Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Better Call Saul: Season Three Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 25, 2018

Here’s another season of exceptional performances, striking character depth, compelling narrative discovery, and revealing and expertly presented photography. Once again, Better Call Saul comes filled with unique and diverse angles that always give a sense of proportion and place to any scene, and that’s not simply talking camera positioning. This is essentially a season following a personal and legal battle between Jimmy and his brother in its first half and in its second the fallout of the mid season climax that brings their legal feud to a head. The writing is sharp, the characters increasingly interesting and evolving, and their stories are complex and demanding yet easy to follow across a fairly wide range of presentations, from gritty drug underworld dealings to courtroom drama, from gutter moneymaking schemes to bingo halls and chair yoga classes. It’s all intertwined, it’s all building to Breaking Bad, it’s Saul good, man. For light refreshers, see the reviews for Better Call Saul's first and second seasons.

Saul’s third season sees a full-bore push towards Breaking Bad but remains distinctly its own creation at the same time, fulfilling critical developments and laying more of the groundwork for it as the worlds collide in large ways this season, reintroducing characters and elements that would become critical staples in the big brother show. Gus Fring returns, first seen as a blurry but easily identifiable figure in the background at his Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant while Jimmy, eating breakfast and sipping on overly sugared coffee, scouts out a man with a bag driving a green Blazer. Fring’s dealings with Mike and Don Hector make for some of the season’s finest moments, particularly during the season’s best episode when Hector’s cartel essentially invades the restaurant in one of the most compelling sequences from either Saul or Bad.

Performances are again terrific, with the highlights including Jonathan Banks and Giancarlo Esposito. Banks' work as Mike and Esposito's work as Gus are very similar. Both characters are deliberate, cunning, confident, patient, willing and able to blend in but take a hard, unblinking stance as the situation demands. They're a significant contrast to Bob Odenkirk's Jimmy, an abrasive, boisterous, smart but fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants type whose conscience isn't a dominant factor in his dealings and approach to life and making money, but it's unmistakably there, too, through every scheme and trick to further himself and enlarge his shrinking bank account balance.

The following episodes comprise season three. Summaries are courtesy of the Blu-ray packing. Spoilers follow.

Disc One:

• Mabel: Jimmy tries to reconnect with Chuck, unaware that his brother has taped his criminal confession. Kim takes on new clients. Mike searches for a bug.
• Witness: Jimmy learns of Chuck’s vengeful campaign against him. Mike’s search for answers leads him to Los Pollos Hermanos.
• Sunk Costs (uncensored episode): Jimmy represents himself in court and receives an interesting offer from Chuck. Mike comes face to face with Gus Fring.

Disc Two:

• Sabrosita: Jimmy calls in a favor from Mike. Kim and Jimmy negotiate with Chuck. Hector Salamanca visits Gus at Los Pollos Hermanos.
• Chicanery: Kim represents Jimmy before the New Mexico State Bar. Jimmy exposes Chuck’s illness to his peers, with the help of a familiar pickpocket.
• Off Brand: Jimmy’s law license is suspended. Nacho worries for his family. While Chuck begins to doubt his convictions, Saul Goodman makes a triumphant return.
• Expenses: Jimmy shifts careers to make ends meet. Nacho solicits the help of a former associate. Mike helps Stacey with a project and makes a meaningful connection.

Disc Three:

• Slip: Slippin’ Jimmy makes an appearance. Kim stands up to Hamlin. Nacho plans to eliminate Hector.
• Fall (uncensored episode): At Sandpiper Crossing, Jimmy wrecks havoc on Mrs. Landry’s social life. Chuck and Hamlin spar over the future of HHM.
• Lantern: Jimmy tries to make amends, while Kim re-evaluates her workload. Hector suffers a heart attack. Chuck takes a turn for the worse.

Better Call Saul: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Better Call Saul: Season Three's Blu-ray release is unsurprisingly fantastic. Sony's 1080p transfer offers clean definition and precise clarity across the board. Textural qualities are the season standout, particularly considering high dollar suits (and Howard Hamlin's neckties in particular) but also stretching to complex natural environments, skin features, and refined luxury appointments in law offices and Chuck's home. The abundance of clarity, sharpness, and effortless definition pushes the Blu-ray format to its upper limits. Colors are flavorful and punchy, holding bright and firm and cheerful but never appearing overly processed or, on the flip side, washed out or dull. Some of the finest examples include red and blue accents and yellow employee shirts in Los Pollos Hermanos and orange safety gear during community service clean-up scenes. Bright colors abound, skin tones are pleasing and true, and black levels are generally deep and pure with only a few (and noisy) exceptions. This is a rock-solid image, again approaching the best case scenario for the Blu-ray format. Hopefully Sony will one day release the show on UHD; a compare and contrast would be most interesting with a Blu-ray this good.

Better Call Saul: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Better Call Saul: Season Three isn't exactly teeming with intensive sonic moments, but it's also not bereft of them. The season enjoys responsible balance and commanding authority as needed. Music plays to expected satisfaction, yielding good general width and clarity. Gentle atmospherics shape various environments, including natural outdoor elements and din inside Los Pollos Hermanos. Big passing trucks on an overpass, underwater depth, and a handful of other more intensive effects play with substantial power and stage placement as needed. Sound object traversal and precision imaging are helpful in better defining various scenes. Dialogue defines the vast majority of the season's sonic needs and it plays with impressive clarity throughout.

Better Call Saul: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Better Call Saul: Season Three contains extras across all included Blu-ray discs. A UV digital copy redemption code is included with purchase.

Disc One:

• Gag Reel (1080p, 4:35).
• Audio Commentaries: For Mabel: Peter Gould, Vince Gilligan, Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, and Marshall Adams. For Witness: Peter Gould, Vince Gilligan, Thomas Schnauz, Nina Jack, Robin Sweet, and Jenn Carroll. For Sunk Costs: Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, Melisa Bernstein, Mark Johnson, Nina Jack, and John Shiban.
• Gene of Omaha (1080p, 7:41): Making the season premiere flash-forward sequence, which includes narrative purpose, training to make cinnamon rolls, shooting in a real mall, Creating a time lapse, and stunt work for the sequence. This extra may be found under the tab for Mabel.
• The Return of Gus Fring (1080p, 6:37): A closer look at the fan-favorite character from Breaking Bad's return. This extra may be found under the tab for Witness.
• Deleted & Extended Scenes (1080p): For Mabel: Mike Returns to Work (1080p, 0:51). For Witness: Jimmy and Mike Meet for Breakfast (2:01).

Disc Two:

• Audio Commentaries: For Sabrosito: Peter Gould, Thomas Schnauz, Jonathan Glatzer, Michael Mando, Jennifer Bryan, and Sharon Bialy. For Chicanery: Peter Gould, Vince Gilligan, Gordon Smith, Daniel Sackheim, Michael McKean, and Skip Macdonald. For Off Brand: Vince Gilligan, Ann Cherkis, Keith Gordon, Patrick Fabian, Nick Forshager, and Larry Benjamin. For Expenses: Peter Gould, Thomas Schanuz, Robin Sweet, Bob Odenkrik, and Rhea Seehorn.
• Deleted & Extended Scenes (1080p): For Sabrosito: Hector Visits Los Pollos Hermanos (5:40) and Victor Meets with Gus (0:48). For Off Brand: Jimmy Calls His Clients with Introduction by Producer Peter Gould (4:15) and Saul Goodman Productions Commercial (0:55).

Disc Three:

• Audio Commentaries: For Slip: Peter Gould, Heather Marion, Patrick Fabian, Michael Mando, and Thomas Golubic. For Fall: Peter Gould, Melissa Bernstein, Gordon Smith, Minkie Spiro, Bob Odenkirk, and Rhea Seehorn. For Lantern: Peter Gould, Vince Gilligan, Michael McKean, Dave Porter, and Desa Larkin-Boutté.
• Deleted & Extended Scenes (1080p): For Fall: Jimmy Goes to Sandpiper (0:51). For Lantern: Jimmy Waits in Hospital (1:26).
• It's a Bad, Bad World (1080p, 9:59): A discussion of the intersecting worlds of Saul and Breaking Bad, including the long list of returning characters. It also includes a brief look at Bryan Cranston's visit to the set.
• Signs of Saul (1080p, 6:35): A closer look at Jimmy's gradual transformation into Saul.
• In Conversation: Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks & Rhea Seehorn (1080i, 8:46): Three of the show's stars quickly cover a few topics.
• Los Pollos Hermanos Training Videos (1080p, 15:30 total runtime): Gus Fring's 10-week seminar video clips. Includes Communication, Cleanliness, Shipping and Receiving, Customer Service, Code of Conduct, Loss Prevention, Sustainability, Brand Management, Conflict Resolution, and Emergency Situation.

Better Call Saul: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Only in a show as structurally stout, dramatically sure, and narratively confident as Better Call Saul can scenes such as a law firm receptionist chatting with a potential client, characters digging through a fast-food restaurant trash can, or repeated attempts to throw tied shoes over a telephone wire be so captivating. Saul's third season is nothing short of fantastic, with two interconnected but distinct halves at work and a midseason climax that sends two primary characters, each previously maneuvering to ruin the other, into their own downward spirals. The season ends on a decent cliffhanger, one with the potential to be a big deal or just a relatively modest blip on the show's and the character involved's radar, but there's enough here beyond the final shot to make season four's pending arrival cause for anticipation and celebration regardless of whatever little teaser trap Gilligan and Gould have laid. Better Call Saul: Season Three's Blu-ray delivers striking video and excellent audio. Supplements are plentiful, headlined by ten audio commentary tracks. Very highly recommended, and watch for this title to make a strong run at the year-end top-ten list.