‘Better Call Saul’ Moves Toward Its Endgame, Losing Sight of Its Best Assets: TV Review

The 2022 Tribeca Festival announced its lineup of world premieres of new and returning television including ESPN’s The Captain, about iconic New York Yankee Derek Jeter and Amazon Prime Video’s A League of Their Own, inspired by the 1992 film, with Abbi Jacobson.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticThe first problem for Starz’s new series “Gaslit” may be in its title.Sure, to “gaslight,” as a verb, has its origins in the 1944 film (and its earlier stage source material), all about a woman whose husband, insistent on his falsehoods, leads her to question her sanity. But its contemporary usage, as a slang term with a meaning that has drifted closer to simply “lying,” might not be how a woman in the 1970s would understand a case of marital dishonesty.Which is not to say that Martha Mitchell, the character Julia Roberts plays here, doesn’t have a keen understanding of just what she’s up against.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic“I needed to hear the roar of the crowd one more time — and I heard it.”That’s how Magic Johnson describes his 1991 appearance on Arsenio Hall’s talk show in the new documentary “They Call Me Magic.” It was a key moment in Johnson’s public life, coming just after the basketball star’s announcement that he had contracted HIV. And it’s slightly telling that what Johnson recalls is not any particular thing he said but the applause of the audience for whom he was putting on a show.Johnson, throughout both his athletic and business careers, is as close to an entertainer as an athlete gets.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticThere’s an expression that Bill Hader lets play across his face at the end of the first episode of “Barry’s” new season. Pointing a gun at one of the show’s major characters, Barry orders them to comply with a plan he’s just coming up with on the fly; a grin flickers around his mouth, then takes root, as his eyes glimmer with self-belief far too serene to be disrupted by the knowledge that what he’s doing is madness.HBO has requested that reviewers withhold key plot details of the next installment of “Barry,” TV’s darkest comedy or its funniest drama.

Better Call Saul,” leaving fans wondering what’s in store for the beloved crooked lawyer.As Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) opens shop as Saul Goodman, Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) hints at her own breaking bad moment, with Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian) in her crosshairs. Meanwhile, Nacho Varga (Michael Mando) is on the run after playing a part in Gus Fring’s (Giancarlo Esposito) assassination attempt on Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton). Little do they know, Lalo lives to see another day after picking off Gus’ hitmen one by one in Terminator-like fashion.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticThe set of the new Broadway production of “American Buffalo” at Circle in the Square is choked with the unwanted artifacts of recent history. The show’s two acts take place in a junk shop glutted with relics, one whose barest gestures toward organization are just begging to be undone; the place is already sliding into disorder, so why not finish the job?It’s fitting in more ways than this production may anticipate.

Bob Odenkirk) morphs into Saul Goodman.The first two Season 6 episodes don’t differ much from the series’ canon: they’re by turns riveting and plodding and are underscored by a cinematography template inherited by “Better Call Saul” from its predecessor, “Breaking Bad.” (It was fresh and new … back then.) Enough already with close-ups of bugs crawling in the parched desert dirt or of dripping water or unorthodox camera angles. We get it.

Bob Odenkirk is taking a moment to be grateful for the journey so far.«I'll never have a role this well-written again in my life,» the actor and comedian raved to ET's Will Marfuggi at the season 6 premiere event. «I'll have, you know, three pages that are pure comedy and two pages later, earnest, heartfelt emotion. It's just an amazing dynamic that you just don't see anywhere else, so that's OK -- I got to have it once, that's more than most people get.»The final season of the prequel series kicks off April 18 on AMC, and Odenkirk promised that there's plenty for fans to look forward to in the last 13 episodes.«It's the beginning of the end, but it's gonna tale a while,» he noted. «There's a lot of story to tell and there's a lot of cliffhanger moments coming.

Ready for more? The sixth and final season of Better Call Saul will finally reveal how the kind, but conflicted lawyer Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) became the morally challenged criminal attorney Saul Goodman.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticThere’s a brutally silly device at work in “Anatomy of a Scandal,” Netflix’s new London-set limited series. At key moments, often the end of an episode, one character or another will become suddenly destablized, a process depicted by them flying backwards in the air or falling down.

Better Call Saul is returning for its sixth and final season. The season will include some familiar faces from Breaking Bad and is expected to be released later this month.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticIn the early 2000s, “The Brothers Garcia” was a hit on Nickelodeon; that show depicted a loving Latino family in San Antonio, and was anchored by the dynamic between squabbling brothers.In keeping with the current vogue for reviving recognizable IP on a roughly two-decade cycle, six of that show’s principal cast members are back for a sequel series on HBO Max. “The Brothers Garcia” is created (as was its Nick ancestor) by Jeff Valdez, and depicts an extended family enjoying an extended-stay vacation on a Mexican beach.Notionally, “The Garcias” is pitched at a broad audience: Its humor is broad, its plotlines are heartfelt.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticIn the second episode of “The Kardashians,” Hulu’s new reality show featuring the widely-documented Calabasas, Calif. family, there is a moment of reflection.

Better Call Saul’s final season, the spinoff series of Breaking Bad, will see the return of iconic characters Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul).

Bob Odenkirk is opening up about the end of Better Call Saul.

During today’s Deadline Contenders panel, Better Call Saul star Jonathan Banks jokingly took a swipe at Bryan Cranston about him potentially reprising his role as Walter White.

“Everyone evolves, I don’t evolve,” snarked Jonathan Banks today at Deadline’s Contenders TV about his character, ex-cop Mike Ehrmantraut between Breaking Bad and spinoff Better Call Saul.