20 Best TV Shows Of 2016 

3. Better Call Saul

Best TV Shows 2016
AMC

Any concerns about the need and/or quality of Better Call Saul should have disappeared after the first season. After the second, they should've been completely obliterated.

It'll always draw some comparisons to Breaking Bad, and it may not top that show. But it doesn't really need to. Better Call Saul, while very much connected to Breaking Bad, manages to be its own thing entirely.

It's a slow burn character study, a flip from the propulsive narrative of twists and turns that took Breaking Bad rollicking forward towards greatness. Season 2 continued this, colouring Bob Odenkirk's Jimmy McGill with more shades of Saul, but not making the transition just yet.

Taking its time is one of the series biggest strengths - it has one shot where others would have at least two, it lingers on one scene when others would've screamed past it. The other is its characters. Season 2 brought Kim and Jimmy closer together, dissolved the latter's relationship with brother Chuck to rich dramatic effect, and fleshed-out Mike much more than he ever was on Breaking Bad.

Odenkirk's take is a marvel, but all the cast produce stellar work. With some dazzling cinematography and a tight script, it may be a Breaking Bad spin-off, but it's something special in its own right as well.

Best Episode: Nailed

Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.