After seven years and six seasons, You better call Saul has finally come to an end. The Breaking Bad prequel/sequel had a huge legacy to overcome, and yet, as the final episodes aired, fans were sure the series had toppled its predecessor. It finally ended with a satisfying ending for Jimmy, Kim, Mike, and others’ stories.
The second half of Season 6, which aired in July, featured some of the most shocking moments between the two shows. Not as many bullets were fired as the endings of Breaking Bad or El Caminobut You better call Saul still surprises fans with its emotional resonance. This one moments are the best from the last series of episodes.
10 Gus vs. lalo
The last episode of the first half of season 6 ended with quite a cliffhanger. Lalo Salamanca raided Jimmy and Kim’s home and killed Howard Hamlin so he could talk privately with his lawyers. When episode 8, “Point and Shoot,” began, Lalo’s plan to get revenge on Gus unfolded with their help, and for a moment everything went according to plan.
Lalo eventually had Gus held at gunpoint at the construction site of Walter White’s future superlab. However, after a knife-spinning monologue in which Gus insults both the Salamancas and Don Eladio, he disables the power and kills Lalo with a concealed gun. Unfortunately, his confirmed death still isn’t enough to release Saul Goodman from his fear of Lalo.
9 Kim quits the game
The aftermath of Howard’s death leaves Kim a shadow of the woman she once was. Jimmy tries to encourage her to move on, but everything comes to a head when they attend Howard’s wake. Unfortunately, Kim lies to Howard’s widow, Cheryl, and continues their ruse that Howard killed himself after sinking deeper into a cocaine addiction.
It’s not long before Kim resigns from the New Mexico State Bar, furious with Jimmy. Once Jimmy sees Kim packing her things, he realizes there’s a worse outcome than Kim leaving the law: Kim ends their relationship. After Kim breaks up with Jimmy through tears, the episode quickly flashes on to Jimmy completely immersed in Saul Goodman’s persona.
8 Francesca’s phone call with Gene
The four episodes following the breakup of Jimmy and Kim usually take place in the post-Breaking Bad timeline. After the seemingly standalone episode “Nippy”, Jimmy (now Gene the Cinnabon manager) follows up on a cold opening of Season 4 where he instructed Francesca to take a phone call from him on a certain date.
Over the phone, Francesca informs Gene about the state of Albuquerque after the fall of Walt’s empire. Huell, Kuby and Danny (Mark Proksch’s character from the early seasons of) Saul) have been scattered, Saul’s belongings have been seized, and the police are still on the hunt for him and Jesse. The only good news: Kim called Francesca to ask about him.
7 Saul’s Role in Creating Walter White
Fortunately, the authors of You better call Saul kept their promise of overlapping with the events of Breaking Bad. The season’s 11th episode, aptly titled “Breaking Bad,” features flashbacks to Saul’s introduction to Walt and Jesse, acknowledging their potential. An encounter with Mike deters this when Saul discovers that Walt is dying and Jesse is a junkie.
However, Saul Goodman doesn’t follow Mike’s advice as quickly as Jimmy McGill was. As we know from Breaking BadSaul marched into Walt’s classroom to offer his services and change him from Fredo to Vito Corleone. Here, You better call Saul recontextualizes Breaking Bad as Saul does, connect Walt with Gus Fring and drive him to a hunger for power.
6 Kim tells everything
Kim finally reappears in the 12th episode, ‘Waterworks’, after she … Breaking Bad years in Florida. Her standstill is broken by an unexpected phone call from Gene, who tells her to turn herself in, prompting him to lash out and encourage her to do the same. What Gene probably doesn’t expect is for Kim to do just that.
After flying to Albuquerque, Kim files an affidavit with the DA confessing her involvement in Howard’s murder. In addition, she takes the affidavit to Howard’s widow to clear her conscience, and opens herself to a civil suit. As she gets back on an airport bus, Kim collapses under the weight of everything that happened to her, crying in public.
5 Kim shares a smoke
“Waterworks” offers another surprising moment for Kim Wexler. In a flashback to just before Breaking Bad began, Kim visits Saul in his iconic office to get him to sign divorce papers. Much to Kim’s disappointment, Saul’s treatment for her is cold and apathetic, and when she steps outside, she lights a cigarette as she sees the pouring rain in Albuquerque.
She soon realizes that she is not alone here. She is approached by Jesse Pinkman of all people, who asks for a cigarette. As they smoke together, Jesse recognizes her as his friend Combo’s former lawyer. He picks her brains out about this Saul Goodman guy, and how good he is, only for Kim to vaguely reply that he was, when she knew him.
4 Marion makes a call
The final episodes of Season 6 also feature the legendary Carol Burnett as Marion, an old lady whom Gene befriends. However, she is only a means to an end for him, as Marion is the mother of Jeff, the taxi driver who lures Gene into a life of crime. Soon, Gene’s Saul Goodman-esque schemes get Jeff into trouble with the police.
To Gene’s surprise, Marion is more astute than he thinks. When he calls Marion to report Jeff’s imprisonment, she smells something strange and goes to Ask Jeeves for answers. She discovers Saul Goodman’s old commercials on YouTube and when Gene threatens her, she activates her Life Alert to report that she has found Saul Goodman.
3 Saul will not go down without a fight
The final of You better call Saul offers many twists and turns for our titular ex-lawyer. After Gene is arrested, he hires his former rival Bill Oakley to defend him. Saul faces a life sentence plus 190 years in prison for his numerous crimes with Walter White, but he manages to reduce them to a whopping 7 years by playing the victim.
Saul does all this in front of real victims of Walter’s actions. To the surprise of many Breaking Bad fans, Marie Schrader returns to viciously tell Saul that he earns more than he will ever get. Saul’s only thorn in the side comes when he tries to give the police information about Howard’s murder, only to discover that Kim is ahead of him.
2 The Return of Jimmy McGill
When Saul enters the courtroom to face his conviction, he holds up his head. That is, until he sees Kim in there, waiting for his latest plan to overthrow her. To the surprise of the judge and lawyers, Saul offers them a different story instead: He is responsible for making Walter White who he was, for giving in to everything and losing his generous deal.
However, Saul is not ready by admitting his real crimes. Seeing Kim watching him, Saul admits he was involved in Howard’s death, forgives Kim for leaving him behind, and admits he sabotaged Chuck’s malpractice insurance policy, leading to his suicide. When the judge tells Goodman to sit down, he insists, “The name is McGill. I’m James McGill.”
1 What would you do with a time machine?
The finale features several flashbacks of Jimmy/Saul’s entire journey. The first comes after the events of the Season 5 episode “Bagman”, where he asks Mike Ehrmantraut what he would do with a time machine. Mike chooses to go back to the day he took his first bribe, while Jimmy heartlessly says he would be an early investor in Warren Buffett.
Later a flashback to the Breaking Bad episode “Granite State” finds Saul with Walter White in the basement of the vacuum repair shop. Saul asks Walt the same question, which they both skillfully dodge with insincere answers. A final flashback finds Jimmy visiting Chuck before the pilot of Saulwith Chuck’s copy of HG Wells’ “The Time Machine” indicating that Jimmy’s real regret is his refusal to contact Chuck.
You better call Saul can be streamed on Netflix.
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