Bob Odenkirk’sBreaking Baddebut in season 2 comes over half a decade before the premiere ofBetter Call Saul, and the character’s franchise debut is difficult to watch for those who have since seen Netflix’s prequel show. Beginning as Jimmy McGill,Odenkirk’s character can be seen before (and after) the events ofBreaking BadinBetter Call Saul, with the latter turning out to be eponymously named. As the leader ofBetter Call Saul’scast, Odenkirk’s charismatic lawyer helps recontextualize various elements of the largerBreaking Badtimeline, including Saul Goodman himself.
Saul is about as close asBreaking Badcomes to having a comic relief character, as the award-winning crime drama rarely plays a scene for laughs. However, it’s tricky not to smile during many ofOdenkirk’s best scenes within the franchise, even if those smirks are often brought about by the lawyer’s worrying conduct. The actor understandably has a much bigger part inBetter Call Saul, and watching his pre-Breaking Badadventures transforms his first scene in the franchise’s parent show.
Saul Goodman has completely taken over by this point
As I’ve already mentioned, Bob Odenkirk’s character goes by two names - although it’s three if we’re counting Slippin' Jimmy. He is introduced inBreaking Badas Saul Goodman, although he’s also quick to point out that his real surname is McGill, and it’s eventually revealed that Jimmy is his first name. That said, whenSaul first appears inBreaking Badseason 2, episode 8, “Better Call Saul,“he’s already very much entrenched in his new persona. He’s cold, blunt, and calculated, with an exaggerated sense of Jimmy McGill’s quippiness.
Saul is a great character inBreaking Bad, but it’s tough to see past the bravado without any knowledge of his background. He seems almost like an entirely self-interested villain whose only motivation is to line his own pockets. The softer and more human side to Odenkirk’s character, Jimmy McGill, has been scrubbed from existence and replaced with the in-your-face traits of Saul Goodman.
While the name Saul Goodman begins as a way to separate himself from the difficult relationship with his brother, Michael McKean’s Chuck McGill, it slowly begins as a new personality entirely for Jimmy.
Canonically,Saul has endured a lot of trauma by the time of his firstBreaking Badepisode, even if those events weren’t possible for the audience to witness at the time. While the name Saul Goodman begins as a way to separate himself from the difficult relationship with his brother, Michael McKean’s Chuck McGill, it slowly begins a new personality entirely for Jimmy, and he starts to slip into it more and more as a sort of coping mechanism.
Bob Odenkirk appears in 43 episodes ofBreaking Bad.
Even when Jimmy can be seen signing the divorce papers with Kim Wexler (Rhea Seahorn) near theend ofBetter Call Saul, there is still a flicker of Jimmy in there, but it’s completely buried inBreaking Bad. Of course, Jimmy returns to the surface again asBetter Call Sauldraws even further to a close. As Saul’s wrongdoings catch up with him, the prequel shows him facing the music in flashforwards set afterBreaking Bad, which softly restores the original Jimmy persona to the timeline.
Better Call Saul needed to be written for Odenkirk’s character to develop more completely
It’s easy to heap praise on theBreaking Badwriters and Odenkirk’s performances on the show when it comes to how it all compares withBetter Call Saul, but the truth of the matter is that most of the work to pull off this disparity between Jimmy and Saul happened years later in the prequel show. Although some of his backstory may have been in place inBreaking Bad,I remain convinced that Odenkirk was originally playing Saul as the character had always been.
Better Call Saulhadn’t been written whenBreaking Badaired, so there was no way for Odenkirk to know how his character’s past should inform his performance. In short, there was very little lore to work with when it came to that specific topic. So, even though Saul seems like a tortured soul inBreaking Badwho has completely shelved being Jimmy McGill, it only seems that way in retrospect because of the equally brilliantBetter Call Saulscripts that would follow years later.
Breaking Bad
Cast
Breaking Bad, created by Vince Gilligan, follows a chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin named Walter White (Bryan Cranston) as he attempts to provide for his family following a fatal diagnosis. With nothing left to fear, White ascends to power in the world of drugs and crime, transforming the simple family man into someone known only as Heisenberg.
Better Call Saul
Better Call Saul follows small-time lawyer Jimmy McGill as he navigates the legal world to make ends meet. The series, set six years before his encounter with Walter White, chronicles Jimmy’s evolution into Saul Goodman, with notable interactions alongside fixer Mike Ehrmantraut.
