Even Bob Odenkirk wishes Better Call Saul would "move faster"
The star of the Breaking Bad spin-off says he wasn't sure whether viewers would follow Jimmy McGill's journey to becoming Saul Goodman – but promised the show "is picking up speed" in season three
Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk says that even he wished that the series would "move faster" in charting the story of how lawyer Jimmy McGill becomes Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad.
Season three of the Breaking Bad spin-off is set to offer our first glimpse of 'Saul' when it begins airing in April, but Odenkirk admitted that he was worried viewers would lose interest in the story before it reached this crucial point.
"I personally have been wanting the journey to move faster," he told RadioTimes.com. "And I know it’s an incremental journey, and it’s a little too slow for some people. It’s one of those things that, like Breaking Bad, they build the dominoes up, and then they start knocking them over. Once they start falling, it falls faster and faster."
However, Odenkirk reassured impatient fans that season three would be "picking up speed".
"I think it’s because of Breaking Bad," he said of the show's pacing. "Because Breaking Bad was so good, and made people so satisfied, one of the things that the creators have felt is that they can trust the audience even more than they did with Breaking Bad, take their time and let people go on this journey piece by piece. But we’re getting there, and it’s picking up speed."
The actor reiterated his tease that season three would give viewers their first glimpse of Jimmy McGill as Saul Goodman – although not in the way you might expect.
"In season three he presents himself as Saul Goodman for the first time in a very conscious way. But he’s not a lawyer in this persona. Does that make any f***in sense? We’re getting closer to Saul.
"The more important thing is that in season three he starts to shut down emotionally, and that is what turns him into Saul. It’s when he just becomes a cold-blooded, self-serving bastard. He makes some choices in season three that made me feel sad. I call the creators and I said, ‘This is a shame’. And they said, ‘Tough beans. This is the journey’."
Odenkirk, who also released his own Netflix movie Girlfriend's Day earlier this year, said that part of the reason he might have found the series slow-going is that he is more used to the pace of comedy.
"I’ve done comedy my whole life, and comedy is more immediately satisfying. It’s pure candy! When comedy’s working you’re getting laughs, and it’s making you happy. With drama you have to trust so much more that the audience will tune in mentally and emotionally and stay with you."
Don't worry, we're still with you Bob.
Better Call Saul season three will begin streaming on Netflix in the UK from Tuesday 11th April, less than 24 hours after the show's broadcast on AMC in the United States.
