When Breaking Bad ended in 2013, it left fans craving more. Whether it be more on Walter’s partner, Jesse, or his criminal lawyer, Saul, or even just more from Vince Gilligan, the fans just did not want the show to end. So, when AMC announced that they would be airing a spinoff of the show called Better Call Saul, many fans, including me, became very excited and anxious for the new show to begin. Although many were thrilled about the new spinoff, others were skeptical. Since Breaking Bad got such good reviews and is regarded as one of the best TV shows ever, they didn’t want Better Call Saul to flop and not be as good as Breaking Bad. Luckily, the first season ended up living up to its hype, and ended up even being on par with its predecessor. The first episode has already gotten better reviews and ratings than the first episode of Breaking Bad.

The show begins showing a much different version of the Saul we were used to. He has grown facial hair, and is working at a Cinnabon. I soon realized this was actually future Saul, after all of the events from Breaking Bad had occurred. This was an extremely solid start to the show, since it was interesting to see what had happened to Saul, and it caught my and many other fan’s attentions right away. The show then switches, showing Saul in a court room, trying desperately to defend his client. Sadly, he fails, and leaves the courtroom. He starts arguing with a worker outside, trying to get his $700 for the case. It’s definitely weird to see Saul doing his best to get only $700, since in Breaking Bad, money is not an issue to him. He soon leaves the courthouse, to be greeted by a face that fans of the original series recognized right away. The ticket booth worker is none other than Mike. The two argue, since Saul doesn’t have a time ticket to leave. He finally gets his ticket and is able to leave, and goes to talk to one of his clients. Soon after this, he drives home and accidentally hits a skateboarder, which inspires him with a new way to pursue new clients.

In all, the pilot episode was extremely well done. The way it was filmed gives it the mood fans of Breaking Bad are familiar with, and the dialogue kept me interested and entertained throughout the episode. The way the characters interacted was very realistic and seeing characters from Breaking Bad made the show even better. The show only continued to improve as time went on. More and more of the plot was revealed, and we got to see more of Saul’s shady lawyer antics and learn more about his past, how hard he worked, and what decisions he made to get to where he ended up in Breaking Bad. The episodes also did an extremely well job handling character development. We learned a lot more about Saul and all of the other characters as they had to make tough decisions, converse with each other, and handle what was going on with their lives.

Some episodes were a bit drawn out, although this was not a big issue since it made the show more realistic and still continued to catch my attention. In all, the episodes were just as entertaining as any episode of Breaking Bad, and Vince Gilligan’s amazing directing definitely showed through. Better Call Saul had many intense moments, and many of the character’s interactions were very memorable and acted out exquisitely. The show, like Breaking Bad, continues to center on the line between good and evil choices, and lets the characters choose which path to take. This is heavily focused on in the season finale, where Saul has the chance to make a great deal of money with Mike.

The finale was a great ending to the season, and was aesthetically pleasing and entertaining like every other episode. Although many prequels struggle to be surprising, since audiences already know what is going to happen in the future, Better Call Saul has done an excellent job continuing to shock its watchers. The show will continue for a second season in 2016, and many fans, including me, are looking forward to more of Saul’s antics and decisions.