Better_Call_Saul_(season_2)

<i>Better Call Saul</i> season 2

Better Call Saul season 2

Second season of the AMC crime drama television series


The second season of the American television series Better Call Saul premiered on February 15, 2016, and concluded on April 18, 2016. The ten-episode season was broadcast on Monday nights in the United States on AMC. A spin-off-prequel of Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul was created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, both of whom also worked on Breaking Bad.

Quick Facts Better Call Saul, Starring ...

This season, like the previous, mainly takes place in 2002, with Bob Odenkirk reprising his role as Jimmy McGill, a lawyer who has a feud with his brother Chuck (Michael McKean). Soon Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), a Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill (HHM) attorney who is Jimmy's lover and former mailroom co-worker, leaves the practice of law at HHM to start a solo practice in office space she shares with Jimmy. Jonathan Banks reprises his role as Mike Ehrmantraut; he is engaged in a conflict with the Mexican drug cartel after an altercation with Tuco (Raymond Cruz), which was orchestrated by Nacho Varga (Michael Mando). This results in Mike getting targeted by Tuco's uncle Hector (Mark Margolis).

The second season of Better Call Saul received acclaim from critics, with praise for its acting performances and cinematography, and six nominations for the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series.

Production

In June 2014, during the production of the first season, AMC ordered a 13-episode second season of Better Call Saul to be aired in 2016.[1] By November of that year, the second season had been shortened to 10 episodes.[2]

Casting

Mark Margolis and Daniel and Luis Moncada reprise their roles from Breaking Bad as Hector "Tio" Salamanca and Leonel and Marco Salamanca, playing Tuco's uncle and cousins respectively, who are high-ranking members of the Mexican drug cartel.[3][4]

All of the main cast returned for this season; Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill, Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut, Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler, Patrick Fabian as Howard Hamlin, Michael Mando as Nacho Varga, and Michael McKean as Chuck McGill.[5]

Filming

Production for the second season of Better Call Saul began in June 2015, two months after the first season finished airing.[6] Better Call Saul is set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the same location as its predecessor.[5][7]

In the first scene from the first episode of the season, Jimmy hides his real identity under his Gene Takavic alias while working at a Cinnabon in an Omaha, Nebraska shopping mall. The Cinnabon scenes in Better Call Saul are set in Omaha but filmed at the Cottonwood Mall in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[8]

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Guest stars

Episodes

Taking the first letter of each episode title and rearranging them yields "FRINGSBACK" ("Fring's back"), foreshadowing the reappearance of Breaking Bad character Gus Fring.[17]

More information No. overall, No. in season ...

Reception

Critical response

Better Call Saul (season 2): Critical reception by episode

Season 2 (2016): Percentage of positive critics' reviews tracked by the website Rotten Tomatoes[28]

The second season of Better Call Saul received acclaim from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has a score of 97%, based on 182 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Better Call Saul continues to tighten its hold on viewers with a batch of episodes that inject a surge of dramatic energy while showcasing the charms of its talented lead."[28] On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the second season has a score of 85 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[29]

Terri Schwartz of IGN rated the season an 8.7 out of 10, praising the acting performances and cinematography, but criticizing the lack of focus, stating, "There's a lot to love in Season 2 of Better Call Saul, but still some elements to improve upon."[30] Chuck Bowen of Slant Magazine gave it a perfect four star review and wrote, "the show's writing is as economic and poetically parred [as its visual aesthetic]. Each moment is compact, leading to the next with unpredictable, behaviorally astute precision".[31] Daniel D'Addario of Time praised the show's ability to stand out as a spin-off but retain some of the elements of its predecessor, writing, "in its second season, ... Better Call Saul allows us into a new world of complexity by deepening one of the show's pivotal relationships. It's the best-case scenario for a spin-off: a show that occupies a familiar world but opens up entirely new themes."[32]

Critics' top ten list

Ratings

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^1 Live + seven-day DVR playback viewership was unavailable, so live + three-day is listed instead.

Accolades

More information Ceremony, Category ...

Better Call Saul: Saul Goodman and the Justice Consortium in the Clutches of the Judgernaut!

AMC released a digital comic book as a tie-in for Better Call Saul titled, Better Call Saul: Saul Goodman and the Justice Consortium in the Clutches of the Judgernaut! in February 2016, prior to the season two premiere.[54]

Talking Saul

Talking Saul is a live aftershow hosted by Chris Hardwick, which features guests discussing episodes of Better Call Saul. These episodes discussed the season two premiere and finale episodes of Better Call Saul.


References

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