User reviews

Better Call Saul certainly delivers!

This is exactly the blend of a dark plot, clever dialogue and intensity that i love! "Mijo" was more action-packed and certainly contributed to the development of Saul Goodman (James McGill). He is definitely heading for a dark route!

The episode was flawlessly written, superb acting and the directing + cinematography is outstanding! (Just like Breaking Bad, but yet Better Call Saul has its own soul)

My vote is: 9.4/10. So far I love the show. Give it a chance, and we will certainly see our beloved lawyer (and others) break-bad!

Better Call Saul is going to be an excellent series, and I am really looking forward to the rest of it. This episode is most of the reason why.

I don't know how they pull it off, but Better Call Saul somehow has a Breaking Bad vibe and feel to it, while also feeling like a completely new and fresh show.

Unlike the first act (which was still great), this episode spends less time developing characters, setting the scene and building the story-line, and more time jumping right into the excitement, suspense and intensity.

Overall this episode was definitely better than the first, and I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the series.

9/10

Greetings from Lithuania.

So finally, it's here. It happened. The sequel or a spin off to one of the greatest TV shows of all time is here.

After seeing first two episodes, it's safe to say that it's a really good show so far. It's hard and impossible to compare these two shows so far, but overall feeling after two episodes is very positive.

Acting is gear here as usual. But the real star of the show so far is writing. Fast, realistic, intriguing, involving and down to earth real - the same thing that was a driving force behind "Breaking Bad" is driving "Better Call Saul" so far.

Overall, first two episodes of this show are very good, vote for both episodes is 9/10.

Jimmy's negotiation skills are very present in this episode, and Tuco again is portrayed very well as a maniac. The drama & high stakes of the opening scene make this a very engaging episode.

This episode encourages us to keep watching the rest of the show by creating a complicated, unique man who is someone of a rarity, named James M. McGill. We find a chance to know him deeply and see how he can use his cogency and persuasiveness. It seems to me that he'll earn a massive amount of money and live in peace for a while. But in the beginning of the show, we saw that his condition after all of these adventures he'd been through with his corporation "Better Call Saul" is desperate, miserable. The best thing about this episode was to see Tuco for one more time and I'm looking forward to seeing Gus euphorically.

You could essentially call this "Pilot part 2" as the episode picks up from the cliffhanger ending of episode 1!

To me this was a step up, as it took everything that worked from the first episode, and just went a little further!

This episode brilliantly balanced dark humor with tension! The first half particularly stood out, but the second half wasn't bad either!

This show found a great way of including characters from Breaking Bad, in a way that made sense in the plot, rather than just fan service to hook you in!

This episode sets up the journey of Jimmy and I found the last scene, the most striking! You can tell he is not Saul Goodman yet, but the seeds are there!

Saul/McGill ends up being quite heroic. He manages to avert the deaths of three people. The downside is that he now is in bed with some really bad men. The scene in the desert is incredible. I love it when a director can portray true human fear like they do here. I enjoyed what was done in "Fargo." We have fascinating characters whom we can believe in. For all his foibles McGill is a truly good man. Somehow, he did all the work to become a lawyer, yet he continues to work the tunnels as a public defender. He has an opportunity, but he really doesn't know enough to act. He would also make himself a felon. We are, for the first time, introduced to his brother, a small time criminal who only appears when he needs something.

The first season of Better Call Saul is starting off with a bang thanks to a wonderful blend of old and new characters. This episode, "Mijo" notches up the tension a level or two with the events that transpired here. Facing death in the eye, we see that Jimmy is no Walter White. Jimmy trying to bluff his away from a horrible situation is funny....and ultimately pathetic. After an episode solely designed for character building, the episode goes right into the action and excitement. I was clinging to my chair the entire first half due to everything going on. I wouldn't think that Jimmy would be facing death in Episode 2, but this might be the moment that truly opens the door on his criminal proceedings. Also, do NOT mess with Tuco's abuelita!

When the last episode ended, the skateboarders Jimmy hired to scam Betsy Kettleman were captured and hogtied by Tuco. Jimmy comes along to the rescue and the skateboarders point out he is the leader of the scam. The three of them are taken to the desert where Tuco is ready to exterminate them. Jimmy pleads for his life and only survives after Tuco's right-hand man, Nacho Varga (Michael Mando) sees through Jimmy. It also makes for a very painful ordeal for the skateboarders, but they all live to see the next day. Jimmy is now involved with Tuco and Nacho, whether he likes it or not. If he wants to live, he better move ahead with the embezzlement scheme.

The plot I mentioned describes the first half of the episode. The second half is a montage of Jimmy going back to his public defender work and his interactions with Chuck. Interesting note is that Chuck wears a space blanket every time he is contact with electronic devices. I also like how we see Jimmy tries to be a good person and that he wants what is best for Chuck, even if Chuck doesn't see it.

The acting remained phenomenal. Bob Odenkirk continues to destroy this role. His best acting moment came in the desert where he pretends to be an FBI agent, but has no idea about this assignment. His facial expressions when the skateboarders have their legs broken is masterful acting. I was so glad to see Tuco! He still has a way with words. I also want to give a shoutout to Michael Mando who plays Nacho, a series regular introduced in this episode. Mando is sharp, intelligent, and a guy you would not want as your enemy.

Overall, this is a tense episode that gets off the ground at high speed. The second half allows you to breathe, but the first half is some of the best television out there. I can't give enough credit to Michelle MacLaren. She directed some of the greatest Breaking Bad episodes, so it's no surprise we get a near perfect episode here.

My Grade: A+

The first episode of Better Call Saul was pretty good, not amazing, but still a solid start. However, the ending of it got me really excited for this episode. This episode however, was way more action-packed and the story really began moving here. The whole situation with Tuco was crazy, and it really let Saul's personality shine. Not only that, but it also showed how amazing a lawyer he is. My only complaint is that the second half of the episode, while not bad by any means, was just kinda boring. I'm really looking forward to the next episode though. I'd love to see more interactions between Tuco and Saul, as those scenes are what really made the episode.

Miljo does not disappoint in its follow up to its reintroduction of the Breaking Bad character Tuco. It feels very much like an episode of BB given the near impossible situation in which it places Jimmy McGill. The writers have a history of extracting their lead characters from painted in corners and these scenes give you confidence that Better Call Saul is going to carry on in the same vein.

The situation is drenched in great black humour. Of all the victims Frick and Frack could have inadvertently chosen it had to be Tuco's grandmother!

A key moment in the story, particularly given how Saul Goodman was shown to be morally quite dubious in BB, is that Jimmy is makes one huge ethical decision regarding the fate of other characters. I would not have had any sympathy for him or invested in his arc had the writers chosen the obvious route of self-preservation. This is clever writing that effectively manipulates audience sensibilities.

What also works well from a consistency perspective are the amount of smart references "lawyer not a criminal ", "stop helping" to memorable BB moments. Some will call it fan service, but when it is meaningful and well written like this it improves the material.

The story moves on to the life and times of Jimmy in strong scenes of where the character is at this point. This includes a strong montage sequence and good interactions between Jimmy and other characters like Chuck, Mike, and Nacho.

For me the visuals continue to be great, this time using the desert to wonderful effect.

Bob Odenkirk is excellent and supported well by the likes of Raymond Cruz, Michael McKean, Michael Mando and Jonathan Banks.

This was close to being rated a 9/10, because this better than the first episode, and this was just a great episode. I am actually having high hopes for this series right now. The pacing maybe kind of slow, but I would much rather just appreciate all of the screentime Vince Gilligan gave us. Anyways, my favorite characters in this episode were Saul, Tuco, and Nacho. My favorite things about this episode were the Protagonist, the storyline, and the Cinematography. This honestly would've made it to being a 9 star rating for me if this episode was 0.1 decimal point higher, but oh well. I am excited to see how Mike becomes what he was in Breaking Bad.