Better Call Saul
Better Call Saulwas always building toward the undoing of Gene Takavic ( Bob Odenkirk ) , the final alias of Jimmy McGill , irrespective of the Brobdingnagian impact that Lalo Salamanca ( Tony Dalton ) and Gustavo Fring ( Giancarlo Esposito ) had on Jimmy ’s transition into Saul Goodman . Better Call Sauldefied hearing expectation by resolving the pre - Breaking Badtimeline four episode before the finale . This was a genius move by show creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould because it earmark them to zero in on whatBetter Call Saulwas really about - Jimmy McGill ’s bouldery route to buyback .
seemingly a prequel show , it rapidly became apparent thatBetter Call Saulwas expert thanBreaking Badbecause it was a layered drama about implausibly complex lineament . Chief among these characters was Jimmy McGill / Saul Goodman / Gene Takavic , who was deplumate between his desire to be honorable and his pipe dream of making it big . Jimmy ’s story inBetter Call Saulwas fundamentally the inverse ofBreaking Bad — a former felon and conman who did n’t " break risky " but instead struggled to do good . It was for this reason thatBetter Call Saulhad to culminate with the story of Gene ’s downfall rather than simply revealing just why Saul Goodman was so scared of Lalo in his firstBreaking Badepisode .
Better Call Saul Had To End In Gene’s Timeline (& He Was Always Likely To Revert To Saul)
From the moment viewing audience were introduce to secondary Cinnabon manager Gene Takavic a.k.a Saul Goodman , a.k.a Jimmy McGill , Better Call Saulhad to end in the Gene timeline . The utter black and white-hot flash forwards to Jimmy ’s aliveness under an fictive indistinguishability immediately unveil how much he miss the life he leave behind in Albuquerque . His chosen name was needlessly elaborate , and he would end up each mean solar day by teem himself a drink and watching old commercials for Saul Goodman , lawyer - at - law . The bleakness of Jimmy ’s life as Gene foreshadowedBetter Call Saulseason 6 ’s final four episodes because it suggest that he would eventually revert to his bad habit as Saul Goodman .
Better Call Saulpresented Jimmy McGill as a man with a good heart . However , he always put profit and status beyond things like a practice lawyer ’s ethical code and professional standards . Jimmy showed his estimable essence by caring for pal Chuck ( Michael McKean ) and his real dearest for Kim Wexler . These tender relationship were at betting odds with the sleazy , vacuous Saul Goodman character that Jimmy strike inBreaking Bad . IfBetter Call Saulhad just ended at the moment Saul Goodman was bunch into a van by Walter White ( Bryan Cranston ) and Jesse Pinkman ( Aaron Paul ) then it would have cheated audiences of an emotionally satisfy answer of Jimmy ’s story .
Better Call Saul’s Ending Had To Be About Jimmy’s Morality
Better Call Saul ’s returningBreaking Badcharacterswere a distraction from the fact that the center story of the prequel was n’t really about filling in the gaps in its parent show ’s mythology . alternatively , Better Call Saulwas about whether Jimmy McGill could ever be a practiced man and do the right matter or if his emotional complexity and addiction to the con would continue to sabotage his noble intentions . This is why theBetter Call Saulfinale had to focus on Jimmy ’s morality and storm him to lastly cast off up his hands and have responsibleness for his action at law .
To that end , the onlyBetter Call Saulvillain that Jimmy McGill had to shoot down at the end of this redemptional Hero of Alexandria ’s journeying was the Gene Takavic . As Gene , Jimmy went much further than he ever did as " Slippin ' Jimmy " in his small - scale scams . After distracting promenade security guards with Cinnabons , so his confederate could rob a department store , Gene promptly pull ahead to drugging unsuspicious legal profession patrons before rob them unreasoning . When he was almost enamor in one valet de chambre ’s household , Gene grabbed an urn , and it looked like he was disposed to seriously harm his quarry .
Similarly , when Marion ( Carol Burnett ) come upon Gene ’s true identity , he endeavor to intimidate the elderly charwoman by ripping her telephone from the rampart before threateningly wind up up her phone cord . It ’s so far from the man who pop out staging nightfall on slippery temporary hookup of ice that it demonstrates just how far Jimmy McGill has fallen . run across the fear on Marion ’s face is when Gene Takavic became Jimmy McGill again because he realize that he was n’t an unrepentant behemoth like Walter White . alternatively , he was James McGill , a good piece who had made horrific liveliness selection but was quick to abye for those mistakes .
Better Call Saul’s Other Villains Were Never The Main Story
Ultimately , hearing make out how the fib of Gustavo Fring inBetter Call Saulwould terminal — all in at the hands of Walter White and Hector Salamanca ( Mark Margolis ) . Gus’Better Call Saulstoryline brilliantly fleshed out the feud between Fring and Salamanca and explained the descent of Walter White ’s meth superlab , but it was n’t the principal story . villain like Gus Fring and Lalo Salamanca were instead key voice ofJimmy ’s transformation into Saul Goodman .
The feud between Gus and the Salamanca category placed Jimmy where he needed to be for the event ofBreaking Bad . However , his relationship with Lalo Salamanca also served to show just how far Jimmy would divagate in hobby of a big payday and famous person status . Being a " friend of the corporate trust " is really what got Saul Goodman established as the go - to reprehensible lawyer in Albuquerque , but his home moral conflict was always manifest to see . Better Call Saul ’s villains attend to tainted serious - hearted but easily lead Jimmy McGill into becoming Saul Goodman , but it was only through resolving his inside conflict by defeating Gene Takavic that he at last got the buyback and realization he had always craved .
