Summer 2022 began and ended with “Better Call Saul.” The final season sucked me in with character development that only Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould can deliver. The series takes Saul Goodman, a character who mainly serves as comic relief in “Breaking Bad,” and deepens him into a man who masks his true nature to achieve a sense of power in a world where he feels powerless.
Admittedly, at the beginning of “Better Call Saul,” when the audience meets the man who will become Saul, struggling lawyer Jimmy McGill, his life and his show are slow. Viewers waited on the edge of their seats for the emergence of Saul Goodman, the charismatic, sleazy personality from “Breaking Bad” that Jimmy used to compartmentalize his life. For a while, the dual personalities worked. Saul could represent more “criminal” types using shady methods under the Goodman persona, and return home as Jimmy to Kim Wexler, his partner who sees the goodness in him. Jimmy loves her and finds her as someone with whom he can be vulnerable.
As the series goes on, losses in Jimmy’s life catalyze his transformation into Saul. Reflecting this, the direction becomes more flashy and fast paced. With the loss of his brother Chuck, with whom he had a complicated relationship, Jimmy leans into the Saul personality as a way to get back at his brother. This loss leads Jimmy to act out against Howard Hamlin, Chuck’s law partner, by guilt-tripping Hamlin with emotions about Chuck that Jimmy would rather avoid feeling himself. In Jimmy’s eyes, Hamlin always saw Jimmy like Chuck did — inadequate. Jimmy’s need to feel powerful drives him and Kim to slander Howard, the fallout of which leads to Kim leaving Jimmy. With nothing to lose, Jimmy fully becomes Saul.
In the penultimate episode and finale, which takes place after “Breaking Bad,” it first appears that only Saul Goodman remains. Ironically, Jimmy goes from a client-beloved elder law attorney to a man on the run that threatens to strangle an old woman.
Saul plays on the ego of the opposing legal counsel by using a sob story to threaten his perfect courtroom win streak. He weaves the truth and jumps through legal loopholes and whittles a life sentence down to a seven-year stay at a cushy prison in North Carolina.
For Saul, it’s all good. He even seems unfazed by a confession from Kim about Howard. Saul selfishly appears to rope her into the trial and goes to court in a trademark flashy suit. He begins his story that reduces his sentences, then confesses to his involvement in Walter White’s drug empire, and the deaths of Howard Hamlin and Chuck. With each confession, he removes more of his armor. At the end of his confession, he lets Saul go, proclaiming, “The name’s McGill. It’s James McGill.” Jimmy will suffer for his actions as Saul Goodman, but when he goes down, he chooses to accept this as his true self, the person Kim loved.
In many ways, I think we all can relate to Jimmy’s descent into the seemingly untouchable Saul. However, the promise of Saul Goodman, while flashy and fun, only drains true connection in Jimmy’s life, first with Chuck, and then with Kim. In the final scene of the series, Jimmy bids farewell to Kim with a flick of his signature finger guns. Lightning doesn’t shoot from those fingertips, nor do they contain the electric charisma of Saul Goodman. There is a warmth to them, however, possibly the warmth of the connection that he and Kim share with a cigarette that bookends the series. In the end, Jimmy can’t evade prison, but he realizes that he would rather be the human Kim loved than a lonely god.
The fall of Saul: A Jimmy McGill character study
Christina Sayut | The Observer
Christina Sayut | The Observer
