In the annals of all-time great fictional drug lords, it doesn’t get much better than Giancarlo Esposito’s performance as cartel distributor Gustavo Fring in AMC’s Breaking Bad and its prequel spinoff Better Call Saul. Esposito turned Fring, whose legitimate front business as a Los Pollos Hermanos franchisee earned him the nickname “The Chicken Man” among his fellow cartel members, into a cold and methodical killer. He dressed like an accountant, handled his drug business like an operational genius, and gave off the vibe of a tautly coiled snake every time you saw him onscreen.
I’ve always thought that Fring’s backstory would make for another great TV show spun off from the same Breaking Bad world. And while that doesn’t appear to be in the cards now and probably ever, AMC and Esposito are about to give us the next best thing: Esposito, back on the small screen as the star and executive producer of the upcoming six-episode limited series Parish. In this new gritty crime drama, he portrays Gracian “Gray” Parish, a family man who owns a luxury car service in New Orleans.
As AMC explains it, “After his son is violently murdered and his business collapses, an encounter with an old friend from his days as a wheelman resurfaces old habits, sending Gray on a high-stakes collision course with a violent criminal syndicate.”
Got that? So, in other words, Esposito’s Gray is going to break bad and return to his days as a getaway driver. Or, more accurately, he’s going to break bad again.
Episode 1 is coming on March 31 at 10:15 p.m. ET on AMC (it will also be available to stream on AMC+). To support his family, the first episode finds Gray returning to his criminal roots for one last job. “But after things go sideways, Gray can’t walk away. The only way out is through.”
Shot on location in New Orleans, Parish is based on the hit UK TV show The Driver. Along with Esposito, the cast of Parish includes Bradley Whitford, who plays a recurring character named Anton — the “charming and intelligent” face of Louisiana’s business landscape who secretly heads up a criminal enterprise. Moreover, his dispute with a human trafficking ring puts him at cross purposes with Parish.
Based on the cast, story, and early imagery and footage released by AMC, it definitely feels like this is going to be the kind of series that fills the Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul-sized hole in my heart. Check out a sneak peek clip from Parish below.
