There are two different moments in Better Call Saul’s second season in which a character defends Jimmy McGill to his brother Chuck while knowing that Jimmy i in the wrong. First, it’s Kim Wexler insisting that Jimmy did not alter the address of Chuck’s Mesa Verde documents, and then in the finale, it’s Chuck’s assistant Ernie claiming that he called Jimmy to help Chuck after his accident. In neither case is the audience actually told that the defending character knows what Jimmy is up to, but based solely on how well the characters are defined, we know that they’re aware. Beyond that, we understand why they lie. As sneaky as Jimmy is, and however unfair or illegal his methods, we know where he’s coming from, we like him, and it’s not at all surprising that the characters in the show feel the same way.
Like Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul is sometimes subtle but rarely ambiguous. Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, and the whole team of writers, directors, and editors are masters at getting complex characterizations across in the most direct (and often visual) ways. They use color, and montages, and careful scene construction to establish the tone of the show and the motivations of the characters.
Take, for instance, the scene in which a young Jimmy observes his father being ripped off by a conman in his convenience store. Jimmy knows he’s lying, and he tells his father, but the clarity of the lie is only revealed to the audience when we see the cash in the man’s wallet. Who can blame Jimmy for buying into the worldview of wolves and sheep? Similarly, who can blame Chuck for feeling that his brother is a perpetual ne’er do well who needs to be stopped?Jimmy frequently overshadows Chuck despite Chuck’s hard work and huge professional success. Chuck’s (former) wife loved Jimmy, his dad loved Jimmy, and his own mother died saying Jimmy’s name. The show uses dramatically efficient moments like this to make us empathize with characters without overly explaining their motivations to us.
This efficiency allows the Better Call Saul writers to tackle the growth of several characters throughout the course of a season. In addition to the Jimmy/Chuck rivalry that forms the series’ spine, the character of Kim Wexler had a tremendous year. While already strong in season 1, Rhea Seehorn’s character is perhaps the best female character on television in season 2. She’s sharp, professional, fiercely independent, and fully believable. Kim is best encapsulated with a line of dialogue in the fifth episode of the season: “You don’t save me, I save me.” Her character is the most unreservedly likable in the show, and if she has a serious weakness, it is likely her fondness for and forgiveness of Jimmy.
Mike Ehrmentraut continues to be a compelling character, as well. We see him fall further and further into a life of crime this year, all because of his need to appease his daughter-in-law and provide a safe, happy life for his granddaughter. It’s simultaneously sweet and heartbreaking to see him doing absolutely everything his late-son’s wife asks of him, knowing that he’s being manipulated.
However, if there is any one flaw with this season, it is with Mike’s plotline. It rarely intersects with the rest of the story, and does more than anything else to remind the audience that Better Call Saul is a Breaking Bad prequel and not its own, independent series. It can be fun to see characters like The Twins and Hector Salamanca again, but they exist in a much different world than Jimmy McGill, with far more severe stakes. While it’s easy to get caught up in Kim and Jimmy’s avoidance (or creation of) professional pitfalls, when juxtaposed with the life-and-death scenarios present in Mike’s storyline, it can make them feel a bit more trivial.
This is just a minor complaint, though. From start to finish, Better Call Saul has been terrific entertainment. Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould have successfully transplanted Breaking Bad’s tense, surprising, character-driven method of storytelling to a considerably different type of narrative. The result is much better than a spinoff has any right to be, and one of the very best shows on television.