the watch of time

The third ten-episodes season of ‘Better Call Saul’ has just concluded, a series in part prequel to one of AMC’s most popular previous runs, ‘Breaking Bad’. Thanks to the pedigree of the contiguous writers/producers, as events evolve the ripples are gradually connecting.

The most significant thread is the character currently known as Jimmie McGill, but who is slowly turning into ‘Better Call’ Saul Goodman. Jimmy’s manifesting a morally flawed character from the beginning, viewing his adventures attempting a deviant level of success is not unlike watching a slow train wreck. Peopled by other characters trying to cope with their circumstances, such as an older brother battling electromagnetic hypersensitivity, there’s an intermingling of overt and metaphorical separation. At times the viewer sits on a perch, like Snoopy’s ‘vulture’ pose, rapt by the periodic directional fatalism.

Their obvious faults notwithstanding, one is generally pulling for the main characters, in the parallels to the Jimmy/Saul conflicts between searching for good and compromising toward success. This is a life theme with which many of us can identify. Fortunately, hopefully, we’re not preordained by prequel destiny.

As in many a well-written story, there are insightful layers about the human condition under the microscope…

• Two-tone vehicles do not inspire confidence when the second colour looks like a variation of duct tape
• Sometimes a billboard can fit the notion that ‘all the world’s a stage’
• Violence in the home can be very messy for furnishings, not to mention the emotional strain on many levels
• While a cluttered office may be a sign of activity, having a gauntlet access and emergency sleeping quarters may be signs of misplaced hubris
• An obscure, possibly hypochondriac, medical condition does not necessarily bring family members closer together
• The informality of the cafeteria makes for letting one’s hair down and getting to the point, not to mention a cheap business deduction
• The longer and glossier the meeting room table, the easier for discussion points to bounce away
• A telescopic sniper shot hitting the bottom of a suspended pair of shoes is not necessarily sole-less
• Subterfuge and misinformation can be their own worst enemies
• Taking advantage of a partner is less disreputable if done with decent intentions and attempted empathy

With more installments of BETTER CALL SAUL due next year, learning from the undersides of personalities will continue.