Better Call Saul to feature more Breaking Bad overlap in Season 4.
*** CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR BETTER CALL SAUL SEASON THREE ***
Breaking Bad spin off/prequel Better Call Saul has continued to go from strength to strength.
With Season 3 now streaming on Netflix and Season 4 confirmed by broadcaster AMC, it’s star Bob Odenkirk has expressed his desire to start including scenes that show different sides to sequences already seen in Breaking Bad.
Speaking to The Hollywood wood reporter the actor explained how this could work;
“In Breaking Bad, we only saw Saul at work, which makes sense because he was working for Walter and that was his value and purpose in the story of Breaking Bad. But if we’re going to get to know him as well as we have in Saul, perhaps some of those sequences in Breaking Bad, we might get to see behind Saul’s story a little more. His side of the story that might make him a different character in the course of seeing that — [a side] even I haven’t seen yet.”
The show has been captivating audiences as they witness the main character’s slow decline from kind hearted Jimmy McGill to stone hearted Saul Goodman and the actor was asked how he felt about portraying this change;
“I miss Jimmy McGill already, because he’s becoming Saul. And I genuinely mean that. I feel kind of sad for this guy going away. The depth of the character is, at least for a time, turning into the less dimensional Saul Goodman, who I don’t like personally. And I have to say goodbye to Jimmy in the course of this story that we’ve committed to tell.”
Of course with the emergence of Saul becoming more and more prevalent now, Odenkirk was asked if he felt the need to rewatch his Breaking Bad performances to perhaps reconnect with the character but stated that he didn’t feel that this was necessary for the next season;
“I don’t think I really need to watch my performance in Breaking Bad. He’s already become so much more dimensional, and while there’s going to be, I think, aspects hidden away as he chooses to present himself as Saul to the world and to try to steal and take from the world as much as he can, [showrunners] Peter Gould and Vince Gilligan and the writing is going to get me there into that place. I wouldn’t be surprised if they show us a few more dimensions of Saul himself.”
Both Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould have expressed an interest in showing more of Gene, the identity that Saul takes on as he is forced to live in exile in Omaha after the events seen at the finish of Breaking Bad and the actor also seems to find this appealing;
“Gene is completely shut down. He is hiding his name and his identity, but he’s also hiding his personality and that’s what’s killing him. That’s what’s suffocating him. He can’t let go of the Saul Goodman side of him, the side that likes to be talkative and active — and he has to swallow all of that, and that’s why he faints I believe in that scene in season three. He’s just not breathing. He’s completely submerged and some part of him can’t take it anymore. We’ll see what happens. But I don’t think he can live that way entirely.”
Odenkirk also reflected on the loss of the character’s brother Chuck in Season 3 and Odenkirk offered nothing but praise for his co-star Michael McKean;
“Working opposite a great, powerful actor like Michael just makes you better. That was true with Bryan Cranston. It centers you and it challenges you. I don’t know if there’s a competitive side to acting, but maybe there is somehow. It makes you more present and whatever emotions you have get fed by that person’s presence and what they bring to the moment. I’m going to have to work around that deficit of not having him there. And personally, it’s sad to have to say goodbye to him. He’s just one of the funniest people I’ve ever been around. ”
Better Call Saul Season 4 is expected to air in Autumn 2018 after AMC announced its renewal in June 2017.
