AMC Archives - Page 8 of 18 - StayTuned Magazine

Better Call Saul Season 1 finale recap: Jimmy returns to Cicero in “Marco”

April 6, 2015 Lori Acken

No one can break your heart — or your will — like kin. And as we reach the Better Call Saul Season 1 finale knowing Chuck sabotaged Jimmy’s law career from the get-go, preferring his baby brother serve as his errand boy and not his equal (and, worse, that Big Brother McGill has every intention of profiting further from the Sandpiper Crossing case), it’s a stinging reminder that no matter how your adult years go, family has a knack for keeping you the kid who crashed the Chrysler right up unto the grave. The revelation leaves Jimmy at a crossroads. The only family member he has […]

Mad Men Season 7 Episode 8 recap: “Severance”

April 5, 2015 Kris Babe

The second half of Mad Men’s final season begins with a dark gem of an episode, framed by Peggy Lee’s “Is That All There Is?” In case you’re not yet sure where this ride is taking us, Ms. Lee says, “I stood there shivering in my pajamas and watched the whole world go up in flames/And when it was over, I said to myself/‘Is that all there is to a fire?’” It’s April 1970, and Don is restored to his corner office; with him, an ingenue wearing not much more than a $15K chinchilla coat. “You’re not supposed to talk. […]

Better Call Saul episode 109 recap — Pimento

March 30, 2015 Lori Acken

With just a week to go until the Better Call Saul Season 1 finale, we open with Chuck and Jimmy sitting side by side on a park bench near Chuck’s house on a lovely, sunny day. Chuck is zeroed in on the power lines overhead, but Jimmy tells him to kick off his shoes and feel the grass between his toes. Remember what it feels like to enjoy the great outdoors. Chuck does as he’s told, then changes the subject back to the Sandpiper Crossing case. Chuck tells Jimmy they must stay on their toes, because Schweikert is sure to file a restraining […]

Better Call Saul recap episode 8: “Rico”

March 24, 2015 Lori Acken

So many revelations in Better Call Saul episode 8’s opening flashback moments. First we get confirmation that Jimmy did indeed work for Hamlin, Hamlin and McGill back in the day — in the mailroom. And he and Kim were indeed an item. When he wheels his cart into her office and hands her a letter, it’s actually addressed to him. She opens it, blinks, grins and plants a smooch on her man. Jimmy passed the bar. Heading for Chuck’s corner office, Jimmy reveals to his brother that — with Kim as his inspiration — he completed the few credits he had left to […]

Recap: Better Call Saul Episode 7 “Bingo”

March 16, 2015 Lori Acken

The further we get into Season 1 of AMC’s Better Call Saul!, the harder it’s becoming for me to accept the inevitable: That Jimmy McGill will become Saul Goodman, that everything won’t turn out just fine for our intrepid hero and his damaged brother, that Jimmy won’t get the girl and the corner office. He’ll get a visor, a name tag, a complex and a handful of dough in Nebraska. Jimmy is no Walter White in Matlock’s clothing, i.e., a good guy in a terrible spot driven to do awful things for a very good reason — who discovers that “bad” […]

Better Call Saul episode 6 recap: “Five-O”

March 9, 2015 Lori Acken

Better Call Saul episode 6 is arguably the hour most Saul fans have been longing for since it was announced that Jonathan Banks’ stone-faced fixer Mike Ehrmantraut would be part of the story. And one most Breaking Bad fans hoped for, too, before Saul was even a twinkle in AMC’s eye. More than any this season, this episode also adds fuel to the burning question of whether or not you really must be a disciple of Breaking Bad to truly get the most from Saul. In this episode, we only see our titular hero for a few moments — priceless moments to be sure, but the […]

Better Call Saul episode 5 recap: “Alpine Shepherd Boy”

March 2, 2015 Lori Acken

When we left the McGill brothers at the end of last week’s Better Call Saul, things were looking up for Jimmy and not so much for Chuck, who risked going to outside long enough to make an unauthorized purchase of his neighbor’s paper only to be further traumatized by what he found on the front page. And that is where we pick up in this week’s episode, “Alpine Shepherd Boy.” When a pair of cops appear on Chuck’s doorstep to investigate the “crime,” Chuck points out that the neighbor actually made a tidy profit on the exchange and then attempts to engage […]

Better Call Saul episode 4 recap: “Hero”

February 23, 2015 Lori Acken

We’re four episodes into AMC’s Better Call Saul, and Slippin’ Jimmy, Jimmy McGill and Saul Goodman are, by turns, thrashing, banana-peeling and tip-toeing their way to becoming the same guy, on the screen and in viewers’ minds. And by the end of tonight’s outing, “Hero,” I found myself wondering for the first time if Jimmy ever really wanted be a lawyer in the first place, or if he’s just trying mightily to fill his big brother’s shoes and avenge — carry on? live up to? — the family name, using the best gift the universe bestowed on him: The ability to spin […]

Better Call Saul episode 3 recap: Nacho, Problem

February 16, 2015 Lori Acken

At the end of last week’s Better Call Saul!, Jimmy’s loafered toe had grazed the legal and moral banana peel that will ostensibly slide him — by chance or choice or a complex combination — into Saul-dom. Having been made an offer he’d love to refuse by Tuco’s business associate Nacho, Jimmy realizes that, in saving his own life in the desert, he’s put those of the conniving Kettleman family in some serious danger by blabbing. They might be crooks, but they don’t deserve to die for it because of some bungled street corner shakedown of the wrong person’s grandma. […]

Better Call Saul episode 2 recap: Crunch time!

February 9, 2015 Lori Acken

The first lesson of Better Call Saul! episode 2, “Mijo,” is that you do not call Tuco Salamanca’s grandma a “biznatch.” You do not. You can call the cops. You can demand dinero. But you do not. Call. Grandma. Biznatch. For Breaking Bad fans, this goes without saying. For those of you new to Tuco and his business methods, this episode is all about where it lands you. We backtrack a few moments from the conclusion of last night’s series premiere. With the twins towering behind her and everyone looking hard at Tuco, Abuelita whimpers with worry. Tuco sends her up to watch […]