After only the first episode, it transpired that Gilligan & Gould came up with something that is tonally very close to Breaking Bad. It also means that the plot plays a much bigger role than originally anticipated. Smart move, as it essentially gives the viewers what they have been lacking since the Breaking Bad finale.

The fans can only applaud it. And with an IMDb rating of 9.3, it seems to be working.

Structurally, Better Call Saul follows very much the one hour drama clock as we are used to from Breaking Bad, with an opening teaser, and act breaks roughly around the 15-30-45mins marks.

[box type=”alert” size=”large” style=”rounded”]We Spoil Everything -You Are WarnedAct One

00.00  B/W Nebraska – Montage over The Inkspots Address Unknown – Saul is ‘Gene’, donut manager.
01.50  Customer looks at Saul with suspicion, Saul freaks out… False alarm.

02.50 Saul at home in his townhouse, drinking Drambuie and watching TV, depressed.
04.15 Closing blinds, opening mysterious box with old photos and passport, he finds a VHS tape.
05.15 He watches the old “Better Call Saul” ads, back to back. They reflect in color in his classes.

06.00 Better Call Saul – Titles

06.12  Flashback – An Albuquerque court is waiting, until the judge gives the guard a sign.
07.35  The guard finds Jimmy McGill (Saul) at the men’s, rehearsing his plea.
08.10  Jimmy enters the courtroom, defends three boys to a jury.
10.35  Prosecution plays a tape showing the boys desecrating a corpse.
12.15  Jimmy complains about his $700 cheque, 1 fee for 3 clients PD work.

12.55  At the carpark, Jimmy gets a call confirming a meeting with the Kettlemans for 4pm.
14.00  He doesn’t have enough stickers, won’t pay $3. Carpark attendant (Mike) sends him back.

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The first act of the pilot episode of Better Call Saul sets up a number of things. The opening montage is slow, and serious. This is not going to be a straight-up comedy.

Structurally important is the fact that the show opens in the present day, Nebraska. We see Saul in Omaha where Breaking Bad left him. To me, this is a signal that the show may also end here, after however many seasons it will last. Gilligan and Gould know that the most satisfying ending to Better Call Saul should add something to Saul’s current situation. After all, we don’t want to see a characters that we like end in the same depressed state it opened. So my bet is that the final episodes of the final season of Saul will come back to the present day with some surprises.

Some people found the opening to the first episode of Better Call Saul slow. Of course it is. Montages are rarely dramatic, and the courtroom scene adds to the notion that this show will build gradually. At this stage I give them the benefit of the doubt. Gilligan and Gould know what they are doing.

In terms of tone, the creators couldn’t be clearer: this is going to be very dark. When we learn that the boys desecrated a corpse’s head, it is at the same time shocking and comedic, in the light of Jimmy’s plea for the boys, which went just before.

The Kettlemans’ call is the first important plot setup, which will run throughout this episode. Later it will fork into two separate plots: the Deal (that doesn’t happen) and the Scam (which goes wrong).

Gilligan knows his hero’s journey, as we have seen over and over again in Breaking Bad. At the end of the first act of this episode of Better Call Saul, we have a clear Crossing the Threshold scene, where Jimmy wants to leave by car, but a Threshold Guardian (Mike) won’t let him.

Interesting to note, is the absence of a series Inciting Incident. In Breaking Bad, Walter is diagnosed with lung cancer, which triggers the decision that sets up the series concept. It turned White into Heisenberg. Here, no major event seems to be turning Jimmy into Saul. Because this is a prequel, we are waiting for this moment – or process. It is a important part of our anticipation.

Act Two

15.20  Jimmy’s sales pitch to the Kettlemans fails. Betsy wants to “sleep on it.” She clearly wears the pants.
18.25  Driving, Jimmy hits a skateboarder. Saul sees the scam, identifies as a lawyer, and the boys run.
21.00  The manageress at the nail salon berates Jimmy over defending the teenage boys.
22.00  At his office, Jimmy finds  messages and only bills. Bills. He rips up a cheque for $26K from law firm HHM.
23.35  At the HHM offices, Jimmy claims they have to buy out Chuck for $17m. Nemesis Howard Hamlin refuses.

28.30  When Jimmy sees the Kettlemans at HHM, he is fuming. He kicks a rubbish bin and smokes a cigaret with Kim.

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While the first act of Better Call Saul didn’t have many character introductions, in Act Two we see quite a few characters that will come back later in this episode, and season.  Jimmy meets with the Kettlemans, the skater brothers, his nemesis Howard Hamlin, shapeshifter Kim Wexler, and somewhere in between also the manageress of the nail salon where he has his office.

This act is richer in setups. The skaters kickstart the scam plot that will run across into the next episode, and the Kettlemans will become part of quite a few plotlines. Another subplot is linked to Howard Hamlin, who has obviously been a player in Jimmy’s past, and is unlikely to go away soon. The setup for this happens when Jimmy receives a $26K cheque in the mail – and rips it up.

From Jimmy’s interaction with Kim in the basement, we may safely assume that these two have a history. More anticipation!

We have also heard the name Chuck, so our interest is piqued as to who this character might be. Probably important, within the Better Call Saul universe.

Act Three

30.30  Jimmy leaves his electronics in Chuck’s mailbox, tops up ice in the eski, then tells Chuck to cash out.
33.30  Chuck: “I’m gonna beat this.” Jimmy admits he is going under himself, complains about PD work.
37.25  As Chuck wants to help, Jimmy apologizes. But he is annoyed when Chuck defends Hamlin’s actions.
40.00  With ‘Slippin’ Jimmy’ as inspiration, he makes the skaters a proposal: take home $2.000 in one hit.
43.11  Jimmy briefs the skaters for the setup on Betsy’s car.

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We enter the Cave. In a scene that lasts 6.30mins, Jimmy visits his brother Chuck, who clearly has some issues.

The dynamics of the dialogue change, as initially it seems Jimmy wants to help Chuck, but later it appears Chuck is more stable and has been helping him all along.

The scene is mythical: the inscrutable darkness, the stripping bare of technology, Jimmy’s first show of honesty. Here is where Jimmy meets his demons, where he can’t hide, and where he returns to his own self. A strong contrast to the Jimmy we see in the outside world… The screen time of this scene indicates this will be the main inner journey story line for Better Call Saul.

After this scene, Jimmy returns with the ‘reward’. He has an idea that might help him to some quick and easy money. He briefs the skater boys, and plants in our minds the action we can expect in Act Four.

Act Four

45.30  It is on. Jimmy gives the boys 2 mins warning. They launch into it successfully, but the car drives off.
47.45  Jimmy is rehearsing his part when the boys call, and report the hit and run. They’re following the car.
49.25  We crosscut as Jimmy’s car first won’t start / the driver of the hit car is a Mexican woman. “Mijo!”
51.00  While Jimmy drives, trying to find them, he rehearses his negotiation/threat. Finally finds them.
51.40  He knocks on the door. A gun appears. He is pulled into the house. By Tuco Salamanca…

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The action is on, as it befits the final act to any dramatic narrative. True to the Hero’s Journey, there must be a chase/escape/drive/run to open the act. Here, it runs through pretty much most of it.

The entire act is really only payoff to the scam plot, so all the other plotlines will continue in the next episode(s).

The final image of this Better Call Saul episode provides a strong hook to its second episode, as well as a second reward (the first was Mike) for the Breaking Bad addicts.

We are about halfway the first season when I write this, and I am still enjoying the series. Are you?

Let us know in the comments what you think about this much anticipated prequel!

-Karel Segers

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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If you liked this, check out more videos about screenwriting or filmmaking. And if you know of a great video on Screenwriting, let us know in the comments. Thanks!

If you liked this, check out more videos about screenwriting or filmmaking. And if you know of a great video on Screenwriting, let us know in the comments. Thanks!

Says Gilligan: “I don’t think I was boring these guys but they had this faraway look in their eyes of “What the f- hell is this guy telling us”. And as I’m pitching I’m hearing myself out loud I’m thinking this is insane, no-one is ever gonna buy this as a TV show. Anyway, so I go home they shake hands and I would go home like ‘this is a waste of time’.”

If you liked this, check out more videos about screenwriting or filmmaking. And if you know of a great video on Screenwriting, let us know in the comments. Thanks!

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

by Karel Segers

Spoiler warning for season 2!

I’m really a movie person and the only series I watched religiously before 2000 was Twin Peaks. That’s one series in twenty years. Over the past ten years, I’ve had less time, I kicked out my TV set, yet I’ve watched more than ten times the amount of TV drama. Because that’s where the action is.

BREAKING BAD

When Walter White delivered his speech about chemistry in the pilot episode of Breaking Bad, the screenwriting fan in me could sense we were in for a treat. “Chemistry is the study of … change.” This brand spanking new TV character was talking about himself – only he didn’t know. Vince Gilligan, writer/creator did, damn well.

I had only just completed the final episode of The Wire when I was introduced to Breaking Bad on DVD. In The Wire, Jim McNulty ultimately redeems himself and changes in three fundamental ways. Now here was Walter White and with him the promise of yet another changing TV hero.

To hell with the naysayers claiming character change doesn’t matter. When will you wake up?

THE CENTRAL QUESTION

If you want to learn something important about screen drama that many don’t get, listen carefully. In the greatest screen stories – and Breaking Bad is a class example – the most important question is not ‘will the hero achieve the goal?’ or even ‘how will the hero achieve the goal’? The real dramatic question is: “what is s/he prepared to do?”

To hell with the naysayers claiming character change doesn’t matter.
When will you wake up?

The most interesting characters are those that need to change their ways – and/or the world – before they can get what they want. Walter White wants to make enough money for his family to be comfortable before he dies. From episode to episode, from season to season the same question pushes this character: Later, his goal may shift and perhaps it is no longer about looking after his family. Still, whatever the goal, that central question remains: How far is Walt prepared to go? This is really what draws us in and keeps us glued.

SEASON 2

Ask a fan about their favourite season and they’ll say: the last. Season 4 was driven by the mythical shadow character of Gustavo Fring, without any doubt one of most frightening villains ever.

(Random name drop: I had breakfast with Giancarlo Esposito once. He’s so lovely I could eat him.)

The real dramatic question is:
“what is s/he prepared to do?”

My favourite is Season 2. I loved the mystery of the teasers, the demise of Tuco and the introduction of Saul Goodman, Gus Fring and Mike but above all: femme fatale Jane Margolis. Jane is a mesmerising character and we completely understand Jesse’s infatuation with her. A perfection setup for the horror where she is cruelly ripped away from him and out of the series.

THE SCENE

Jesse has been caught in the seductive web spun by Jane and his downward spiral is happening right in front of Walt’s eyes. That night, Walt goes to Jesse’s place and finds the two deep asleep, spooning in a post-trip stupor. From here, every detail matters… Walt turns Jesse over and as a result Jane rolls on her back – a chilling payoff of the scene where Skyler turns her little baby daughter on her side, earlier in the episode. A moment later Jane coughs… She vomits and starts choking. Walt reacts… but hesitates. He thinks, watches and…lets it happen, allowing Jane to die.

There are so many reasons why this scene is just phenomenally powerful. First, it has been prepared carefully and Walt’s action pays off on many levels. At the beginning of the episode, his daughter is born. At the end, he kills the daughter of the man he has just had a profound conversation with at the bar. In the next episode, which concludes the season, his action will have a (literal) fallout with mythical dimensions.

This is not just TV drama. This is the building of a screen myth.

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This is not just TV drama.
This is the building of a screen myth.

Here is a main character who has reached his lowest point and his decision not to act is more powerful than any action I’ve seen on the big screen for a long time.

Walt has made a clear choice, answering the question “How far are you prepared to go?”

– Karel Segers

(first published for ScripTips)

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

by Karel Segers

Massive spoilers ahead.

Teaser

An RV and a man in underpants (4mins)

00.00 An RV with driver and three bodies races through the desert, goes off the road, stuck. 01.00 The driver, in underpants, comes out, distressed. 02.00 Underpants man goes back in, takes a vide camera, puts on a shirt. 02.30 Underpants man is Walter White. To camera: “This is not an admission of guilt.” Addesses family. 03.30 Sirens approach. Walter White faces the sirens, ready with a handgun.

Imagine opening a new TV show by showing the life of a 50-year old goody two-shoes chemistry teacher, whose greatest excitement is getting veggie bacon for breakfast on his birthday. Now this is exactly what Act One shows us, for a full ten minutes. It would have been indigestible, dead boring and plain awful writing. But by moving five minutes of excitement from episode climax to the front, the entire expositional opening becomes palatable. It’s a familiar technique and Breaking Bad will rely on it often.

Act One

The life of Walter White (11mins)

04.30 5am and Walt lies in bed, awake. 05.00 Walt on his stepper, coughing. Was once member of Nobel winning chemistry team. 05.30 50th birthday breakfast: veggie bacon breakfast with wife Skyler and son Walt Jr. 06.30 Walt arrives at school with his son. 07.00 Walt teaches chemistry – the study of change. One unruly student. 08.30 Walt moonlights at the car wash. Boss Bogdan takes advantage of Walt’s compliance. 09.30 The unruly student arrives with car and girlfriend. They mock Walt. 10.00 Walt is driving. The glove box won’t shut. 10.30 Surprise birthday party. Skyler is pregnant, her sister Marie with DEA husband Hank. 11.00 Hank shows off his hand gun and Walt reluctantly watches as he gives it to Walt Jr to hold. 12.00 TV report on Hank’s meth lab seizure: $700k. “I’ll take you on a ride along! Get a little excitement!” 13.00 Walt in bed. Skyler gives him a hand job while focusing on her ebay auction. 15.00 Walt collapses at the car wash.

Here is a man whose life can’t possibly get any worse. Why doesn’t he just kill himself rightaway? Walter White is surely not the aspirational hero, rather the identificational one. Don’t we all have at least something in common with Walt? He represents the metaphor of someone not really alive but merely getting by. This must end, either by death – or excitement. Guess which. The thematic statement in this first act is expressed in Walt’s teaching, when he talks about chemistry as the study of ‘change’. Breaking Bad writer/creator Vince Gilligan is foreshadowing here what will happen to his hero. Like all great transformational characters, the audience craves their change. Here we are promised that this change will come about. Just hang in there. Later, the promise of excitement becomes a visual anticipation when Hank offers Walt to take him along on a meth raid. The act ends with the Inciting Incident.

Act Two

Lung Cancer, Inoperable (10mins)

  16.00 In the ambulance, the paramedic asks Walter: are you a smoker? 17.00 Full body scan. 17.30 Doctor delivers verdict: lung cancer, inoperable. “I’ll live maybe another couple of years”. 18.30 Walt comes home, Skyler fusses over credit card, asks “how was your day?” Walt: “Fine.” 19.30 Bogdan doesn’t get away with his attitude any longer. Walt: “Fuck you – and your eyebrows!” 20.30 Walt calls Hank to asks if the meth raid ride-along offer is still open. 21.30 DEO officers Hank and Gomez in car with Walter, waiting for the school bus to pass. 23.00 Hank and Gomez wait in the car before the raid. Tipp-off about ‘Captain Cook’. 24.00 Walt wants to go inside, see the actual lab, has to wait in the car. 25.00 Walt sees former student Pinkman sneak out 1st floor window. “Oh my God… Pinkman?” (in underpants).

Did you realise that both Walt and Jesse are in underpants when we see them on screen for the first time? Breaking Bad is full of delightful parallels. My absolute favorite examples are in Episode S2E12 “Phoenix”, which is possibly the best hour of television drama I have ever seen.” In this Second Act, already Walt’s health verdict leads to an immediate change in his behavior – but he is selective to whom he shows it. From now on he will keep secrets – big secrets – mostly for the people he loves the most: his family.

Mid Point

The offer Jesse can’t refuse (3mins)

  26.00 Walt goes to see Pinkman at night. 27.30 Walt makes Jesse an offer: you and I partner up, to cook crystal meth. “Either that, or I turn you in.”

I’m not an expert on TV drama structure but it strikes me how we have a mid point with almost the exact dynamics as the best mid points in film. The two main antagonistic characters meet in person for the first time and the story takes a dramatically different direction. It is a major reversal that turns a threat (cancer) into an opportunity (give his family what he’s never given them). This episode mid point is at the same time the end of Act One for the whole season. Walt’s goal is clear: to make enough money to set up his family for life.

Act Three

Preparing to cook (9mins)

  29.00 Marie pries on the Whites’ life, inquires about Walt’s changed behavior. Skyler denies. 30.00 Walt shops for cooking tools and containers at school. 30.30 Walt sets the standards with Jesse, who in stead claims cooking is an art, not chemistry. 32.30 Where are we gonna cook? They decide on an RV. 34.30 Jesse wants to know why all this. “Sixty and breaking bad?” Walt: “I am awake.” 35.00 Walt Jr is fitting pants, with Walt and Skyler. Bullies make fun of him. 37.00 Walt takes on the bullies, attacks their kingpin. All freak out; they call him a psycho.

With the main plot now well underway, there’s some time for character exposition and subplots. The relationship Walt/Jesse will be volatile and Walt now protects his family with greater fervor than ever before. Interesting to see how the third act out (the act climax) happens on a positive note, accentuated by the uplifting score. Often Act Three has the ‘all is lost’ or ‘lowest point’ that we find in movies at the end of Act Two. Here it is the silence before the storm as Act Four will again give us a major twist, leading to a powerful climax.

Act Four

Back with a vengeance (14mins)

  38.00 Walt & Jesse drive into the desert. “Let’s cook here.” 39.30 Jesse films Walt during the cooking, makes fun of him. Cooking montage. 41.00 Glass grade. “This is art, Mr White.” “Iron Chef!” 42.00 Jesse tries to sell to Crazy-8, Emilio’s cousin. “Back with a vengeance!” They think Jesse snitched. 44.00 Emilio appears, made bail. They ask where he got the meth from. 44.30 Walt at RV, Crazy-8 & co arrive. Emilio recognizes Walt: with DEA. They pull their guns and tie up Jesse. 46.30 Walt is forced to cook; uses red phosphorus to cause a chemical reaction that takes them out. 48.30 Walt frees Jesse. A fire starts as they drive off. 50.00 BACK TO TEASER: Walt standing with gun, sirens. Considers suicide momentarily. 51.30 Fire brigade drives past. Jesse comes out. 52.30 Jesse: “What happened?” Walt: “Red phosphorus…” Clean this up.

The opening of this act is a mythical threshold sequence, expressing the idea that Walt is traveling to a new world. The dialogue “back with a vengeance” sets up what is to follow: Emilio will soon literally be back with a vengeance, introducing the final act climax. For the first time we see the consequences of Walt’s other explosive relationship, with the DEA, through his brother-in-law Hank. This is one of many potential future conflicts set up in this first episode.

Tag

Reaping the rewards (2mins)

  54.00 Laundering money. Literally. 54.30 Walt and Skyler in bed, making love passionately. “Walt? Is that you?”

Don’t forget to download the screenplay of that first episode. You’ll see that not only is Breaking Bad a fabulous show to watch, the script is pure delight to read. Enjoy!

– Karel Segers

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

In other news:
:: Even when there’s no way, you believe.
:: Writing a script, first draft.
:: Should you pay for notes?
:: The unconventional Shawshank Redemption.
:: Five ways your writing ends up on the screen.
:: Script in a minute.
:: Showbiz terminology, a cheat sheet.
:: Story for free!
:: Vince Gilligan at BANFF.
:: M. Night, gossip fills seats.
:: Elements of act two: the midpoint.

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COMING SOON to the Story Department:

• Story Breakdown of Toy Story 3

With thanks to Sol.

Enjoy!

Karel

And here is an overview of articles I have marked and shared lately:

https://www.google.com/reader/shared/karel.segers

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With thanks to Sol.

Enjoy!

Karel