Why Better Call Saul is Brilliant

Better Call Saul is one of the best shows on TV right now. It's as entertaining as it is inventive. It feels distinct even in the so-called Golden Age of TV. When I first heard that Vince Gilligan and the crew were making a Breaking Bad spinoff centered around a unique but goofy side character I'll admit I was skeptical but Better Call Saul has turned out to be something wonderful and amazing in its own right. And as the third season wraps up I want to talk about why I think it's such a special show examining specifically the aspects of the show that set it apart from most shows on television right now. This video is free of *major* plot spoilers but I'll be using examples from Seasons 1 & 2. [theme music] I want to start with a quick example of the kind of visual storytelling that makes me love Better Call Saul. In the pilot of the show Jimmy McGill our main character is standing at an elevator and we have no idea where and we get this wide shot with a dented trashcan in the foreground. Jimmy Looks at it so we know it's important but we don't understand the significance of it yet. The scene progresses and we find ourselves in this huge fancy law firm where Jimmy seems to know everybody. They could have introduced this location with an establishing shot of Jimmy entering through the front door but by introducing the scene with Jimmy coming up through the basement on the elevator we've already contextually started to associate frustration and possibly anger with this location even though Jimmy seems friendly with everyone. As the scene continues, we get a few minutes of dialogue that gives us background about where we are and Jimmy's relationship to these people HOWARD: That's money for Chuck Isn't that what you wanted? JIMMY: A measly 26 grand? Another short scene updates us on a subplot from the episode without using any dialogue and then five minutes later just when we started to forget about it: [kicking trashcan] pay off [denting of trashcan intensifies] [sad steel guitar] With a brilliant shot that pulls back as an amazing reveal And with just a few more shots they establish the entire context of a relationship We learn so much about these two characters' relationship and history visually that they can say almost nothing to each other. JIMMY: Couldn't you just - KIM: No I can't. And we already understand so much. This whole sequence uses visuals to establish the fact that Jimmy has a history at this place He's worked with these people and he's experienced frustrations here in the past but not a word of exposition is needed. Probably the most immediately noticeable thing about Better Call Saul is the uniqueness of its look. I could spend an entire video talking about the use of wide shots in this show building upon some of the established visual themes in Breaking Bad. Wide shots are used to an amazing effect. In most shows and even in many movies these days wide shots often serve simply as an establishing shot but Better Call Saul probably more than any other show I've seen uses them to their full potential. In addition to establishing places and settings super wide shots communicate a sense of aloneness and they're used for dramatic emphasis much like a close-up is used in many shows. Randomly grab an episode of any network crime show or law show off the shelf and you often end up with scenes that consist of a wide establishing shot or two or three people talking followed by a series of over-the-shoulder medium close-ups. Better Call Saul a show where many of the characters are lawyers and paralegals could easily fall into this trap but they keep the scenes grounded in the world with these wide and ultra wide shots. But the use of wide angles - while the most obvious - isn't the extent of what makes the cinematography special. They'll often use longer takes, dynamic blocking and go the extra mile with location work to create some incredibly cinematic moments. Better Call Saul has a slow deliberate pacing that's rarely found on TV. The very first post-title scene of the show is a quiet awkward courtroom. The cold open before the title had almost no dialogue and that's followed up with this: [awkward slurping] It's eight minutes from the start of the show until you get a real audible line of dialogue said by a character on the screen. This is *usually* the time when pilot episodes are trying to suck you in with something exciting or intense. Even Breaking Bad started off with more of a bang. But Better Call Saul establishes itself from the start as being more interested in the quieter slower workings of the characters and the world. The dramas that are happening within each episode are small compared to those in many other shows or even compared to Breaking Bad. Better Call Saul does an excellent job of unfolding those smaller dramas in a way that feels meaningful. A smaller story isn't less worthy of the screen it just needs a different lens to view it by. Better Call Saul gives us that lens by giving the characters the time and the space they need to live breathe and grow. The creators of the show don't tell us to care about Jimmy McGill or to start to sympathize with Mike Ehrmantraut They allow us to see them in action, good and bad and we can't help but become endeared to them in the process. But it's not just slow; we also get, when appropriate excellent use of montages to move us through time quickly. [smooth af blues] Shows with rich, fully fleshed-out characters are more common in TV now but it's still difficult to pull off. Better Call Saul has very human characters that do things that make sense for them to do not just what the plot needs next. Jimmy's relationship with his brother Chuck is an excellent example of this. [Chuck] You look piqued Jimmy: I'm fine, please just sit. Chuck: You're not in trouble While many viewers dislike Chuck and tend to side with Jimmy as the protagonist of the show when conflict between them arises Chuck is treated fairly sympathetically by the show. Chuck: I understand that you have... [stammering]... great affection for Jimmy a great many people do but PLEASE open your eyes We can understand his motivations and why he feels the way he does when conflict arises with his brother and this is true to life. In life when a rift forms between two people it can often be hard to place the blame on one of them in particular. Instead there often tends to be parts of their personalities or value systems that are at odds and the blame is often a matter of perspective. The show doesn't paint its characters in black and white. Howard: Give Chuck my love would you It's hard to identify a real villain for the show. The show often lets us see and consider both sides of an issue Kim: [clobbers Jimmy] Jimmy: Kim... What?! Kim: Just drive. Similarly Kim and Jimmy's relationship is one that is given very little exposition. We don't know much about their history together or even their current status but we don't need to because we're shown as much as we need to know to care about them. Jimmy: Yes Mrs Kettleman, so good of you to return... a..actually I don't have Mr McGill at the moment, but I know he.. What is Better Call Saul? A drama? A comedy? A crime show? A courtroom drama? A thriller? Better Call Saul often seems to defy definition existing outside any clear genre label. It is what it needs to be for any given episode or story beat. Some of the comedic scenes with Jimmy and the brilliant silent investigative scenes with Mike Ehrmantraut feel like they could come from two different kinds of shows. But the scenes never feel dissonant the comedy never feels out of place and the drama doesn't feel too somber. It's a balancing act propelled by logical writing that serves the story instead of the genre. You never get the feeling that they added plot elements to keep it a crime show or a comedy Better Call Saul is in a very unique position. We know how it ends before we even start the show. Sure we don't know the details and there can and will be some twists along the way but from the very start the audience knows what Jimmy will become. They know who Saul Goodman is from Breaking Bad. But even if they don't, the cold-open flash-forwards from the start of each season reminds us from the very beginning what the end game is for Jimmy McGill Saul Goodman is an inevitable future for Jimmy McGill. Hi I'm Saul Goodman and I will do the fighting for you! No charge is too big for me. when legal forces have you cornered Better Call Saul! How many shows announced the outcome in the very title? Most show titles are a mere hint at the premise but Better Call Saul is a thematically purposeful show; it doesn't beat around the bush. I don't think that all shows should be more upfront and direct about their themes and where they're going but the fact that Better Call Saul does this sets it firmly apart in a sea of well-produced TV It flirts with fatalism in a way that we rarely experience on the small screen. In this way it's the perfect spinoff and development of Breaking Bad, It doesn't just happen in the same story universe, it's cut from the same thematic cloth. Better Call Saul reverse-engineers Breaking Bad. Where Breaking Bad was about taking you on a journey of learning to hate a character as they become completely evil Better Call Saul is about showing you the past of someone we already know will become a sleazy criminal and making us feel sympathetic for that character by showing us what made him become Saul Goodman. Better Call Saul keeps the viewer in suspense and I'm not talking about edge-of-your-seat tension or fear that someone is going to jump out from behind a dumpster. The writers are pulling you along with a series of overlapping questions and answers. I think this is a big way they're able to keep the show interesting even though the biggest dramatic question of the show has already kind of been answered. By moving the audience's minds off of the question of what happens to Jimmy in the end, the show lets them focus on how Jimmy gets there. The writers are comfortable with you as a viewer being in the dark about something for entire scenes or episodes and even when the answer is revealed it doesn't feel like they have to spell it out for you. Answers are slowly unraveled like the true nature of Chuck's condition and it creates an air of mystery that doesn't exist even in many mystery and crime-solving shows on TV today. The Creators truly understand "show don't tell" and watching Better Call Saul feels more like a discovery than being told a story which for me is a cornerstone of a great experience with TV or film. Here's an example In this scene Chuck shows Jimmy how to peel tape off of his wall so that the wood isn't damaged. Jimmy would rather rip it off quickly but Chuck is careful, methodical and precise, highlighting the differences between the two brothers Nevertheless Jimmy is willing to learn Chuck's method and apply it A whole episode later, we get this scene and with no dialogue so much is communicated about Jimmy's unconscious desire to fit into his brother's mold and his conscious rebellion against that. Better Call Saul is endlessly drawing me in, making me think "what's going on inside that character's head?" It's hard to rank Better Call Saul, among the many great TV shows right now but I know it's one of the best. It's consistently fresh, interesting, logical and with great cinematography, music, rich characters, interesting themes and good writing I find myself looking forward to where the show will lead instead of as I do with most shows just hoping the next season isn't worse than the one before. TV is an incredible feat; it's hard to maintain quality for 40 to 60 or even 100 hours so when a team is able to pull that off I can't help but celebrate it. I'm Thomas Flight This has been another video for my series Off the Screen. This is a bit of a longer video so let me know what you think in the comments. Remember to subscribe if you want to see more content like this and share the video with a friend if you think they might enjoy it. I'm sorry it's been a little bit longer getting this video to you but I've got a lot of cool stuff coming soon so stay tuned and I'll see you again soon.

Channel: Thomas Flight

Views: 1,756,098

Keywords: analysis, every frame a painting, lessons from the screenplay, nerdwriter1, thomas flight, video essay, Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul Review, Better Call Saul video essay, Better Call Saul analysis, Saul Goodman, Jimmy Mcgill, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Best TV Shows, Bob Odenkirk, amc, film analysis, manchester by the sea, citizenfour, Off the screen, Better call saul breakdown, emmy, golden age of tv, season 3, Scene, finale, wide shots

Id: AwvJ-77O_uk

Length: 14min 48sec (888 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 19 2017