Never A Story Of More Woe

In the prologue Shakespeare ensured we learn that Romeo and Juliet have died.  Seeing how they arrive at that fate makes for tragedy.  Tonight is episode 3 in Season 5 of Better Call Saul.  Having watched Breaking Bad we know the fate that awaits Jimmy McGill (aka Saul Goodman, aka Gene Takavic) and Mike Ehrmantraut but the knowing enhances the sense of tragedy surrounding the series.  It's entirely fitting that in a recent article Michael Brendan Dougherty concludes, "Vince Gilligan's Breaking Bad prequel is the most heartbreaking drama ever to appear on TV."

This is the penultimate season of the show.  We've seen Mike (Jonathan Banks), a corrupt Philadelphia cop seek redemption for the death of his son by moving to Albuquerque and supporting his daughter in law and granddaughter but in doing so he's become deeply emeshed in criminal and increasingly violent activities at the direction of fast-food chicken franchise owner and meth kingpin Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), also a lead character in Breaking Bad.

Meanwhile small-time con man Jimmy has tried going straight, or as straight as he can, as a lawyer though being thwarted at every turn by his own stray instincts and his brother Chuck (brilliantly played by Michael McKean - David St Hubbins in Spinal Tap) a highly respected lawyer in one of the largest local firms.

While we know the fate of Mike and Jimmy, we don't know Jimmy's final fate as know from a series of flash-forward's to Jimmy's post Breaking Bad life as Gene Takavic, assistant manager of a Cinnabon in a Omaha mall, fearing every moment that someone will discover his real identity.

What we don't know are the fates of two new characters that we've grown to care deeply about.  Nacho Varga (Michael Mando) involved in the meth trade is an associate of Mike's and Gus Fring.  Yet he dislikes the business and is desperately trying to protect his father, who condemns what his son does but has been placed in danger because of it.  Nacho has an air of sadness and fatality about him.  And he does not appear in Breaking Bad.

Nor does Kim Wexler (the great Rhea Seehorn), Jimmy's fellow lawyer, friend, roommate, and kind of girlfriend.  She's the one person whose approval Jimmy values, at least at times.  She is also from the same kind of hardscrabble background but is more dedicated to the pursuit of the law and following the rules.  Every follower of the series prays nothing bad happens to Kim but we all know something happens to prevent her from appearing in Breaking Bad.  Daughtery tells us, "Showrunners report getting agonized letters and messages from fans pleading with them not to hurt her or bring her to an awful end".

The pace of Better Call Saul is slower and more methodical than Breaking Bad.  It takes it's time getting where it is going because the accumulation of detail is so important.  It's also because:

Vince Gilligan, the creator of the televisual worlds of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, has an unusual talent: he is brilliant at showing us work. What does it feel like to test fast-food sauce recipes, to push a mail cart around an office, to make a cement walkway, or to highlight relevant items in a laborious legal discovery process? What does it look like to cook up meth? In his hands, the work of men and women becomes weirdly gripping.

The law plays an important role in Better Come Saul.  For both Chuck McGill and Kim Wexler it provides structure and rules for lives that might have otherwise become chaotic.  In contrast, Jimmy McGill finds himself unable to abide by those constraints.  Tragedy lies ahead.