The penultimate season of the Breaking Bad prequel series Better Call Saul has arrived on Blu-ray, and proves the series is still firing on all cylinders. In the fifth season, Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) has finally got his legal license back and completes his transformation into the sleazy TV lawyer, changing his name to Saul Goodman. While his girlfriend, Kim (Rhea Seehorn), questions the change, she still fully supports him in his new endeavor. Jimmy calls her the voice of reason who pulls him in when he goes too far. However, over the course of the season, we see that perhaps Jimmy is actually a bad influence on Kim—she often gets swept up in and gets a perverse satisfaction out of participating in his crazy schemes, sometimes even deploying the same tactics in her own work, which could eventually lead to her downfall. At the end of last season, Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) had arrived to run his uncle Hector’s drug business, and this has stirred up things for Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), who was trying to build his secret superlab. As Gustavo plots his revenge on the Salamancas, he uses Ignacio “Nacho” Varga (Michael Mando) as his undercover pawn to infiltrate Lalo’s organization. At the same time, Jimmy finds himself dangerously stuck in the middle of this feud as well, putting both his and Kim’s lives in danger.

Better Call Saul is just as fresh and captivating as ever in its fifth season. One of the things this series has going for it is that there are so many characters we never saw in Better Call Saul, so their fates are unknown. Since we know they don’t have any relationship with Jimmy in the future, there is always this underlying tension that they could be eliminated at any moment—and this is especially true of Kim as we see her allow Jimmy to get her mixed up in some extremely dangerous situations. The season opens with an exciting sequence following a paranoid Gene (Jimmy’s post-Breaking Bad Cinnabon employee persona) as he fears that he has been found out and needs to go on the run again. In the present (or should I say, the past), there is some great character development as we see both Jimmy and Kim struggle to deal with their new roles. While they may love and care for each other, they both seem to ultimately be a bad influence on one another, and this will likely lead to tragedy. This series is so smartly written, taking its time to not only fully develop the characters, but also to set up small things that will pay off later on. The fifth season also sees the appearance of some favorite Breaking Bad characters such as DEA agent Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) and fixer Ed Galbraith (Robert Forster). The season culminates in an exciting final three episodes. One of the highlights is episode 8, “Bagman”, that finds Jimmy and Mike trying to survive the desert after a seemingly simple task goes wrong. The following episode looks at the fallout from this event, with an extremely tense, perfectly-performed one-act play. And the season closes out with some unexpected twists of events that left me really excited to see what happens in the upcoming final season!

This series is so beautifully shot with a cinematic feel, and Sony’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds amazing. The picture is pretty immaculate, with a clean, clear picture no matter if the scenes are taking place in the blistering sunlight of the desert or in the dark of night. The audio track provides clear dialogue, showcases the show’s wonderful, delightful score/soundtrack, and makes excellent use of the stereo and surround channels to provide ambiance and an immersive viewing experience. The ten episodes of the season spread across 3 discs, which are stacked on either side of the HD keepcase. The case does not include a cardboard slipcover. The release is loaded with some amazing bonus material, including cast/crew commentaries on every episode, 6 deleted scenes, a gag reel, an Easter Egg, and over 90 minutes of other behind-the-scenes and in-character featurettes. Unfortunately, it looks like Sony has stopped including a digital copy of the episodes with all of its newer TV-on-Blu-ray releases, and this release is no exception. So those who want to continue to maintain their digital collection of Better Call Saul will need to purchase that separately.

What’s Included:

Episodes: (8:42:58)
• All 10 episodes of the fifth season:
  Disc 1: “Magic Man”, “50% Off”, “The Guy for This”
  Disc 2: “Namaste”, “Dedicado a Max”, “Wexler v. Goodman”, “JMM”
  Disc 3: “Bagman”, “Bad Choice Road”, “Something Unforgivable”
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English, English SDH​, Arabic, Dutch, French

Extras:

• Audio Commentaries
  The show’s cast and crew provide entertaining commentaries on all ten episodes of the fifth season. The varied roles of participants makes for some really interesting perspectives and behind-the-scenes looks at the episodes.
  • “Magic Man” (54:25) — co-creator/executive producer/writer Peter Gould, costume designer Jennifer L. Bryan, re-recording mixers Larry Benjamin, music supervisor Thomas Golubić, and editor Chris McCaleb
  • “50% Off” (45:13) — co-creator/executive producer Peter Gould, director Norberto Barba, writer/producer Alison Tatlock, Rhea Seehorn (“Kim Wexler”), Michael Mando (“Nacho Varga”) and production designer Mark Freeborn
  • “The Guy for This” (54:16) — director Michael Morris, writer/producer Ann Cherkis, Bob Odenkirk (“Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman”), Tony Dalton (“Lalo Salamanca”) and Dean Norris (“Hank Schrader”)
  • “Namaste” (46:13) — co-creator/executive producer Peter Gould, writer/director Gordon Smith, executive producer Mark Johnson, producer Diane Mercer and editor Skip Macdonald
  • “Dedicado a Max” (50:19) — co-creator/executive producer Peter Gould, director Jim McKay, co-producer Trina Siopy, production designer Paula Dal Santo and Jonathan Banks (“Mike Ehrmantraut”)
  • “Wexler v. Goodman” (51:23) — co-creator/executive producer Peter Gould, writer Thomas Schnauz, director Michael Morris, Patrick Fabian (“Howard Hamlin”) and production sound mixer Philip W. Palmer
  • “JMM” (47:39) — co-creator/executive producer Peter Gould, producer/director Melissa Bernstein, writer/co-executive producer Alison Tatlock, Rhea Seehorn and Giancarlo Esposito (“Gus Fring”)
  • “Bagman” (54:05) — co-creator/executive producer Peter Gould, director Vince Gilligan, writer Gordon Smith, Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks (“Mike Ehrmantraut”) and composer Dave Porter
  • “Bad Choice Road” (59:24) — co-creator/executive producer Peter Gould, writer/director Thomas Schnauz, producer Melissa Bernstein, producer Diane Mercer, cinematographer Marshall Adams and makeup/makeup effects Cheri Montesanto
  • “Something Unforgivable” (1:00:01) — co-creator/executive/director/co-writer producer Peter Gould, co-writer Ariel Levine, production designer Mark Freeborn, construction coordinator Steve Brown, stunt coordinator Al Goto and assistant to Peter Gould Valerie Chu
• Deleted Scenes
  • “Magic Man” — They Must Love Your Work (2:48)
    Kim finds a giant gift basket on her desk at work.
  • “Namaste” — Better Call Pat (1:14)
    Kim tells co-worker Pat to take over running their case.
  • “Dedicado a Max” — Farewell, Fringtown (:55)
    In Mexico, Mike looks out the window at his peaceful surroundings.
  • “Wexler v. Goodman” — Damage Control (:34)
    Jimmy listens to Kim apologize to her clients for his unprofessional behavior at the meeting.
  • “Bagman” — Go Easy On That (1:59)
    Jimmy and Mike stop for a drink as they are walking through the desert. Mike warns Jimmy that they still have 23 miles to go, and so he should go easy on the water.
  • “Something Unforgivable” — A Little Extra (2:24)
    Lalo leads Nacho to his vault, teaching him how to make the bills look nice to present to the boss.
• “Wexler v. Goodman” Featurettes
  • Vintage Mesa Verde Commercial (1:10)
    Cowboy Don Wachtell, the president of Mesa Verde Bank & Trust, and his young son Kevin pull at the heartstrings of potential customers in this overly-dramatic TV ad.
  • What is Mesa Verde Hiding? (2;17)
    Saul’s attack ads on Mesa Verde, incorporating negative customer testimonials with the original Mesa Verde ad. Play All, or select from:
    • Wrongfully Evicted! (:38)
    • Black Mold?!?! (:37)
    • Bare Genitals! (:38)
    • My $ = Terrorism!??? (:37)
    • Mesa Verde Attack Ad Storyboard (Easter Egg)
      Pressing left while Play All is selected pops up a Mesa Verde Bank & Trust logo, and when this is clicked, a storyboard of Saul’s ad appears.
• Ethics Training with Kim Wexler (28:04)
  Kim Wexler, Senior partner at Schweikart & Cokely, presents this 10-part continuing legal education course filmed by Jimmy and his crew. Kim sits behind her desk talking about the ethical situations that lawyers face every day, stating that “if you want to be a good lawyer, you’ve got to be a GOOD lawyer”. As Kim describes these various situations, we see Saul doing exactly what she’s saying NOT to do, in animated scenarios taken from this season’s events. Some of the shorts also include other characters from this series and Breaking Bad, and Howard Hamlin, managing partner of Hamlin Hamlin & McGill, joins Kim for the live-action portion of one of the videos. Play All, or select from:
  • Marketing (3:04)
  • Communication (2:45)
  • Civility (2:38)
  • Self-Care (3:12)
  • Strategic Alliances (2:42)
  • Conflicts of Interest (2:59)
  • Marital Privilege (2:25)
  • Money (2:15)
  • Client Privilege (2:59)
  • Decision-Making (3:00)
• “Bagman” Featurettes
  • The Good, The Bags and The Ugly (13:22)
    The cast and crew give a behind-the-scenes look at the making this grueling episode of the series. Includes interviews with co-executive producer/writer Gordon Smith, executive producer/co-creator Peter Gould, executive producer/co-creator Vince Gilligan, special effects set foreman Leo Lovato, associate producer Jenn Carroll, executive producer Melissa Bernstein, construction coordinator Steve Brown, department head of make-up Cheri Montesanto, stunt coordinator Al Goto, stunt driver Corey Eubanks, and stars Bob Odenkirk, Luis Moncada (“Marco Salamanca”), Daniel Moncada (“Leonel Salamanca“) & Jonathan Banks.
  • The Ambush (29:52)
    Director Vice Gilligan provides commentary for the ambush sequence of the episode, talking specifics about the special effects, make-up, cinematography, and more that went into making this epic shootout scene, which took five days to shoot. He often pauses/rewinds/slows down the playback as he describes in detail how effects were done. There is also some behind-the scenes footage of blood spatter tests, set photos, and more mixed in.
  • The Cannon Roll (:59)
    A look at the big truck roll stunt from six different cameras all at once.
• “Bad Choice Road” Featurettes
  • Tell Me Again (10:09)
    The cast and crew talk about the one-act play like final confrontation between Lalo, Jimmy & Kim. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, script pages, and interviews (from their homes) with executive producer/writer Thomas Schnauz, executive producer Melissa Bernstein, co-executive producer/writer Gordon Smith, executive producer/co-creator Peter Gould, and stars Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Rhea Seehorn, Tony Dalton (“Lalo Salamanca”), Jonathan Banks & Patrick Fabian.
• Gag Reel (5:48)
  The cast flub their lines, deal with noisy goats and other distractions, and just have fun on set.
• Crystal Balls (8:59)
  The cast and crew ridiculously try to predict the fates of “Gene”, Kim, Howard, Nacho & Lalo, and discuss which two characters they’d like to see get their own spin-off. Includes interviews (from their homes) with Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian, Jonathan Banks, co-executive producer/writer Gordon Smith, executive producer/writer Thomas Schnauz, executive producer/co-creator Peter Gould and executive producer Melissa Bernstein.
• The Effects for This! (1:57)
  Before and after visual effects photo/video comparisons for some of the season’s locations.

Final Thoughts:

In its penultimate season, Better Call Saul is still as strong as ever, with compelling characters and story, and some truly exciting and memorable episodes. As I sat down to re-watch the episodes on this Blu-ray release, I was quickly reminded of just how amazing and captivating this series is. Sony’s Blu-ray release provides excellent picture and sound, and a huge assortment of bonus material that is sure to please any fan. The one disappointment is the loss of the digital copy that had been included with the first four seasons. That said, this release is a Must Own for any fan of the show, and Highly Recommended for anyone else looking for a quality drama.