The Netflix Crime Thriller Series Everyone Becomes Obsessed With

The only downside of watching Better Call Saul is that you’re going to want to burn through it as soon as possible. As usual, creator Vince Gilligan and co-creator Peter Gould keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the series. There were plenty of cliffhangers that hit hard when the show was airing on TV and tested viewers’ patience waiting a week for the next episode or even months for the next season.

Better Call Saul follows Bob Odenkirk’s slimy lawyer, Saul Goodman, from Breaking Bad, before he was Saul Goodman. Instead, we follow the trying-to-be-better Jimmy McGill as he tries to be a good lawyer like his brother Chuck (Michael McKean) after previously living his life as a con man. While most of the series takes place in this timeline, black and white flash-forwards take us to the present day, where we see Saul living out his life in the wake of the events of Breaking Bad.

Of course, this being the world of Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul has drug cartel plotlines outside of the legal and interpersonal drama of Jimmy McGill. Returning characters like Giancarlo Esposito’s Gus Fring and Jonathan Banks’ Mike Ermantraut pull us into these plotlines while new characters like Michael Mando’s Nacho Varga and Tony Dalton’s Lalo Salamanca give us some new angles on this fictional drug-dealing universe. Newcomers like the aforementioned Micheal McKean, along with Rhea Seehorn and Patrick Fabian, also bring award-worthy performances to the table.

Bob Odenkirk gives one of his best all-time performances as we see Jimmy McGill’s gradual and tragic transformation into Saul Goodman. In fact, Odenkirk, Seehorn, and various others in the series give incredible performances, but Better Call Saul is also one of the most snubbed shows of all time in the awards categories. Infamously, the show was nominated numerous times for Primetime Emmys throughout its run, but it never was awarded a single one.

Despite the years of award snubs, Better Call Saul is still easily one of the best shows of the recent decade, and it is more than worthy to follow up Breaking Bad. As a prequel series, it’s true that Breaking Bad isn’t technically essential to follow the show, but knowing the characters and Jimmy’s situation in the future makes for a better experience. But in either case, Better Call Saul is an easy show to recommend without reservations.

If you’re looking for your next binge, then Better Call Saul is definitely your answer. In fact, even if you’ve seen it before, it’s never a bad time for a full rewatch. You can stream all seasons of Better Call Saul on Netflix.