BETTER CALL SAUL Worth Picking Up

Article first published as BETTER CALL SAUL Review on Seat42F.

BETTER CALL SAUL doesn’t shy away from its roots. Last night’s series premiere on AMC, “Uno,” begins a little bit after Breaking Bad ended. Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) has relocated to Omaha, Nebraska and is the sad, pathetic manager of a mall Cinnabon. The highlight of his day is going home to his little house, pouring himself a stiff drink, and watching commercials from his glory days. This is where the story ends, and where it begins.

The meat of BETTER CALL SAUL is set six years before Breaking Bad even starts. Saul is known as Jimmy McGill back then, a very unsuccessful lawyer with a crummy office in the back of a nail salon. Desperate for clients, he also cares deeply for his disabled brother, the once-great lawyer Chuck McGill (Michael McKean, Clue, This Is Spinal Tap). Jimmy is at the end of his rope, making very little money representing very cruel teenagers and unable to convince Chuck he should cash out of the thriving firm he helped create.

Jimmy is not as far away from Saul as Walter begins away from Heisenberg, but there is definitely a lot that must happen to turn Jimmy into the sleazy, well-connected “success” he will become. This version of Saul is plenty willing to work outside the law; he just only does so in small ways, and his bravado is much more faked.

I don’t think we can condemn Jimmy for his hatred of Chuck’s partner, Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian, Big Love, Veronica Mars). Jimmy thinks Chuck, trapped at home without power because of a crippling disability, is being taken advantage of. Chuck obviously has a big heart, not wanting to hurt the business he built because of how it would affect the employees. But Jimmy sees his big bro as a bit of a schmuck who Howard is pulling one over on. Is Jimmy right, or does he just not have the mind-frame to see Howard and Chuck’s more altruistic viewpoints?

It’s easier to blame Jimmy for what happens or will happen to a pair of young scammers. To try to win a client who is (understandably) reluctant to sign, Jimmy gets the boys to fake an accident. What Jimmy doesn’t know is that this leads them into the den of psychopathic drug dealer Tuco (Raymond Cruz), a place Jimmy ends up as well by the end of the hour. Jimmy may not know who he’s messing with, but he does do something incredibly dumb that gets him and the boys into the situation, so he is to blame.

That makes me wonder how viewers are supposed to feel about the protagonist. Breaking Bad proved you can make a show about a character who is often unlikeable, but there’s something about Saul that makes me care. In Jimmy, this is even more prevalent. He’s the little guy, pushed down, and all his antics are him fighting back against what he sees as a rigged system. This is a sympathetic position, whether he’s right or not.

The style of BETTER CALL SAUL is very reminiscent of Breaking Bad. It is slow burn, with very artistic direction, confusing close-ups, and the very real feel of a larger story than what is being presented. This is by the same guys who did that show, and you can easily tell that, the connections being more than just a character or two.

Joining Jimmy, Chuck, and Howard, the cast includes: Mike (Jonathan Banks), whom fans will remember from the mother ship, and who gets only one (very special) scene in “Uno;” Kim (Rhea Seehorn, Whitney, Franklin & Bash), a lawyer who works for Howard, but seems to at least like Jimmy a little bit; and Nacho (Michael Mando, Orphan Black), a criminal I didn’t notice at all in the first episode, so he may not have shown up yet. This seems a good mix of new and old faces from various worlds, leaving open a number of possibilities as to how the series can move forward.

I like Better Call Saul. Odenkirk is still doing the great work he did in Breaking Bad, deepening the character and showing more range. While I have pointed out a number of similarities to that other series, it also has the bones to be its own story completely, not reliant on its predecessor as it goes on, with references being more funny that necessary. It’s early to make a judgment, but AMC’s decision to already order a second season makes me optimistic my faith in BETTER CALL SAUL is not misplaced.

BETTER CALL SAUL moves to its normal night and time this evening, airing episode two at 10 p.m. ET on AMC.

Blu-ray Review: ‘Orphan Black Season One’

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: ‘Orphan Black Season One’ on Blogcritics.

If you’ve paid attention to Emmy news at all this past week or so, you’ve likely heard outrage over the snub of Tatiana Maslany, who has been picking up all sorts of other awards. If you’re not familiar with who this young woman is or what she has done to deserve such passionate following, then you haven’t seen the Canadian / BBC America drama Orphan Black. Luckily, all ten episodes of Season One are now available on Blu-ray and DVD.

Orphan Black tells the story of Sarah Manning (Maslany), a woman trying to put her life together so that she can take care of her daughter, Kira (Skyler Wexler, Alphas). See, Sarah has been romantically involved with an abusive drug dealer named Vic (Michael Mando, Les Bleus de Ramville), and so Siobhan “Mrs. S.” Sadler (Maria Doyle Kennedy, The Tudors), the woman who raised Sarah and her foster brother Felix (Jordan Gavaris, Unnatural History), has stepped in and taken Kira until Sarah can find a more stable environment.

When Sarah sees someone who looks just like her commit suicide, she senses the opportunity to better her standing and ability to start over, at least financially. Assuming Beth Childs’ (also Maslany) identity, Sarah suddenly finds herself in a situation that’s hard to get out of. Beth is a cop with a live-in boyfriend, Paul (Dylan Bruce, As the World Turns), and a suspicious partner, Art (Kevin Hanchard, Savage Planet). Plus, Beth is in trouble at her job.

If that were all Sarah had to deal with, it might be enough for any series to tackle. But Orphan Black is not just any series, and I feel like I’ve buried the lead in explaining the set up, something the first episode, “Natural Selection,” sort of does, before making a course correction, with the story picking up considerably over the rest of the run. Beth is not just a long-lost twin to Sarah, she is a clone. And there are a number of other clones around, as well as secret agencies that would like to control them.

Orphan Black is a fantastic tale, tightly written, without procedural or weekly stories to bog it down, but the biggest draw by far is Maslany’s performance. Whether she is playing Sarah, Beth, Alison, a put-upon housewife, Cosima, a nerdy genius, Helena, a psychotic religious fanatic serial killer, Katja, a desperate Russian, or a few other characters, Maslany captures distinctly different personalities so that none seem at all like the other, each with different dialect, mannerisms, and attitudes.

Even better is when one of the characters pretends to be another one of the clones, and Maslany somehow strikes a balance between the two, mixing characteristics so that attentive viewers will be able to identify what is really going on, even if characters on screen may not. It may be the most impressive acting I’ve ever seen. No one has played multiple roles in one work so thoroughly convincing before. No one. And she does it consistently, scene after scene, and no offense to the other fine actors involved, but shouldering the burden of the series almost completely single-handedly.

Orphan Black also raises some moral and legal issues. Should cloning be allowed? Under what circumstances? Can a company patent and own a human being if they are the by-product of their patented process? This is a timely issue, with recent court rulings about what can and cannot be owned concerning genetic material in the news this summer. Fascinating!

I know blu-ray reviewers still discuss picture and sound quality of the releases, though I’m not sure why, because just above all modern series have the same high marks these days. Orphan Black is no exception. The series has a dark-colored tone, and it is masterfully layered with rich blacks and details in the shadows. The soundtrack is seamlessly mixed with the dialogue, and both the audio and the visual are incredibly crisp and defined. I detected no flaws to speak of, though who pays attention to such things that closely when sucked in by such an amazing story and Maslany’s talent? It is worth checking out in any quality, but the blu-ray release is sure to be the best, and so worth getting.

One thing I found very odd about the packaging is that it lacks a booklet or interior episode list of any kind. You actually have to pop the discs in to see the installment names. That’s a tad disappointing to me, though only a minor annoyance for anyone with a smart phone or tablet handy.

The bonus features are a little light. “Send in the Clones” is a sixteen-minute behind-the-scenes featurette that feels more like a way to sell the series to potential viewers who haven’t seen the show yet than an informative look for fans, introducing characters and elements, rather than going deeper on them. We also get seven minutes of Maslany’s appearance on The Nerdist, cross promotion for another BBC America series, and “Inside,” a five minute extra of separate pieces, previously played during commercial breaks, that is a lot like “Send in the Clones,” but shares focus with characters not played by Maslany.

Orphan Black Season One is available now.

Orphan Black Finds a Home

Article first published as Orphan Black Finds a Home on TheTVKing.

BBC America's latest venture, partnered with a Canadian production, is Orphan Black, a dark, twisty, genre series. As the pilot, "Natural Selection," begins, Sarah (Tatiana Maslany, World Without End) is returning to town, on the run from her drug-dealing boyfriend, Vic (Michael Mando, Les Bleus de Ramville), from whom she has stolen a stash. Sarah's intention is to get her daughter, Kira (Skyler Wexler, Alphas), whom she abandoned, back, and run away again with kid and money from the stolen drugs.

But it doesn't work out quite that way. It isn't that Sarah's plan is flawed; it is, of course, but that's not the issue. Instead, Sarah completely throws out her old play book when a new opportunity arises, but going into the second scheme blind, she flails and can't make the clean escape she hopes to.

See, while Sarah is standing on a subway platform, she sees someone that looks just like her jump in front of a train and die. Sarah finds the woman's purse, and, after realizing the mysterious Beth has a large bank account, decides to assume her identity. The intention is to only take over the persona for the time it takes to make a withdrawal, but circumstances conspire against her, and she is soon trapped in the new role.

I don't think Sarah is just being greedy and foolish when she decides to become Beth, although given her less than stellar background, it's likely that both of those play into it. Instead, we get the extra layer of Sarah having grown up in the foster system, not knowing her family or where she comes from. Seeing Beth is a tantalizing lure, a chance to discover her origin, and maybe even find the parents she never knew. Most anyone in Sarah's situation would be drawn into Beth's world.

Unfortunately, Sarah acts rashly. Knowing that she doesn't have time to get Beth's money before the woman is declared dead, Sarah asks her foster brother, Felix (Jordan Gavaris, Unnatural History), to go to the morgue and identify the corpse as being Sarah. This is effective, of course, but Sarah realizes too late the implications of being considered dead, not only trapping her in Beth's swiftly unraveling world, but also making her daughter that much harder to get back.

Sarah is a very sympathetic character. She may have made a lot of mistakes, and the "Pilot" shows she isn't done making them, but she also has a heart, evidenced by her love of her daughter, and she's put in a situation where we feel for her. Confused and curious, intelligent and resourceful, Sarah's emotional center is easy to understand, whether one can relate or not, and her rocky upbringing excuses some of the criminal behavior.

Beth isn't so lucky. She is under investigation after having shot someone, and she's a cop. She has a live-in boyfriend named Paul (Dylan Bruce, As the World Turns), and a partner named Art (Kevin Hanchard, Savage Planet), who wants her to resolve the shooting issue, something Sarah will have trouble doing, since she didn't actually shoot anyone.

We're quite a bit into this review, and I haven't even gotten to the sci-fi hook yet. Sarah is a clone. I think. The promos for Orphan Black point to this situation, and not only do we meet Beth in the "Natural Selection," we also meet a Russian doppelganger, too, who is soon murdered. So on top of everything I've just mentioned, which makes for quite a bit going on in Sarah and Beth's lives, there's a whole conspiracy that will need to be explored.

Orphan Black is dense and fast paced, but don't let that scare you off. Somehow, it lays out each piece of the puzzle in a way that one can grasp, even when tossed down into chaos. We certainly don't know what's going on by the end of the "Natural Selection," but despite the brisk movement of the story, it's not difficult to keep the individual elements straight. It's a masterfully written story, surely developed into a fully-formed world that will be shown to us bit by bit.

By necessity, the series rests mainly on Maslany's shoulders. Those who have seen the commercials know that she will be playing several characters on a regular basis, but even just with the two short-lived ones in the "Natural Selection," she does an amazing job of differentiating them from Sarah. They may look alike, but they don't feel like they're the same person, with completely different facial expressions, moods, and body language. She has a firm grasp of who is who, and balances them brilliantly.

I did feel the weak spot is that Paul is taken in by her so easily. He notices that her hair is longer, but he still falls into bed with her. Of course, perhaps Paul already knows about the clones, realizes this isn't his Beth, and decides to sleep with her anyway. This would make him a pretty messed up guy, but since Beth certainly doesn't it have things together, either, it isn't out of the realm of possibility that she'd end up with a sleazeball.

Besides Sarah, I really like the characters of Felix and Vic. Felix is Sarah's flamboyant foster brother, and while he cares about her, he is also a scoundrel who looks out for his own neck and wallet. Vic comes in as a total jerk, but learning that "Sarah" has died, falls apart in a way that shows he really does care, even if he didn't know how to show it to her. And by putting Felix and Vic together in this first hour as sort of an odd couple, the series get some entertaining moments. I hope their plots stay intertwined for awhile.

Obviously, crap will hit the fan, and Sarah's scheme will blow up in her face. However, as it does, we have this roller coaster thrill ride of very well-made television, a sort of deeper Ringer with better character development and more complex interactions. Well done, indeed.

Orphan Black airs Saturdays at 10 p.m. ET on BBC America.