AMC has given audiences their first glimpse of Better Call Saul's animated spinoff Slippin' Jimmy and from just one short teaser trailer, it already feels like one Breaking Bad spinoff too many. Originally announced in March last year, the six-part animated series will follow the childhood adventures of Jimmy and Chuck McGill. The visual style will invoke 1970s cartoons like Fat Albert and Peanuts as it explores the childhood misadventures of "Slippin'" Jimmy McGill before he enters the legal profession and becomes the man better known as Saul Goodman.
Produced by Rick and Morty animators Starburn Industries, Slippin' Jimmy has a strong production pedigree. It's also written by Ariel Levine, who co-wrote Better Call Saul's season 5 finale "Something Unforgivable" with Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Joining Levine is Kathleen Williams-Foshee who has been a script coordinator on Better Call Saul since season 3. While it has a promising collection of talent behind it, the project feels like an unnecessary addition to the Breaking Bad universe.
Given the global success of Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul could have very easily coasted along on the parent show's popularity and the goodwill toward Saul and actor Bob Odenkirk. Instead, creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould have been able to provide previously unknown depths to the shallow criminal lawyer. Jimmy’s acrimonious relationship with his brother Chuck and his complex romantic relationship with Kim have helped shape his Saul Goodman persona. As Better Call Saul approaches the end, there's no narrative value in going further back along the McGill/Goodman timeline.
Throughout Better Call Saul, there have been many flashbacks to the lives of Jimmy and Chuck that shine a light on the complexities of their relationship. It's established early on that Chuck has bailed his brother out of several scrapes in the past. Another flashback acts as an origin for the young Saul Goodman when he's seen resenting his gullible father for falling for such an obvious scam. There's nothing more to reveal in going back to the Goodman brothers' childhood, and an animated spinoff, fun though it may be, only serves to cheapen the painful end of Jimmy and Chuck's relationship.
Animation has come a long way since the period that Slippin' Jimmy will invoke. Cartoon series are no longer purely directed at children, especially in the wake of Netflix's devastating character study, BoJack Horseman. So on some level, it makes sense to attempt an animated spinoff of Better Call Saul, especially when comparing Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy to Will Arnett in BoJack Horseman, both career-best performances by actors previously known for comedy. However, the tone of Slippin' Jimmy is a Saturday morning kid's show. It's a reminder of a time when distinctly adult movies like The Toxic Avenger were rebranded, animated, and merchandised for children. It also begs the question of who this new Better Call Saul/Breaking Bad spinoff is for.
If Slippin' Jimmy is for anyone, then it's for AMC. As the streaming wars heat up, it pays to have marketable content to sell to subscribers. The animated spinoff is being sold as a digital exclusive but this race to provide sellable content to audiences undermines storytelling. Hulu announced in the same week that it will be resurrecting Futurama, a series that has already had two emotionally satisfying final episodes. Bringing it back devalues the journey of Fry and Leela and turns them into commodities. Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, and the team behind both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul have proven themselves to be savvy storytellers that respect the journeys of their characters over cheap cash-ins. It's this integrity that makes Slippin' Jimmy feel like such a misstep.
Better Call Saul season 6 premieres April 18 on AMC.