Vulture Calls Michael McKean TV's Best Actor; TVLine Applauds "Chicanery"

This week, Vulture calls Michael McKean TV's best actor, while TVLine considers "Chicanery" one of the year's best TV episodes so far. Plus, The Hollywood Reporter notes Better Call Saul is coming back next year for a 10-episode Season 4. Read on for more:

• Vulture proclaims, "The best actor on TV is Better Call Saul's Michael McKean."

• TVLine names "Chicanery" one of the year's best episodes so far because Jimmy and Chuck's history "gave Chuck’s epic meltdown on the witness stand an extra layer of poignancy. And Michael McKean, long revered for his comedic work, delivered a superbly crafted dramatic performance, equal parts pompous bluster and wounded vulnerability."

• According to The Hollywood Reporter, Better Call Saul is getting a 10-episode Season 4 that will air next year.

• Reporting on the Season 4 renewal, Deadline notes the series "has hoarded more than a dozen Emmy noms for its first two seasons, including Outstanding Drama Series both years along with acting mentions for [Bob] Odenkirk and fellow Breaking Bad alum Jonathan Banks."

• Uproxx discusses the Season 4 renewal and calls Better Call Saul "the rare spinoff that might be even better than the original."

• Better Call Saul is one of TV Guide's best TV shows of the year so far: "Better Call Saul was already one of the best shows on television when the third season cranked the tension to 11 and delivered the show's best season to date."

• Variety reports that Season 3's "Expenses," "Off Brand," "Chicanery," "Slip," "Mabel," "Sunk Costs," "Sabrosito" and "Witness" were eight of the 50 most-watched cable TV shows in the second quarter.

• NPR's summer TV guide suggests binge-watching Better Call Saul and calls Michael McKean "one of the most overlooked actors on television."

• Discussing Jimmy's progression to becoming Saul with Gothamist, Bob Odenkirk says, "He's pretty far along. Once you start compromising in a really fundamental, even mean-spirited way—and he's very conscious of the choices he's making—that's kind of the difference I see in it."

• Vulture considers Better Call Saul one of the year's best TV shows so far because it's "consistently directed with a smooth, purposeful, yet casual elegance that befits a show about a con artist."

• Michael McKean gave one of the best TV performances of the year so far, says TV Guide, which calls his performance "brilliant, "layered" and one that "made it increasingly difficult to dislike Chuck even as his arrogance and treatment of Jimmy made you want to smash his face into a jelly."

• The Oregonian commends Michael McKean in "Chicanery," noting that his "portrayal makes Chuck’s humiliation tragic, and deeply moving. Emmy nominations are often silly, but if anyone deserves one, it’s McKean."

• Eater argues that, when Kim is introduced to the Moscow Mule, "her world suddenly becomes much more slippery."

• Reviewing Season 3, IGN writes, "Three seasons in, and Better Call Saul is fully hitting its stride. There's no better time for it, too, as the series is creeping ever closer to Jimmy McGill going full Saul Goodman."

• Dave Porter tells Deadline that his job is "about being in the headspace of the characters."

• Screen Rant explains how "Better Call Saul continues to find the perfect balance between honoring the franchise’s former glories and remaining unique and compelling in its own right."

• Cinema Blend explains why "all parties involved should start mentally developing more Breaking Bad spinoff ideas for the future. But it's also [Better Call Saul]'s surprisingly impressive ratings, as opposed to just rabid fandom, that are guiding this stance."

Watch the final episodes of Better Call Saul Season 3 on amc.com and AMC apps for mobile, Fire TV, XBox One, Apple TV, Roku and Chromecast.

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