably undocumented housekeeper was driving. She freaked out when she "hit" the skateboarder and drove to her grandson's house (Tuco called her his abuela), probably to get the windshield replaced before the rich lady found out.

ETA: I stand completely corrected:

...

Back to the skateboarders and the car... this was posted in another forum and sorta confirms that they just got the wrong car coming down the street. So Tuco's mom isn't the maid or the nanny for that couple with the guy facing an embezzlement charge. Maybe. Vince Gilligan likes to toss those curveballs now and then.

Edited February 10, 2015 by shapeshifter

[markus99]

 

Just in case this still isn't clear: The rich owner of the car, boat, and house wasn't driving. The probably undocumented housekeeper was driving. She freaked out when she "hit" the skateboarder and drove to her grandson's house (Tuco called her his abuela), probably to get the windshield replaced before the rich lady found out.

 

OK , but they showed the rich owner of the car driving away ... how was the switch to the housekeeper made ?

 

EDIT : OK , I see other people have asked this question also . Perhaps all will be revealed soon .

Edited February 9, 2015 by markus99

[Lizzing]

Imdb has Michael Bofshever as Mr. Pinkman on the cast list for this episode.  I know imdb isn't gospel, but it could have been a throw away line that I missed.  Anyone catch him?

 

I think the skater guys just hit the wrong car.  I doubt Tuco's granny was an employee of the embezzling city guy, because I just don't see the Salamanca family putting a grandmother in a position to need a job.

 

Maybe I was just in a mood to be easily amused (I time shifted to watch TWD then TTD back to back, with Saul afterward), but I liked the show and had a giggle at how many windshields bit the dust in this episode...a nice carry over from BrBa.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

I wondered why we saw Saul not paying rapt attention to the Mercury in the driveway.  He was looking at something else (his cell phone?).  I never actually saw Betsy getting into her car.  Had Saul seen the Hispanic lady, he would have called off the scam for that day.  I also love that Betsy and her husband have an outrageously expensive boat, awesome home, and a maid.  Any chance they are dirty as all get out?!

 

Odenkirk does the seemingly meek and defeated man role very well.  He was brilliant as Lester in Fargo where we saw the most timid of all timid characters become a steely monster.  We've seen a similar process begin with Saul.  I am going to thoroughly enjoy this ride. 

Edited February 9, 2015 by Lonesome Rhodes

[millennium]

It's great to be back in Albuquerque.   All that sunlight, those big blue skies, the bright colors! (Forgive me, I live in the snowbound northeast and haven't seen the sun in about two weeks)

It wasn't the greatest pilot but I will give it time, especially with Tuco back!!!

 

I thought it was it was so funny they actually took it to Cinnabon.

 

Me not so much.   In his final appearance of Breaking Bad, Saul says "I'll be lucky if I wind up managing a Cinnabon in Omaha," and then he winds up managing a Cinnabon in Omaha?    Cringe.

I never saw that scene! The episode ended when Jimmy McG was at the street corner plotting the faux-fall with the two skateboarders. Right after that, Talking Heads came on. I wuz cheated!

 

The episode ran 1:17, so yes, you missed a chunk of it.

[Blakeston]

Just in case this still isn't clear: The rich owner of the car, boat, and house wasn't driving. The probably undocumented housekeeper was driving. She freaked out when she "hit" the skateboarder and drove to her grandson's house (Tuco called her his abuela), probably to get the windshield replaced before the rich lady found out.

 

I know - that's why I was questioning how he located Tuco's relative's house. He knew where Betsy lived, but he didn't know where Tuco's relative lived.

 

The first time around, I didn't catch that the skaters told him which neighborhood they were in.

Edited February 9, 2015 by Blakeston

[millennium]

 

Don't much care for Michael McKean's character.  I find him boring and a load.

 

 

This.  Always.   In every show he's in.   He'll always be Lenny.

[millennium]

I kept expecting the Nebraska scene to end with Saul learning what happened to Walt on the news.

 

I have been hoping, probably in vain, that this series would show us more of the media's coverage of the Walter White story.   My biggest complaint about Breaking Bad is that the show virtually ignored the media circus that would have accompanied the Walter White story.   All we got were a couple of newspaper clippings that Walt saw in the cabin and then Gretchen and her husband on that talk show.   Nothing else.   We live in a 24-hour-news world.   The incredible case of Walter White would have been milked for weeks.   It would have spawned books and movies almost overnight.    But Breaking Bad never gave us that broader view of events.

[Tabasco Cat]

Imdb has Michael Bofshever as Mr. Pinkman on the cast list for this episode.  I know imdb isn't gospel, but it could have been a throw away line that I missed.  Anyone catch him?

I didn't notice him. Maybe he was in the courtroom scene? Will have to re-watch. I did notice an RV in the background of one shot. Will have to re-watch for that too!