AsBetter Call Saulreadies to unveil its fourth season premiere tonight at 9 p.m. Will this be the event that pushes Jimmy toward traumatic transformation into Saul Goodman?
How will he spend the rest of his year whilst suspended from the law?
How much of theBreaking Badworld will leech intoSauls?
Credit: Nicole Wilder/AMC
Now everyone feels comfortable with the fact that Jimmy can be funny; hes a clever guy.
And that the show can sustain it.
But its side by side with this.
Everyone was respectful and tentative on the journey to this dynamic of comedy.
I did a couple of things this year that are fin hilariously fun.
I mean, theyre really silly.
And theyre verging onMr.
But, of course, they would never sell out the character.
Theres a pureness to the comedy…
The heavy drama is rewarding.
Really rewarding.Everything in between, I could do without.
Which is why I would never be good on a procedural.
Because Im only good with the character digging really deep.
Or being incredibly inspired and kinda loony.
Everything in between is just brutal for me.
Theres a big contrast here.
So, are we jockeying between these dynamics again?Yeah.
This is a season where Saul is really coming out of this guy.
And Sauls an awful guy.
And thats what hes becoming.
I dont want him.
Ive enjoyed the fact that Jimmy has a conscience.
That he feels sorry for bad stuff that hes done.
That he tries to justify it.
That hes not malicious and shallow about it.
Saul, who were seeing now, is far more malicious and shallow.
And thats just sad to me.
I always knew we were going there, and I always knew who he was.
And in the short bursts that I played him onBreaking Bad, it was still fun.
But I didnt think I would want to play that guy.
Because I didnt like that guy.
I mean, I like watching him like a car wreck when youre not in it.
It pulls you in.
But hes a bad guy.
Hes becoming that guy.
He actually does things that are Saul-like, and doesnt have the conscience that follows that Jimmy always had.
Hes getting really angry.
Theres a little anger in that character, you know?
Hes kind of repudiating the world.
Deciding to be a user.
A person who just uses situations and people.
The rejection or the self-destruction.
Is he becoming Saul because hes fighting back and pushing back against a world that keeps rejecting him?
Or is he being rejected because he keeps choosing to do these nefarious and unjustifiable, slippery things?
He has what is it called?
ethics of the moment?
Same thing Trump has.
Its something about how your ethics apply only in the moment.
You cant help it.
Those seem to me to be very haunting words.Yes, they are.
I would imagine they hang over Jimmy and the series.
What can you say about their impact?I think those words turn the whole series.
They are, certainly so far, the biggest rug pulled out from under Jimmy.
He falls the farthest on that.
I dont think he will ever get over that.
Ive said to Vince and Peter, Why doesnt he talk to his girlfriend about that?
Usually, you would say to somebody, You know the last thing he said to me was…
But its so devastating and big.
So thats a reason not to share that with her.
How much Ill never get over that.
So its not worth saying, because youre just going to diminish it.
How does Jimmy process and react to Chucks death?
One that started the night before, when Chuck said that [Jimmy never mattered] to him.
And now just gets consciously chosen now.
Its like, Should I look at this relationship?
I cant take that apart, and he doesnt deserve any more of my heart and soul.
So, no, Im turning it off.
Its like a fracture inside of the character.
Its such another tribute to the writing to Peter Gould and Vince Gilligan and that whole team.
Because you just have so many questions from it.
Did he really mean to kill himself?
Did he want people to think he killed himself?
Did he want them to think he died by accident?
Was it just exhaustion and physical torment, or was it some other dissatisfaction with life?
Theyre not trying to be sly and trick you in a cheap way, ever.
Also, it felt like another massive cliffhanger moment.
Similar to the first season where he goes, Im never gonna do that again.
Hes like, well, anything can happen next.
Which is both exciting, but also I imagine for writers, terrifying.
It sort of feels like you altered the universe so much with that move.
And Michael was giving a fantastic performance, especially in that last season.Good.
I feel sad for that character.
He seems like a very emotionally crippled person.
She just absolutely loves going on.
So theyre married up and matched up.
But she has these aspirations, and he has these natural inclinations that will not fit with those aspirations.
When I think of Kim, I think her future cannot be with this guy.
Some part of her knows it.
Heres the amazing thing about this season, with Kim and Jimmy.
There are two points where they have this really mature interaction.
Thats really unlike anything you see on TV.
And then she doesnt get mad.
And Im just going to accept it.
What do we do with that now?
And those are amazing moments.
I lied to you before, and Im sorry that I did that.
Thats a real couple.
Thats going to last.
Its not about the way they get off on each other.
Its about a real relationship that could work.
Because two people share the real hardest truth with the other one, and the other one hears it.
Thats just an amazing thing to get to play.
I think, more than anything, those moments [are] a real mislead.
He finds himself in the milieu of the punch in of criminals he serves inBreaking Bad.
Hes in that world now.
Not Mikes world yet, but the world of low-rank bad guys becomes Jimmys world.
Its to the point where its not just like, Oh heres one [scene], heres one.
Thats just Mikes story the story of what made the world ofBreaking Bad.
Like an origin story ofBreaking Bad.
Half the show, thats a lot.
In the past, I would call that a quarter of the season, or less.
TheBreaking Badworld within our world is growing.
Its going to swallow us, and thats okay with me.
Theres a scene that takes place during the time period ofBreaking Bad.
And thats the first time weve done that.
It was so much fun.
And Jimmys story is really its own thing.
Because thats how much ofBreaking Bads story is inBetter Call Saul.
Its so much fun.
Were talking about Guss story.
How Gus [Giancarlo Esposito] became the Gus you see inBreaking Bad.
Were a heck of a team.
And Nacho [Michael Mando], we get to know his story more.
All the bad guys, that world grows massively in this season.
Theres a lot that needs to build the world ofBreaking Bad.
Some real intense, dark stuff.
And then theres me, being a clown.
He cant keep himself under wraps.
Sort of by circumstance, but hes just going crazy.
And he starts to fall apart.
What will emerge, I do not know.
I would love to see this guy put his life back together, maybe with some wisdom.
Thats how close they are.
