re: tOfficial Better Call Saul S06E13 “Saul Gone” SERIES FINALE Thread

I thought this was a great finale. Ended almost exactly as I expected.

But I loved the flashbacks to him with Mike, WW, and Chuck and then seeing that he didn't really have any regrets about his past. But it was seeing Kim (or hearing about her confession) that finally got him to own up to his mistakes even at the cost of his freedom.

I am kind of glad Saul didn't "win" but I loved the scene with the DEA (tho Marie did feel like a cheap add-in) and the courtroom scene.

I do wish we had a few more splashes of color but I liked how it ended almost exactly as it started with Kim and Jimmy sharing a cig.

Was it as entertaining as the Lalo/Nacho stuff...no. But honestly, I was invested in this show way before that stuff.

Finally finished the episode last night. Although initially I was a little disappointed that it seemed to fizzle out more than have an actual ending, after I thought about it for a while I realized that the point of the episode was to provide a retrospective on the entire BB/BCS universe, with the final question being, of all the main characters on the show, all of whom did some pretty despicable things at one point or another - did any of them regret what they'd done? Were they, deep down, people with a conscience, or were they simply evil people? The conversation between Mike and Jimmy about using a time machine to change the past at the beginning of the episode set the theme for the rest of it to play out.

Mike: He has a conscience, although we already pretty much knew this anyway. He made bad decisions in his past, and throughout BB/BCS he was simply playing the cards those decisions had dealt him because he didn't see any other way out. His main regret, as he reveals to Jimmy at the beginning of the episode, is that he ever did anything to start him down that path in the first place. He would do it all over and change everything if he could.

Kim: She has a conscience, which is shown by the fact that she accepts responsibility for her actions in the most concrete way possible. The only reason she isn't in jail at the end of the episode is because she had no physical proof to give the authorities.

Chuck: This one is more subtle but it is there. Chuck always seemed like an upright guy on the surface, but he fricked Jimmy over pretty hard when Jimmy was actually trying to straighten up and fly right. He bears part of the responsibility for Jimmy becoming Saul. In the flashback conversation between them during the final episode, we see Jimmy going above and beyond to help Chuck, as we know he did in the early seasons. Chuck tries to make what seems to be a legitimate effort to get Jimmy to stay and talk to him, but Jimmy, who has come to expect nothing but condescension and disappointment from Chuck, declines and leaves. Chuck sighs and the last thing we see is him pick up a copy of The Time Machine, which is a clear reference to Mike and Jimmy's conversation from the first scene. The implication is that Chuck regrets the way he has treated Jimmy, and wishes he could go back and do things differently to repair their relationship.

Walt: In their flashback conversation, Jimmy asks Walt straight up if he has any regrets. At this point Walt has either personally caused or been directly responsible for the deaths of several people and ruined the lives of many others, including his own family. He has lied to, used, and abused everyone close to him. What's his big regret? That he didn't get rich quicker. "Then none of this would have happened," he says, but the feeling we get is not that he's sorry for the things he has done, but just that he had to do them in order to get rich when there was another, easier way he could have taken that wouldn't have landed him on the run from the law. Getting rich was the goal and the means did not matter. As we suspected all along, Walt has no conscience and is a truly evil person.

Jimmy: This one plays out over the course of the episode. At first he seems determined to get himself off with the least amount of time served possible - to pull yet another con and beat the system to the maximum extent he can. His big regret, or at least what he tells Mike his big regret is, is that he, like Walt, couldn't find an easier way to get rich. But we also see, at the beginning of the episode, that Jimmy is not Walter White. Walt would have killed Marion with the phone cord to save himself, and the thought clearly crossed Jimmy's mind as he walked towards her across the kitchen. But then - he didn't. He didn't become physically violent towards her at all. He couldn't take that final step, and that's what got him caught. The scene with Marie at the plea deal was important because it forced him to come face-to-face with the damage he had caused, whether directly or indirectly. You could see in his face how much it bothered him to listen to her, but then Saul took over again to work his con angle. But was it really a con? Was he ever serious about taking the deal? I'm not sure he was. There was no reason for him to ask for Marie to be let into the room unless he wanted to listen to her, wanted to make himself see her pain as part of the penance he was determined to pay. The plea deal seemed like more of a way to show, to himself and Kim if to no one else, how much he really did regret the things he had done. It sent the unsaid message of, "I could have done it. I could have conned them if I had chosen to. I deliberately chose not to, and instead to take responsibility for and pay for what I've done." His payoff is that he gets to keep the good parts of his career as Saul Goodman - everyone on the inside loves him, because he really did try to help them - while paying penance for and letting go of the bad parts. Jimmy ultimately does have a conscience.


So, here's a question. Star Wars was originally about Luke Skywalker - he was the protagonist of the original trilogy. But with the addition of the prequel trilogy, the main character arc of the complete series actually became the rise, fall, and redemption of Anakin Skywalker. So has the same thing happened to the BB/BCS universe? Is the overarching story of the combined series actually the rise, fall, and redemption of Jimmy McGill, with Walter White reduced to the role of an important, but nonetheless supporting, character?

Couple more thoughts:

* I figured Mike being Mike, he’d tell Jimmy in the desert (even though the horse trough was big) “Let me get a drink before you rinse out your piss bottle!” Lol

* I hated the way Chuck screwed Jimmy over, but must admit it got me in the feels more than I thought it would when he appeared on screen during the flashback.

* I’ve seen mention of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol and the parallels are remarkable. Jimmy is visited by three ghosts, Mike Ehrmantraut, Walter White, and Chuck McGill. In the end, he finds some measure of peace, redemption, and repentance—though of course he paid a high price.

* The “ghosts”:

Mike: “So it’s just about money?”
Walter: “It’s about regrets.”
Chuck: “If you don’t like the path you’re on, it’s not too late to change.”

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This cleanses him in her eyes. And that is what he really cared about.

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Jimmy nor Saul would give a shite about that vs 86 years in prison.

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Is the overarching story of the combined series actually the rise, fall, and redemption of Jimmy McGill, with Walter White reduced to the role of an important, but nonetheless supporting, character?


You damn well have an important point here. And the more I think about it, the more I agree.

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idk that point is total nonsense lmao.
I bet if you asked walt he wouldve said that jimmy would still just be running in a strip mall office without him. they both wouldve viewed themself to be #1 and they both wanted others to know they were #1. neither of their opinions would diminish the role of the other.

its like saying Dumbledore is the main character and Harry Potter is an important supporting role in Harry Potter.
Its like saying Chef is the main character and the kids are important supporting roles in South Park


I loved BCS but a backstory getting fleshed out doesnt mean the main story is no longer the main story.

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its like saying Dumbledore is the main character and Harry Potter is an important supporting role in Harry Potter.
Its like saying Chef is the main character and the kids are important supporting roles in South Park

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Both dumbledore and chef were the main characters if you go back and watch each with a more open mind minus the title

Who introduced Walt to Gus? Pinkman
How did Pinkman know about Gus? Saul

Saul was the brains behind the entire operation. Walt was just able to put together a really good meth product that people loved.

Without Saul, it never would have taken off the way it did in Breaking Bad.

Youre kidding yourself if you think BB is the main story after watching BCS

If I had to watch a series over and over id still pick BB everytime.

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It may have been cheesy, but I could have seen him helping inmates with their legal cases. And Saul in prison would be a show I give a chance.

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Oh my goodness, Saul Goodman in prison will make Andy Dufrene’s tax business look like a nobody in gen pop.

He’ll be dispensing legal advice to prisoners who have a chance at big sentence reductions or release. The prisoners’ attorneys will no doubt make “lawyer calls” to Saul for consultation. He’ll advise the guards on everything from divorce to custody to civil disputes. They’ll set him up in the prison library with his own “legal” office.

He will be fiercely protected by the inmates and by prison staff from the guards up to the warden. He’ll get his weekly pint of Blue Bell mint chocolate chip and a helluva lot more privileges.

His fellow prisoners already looked at him as a rock star and folk hero. Jimmy McGill using the legal acumen of his Saul Goodman persona will be the king of ADX Montrose.

Really nice summation, TheTideMustRoll!

Not quibbling, but just for discussion, I’d like to address your summation of Walter:

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Walt: In their flashback conversation, Jimmy asks Walt straight up if he has any regrets. At this point Walt has either personally caused or been directly responsible for the deaths of several people and ruined the lives of many others, including his own family. He has lied to, used, and abused everyone close to him. What's his big regret? That he didn't get rich quicker. "Then none of this would have happened," he says, but the feeling we get is not that he's sorry for the things he has done, but just that he had to do them in order to get rich when there was another, easier way he could have taken that wouldn't have landed him on the run from the law. Getting rich was the goal and the means did not matter. As we suspected all along, Walt has no conscience and is a truly evil person.

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I think Walt’s highest desire is status and power, while money is a proxy for those things. And I think he wants power not just in a general sense because of vainglory, but because he thinks it will redeem him for the weakness he has shown in the past, and he’ll be able to get revenge or at least lord it over those who have seen him at his weakest moments.

That’s the real reason he regrets the Grey Matter time period in his life the most. It’s where he allowed his weakness to hinder him in achieving greatness, and he loathes the weakness that he has shown in the past. He knows that moment set his life on a course for mediocrity, and he hates himself for it.

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But Kim was his real heart. She was the Luke to his Vader.

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See, this line right here kinda explains why I didn’t love the show like most people. I never liked Kim.

There was always something off with her. Kim was way more dangerous than Saul because no one saw her coming.

Not only was she Saul’s enabler, she encouraged him to do all the fricked up shite he did. The stuff with Howard was her idea. She had a dark side, darker than Saul.

Saul was a selfish money hungry con-man. Everyone knew who he was. Kim was mentally and emotionally damaged, almost sociopathic. She knew how to play nice in front of people. Wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Seems people love her. All this stuff about her being the only good thing Saul had. Did everyone miss the part where she only left Saul cause she enjoyed all the messed up shite they were doing too much?

She was a terrible person. I was rooting for Lalo lol. I was hoping he would kill Saul and Kim that first time he showed up at their apartment.

Overall, I thought it was an ok show that is massively overrated. They coulda done 6 seasons of Saul taking an hour long shite every episode and people would have hyped it up. The finale made zero sense.