Former ‘Bad’ crowd has high hopes for ‘Saul’

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The faded yellow Suzuki Esteem cruising through a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood - and the vaguely familiar figure behind the wheel - look like they’ve seen better days.

The old-model car squeaks to a halt outside a quaint house. A middle-aged man steps out. Disheveled and preoccupied, he oddly places his wristwatch, his early-generation flip cellphone and car keys in a mailbox outside the home.

The fact is, on this warm afternoon, it’s more than the technology that seems to be caught in a time warp. Some day the man in question will become every “Breaking Bad” fan’s favorite shady, wise-cracking lawyer, Saul Goodman. But in this moment and presumably for a good part of AMC’s new spinoff series “Better Call Saul,” which kicks off Sunday, the actor Bob Odenkirk will be playing the mightily struggling Jimmy McGill.

As a small army of technicians and crew members track his movements, Odenkirk moves to the front door, and a director yells “Cut!” A warm smile returns to Odenkirk’s face.

“We’re at the center of the tornado,” he announced with glee a few minutes later while sipping a raspberry iced tea.

The 52-year-old actor and a troupe of “Breaking Bad” alumni have descended once again on this New Mexico city, and their ensemble work brings with it one of the year’s most highly anticipated series debuts from “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan and one of that drama’s key writers, Peter Gould.

During a jampacked premiere last week in downtown Los Angeles, Gilligan was jubilant as he, Gould and Odenkirk were congratulated by a swarm of well-wishers that included Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul and other “Breaking Bad” cast members.

“It’s a … good show, in my opinion,” Gilligan has declared in a very uncharacteristic flash of bravado from the show runner whose low-key humility and Southern-flavored warmth have made him one of the most admired and well-liked creators in Hollywood.

Despite the confidence, Gilligan and Gould are also nervous, especially about fans who might be expecting a “Breaking Bad” redux.

“There’s been all this love for ‘Breaking Bad,’ and it’s been nothing but a good thing for me personally,” Gilligan said in a recent interview. “But I’d be lying if I didn’t say I know that there’s now this double-edged sword of expectation. That weight is so high, and the possibility that there might be this big swath of viewers that might be disappointed makes me very anxious.”

Gilligan has personal experience with the risk of spinoffs. As an executive producer of “The X-Files,” the 47-year-old helped create “The Lone Gunman,” an “X-Files” spinoff about a group of geeky investigators. Favorable reviews and the pedigree of the popular Fox drama did little for the low-rated series, which was yanked after 13 episodes

“I’m really proud of every episode,” added Gould, who created the character of Saul Goodman for the second season of “Breaking Bad.” “But the better I love the show, the more nervous I get. This is a different animal than ‘Breaking Bad,’ and it has to succeed or fail on its own merits.”

“Better Call Saul” breaks off in different directions from “Breaking Bad,” which captivated millions of viewers with its offbeat mix of family drama and drug underworld saga, spiked with throat-gripping tension and explosive - sometimes stomach-churning - violence. During its five-season run, the drama became one of TV’s most honored shows and helped vault AMC into the elite ranks of cable networks.

In the new show, Cranston and Paul, whose respective portrayals of Walter White and junkie wingman Jesse Pinkman were at the heart of “Breaking Bad,” are absent - at least for now. The only regular cast holdover to join Odenkirk is Jonathan Banks, who played Mike Ehrmantraut, the no-nonsense “fixer” who met a bloody demise.

“Better Call Saul” also lacks the life-and-death stakes of its predecessor, or the all-consuming question of whether White could still be redeemed despite all his horrible deeds.

But there is clear synchronicity between the two shows, courtesy of the wicked, black-comedy sensibilities of Gilligan and Gould. The series is anchored by a revelatory performance from Odenkirk that caroms between outrageous comedy and gripping dramatics, sometimes in the same scene.

And although Cranston and Paul are off the grid for now, the producers promise “Breaking Bad” “Easter eggs” to reward fans.

“The biggest risk we have with this show is the combination of tone,” Gould said. “It whiplashes between drama and comedy in ways that are unpredictable. It’s a unique combination, and I have no idea whether people are going to dig that.”