‘Better Call Saul’ spoilers: Vince Gilligan on ‘Breaking Bad’ spin-off’s development, prequel status
Given that “Breaking Bad” was really one of the shows that really took TV by storm in 2013, doesn’t it feel appropriate to spend at least a few minutes talking about it at the end of the year? In the aftermath of the epic series finale that aired earlier this fall, there is still a spin-off on the way in “Better Call Saul” that should be very entertaining. However, it is still so far around the bend that nobody really knows just when it will air, or what the series will actually look like.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, we at least have a few more teasers on this very thing courtesy of “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan, who will serve as an executive producer on the show while Peter Gould takes on primary showrunning duties:
“We think, by and large, this show will be a prequel, but the wonderful thing about the fractured chronology we employed on Breaking Bad for many years is the audience will not be thrown by us jumping around in time. So it’s possible that we may indeed do that, and we’ll see the past and perhaps the future. Nothing is written in stone yet, we’re still figuring it out, but the thing we realize is tricky with the character is that Saul Goodman is very comfortable in his own skin. He seems to be a character who is pretty happy with himself, especially when we first meet him. He seems to be a pretty happy-go-lucky guy, and that makes him everything that Walter White is not. And that also makes for tricky drama. When I say drama, even in a comedy, you want drama, you want tension and conflict, and a character that at heart seems at peace with himself is intrinsically undramatic. [Laughs] So we’ve been thinking about how to address that issue.”
Gilligan also suggested that Mike (Jonathan Banks) would most likely be one of the characters that would come over to this show from “Breaking Bad,” but there would still be room for others to make an appearance here and there. The only problem with that is that all of them, from Anna Camp to RJ Mitte to Aaron Paul, already are getting a ton of other jobs now. They no longer are tied down by a series regular contract that tells them to show up in New Mexico every year to start up work on new episodes.
We are going to have plenty more scoop on “Better Call Saul” throughout the new year, so be sure to keep coming back for that.
Photo: AMC