Better Call Saul

Breaking Bad is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest TV-shows ever made and with good reason. Debuting in 2008, the show told the story about Walter White, a man who learns that he suffers from terminal cancer and so, begins to use his skills as a chemistry-teacher, to cook meth, in order to make sure his family wouldn't lack for anything when he was gone. During the course of the show's run, we followed Walter as he transformed from a loving husband and father, to a ruthless criminal mastermind, motivated primarily by ambition and pride. Bryan Cranston, who prior to Breaking Bad had been mostly known for his role as Hal, the bumbling father in Malcolm In the Middle, knocked it out the park as Walter, delivering one of the finest lead performances seen in a TV-series.
Breaking Bad wasn't just the story about Walter White's gradual descent into villainy though; like most worthwile works of fiction, it featured a terrific supporting cast as well. Among the most memorable supporting characters of the show was Saul Goodman, the criminal lawyer (as in, he's a lawyer who's also a criminal), whom Walt and his partner-in-crime, Jesse Pinkman, enlisted as their legal adviser. Despite being an unapologetic crook, Saul revealed himself as one of Breaking Bad's few genuinely likable characters and so, its small wonder that in 2015, the show's creator Vince Gilligan, released a spin-off centered around him: Better Call Saul.

Better Call Saul mostly takes place before the events of Breaking Bad (I say mostly, because we also get a few scenes showing us what happened to the protagonist after the end of that show) and focuses on Saul back when he was still Jimmy McGill, a struggling attorney operating out of the back of a nail-saloon, while also looking after his older brother, Chuck. Chuck is a partner in the respected law-firm Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill, but at the start of the show, has been confined to his house for a year, due to developing a case of (self-diagnoses) electromagnetic hypersensitivity.
Aside from Jimmy's quest to advance his law-career, the show also chronicles the rise of another character from Breaking Bad; Mike Ehrmantraut. A retired cop with a past he'd rather keep buried, Mike's skills soon makes him a person of interest to some of Albuquerque's less upstanding citizens.
Other important characters include Howard Hamlin, Chuck's partner, whom initially serves as Jimmy's nemesis during the first season. Kim Wexler, a lawyer employed at H.H.M. and Jimmy's possible love-interest. Hector Salamanca and his nephew Tuco, high-ranking members of a drug cartel and Nacho, Tuco's ambitious and cunning right-hand man.

These characters are all extremely well-portrayed by their actors and are, for the most part complex, with new layers to their personalities being revealed during the course of the series. Bob Odenkirk in particular shines as Jimmy, portraying the future Saul Goodman as a lovable huckster; a guy who genuinely loves his friends and family and, for the most part, means well, but who can't seem to help himself from taking the easy way out and who tends to be blind to the consequences of his actions.

One aspect of the show I find particularly well-made is the relationship between Jimmy and Chuck. I won't go into any details, so as not to spoil things for those of my readers who have not yet watched it, but suffice to say that it's one of the most interesting sibling relationships I've seen in any form of media.

Another thing I like about Better Call Saul is how accessible it is to new viewers, viewers who go into it without any previous knowledge of its predecessor. True, already being a fan of Breaking Bad was certainly the big reason for why I decided to watch BCS, but its not a necessity for enjoying the show.

In conclusion: Better Call Saul is an excellent series, more than worthy of the show it spun off from. I, for one, am eagerly looking forward to the third season.