When Vince Gilligan said he was going to follow up Breaking Bad, one of TV's greatest achievements, with a prequel spinoff of one of its most eccentric characters, lawyer Saul Goodman. It was scary. Prequels, sequels, and spinoffs often don't happen with the kind of shows that reset the bar for all television dramas. It is a natural reaction to think the quality would face impossible odds to stay high. Gilligan made those odds his bitch and delivered another surprisingly awesome series in every possible way. There are plenty of characters like Saul who have their own untapped potential.
5. Vinnie Van Lowe -Veronica Mars
Ken Marino has been a successful character for years, making early waves as a member of the cult comedy, Wet Hot American Summer. His comedy ability is unquestionable, and his drama ability is underrated. His career at this point doesn't differ that greatly from that of Bob Odenkirk, the titular star of Better Call Saul. His fan-favorite Veronica Mars character,Vinnie Van Lowe, is the sarcastic, scumbag rival private eye to Veronica's father, Keith Mars. He lacks the moral center to not cut corners. It is a behavior that could get him into endless trouble fit for a detective dramedy that might fill the Terriers sized hole left in my soul.
4. Freddie Loundes - Hannibal
Of all the mentions on this list, Freddie Loundes is easily the least likely since Hannibal was unceromoniously cancelled after 3 seasons on the bubble. For the Hannibal tv series, Freddie Loundes was changed from a heavy, abrasive, slobby man to a sexy but just as abrasive feamle red-head. She is a tabloid writer played by a fiery Lara Jean Chorostecki, who like Vinnie Van Lowe, has no problem cutting corners and getting herself into trouble she simply can't handle. She gleefully got on the wrong side of a serial killing cannibal, and TV desperately needs that level of surreal visuals that Hannibal delivered on back on its screens.
3. Linc Potter - Sons of Anarchy
Linc Potter is an assistant U.S. attorney gunning for the titular Sons of Anarchy motorcycle club. He's not like the usual cheap-suit-clad stiffs that would be the good guys in reality but made a fool of because the protagonists are criminals. He is a rock star with a svengali like way of talking that rivals Patrick Swayze's surfer/thief Bodhi from Point Break. With so many cop and legal procedures starring the same tropes, it would be nice to see an eccentric working in the system who didn't have a personality defect, a roguish charm, nor an absence of personality in general.
Sal was a fan favorite character on Mad Men, but he was unfortunately cut from the show for the sake of drama. As a closeted gay man, he was eventually fired once found out. Weiner used him as a symbol for the period-accepted discrimaintion and vowed never to bring him back for the sake of fan-pandering. The fan-pandering is probably a good call, they don't always know what is best, but firing Sal and just being done with him only scratches the surface of what it was like to be a gay man during those times. Sal deserves to have his whole story told.
1. Wynn Duffy - Justified
Wynn Duffy was a break out character on Justified. He was sort of a concierge to the criminal underworld. He would move and shake from his tricked out RV all the different criminal types that worked in Kentucky. Jere Burns plays him with the same combination of menace, sarcasm, and scary competence that Odenkirk imbues Saul with. He is really the only reason why I even bothered to write this blog, no offence to the other characters and actors on this list. Better Call Wynn needs to be a thing.
