The Better Call Saul finale is completely different from Breaking Bad – luckily!

Warning, massive spoilers follow for the Better Call Saul finale: What kind of person is Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk)? Is he the witty Jimmy McGill who worked his way up from senior flatterer to criminal attorney? Is he the raunchy lawyer we met in Breaking Bad? Or the cinnamon bun salesman Gene Takovic, who even with a vital cover identity can’t keep his hands off a scam?

Better Call Saul showed us the many faces of the supporting character Jimmy/Saul/Gene in Breaking Bad. But fans could not have predicted which one he would leave the series with. In the grand finale, Better Call Saul manages to to refer to the mother series and yet to distance oneself completely from it. The enthusiastic reactions of the fans speak a clear language.

As a Breaking Bad spin-off, Better Call Saul saved the most important twist for last

Discovered by a Google-savvy cat-video-loving retiree (Carol Burnett), Gene Takovic’s escape doesn’t last long in the Better Call Saul finale: he’s caught in a dumpster and put on trial for his actions as Saul Goodman held accountable.

Remember in the Season 1 trailer how Better Call Saul began

But the star lawyer Saul does not go down without a fight. In a last demonstration of his skills, he gets the best possible deal for himself: In front of Hank Schrader’s widow Marie (Betsy Brandt), he stylizes himself as the victim of Breaking Bad villain Heisenberg and thus sneaks into the compromise of seven years in luxury prison (with a golf course and ice cream) instead of life imprisonment. So he has devious Slippin’ Jimmy triumphing over human James McGill? Has Saul Goodman finally hit rock bottom in his own Breaking Bad descent and will he stay there forever?

no way. Because this is not the end. Time is running out, but it is possible: Der The only one who can really bring Saul Goodman down – and thereby save him – is Saul Goodman himself.

Better Call Saul delivers a tour de force of regret without overdoing it

Three flashbacks about regret sprinkle the penitent walk of the end of the series. All three are not looking good for Jimmy’s salvation: Saul tells Mike (Jonathan Banks) that he is using a theoretical time machine to sneak into millions. In another guest star interview with Walter White (Bryan Cranston), he reveals that he only regrets a knee injury from a young age. Even big brother Chuck (Michael McKean) doesn’t let Jimmy dissuade him from his chosen path in a flashback to the first episode of Better Call Saul.

In the finale, everything indicates that Saul Goodman is his Follow Breaking Bad’s counterpart Heisenberg into the abyss becomes. He loves the adrenaline rush of a good scam. He likes to be who he is. In particular, Walter White’s accusatory statement “So you’ve always been like this?”, hits us painfully. The fact that Walter sees himself as a victim of circumstances describes his character decline descent. But was Jimmy/Saul really always bad in 6 seasons of Better Call Saul?

Of course not. Saul Goodman has also undergone a transformation. We see that all the more when the finale is his surprising turnaround unpacks: When Saul learns of Kim’s (Rhea Seehorn) confession and lures her into his court hearing, things change dramatically. Saul incriminates himself, confesses everything and goes to jail for (probably) 86 years. where he belongs. Unlike Walter White, he is not a murderer and his death would have been too harsh a judgement.

Saul’s “external” end in prison may be inevitable. Inwardly, however, he conquers himself a surprising piece of humanity back. Maybe he’s just doing it for Kim. Perhaps she “pushed him up” by her moral example, just as the two had instigated each other badly as a couple before. But whichever reading each individual may prefer, we see within the final episode “Saul is Gone” the mustachioed-gray Gene reverting to the elusive Saul, and then cathartic to break his own vicious circle and get back to Jimmy. This is unexpected after Walter White’s inexorable crash in Breaking Bad.

Better Call Saul leaves Breaking Bad behind to find new series avenues

In fact, Better Call Saul mutates into a time machine in the finale: we jump through the times before, during and after Breaking Bad. Sometimes in color and sometimes in black and white. We reflect across entire character evolutions. And yet it works End as if from a single source.

Because what Better Call Saul always succeeded in spite of no less than 37 guest stars from Breaking Bad was that skilful border crossing between tribute to the parent series and independence. The series also proves this in the finale. This final episode of Season 6 functions as a conclusion to an entire world (which also includes Breaking Bad and El Camino). A world that has moved on, which is not only reflected in the many new wrinkles of the actors. Because even if Better Call Saul would never have existed without Breaking Bad, the series no longer has to be defined solely by its template.

Breaking Bad is often felt in Better Call Saul, but it doesn’t steal the show from the sister series. Instead, the TV kid can choose their own sounds. Then where that Breaking Bad finale ended almost too cleanlyif everything flowed streamlined into Walter’s death, Better Call Saul allows himself wistful nuances. For the world and many characters of Vince Gilligan’s Albuquerque TV universe, Saul’s transition (biblically speaking: Saul to Paul) comes too late. Just in time for us viewers. It’s a salvation.

Better Call Saul gives his anti-Walter a ‘happy ending’

When an entire prison bus recognizes and celebrates Saul Goodman, the Breaking Bad persona hasn’t entirely disappeared, despite his court-claimed old name of “Jimmy McGill.” That would be too easy. But through this initially denied and finally accepted residual fame, we catch a glimpse of a despite everything not hopeless future: Having saved countless criminals from jail, Saul Goodman fits in well with prison. Even there, the adaptable man can use his diverse skills (e.g. when baking). Even without luxury jail, he won’t have to live the worst life behind bars.

Here’s how Better Call Saul does the unexpected with one last shared cigarette: a Happy ending as far as possible. An ambivalence that still feels good. Even if Saul had to look into the abyss of his soul to do it. He cannot redeem the past guilt. But in Kim’s (and his) eyes, at least, he’s returning to the best version of himself: Jimmy. Welcome to Breaking Good.

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In addition to success factors and the most unforgettable scenes, in the second part we also talk about series that appeared after Breaking Bad and are reminiscent of the hit.

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As Breaking Bad fans, how did you like the Better Call Saul finale?