Retroactive Storytelling: What Made Better Call Saul and Andor Brilliant Prequels
If your Twitter feed is still somewhat cohesive, you will find that the new Disney+ Star Wars spin-off, Andor, as well as AMC’s Breaking Bad spin-off, Better Call Saul, quietly took the world by storm by the end of 2022, with raving reviews and their respective teams behind and in front of the screen racking up nominations running up to awards season. There is a consensus that they are both overlooked masterpieces of what came before.
Prequels, by nature, require a balancing exercise of ensuring to tell a compelling story while simultaneously honouring the inevitable what comes after. Not only do they have to be faithful to the existing body of work, and it also has to be well-crafted pieces of entertainment in their own right.
So in a world where major studios are maximising profits by creating prequels from existing franchises, what are the lessons that can be learned from these two shows?
Start With A Character We Already Know, But Not Quite
From their character introductions, the titular characters of these prequels were not fully explored in the main story they came from. Jyn was the main lead for Rogue One, and Walt and Jesse were the main characters of Breaking Bad. Cassian and Jimmy were fascinating side characters whom we know of, but not enough of, thereby having groundwork laid already for us to follow.
Audiences are drawn in by a face they recognise. For this, both shows brought back the original actors, but with a twist, they aren’t the version of the character we know yet. (Funny enough, both of these actors are playing much younger versions of their characters: Bob Odenkirk plays a 41-year-old Jimmy McGill in the first episode at age 51; Diego Luna plays 21-year-old Cassian Andor at age 42, although this may be retconned in the future.)
Cassian Andor starts in Andor as the man who accidentally kills two corpos outside a brothel. Compared to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, this Cassian isn’t entrenched in dedicating his life to the Rebellion yet — his main goal so far is he wants to find his sister and keep his loved ones safe.
For Better Call Saul, it’s hard to imagine struggling lawyer Jimmy McGill, later Saul Goodman, being deeply invested and the middle-man in the dangerous worlds of black money and drug kingpins right off the first episode. As far as we know from season one, Jimmy, while sometimes dishonest, is, for the most part, an earnest man who wants to make a name for himself and make his brother proud.
Going Deep In Exploring The Emotional Depths Of Their Life Experiences From Before
Prequels give us a chance to explore the reasons why Cassian and Jimmy make the choices that they will one day make. Because of the narrative padlock of what comes after, going backwards to discover the characters’ roots is how we start. It is an unusual way to follow a character — unlike the conventional stories we follow, we know where Cassian and Jimmy are heading. Here, we are finding out how pre-destined those journeys are.
Both shows employ deft use of flashbacks, to showcase the starting points for Cassian and Jimmy. Cassian from his origins in Kenari where Maarva saves his life from the empire; Jimmy’s first contact with grifters, learning about the cons of life. With their enhanced backstories, we better understand where they come from and where they will go.
These prequels also keep us on our toes by introducing new supporting characters we hadn’t met, and their connection to our protagonist, with independent wants and needs of their own. Who is Kim Wexler, and why haven’t we heard of her before in Breaking Bad? What happens to Luthen Rael in the grand scheme of the Star Wars universe? Questions like these keep the audience in suspense and wanting more.
Connecting The Dots, While Crafting A Separate, Distinct, Identity
If everything draws from what you know will happen, the story could get too rigid and lead to an uninteresting trajectory. The above shows prevent this by having a degree of separation from the show they have spun off from. In these prequels, the characters we know are going through events we don’t yet know the outcome of, allowing the prequel to stand on its own.
It would be difficult to require hours of pre-watching of the main story to understand a separate show. But, because we don’t have the Walter White Elephant in the room to address, or Light-Saber-wielding Force Users to tie into, there is freedom for the creators in taking our lead characters somewhere, it also gives newcomers to the franchise a chance to grasp at the stakes at hand, without thinking of what would come after.
While it would have been gratifying to see the familiar main characters again, both shows have incredible restraint in not drawing us in with spectacle immediately. By straying away, it gives the prequel a chance to shine for newcomers and even as far as to allow fans who came from the original show to hope the inevitable tragedy of what would happen after does not happen.
Prequels can look like quick-cash grabs for studios. But, if the creative teams behind the prequels are willing to put in the work to enrich our understanding of the main characters, and change our watch experience of the original with the context of the prequel in mind, it would make them not only feel a necessary part of the franchise, as well as shine on its own.
