“Better Call Saul”, a spin off the AMC hit “Breaking Bad” is about Walter White’s over-confident, and often unimpressive lawyer, Saul Goodman. The show aired Feb. 8 and 9 in a two-night special event. Though the first episode started off slow, showing post “Breaking Bad” Goodman working at a Cinnabon, but quickly turned around when you start meeting some infamous characters from “Breaking Bad.”

 The series starts six years prior to Goodman meeting Walter White. At the time, he is just a small-time attorney named Jimmy McGill doing the best to make a name for himself by any means possible. The AMC website describes him as ”a small-time attorney hustling to make a name for himself. He’s a forceful champion for his low-income clients, an underdog whose morals and ambitions often clash.”

During episode one, the show introduces a fan favorite from “Breaking Bad”, Mike Ehrmantraut. At the time, Mike is working a tollbooth at the courthouse, but in episode three, McGill hits him in the face, and Ehrmantraut chooses not to press charges, setting the stage for an unlikely partnership that will lead to many high-intensity situations due to Ehrmantraut’s skill set as a “fixer” of sticky situations.

 At the conclusion of episode one, while McGill is trying to scam a woman to get her business as a client, he accidentally intertwines himself with Tuco Salamanca, the first in a line of bad guys from “Breaking Bad.” McGill gets himself kidnapped by Tuco and talks his way out of being another victim of the cartel. He also talks Tuco down from killing his accomplices to a broken leg apiece. As one of his accomplices calls him the worst lawyer ever, McGill retorts with a witty comeback, “I just talked you down from the death sentence to six months probation.”

By the end of episode four, the stage is set for the rise of Saul Goodman, as in the episode he makes a reference to his future alias. He took a bribe of stolen money from prospective clients and uses it to start building his practice, “On this rock I will build my church.”  

Overall, the show has a lot of potential and with the infusion of characters that are already established, “Better Call Saul” has a bright future. With Vince Gilligan giving the show the same vibe as “Breaking Bad” and I expect to see several of the same cliff-hanger-plot-twists the “Breaking Bad” was known for as “Better Call Saul” moves forward. Catch “Better Call Saul” on Monday nights at 9 p.m. on AMC.