Age of The Nerd
We are incredibly excited for tonight’s premiere of the highly anticipated season four premiere of AMC’s critically acclaimed, Emmy-nominated series “Better Call Saul”! Just wait till you get a load of the first two episodes, as this season is off to an absolutely amazing start!
We had a chance to catch up with the cast and crew of “Better Call Saul” including Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian, Michael Mando, and Giancarlo Esposito for a press conference to discuss some pertinent details for the upcoming season.
By the end of Season 3 of “Better Call Saul”, a near-fatal car crash forces Jimmy and Kim to re-evaluate what’s truly important to them — and how far they’re willing to go to pursue their ambitions. While Kim chooses to take a step back from her fledgling solo practice to recuperate, Jimmy tries to make amends with his brother. Chuck rejects Jimmy’s attempt to reconcile and soon relapses, tearing apart his house to remove any last pulse of electricity and then finally setting a deadly fire.
In the critically acclaimed drama’s fourth season, Chuck’s death catalyzes Jimmy McGill’s transformation into “Saul Goodman.” In the wake of his loss, Jimmy takes steps into the criminal world that will put his future as a lawyer — and his relationship with Kim — in jeopardy. Chuck’s death deeply affects former colleagues Howard and Kim as well, putting the two of them once again on opposite sides of a battle sparked by the Brothers McGill.
Meanwhile, Mike Ehrmantraut takes a more active role as Madrigal Electromotive’s newest (and most thorough) security consultant. It’s a volatile time to be in Gus Fring’s employ, as Hector’s collapse sends shock waves throughout the Albuquerque underworld and throws the cartel into chaos — tearing apart both Gus’s and Nacho’s well-laid plans. While Gus changes course, Nacho finds himself in the crosshairs of deadly forces.
Could we perhaps be getting ready for the “Breaking Bad” timeline to start making it’s way into “Better Call Saul”. The trailer for season four certainly provides a look at Jimmy McGill slowly inching his way towards becoming Saul Goodman. Check it out:
We were told during the press conference by Vince Gilligan and Giancarlo Esposito that we should definitely expect to see “a lot more” of Gus Fring throughout the upcoming season and he has a “large role” in the way that the story plays out.
We were also incredibly curious about the affect that Chuck’s death was going to have on Jimmy, however Bob Odenkirk revealed ““The whole season is sort of the reverberations of Chuck killing himself. Chuck said some really cold stuff and he seemed to mean it. Jimmy’s written Chuck out of his life and he’s not gonna let his death weigh him down”.
There were also some questions about the cross-over into the “Breaking Bad” universe and if we would perhaps see any familiar characters, for example, Aaron Paul. who plays the beloved Jesse Pinkman. Odenkirk told us, ” I do. I’m speaking as a fan. I don’t see how we don’t. Here’s what I know. I know that Hank knows Saul. And I think because of what Jessie says to Walt about needing a criminal lawyer.”
Odenkirk also went to say just how much he misses acting along side Bryan Cranston and he “dialed him into the tone” for these shows.
Series creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould also spoke about how the whole idea for “Breaking Bad” and then later “Better Call Saul” first began, saying that at first it started as a bit of joke. Gilligan elaborated saying, “I wasn’t actually expecting to survive ‘Breaking Bad”. But we did start joking about a Saul Goodman spin-off pretty early on. And with any good joke there’s a kernel of truth in it, because it was a really good idea.”
Gould added that he and Gilligan would often times take walks around Burbank and usually end up at a bar and there they would discuss how they may be able to create a second show in the “Breaking Bad” universe. Gold admitted “I was worried that we would tarnish what we had done in ‘Breaking Bad”.” But it certainly appears like everything has worked out beautifully in the end.
Some of the actors later discussed how they had landed their roles on the series. For Rhea Seehorn, she had been auditioning for another series on the Sony lot when she ended up walking by the infamous Walter White and Jesse Pinkman RV and just knew she wanted to be on that type of show. Funny enough she got an audition call a few weeks later.
Patrick Fabian had us all cracking up with his story about how he had just been dumped from a guest starring spot on Disney Channel’s “Dog With A Blog,” and was feeling down in the dumps, when the casting directors for “Saul” – and also “The Walking Dead” – called him to audition for the show. He figured they’d get “some movie star” for “Better Call Saul,” but hoped he’d impress them enough to get a couple of episodes on “The Walking Dead” before some zombie ate him. Instead, he got the part.
Esposito, who had already been on “Breaking Bad” needed convincing that he would not be repeating the same character over again and this time Gus is given a lot more depth. He said, “Why think that you’ve done it all. Why not think you’ve only scratched the surface?”
We definitely agree with Esposito and can’t wait to find out just how the rest of “Better Call Saul” season four is going to play out!
