Better Call Saul - S5E1: Magic Man

BETTER CALL SAUL - AMC/SONY

Co-creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gouldsure love their cold opens — Magic Man is no different. Like its previous season premieres, the episode starts up with paranoia slowly clouding over the titular protagonist’s post-Breaking Bad world as his alias grows near to being compromised. Earlier in the series, one isn’t sure of what to make of these opening sequences but as new elements continue to be introduced in the recurring story arc, they help justify the narrative’s existence. One of which includes a surprise appearance from the late Robert Forster, whose one scene serves as a fitting goodbye to his minor yet pivotal role in Gilligan’s universe. The opening does set up the creeping dread that covers the entire episode and, perhaps, the entire fifth season itself.

After the title card, the series returns its focus back to where last season has left off. Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) has now returned to the legal game with him adapting the old pseudonym he used in the “Slippin’ Jimmy” days. It seems like a great start, as seen through his promotional advertising methods — one of which is presented in another masterfully edited and wonderfully rhythmic montage that the creative team is known for.

However, not everything in this hour of television is bright and jolly. We all know where and how things are going to go down — well, mostly. After all, this being a prequel spin-off of a hallmark in television is no secret. 

Gould, who wrote the teleplay for Magic Man, illustrates the impending doom through the eyes of the spectator Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn). A lot of the series’ emotional weight comes from Kim’s attachment to Jimmy. Despite being his accomplice in many of his scams and finding enjoyment over them, she battles that out with her own moral conscience that knows whatever scheme they’re doing doesn’t sit right with her. Director Bronwen Hughes brilliantly chooses to focus on Kim’s perspective in certain moments as Jimmy undergoes changes and Seehorn captures her frustration over these things so well onscreen through her subtle, yet equally powerful performance.

A similar case can be said for Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) as he tries to de-escalate this game of chess between him and Hector’s nephew Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton). The waters might be calm for now, but the kettle is still boiling as each party plans and awaits the next move. Anyone who has seen the show’s predecessor might have a clue of who will succeed in the endgame, but what makes Better Call Saul such compelling television is that the consequential journey is more arresting than the eventual checkmate.

BETTER CALL SAUL - SEASON 5 is streaming weekly on NETFLIX