Better Call Saul season 1

Better Call Saul
Season 1
No. of episodes	10
Release
Original network	AMC
Original release	February 8 (2015-02-08) – April 6, 2015 (2015-04-06)
Season chronology

The first season of the American television drama series Better Call Saul premiered on February 8, 2015, and concluded on April 6, 2015. It consisted of ten episodes. Better Call Saul is a spin-off of Breaking Bad. Its first season mainly takes place in 2002, and features Bob Odenkirk as James Morgan "Jimmy" McGill, a lawyer who later becomes known as Saul Goodman.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul characters

Main

• Bob Odenkirk as James "Jimmy" McGill / Saul Goodman
• Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut
• Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler
• Patrick Fabian as Howard Hamlin
• Michael Mando as Nacho Varga
• Michael McKean as Charles "Chuck" McGill

Recurring

• Jeremy Shamos and Julie Ann Emery as Craig and Betsy Kettleman
• Kerry Condon as Stacey Ehrmantraut
• Steven Levine and Daniel Spenser Levine as Lars and Cal, twin skateboarders and small-time scam artists.
• Míriam Colón as Tuco's grandmother.
• Eileen Fogarty as Mrs. Nguyen

Guest

• Raymond Cruz as Tuco Salamanca
• Cesar Garcia and Jesus Payan Jr. as No-Doze and Gonzo, Tuco's henchmen.

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	1	"Uno"	Vince Gilligan	Vince Gilligan & Peter Gould	February 8, 2015 (2015-02-08)	6.88
Following the events of Breaking Bad, Saul Goodman is living under the assumed name Gene in Omaha, Nebraska and managing a Cinnabon. One night after work, he watches a tape of television ads made when he worked as an attorney. Flashing back to 2002, Jimmy McGill (Saul's original name) is a struggling public defender in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At Loyola's Diner, Jimmy exhorts Craig and Betsy Kettleman, the county treasurer accused of embezzling $1.6 million, to hire him. Jimmy lives and works out of a cramped storage room in the back of a Vietnamese nail salon while caring for his brother, Chuck, a successful attorney. Chuck has become semi-reclusive and believes he suffers from electromagnetic hypersensitivity. On his brother's behalf, Jimmy passionately and theatrically confronts Chuck's law firm partner, Howard Hamlin, of Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill (HHM), demanding HHM cash out his brother's US$17 million share in the firm. The Kettlemans decide to hire HHM instead. Frustrated, Jimmy sets up a skateboarding accident scam with con artist twins Lars and Cal after regaling them with stories of his successful cons years earlier in Chicago where he was known as "slippin' Jimmy" (a master of phony slip-and-falls which resulted in cash payoffs). The plan is to stage a phony skateboard accident involving the Kettlemans' station wagon (with Mrs. Kettleman driving), whereupon Jimmy will arrive on the scene to offer his services to the Kettlemans. However, the twins accidentally target the wrong car, driven by the grandmother of Tuco Salamanca. When the twins try to extort money out of Tuco for Lars' phony broken leg, Cal refers to Tuco's abuela (grandmother) as "biznatch" which infuriates Tuco, prompting him to viciously pummel both twins, bind them and throw them into the garage. Jimmy arrives at Tuco's front door, and is drawn at gunpoint into Tuco's house.
2	2	"Mijo"	Michelle MacLaren	Peter Gould	February 9, 2015 (2015-02-09)	3.42
Tuco drags Jimmy at gunpoint into the house where the skateboarding twins are being held. Jimmy explains that the twins were part of his scam operation, but they picked the wrong car. Tuco leads Jimmy to the garage, where the twins are tied up. After Jimmy frees them, Lars reveals that this was all Jimmy's idea, which infuriates Tuco. Later, Jimmy is tied up and gagged with duct tape, and on his knees in the desert. Tuco demands to know who Jimmy is and why he is coming after him. Out of options, Jimmy lies about being an FBI agent. Tuco's subordinate Nacho doesn't believe this, and Jimmy confirms that he is actually a lawyer. Jimmy is released. He talks Tuco out of killing the twins, suggesting Tuco break their legs instead, which Tuco orders his henchman to do. Jimmy drives the twins to an emergency room, with the twins calling him "the worst lawyer in the world". Nacho visits Jimmy at his nail salon office, reveals a scheme to steal the money the Kettlemans embezzled, and offers Jimmy a 10% finder's fee. Jimmy declines to participate, telling Nacho that he is a lawyer, not a criminal. Surprised, Nacho leaves his phone number with Jimmy, encouraging him to call when Jimmy decides he's "in the game".
3	3	"Nacho"	Terry McDonough	Thomas Schnauz	February 16, 2015 (2015-02-16)	3.23
In a flashback, Jimmy, who faces multiple charges and the prospect of being branded a sex offender in the wake of his "Chicago Sunroof" gag, is visited by Chuck in jail. Chuck promises Jimmy that he will extend his legal help in exchange for Jimmy's sincere promise to quit "everything he's involved with". Returning to 2002, Jimmy is still hoping to get the Kettleman case back from HHM. Disguising his voice, Jimmy Calls the Kettlemans from a pay-phone and warns them that they are in danger of being robbed. As Jimmy returns to the Kettleman house, he's informed they have been kidnapped. Nacho, whom a neighbor spotted casing the Kettleman house, is arrested; he accuses Jimmy of tipping off the Kettlemans and threatens to kill Jimmy unless he proves Nacho's innocence. Jimmy comes up with a theory that the Kettlemans have kidnapped themselves and strives to prove it. The police do not believe Jimmy's theory, but Mike, a retired cop who works as a parking lot attendant for the Albuquerque courthouse, does. Later, following Mike's advice, Jimmy locates the Kettlemans camping out in the hills above their home, along with the embezzled $1.6 million.
4	4	"Hero"	Colin Bucksey	Gennifer Hutchison	February 23, 2015 (2015-02-23)	2.87
In a flashback, Jimmy and his buddy Marco use a fake Rolex watch as bait to con a bar patron out of money. Returning to 2002, Jimmy offers his legal services to the Kettlemans; they reject his offer and counter with a $30,000 bribe, which Jimmy accepts. Jimmy represents Nacho and successfully gets him freed, but Nacho deduces that Jimmy tipped off the Kettlemans and warns him about "consequences". Jimmy uses the bribe money to purchase clothing and a billboard that exactly imitates Hamlin and HHM's logo. Hamlin obtains a cease and desist order and forces Jimmy to take the billboard down. Jimmy uses this as a way to try to make Hamlin look bad through college media, and in the meantime stages a phony rescue of a billboard worker who pretends to have fallen off the billboard. The next day, Jimmy's actions make it onto the news, much to Hamlin's disgust. Jimmy then makes his daily drop off at Chuck's house but removes the local paper from Chuck's supplies in order to prevent Chuck from learning of Jimmy's billboard "rescue". Seeing his neighbors have their local newspapers, with great difficulty Chuck runs outside to steal a neighbor's newspaper (observed in the act by another neighbor) and reads about Jimmy's act.
5	5	"Alpine Shepherd Boy"	Nicole Kassell	Bradley Paul	March 2, 2015 (2015-03-02)	2.71
After Chuck's neighbor reports him for stealing the newspaper, he is arrested and hospitalized. A doctor tries to have Jimmy commit Chuck to a mental institution, but Jimmy manages to convince her that he is fully capable of containing Chuck in his own home; the doctor advises Jimmy that Chuck's "disease" is entirely psychosomatic. Jimmy's newfound fame seems to attract mostly unpropitious clients, but he eventually comes across an elderly lady in need of a will, which prompts Jimmy's lawyer friend Kim to propose that Jimmy specialize in elder law. Jimmy takes her advice and begins promoting himself at a nursing home. Meanwhile, parking lot attendant Mike is visited at home by several police officers from Philadelphia.
6	6	"Five-O"	Adam Bernstein	Gordon Smith	March 9, 2015 (2015-03-09)	2.57
In a flashback, Mike arrives in Albuquerque on a train and is met by his daughter-in-law, Stacey (Kerry Condon). Their conversation reveals that Mike's son, Matty, was a Philadelphia police officer who was recently murdered. Mike finds a crooked veterinarian, Dr. Caldera, to treat a bullet wound in his shoulder. Returning to 2002, Mike is taken to the police station and demands Jimmy as his lawyer. Asking Jimmy to spill coffee on one of the detectives as a diversion, Mike steals the detective's notebook and realizes that Stacey had called the detectives. He confronts her and reveals that Matty was the only clean cop in the precinct. In another flashback, Mike breaks into a police car outside a bar before entering the bar and appearing to drink heavily. When he leaves, two detectives pick him up under the pretense of giving him a ride home. During the ride, Mike reveals that he knows they killed Matty. The detectives plan to murder Mike with his own gun, but Mike, having feigned his drunken state and hidden a second gun in the car, kills them both. Returning to 2002, Mike explains to Stacey that he was the one who convinced Matty to take the bribe, but his partners killed him anyway.
7	7	"Bingo"	Larysa Kondracki	Gennifer Hutchison	March 16, 2015 (2015-03-16)	2.67
Mike and Jimmy are called down to the station, and the younger detective accuses them of stealing his notebook. Jimmy returns the notebook and assures him they found it in the parking lot outside. Mike and Jimmy are allowed to go, and Mike tells Jimmy to go home. The next day, Jimmy takes Kim to his new office and offers her a partnership, which she refuses. Back at HHM, Kim presents the Kettlemans with their best deal, which would send Craig to jail for 16 months instead of 30 years. Betsy refuses, fires HHM and leaves with Craig. Meanwhile, Jimmy is hosting a bingo game at a nursing home and is contacted by the Kettlemans. They all meet at Loyola's again, and the Kettlemans demand that he represent him and insist they want no jail time. Jimmy turns them down and strongly encourages them to go back to Kim. They inform him that in order for them to take the deal, they would need all the money, including the $30,000 bribe Jimmy accepted. Later that night, Jimmy hires Mike to steal the $1.6 million from the Kettlemans' home and returns the bribe in full. The next day, Jimmy visits the Kettlemans, tells them he took their money, and forces them to take Kim's deal. Jimmy returns the Kettlemans to HHM and visits the office he had to give up in order for the deal to go through. Jimmy angrily kicks an office door shut and sobs on the floor, only to pull himself together to answer a phone call.
8	8	"RICO"	Colin Bucksey	Gordon Smith	March 23, 2015 (2015-03-23)	2.87
In a flashback, Jimmy is working in the mailroom at HHM. Jimmy asks Kim to open his bar exam results; he has passed, and she kisses him passionately. Jimmy then shows Chuck his results and explains that he studied law via distance learning from the "University of American Samoa". Chuck tells him that he is proud of him. Later there is a small mailroom party to celebrate, but Howard tells Jimmy that HHM refuses to hire him as an attorney. Returning to present-day, Hamlin holds a press conference to announce Craig Kettleman's plea deal, as Jimmy visits clients at a senior care home called Sandpiper Crossing. At one client's residence, Jimmy discovers that Sandpiper is overcharging her. Jimmy returns to Chuck's house and points out fraud by Sandpiper Crossing. Chuck tells Jimmy he needs more information; Jimmy returns to Sandpiper but is forcibly thrown out. Meanwhile, Mike receives a call from Stacey, asking him to babysit Kaylee. Later that night, Jimmy searches Sandpiper's dumpster for shredded documents. He brings bags of the shredded documents to Chuck's house, but makes no progress and falls asleep. Chuck manages to put some of the documents together, and these prove Sandpiper's guilt. Mike spends the day with Kaylee and is asked by Stacey what she should do with the money Matty accepted. Mike tells her to spend it and returns to the vet for a job. Jimmy sets up a meeting with Sandpiper's lawyers at Chuck's house, and Chuck demands $20 million from them. Chuck explains he sees a way to win, which makes Jimmy visibly ecstatic. The next day, Jimmy returns to Chuck's house with new client files and naps on his sofa. Chuck absentmindedly walks outside to Jimmy's car to grab some documents Jimmy forgot, and they stand outside, amazed that Chuck wasn't hindered by his condition.
9	9	"Pimento"	Thomas Schnauz	Thomas Schnauz	March 30, 2015 (2015-03-30)	2.38
Chuck and Jimmy are enjoying time outside on a park bench. It seems Chuck is able to spend more time outside than he originally thought, but after a while he insists they go back inside. Mike brings Stacey and Kaylee a dog and receives a call about a job. Jimmy goes to court to argue against a restraining order from Sandpiper Crossing and ultimately wins. Returning to Chuck's house, Jimmy finds boxes of paperwork, and Chuck convinces Jimmy to bring the case to HHM because of its large scale, which may lead to it becoming a class action suit. Later that night, Chuck sneaks outside to place a phone call. The next day, Mike, a loudmouth mercenary named Sobchak (Steven Ogg) and a very large man wait for the job. Pryce (the client) arrives, whereupon Mike advises Pryce that no guns will be necessary on the job and furthermore, Mike will be able to handle the job himself without Sobchak and the big goon. Sobchak threatens Mike with his gun, whereupon Mike masterfully subdues Sobchak, relieving him of his gun. The big goon then scampers off and Sobchak slinks away, leaving Mike and Pryce alone to carry out the assignment. Meanwhile, Chuck and Jimmy prepare to visit HHM, sewing Chuck's space blanket into the lining of his suit. The McGill brothers present their case to Howard, but Howard informs Jimmy that he wants the case, but not him. Frustrated, Jimmy refuses to give the case to Howard and tells him to go to hell. Kim confronts Howard on his decision, but Howard reveals something to her, unknown to the viewing audience at this point. On the job, Mike and his client wait for Nacho and a new gang of thugs to show up and buy the pills the client is selling. After the deal is concluded, Mike explains to Pryce, who insists he is not a "bad man", that he is now a criminal, and that morality doesn't enter into it, criminal or not, the crucial thing is to keep one's word. Back at the nail salon, Kim meets with Jimmy and urges him to take the deal, causing Jimmy to get angry at her. Jimmy enters his office and has a realization when he charges his phone. The next day, Jimmy goes to Chuck's house and confronts him about the phone call he placed to Howard before their meeting. Jimmy has realized it was Chuck who told Howard not to hire him, and Chuck has been blocking him from being hired at HHM ever since his days in the mailroom. Jimmy demands to know why. Chuck reveals his opinion of Jimmy as not being worthy to be called a real lawyer and says he has not changed since his "Slippin' Jimmy" days as a con man. Jimmy tells Chuck he's on his own and storms out, with Chuck calling out to him to come back as Jimmy drives off
10	10	"Marco"	Peter Gould	Peter Gould	April 6, 2015 (2015-04-06)	2.53
In a flashback to Cicero, Illinois, Jimmy says goodbye to his friend and con artist partner Marco, telling him that he is moving to Albuquerque. Back to 2002, Jimmy meets with Howard Hamlin to receive his $20,000 "of counsel" fee, and to discuss arrangements for delivering groceries and supplies to Chuck. After having a breakdown while calling bingo at the retirement home, Jimmy returns to Cicero, where he catches up with Marco at their old favorite bar. They run a rare coin scam, with a Kennedy half dollar, on an out-of-town businessman. Over the next week, they run several successful scams. One morning, Jimmy explains to Marco that he is now an elder law attorney and must return to Albuquerque. Marco insists on one last fake Rolex scam for kicks but succumbs to a heart attack and dies during the con. A grieving Jimmy, now wearing Marco's pinky ring, receives a phone call from Kim. A large Santa Fe firm, Davis & Main, is assisting with the class action suit and considering Jimmy for a partner track position. Jimmy returns to Albuquerque but backs out of the Davis & Main meeting. He asks Mike why they gave back the embezzled $1.6 million, then proclaims that whatever stopped him from taking it "is never stopping [him] again". Jimmy drives away, smiling and humming "Smoke on the Water", the same song Marco hummed whenever they pulled the Rolex scam.

Broadcast

In December 2013, Netflix announced that the entire first season would be available for streaming in the U.S. and Canada after the airing of the first season finale, and in Latin America and Europe each episode will be available a few days after the episode airs in the U.S. In Australia, Better Call Saul premiered on the streaming service Stan on February 9, 2015, acting as the service's flagship program. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the series was acquired by Netflix on December 16, 2013 and the first episode premiered on February 9, 2015, with the second episode scheduled for release the following day. Every subsequent episode will be uploaded each week thereafter.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a rating of 98%, based on 59 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Better Call Saul is a quirky, dark character study that manages to stand on its own without being overshadowed by the series that spawned it." On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the first season has a score of 78 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

In his review of the two-episode premiere, Hank Stuever of The Washington Post graded it a "B+" and wrote the series "is right in line with the tone and style of the original, now-classic series", and that it "raises more questions in two hours than it will readily answer". Stephen Marche of Esquire wrote that the first few episodes were better than those of Breaking Bad. Kirsten Acuna of Business Insider declared the initial episodes "everything you could possibly want from a spinoff television series". Alesandra Stanley of The New York Times wrote, "Better Call Saul is better than good: It's delightful – in a brutal, darkly comic way, of course." Vulture writer Eric Konigsberg noted the show was special as it was "the first spinoff of this golden age of premium cable."

Ratings

The series premiere became the biggest in cable history, drawing in 4.4 million and 4 million in the 18–49 and 25–54 demographics, respectively, and received an overall viewership of 6.9 million.

Viewership and ratings per episode of Better Call Saul season 1

No.	Title	Air date	Rating/share (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR (18–49)	Total (18–49)
1	"Uno"	February 8, 2015	TBD	6.88	TBD	TBD
2	"Mijo"	February 9, 2015	TBD	3.42	TBD	TBD
3	"Nacho"	February 16, 2015	TBD	3.23	TBD	TBD
4	"Hero"	February 23, 2015	TBD	2.87	TBD	TBD
5	"Alpine Shepherd Boy"	March 2, 2015	TBD	2.71	TBD	TBD
6	"Five-O"	March 9, 2015	TBD	2.57	TBD	TBD
7	"Bingo"	March 16, 2015	TBD	2.67	TBD	TBD
8	"RICO"	March 23, 2015	TBD	2.87	TBD	TBD
9	"Pimento"	March 30, 2015	TBD	2.38	TBD	TBD
10	"Marco"	April 6, 2015	TBD	2.53	TBD	TBD

Accolades

Year	Ceremony	Category	Recipients	Result
2015	2015 American Film Institute Awards	Television Programs of the Year	Better Call Saul	Won
	5th Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Actor in a Drama Series	Bob Odenkirk	Won
		Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Jonathan Banks	Won
	31st TCA Awards	Outstanding New Program	Better Call Saul	Won
		Individual Achievement in Drama	Bob Odenkirk	Nominated
	67th Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Drama Series	Better Call Saul	Nominated
		Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Bob Odenkirk	Nominated
		Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Jonathan Banks	Nominated
		Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series	Gordon Smith ("Five-O")	Nominated
	67th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards	Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series	Kelley Dixon ("Five-O")	Nominated
			Kelley Dixon and Chris McCaleb ("Marco")	Nominated
		Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series	Phillip W. Palmer, Larry Benjamin, Kevin Valentine ("Marco")	Nominated
	20th Satellite Awards	Best Drama Series	Better Call Saul	Won
		Best Actor in a Drama Series	Bob Odenkirk	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or TV Film	Jonathan Banks	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or TV Film	Rhea Seehorn	Won
	68th Writers Guild of America Awards	Drama Series	Better Call Saul	Nominated
		New Series	Better Call Saul	Nominated
		Episodic Drama	Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould ("Uno")	Won
	22nd Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series	Bob Odenkirk	Nominated
	73rd Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor – Television Series Drama	Bob Odenkirk	Nominated

Home media

The first season was released on Blu-ray and DVD in region 1 on November 10, 2015. The set contains all 10 episodes, plus audio commentaries for every episode, uncensored episodes, deleted scenes, gag reel, and several behind-the-scenes featurettes. A limited edition Blu-ray set was also released with 3D packaging and a postcard vinyl of the Better Call Saul theme song by Junior Brown.

Comics

AMC released a digital comic books for Better Call Saul titled Better Call Saul: Client Development in February 2015, in advance of the series premiere, details the history of Saul and Mike, acting as a spin-off of the Breaking Bad episode that introduced Saul.

References

Season 1 Category:2015 American television seasons