Five-O

Just when you thought Better Call Saul was hitting a low point in boredom in season one of its' much long awaited and anticipated premiere, off steps Mike Ehrmentraut, a beloved Breaking Bad character, from a train in the opening teaser. This scene was reminiscent of classic filmmaking right off the bat- the bad guy has just arrived in town in the west.

Like many Breaking Bad episodes, this particular BCS episode had that "too good to be true" feel to it, like you were being spoiled as a viewer- "They're actually going to show it? We're really going to see where Mike came from?" How awesome can it be! Sure enough, we are privileged to get a flashback to life as a Philadelphia cop from Mike's past after his son was ambushed in a drug raid. He's hitting the bottle and heartbroken with his eye on who did it.

While the climax of this episode is sure to satisfy and be worth your while, the really best highlight actually comes after, when Mike delivers his (what will likely be) Emmy Award winning monologue and most emotional performance of his Breaking Bad era to date that will leave you speechless and frozen in your seat for minutes after the credits roll.

Filled with the mixture of comedy, drama, dialogue, suspense, storytelling, and cinematography that Breaking Bad became known for, this is easily one of the top 2 episodes of season 1 of Better Call Saul, and a must see for any fan of Breaking Bad. It's awesome!

Better Call Saul has finally arrived.

"Five-O" is an amazing episode and a very important episode. It helps if you have knowledge of Breaking Bad because you will need to apply it here. In that second season, we are introduced to Mike, Saul's cleaner. Mike instantly became a fan favorite and is essential piece for the father series. This episode, directed beautifully by Adam Bernstein, is the episode we have all been waiting for. The backstory of Mike and how he came to be. It is a haunting story with performances you'll never forget.

Mike is a former Philadelphia cop and he relocated to Albuquerque after his son, Matt was murdered. He wanted to be close to his daughter-in-law Stacee (Kerry Condon) and his granddaughter Kaylee. Mike, who possessed poor morals as a Philly cop, was partners with Matt. He said corruption is necessary to survive in the precinct, which ultimately led to Matt's death. He later seeks revenge on these cops. Months later, detectives from Philly are at his doorstep inquiring about these missing cops. If he wants to make it out of here in good shape, Mike will need to rely upon Jimmy McGill.

I loved this Mike-based episode. It pauses the main story as we focus more on Mike as a character. Jonathan Banks was always a great actor and this episode's performance deserved him an Emmy. I'll never forget his haunting quote as he wails, "I lost my boy." Mike took control of the episode as Odenkirk appears for only about eight minutes. But his character makes an important choice regarding his future. The teaming of Mike and Jimmy. This is an emotional, character-driven episode that is one of the major highlights of Better Call Saul's first season.

My Grade: A+

Greetings from Lithuania.

So, the 5 and the 6 episodes of "Better Call Saul" moves a story a bit further but not to much.

5 episode was good, but really nothing special. Acting, writing, pacing and directing were solid as usual.

However 6th episode was superb. Simply the best episode of the series so far, it lets the background story of Mike, how he ended up in Albuquerque and the story behind him is sad and tragic. I won't going to go into details, but it's a superbly paced, written and acted by Jonathan Banks. This episode truly captures the spirit of "Breaking Bad" and show life as it is.

Overall, 8/10 for 5th episode, and 10/10 for 6th.

I have covered in previous reviews the contribution Joss Whedon is considered to have made to the modern TV drama (the "long arc") but watching this incredible episode I could help but think that Gilligan and Gould need acknowledgement too.

We already know (Breaking Bad) that their key theme is human foibles. This episode, which seems at first glance to break almost every rule of episodic TV (the star is barely doing a cameo?) is a tour de force not only for Banks' acting but also for way the viewer is hooked off the top and just cannot walk away.

Incredible TV.

And notice how all the episodes for the season end in "O" -- showing off maybe, but they earned the right.

((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

Mike: "I broke my boy".

Better Call Saul so far has been amazing and it's episodes have been great, until I sawed Five-o which I think is one of the best episode of this season so far and possibly in TV history.

Jonathan Banks was just perfect in this episode. He broke my heart with his excellent performance and he also reminds us why we loved Mike in Breaking Bad. I heard from critics and pretty much everyone that Jonathan Banks might win a Emmy or a Golden Globe because of this episode and I will be so over the moon if he dose win, because he actually give a groundbreaking and the best TV performance of the year. Most actors nominated or probably win don't really break any new grounds when it comes to they performance, well to me it didn't wow me, but this performance right here is just a masterpiece of acting.

We got shows like The Walking Dead which is on right now as I'm speaking but every Monday I'm not normally looking forward to Walking Dead that much to be honest, but I'm always looking forward to Better Call Saul. Why you may ask? because the show has such intelligent and brilliant writing that glues me into the screen and get's me interested every week.

I'm not going to say anything else about this episode, just watch it it's amazing.