The third season of the American television drama series Better Call Saul premiered on April 10, 2017, and concluded on June 19, 2017. The ten-episode season was broadcast on Monday nights in the United States on AMC. Better Call Saul is a spin-off of Breaking Bad created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould who also worked on Breaking Bad.
The third season begins right after the end of the second season, which took place in late 2002, by the time the season concludes, the year is 2003. Bob Odenkirk reprises his role as James Morgan "Jimmy" McGill, a lawyer who is engaged in a sibling-feud with his lawyer brother Chuck (Michael McKean), who believes Jimmy is unfit to be a lawyer and plots to have him disbarred. Jonathan Banks also reprises his role as Mike Ehrmantraut, who is in partnership with Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) and Nacho Varga (Michael Mando), who are trying to murder their rival, Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis).
Video Better Call Saul (season 3)
Production
Casting
This season of Better Call Saul features the return of several Breaking Bad cast members, most notably Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring), who returned in the second episode "Witness". In a Q&A with AMC, Esposito expressed excitement on his return into the Breaking Bad world saying, "I'm extremely excited. I'm over the moon. I love this family of filmmakers a great deal. I know Better Call Saul is a little bit of a different show than Breaking Bad was and I love the success it's had. It has such wonderful talent in the show. Bob Odenkirk is just stellar. Obviously the opportunity to tell some of the backstory of Gus and how he rose to power and how he came to be is always something I've wanted to explore in a very subtle way in the right venue." He also distinguished the show's version of Gus from the original show describing his character as "a little fresher, a little less jaded. The time period alone takes us to a time where his look may be little bit different. I wanted him to be little more hopeful, a little more energetic, maybe not as definitive in some of his actions because he's a Gus that we've never met before."
All of the main cast returned for this season. Bob Odenkirk returns as James Morgan "Jimmy" McGill. Jonathan Banks returns as Mike Ehrmantraut. Rhea Seehorn returns as Kimberly "Kim" Wexler. Michael McKean returns as Charles L. "Chuck" McGill, Jr., Jimmy's elder brother. Patrick Fabian returns as Howard Hamlin and Michael Mando as Ignacio "Nacho" Varga.
Filming
Better Call Saul is set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the same location as its predecessor.
In the first scene from the first episode of season 3, Saul is at his workplace in a Nebraska Cinnabon. This scene in the first three season premieres are all set in Omaha, but all three scenes were filmed in Albuquerque at the Cottonwood mall.
Mark Margolis, who plays kingpin Hector Salamanca, suffered severe head injuries, requiring him to have brain surgery, following the accident during the production of the third season of Better Call Saul.
Maps Better Call Saul (season 3)
Cast and characters
Main
- Bob Odenkirk as James Morgan "Jimmy" McGill, a lawyer, who is involved in a sibling-feud with his brother Chuck.
- Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut, who is engaged in a feud with the Salamanca drug-cartel.
- Rhea Seehorn as Kimberly "Kim" Wexler, Jimmy's close friend and lover who sets up a law firm with him.
- Patrick Fabian as Howard Hamlin, a partner of Chuck at Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill and Jimmy's rival.
- Michael Mando as Ignacio "Nacho" Varga, a member of Tuco Salamanca's gang, who secretly works with Mike in taking down Hector.
- Giancarlo Esposito as Gustavo "Gus" Fring, a methamphetamine distributor who uses his fast food restaurant chain Los Pollos Hermanos as a front.
- Michael McKean as Charles L. "Chuck" McGill, Jr., Jimmy's elder brother, who allegedly suffers from electromagnetic hypersensitivity, forcing him to stay indoors permanently.
Recurring
- Mark Margolis as Hector Salamanca, Tuco's uncle.
- Jeremiah Bitsui as Victor, Gus' henchman, reprising his role from Breaking Bad.
- Kerry Condon as Stacey Ehrmantraut, Mike's widowed daughter-in-law and the mother of Kaylee Ehrmantraut.
- Tina Parker as Francesca Liddy, Saul's secretary, reprising her role from Breaking Bad.
- Omar Maskati as Omar, Jimmy's assistant at Davis & Main.
- Vincent Fuentes as Arturo, a criminal associate of Hector Salamanca.
- Rex Linn as Kevin Wachtell, chairman of Mesa Verde Bank and Trust and a client of HHM and Kim.
- Cara Pifko as Paige Novick, senior legal counsel for Mesa Verde Bank and Trust and a friend of Kim.
- Ann Cusack as Rebecca Bois, Chuck's ex-wife.
- Tamara Tunie as Anita, a support group member.
- Manuel Uriza as Ximenez Lecerda, an associate of Hector Salamanca.
- Josh Fadem as Camera Guy, a film student who helps Jimmy on various projects.
- Hayley Holmes as Drama Girl, a film student who helps Jimmy on various projects.
- Brandon K. Hampton as Ernesto, Chuck's assistant who works at HHM.
- Jean Effron as Irene, an elderly client of Jimmy McGill overcharged by the Sandpiper Crossing.
Guests
- Max Arciniega as Domingo "Krazy-8" Molina, reprising his role from Breaking Bad.
- Ray Campbell as Tyrus, reprising his role from Breaking Bad.
- Laura Fraser as Lydia Rodarte-Quayle, reprising her role from Breaking Bad.
- Lavell Crawford as Huell Babineaux, reprising his role from Breaking Bad.
- Steven Bauer as Don Eladio Vuente, reprising his role from Breaking Bad.
- Kimberly Hebert Gregory as ADA Kyra Hay
- Brendan Fehr as Bauer, a military captain.
- John Getz as Chairman.
- Mel Rodriguez as Marco Pasternak.
- Clea DuVall as Dr. Lara Cruz
- Javier Grajeda as Juan Bolsa
- Mark Proksch as Daniel Wormald
- Jessie Ennis as Erin Brill
Episodes
Talking Saul
These episodes discuss season three of Better Call Saul.
Reception
The third season of Better Call Saul, much like the previous two, received critical acclaim, particularly for the character development of Jimmy McGill. On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season has an approval rating of 97% based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 8.82/10. The site's critical consensus is, "Better Call Saul shows no signs of slipping in season 3, as the introduction of more familiar faces causes the inevitable transformation of its lead to pick up exciting speed." On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the season has a score of 87 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Terri Schwartz of IGN gave the third season 9.1/10, giving praise to Jimmy's character development, stating, "Better Call Saul was better than it's ever been in Season 3." Verne Gay of Newsday gave it an "A+" grade and wrote, "Based on the first two episodes, Saul is making a case that it could be even better than Breaking Bad."
Ratings
- Notes
+ Live +7 ratings were not available, so Live +3 ratings have been used instead.
Accolades
Plot
Chuck's fate
Jimmy tries to make amends with Chuck in the season 3 finale, "Lantern", but Chuck coldly cuts ties with Jimmy. After forcing Jimmy away, Chuck's EHS symptoms begin to re-emerge, and he becomes obsessed with disabling all electronic devices in his home to the point of tearing walls open to remove the wiring. He eventually reaches a breaking point and knocks the gas lantern over, setting fire to his house, while he is still inside, after this scene there was much speculation as to what happened to Chuck after the fire started. Showrunner Peter Gould said, "I don't want to define anything more than what's on screen". Michael McKean, who played Chuck, told Vulture: "I got a call on my cell from Peter [and] Vince [Gilligan]. I said, 'If this is the death call, I'm going to pull over.' And that's what I did. I pulled into the parking lot of the bookstore and I called them back and they told me what they had planned. They told me they had laughed about what I had said, but they had to deliver it." When asked if his character was dead, McKean said, "I am. I know they want to bring me in for some flashbacks this coming season, but that's kind of beside the point."
Home media
The third season was released on Blu-ray and DVD in region 1 on January 16, 2018. The set contains all 10 episodes, plus audio commentaries for every episode and several behind-the-scenes featurettes.
References
External links
- Official website
- List of Better Call Saul episodes on IMDb
Source of article : Wikipedia
0 Comments