Fans of AMC’s smash hit Breaking Bad have been desperately searching for any information about the upcoming spinoff series, Better Call Saul. Co-creators Peter Gould and Vince Gilligan have kept details about the show pretty airtight — until now! Here are some of the details released when Gould and Gilligan took the stage at the Television Critics Association press tour this week.
The official synopsis:
“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, wove with dark humor.”
There had been much speculation as to when the show would actually take place. It now seems the spinoff will take place in the past — 2002 to be exact. Though, when asked about the timeline Gilligan went on to say, “Without getting in trouble or giving anything away…You saw that we like non-linear storytelling on Breaking Bad. Anything that was possible on Breaking Bad is possible on Better Call Saul.”
The Goodman character was often seen as a sort of comedy relief in an otherwise dark and twisted plot line throughout the original Breaking Bad Series. So what sort of show should we expect to see? Gilligan explained that they looked at the show from every which angle, one that included a comedy of sorts where Goodman deals with a new client every week. Gould eventually settled and said that the show will follow in the “tradition of Breaking Bad.”
“Initially, he was introduced to solve a story problem, but it was so much fun to write a character who was a slippery and loquacious. As the series went on, Walter got deeper and heavier, so we had another character skidding over the top of the waves and that seemed to work.”
In addition to Odenkirk reprising his role, the network confirmed the line-up of regulars. Jonathan Banks returns as the “fixer” Mike Erhmantraut, Michael Mckean as Chuck, Patrick Fabian as Hamlin, Michael Mando as Nacho, and Rhea Seehorn as Kim.
Perhaps the biggest question still remains unanswered. Will Walter White make an appearance?
Better Call Saul will premier early 2015. The first season will consist of 10 episodes with Gilligan directing the first episode himself. The series already has the go-ahead for a second season.
