Breaking Bad Star’s New Crime Drama Sets Career-Low TV Rotten Tomatoes Score

Breaking Bad star Giancarlo Esposito’s new AMC crime drama TV series Parish gets a career-low score from Rotten Tomatoes. Esposito created an all-time great villain when he joined AMC’s Breaking Bad as deceptively mild-mannered meth kingpin Gus Fring, a role he would memorably reprise in the prequel spinoff Better Call Saul. In his newest series for AMC, Esposito plays a former criminal whose life as a family man is destroyed by tragedy, sending him on a relentless quest through the underworld he tried to leave behind.

Parish season 1 has indeed now premiered on AMC, but Esposito’s newest series doesn’t look to be on the same acclaimed track as Breaking Bad after receiving a low 26% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, on just 19 reviews so far. Parish has been somewhat better received by non-critics, as indicated by the show’s 85% audience score.

How Parish Compares To Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul And Other Esposito Shows

Parish could still see a Rotten Tomatoes turnaround as more reviews come in, but chances are it won’t improve much on its disappointing 26% performance. That low number is all the more discouraging given the high scores received by many of Esposito’s other recent TV shows.

Esposito has indeed had a long career, with TV credits going all the way back to the 1980s, when he appeared on classic series like Miami Vice. In recent years, the actor has enjoyed a run of significant roles on acclaimed series, topped by his unforgettable turns as Fring on Breaking Bad (96% on Rotten Tomatoes) and Better Call Saul (98%). Esposito also played main villain Moff Gideon on The Mandalorian, which boasts a 90% RT score, and this year took on the role of an enigmatic bad guy on Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen (71%).

The final verdict is not yet in on Parish, but it seems the show will go down as a career lowlight for Esposito, at least compared to the great series on which the star has made significant appearances. Gus Fring is a tough act to follow, and Esposito’s latest role is not in the same league, at least according to critics.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes