Better Call Saul

Better Call Saul is an American TV series that began in 2015 and concluded in 2022, running for a total of 6 seasons. The series is a prequel to Breaking Bad, set six years prior to the start of the first show and following small-time lawyer Jimmy McGill, the man that will become Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad.

Plot
Better Call Saul follows Jimmy McGill, a small-time struggling lawyer that will later become the corrupt Saul Goodman that works for Walter White in Breaking Bad six years later. Jimmy is someone naturally drawn to allure of power and scamming or ripping off whoever he needs to get that power. The show follows Jimmy's path down the trail of corruption to his character in Breaking Bad. Along with this, the show also follows fan favorites Mike Ehrmantraut and Gus Fring from Breaking Bad in their own journeys towards the people they are in Breaking Bad, along with bringing in new original characters that act as catalysts for the main characters later on.

The series begins with an emphasis on Jimmy's story alone, where the audience meets his friend (that soon turns into his girlfriend and later wife) Kim Wexler, a fellow lawyer that works at Jimmy's brother's law firm, Hamlin-Hamlin-McGill. The audience also meets Jimmy's older brother, Chuck, who is shown to be disabled due to what is perceived to be a physical ailment referred to as electromagnetic sensitivity, or EHS. Jimmy takes care of him along with struggling to get his law career off the ground without offered help from his brother's firm and his brother's business partner and Kim's boss, Howard Hamlin. Jimmy is almost instantly drawn into the criminal world against his will, when one of his small-scale scams goes wrong and he meets Tuco, a cartel character first seen in Breaking Bad. From that experience, Jimmy is also introduced to Nacho Varga, who often calls on him throughout the series to act as his lawyer or the lawyer for the Salamanca cartel, also first introduced in Breaking Bad.

As the series progresses, Jimmy strays further from his well-meaning small lawyer life and falls into the cartel and criminal world through his scams and connection to Nacho and Mike, pulling Kim with him. Mike and Gus are introduced in vastly different positions to them in Breaking Bad. Gus is still working for the Salamanca cartel transporting methamphetamine from Mexico to America while doubling as the CEO of Los Pollos Hermanos, but he has a secret plan to create his own meth lab underneath an industrial laundry, a location that audiences are very familiar with from Breaking Bad that has yet to be built by the middle of Better Call Saul. Mike is a parking attendant at the local Albuquerque courthouse, as well as secretly doing odd jobs in the criminal world to make more money for his daughter-in-law, Stacey, after his guilt over his son's murder that left Stacey and her daughter Kaylee alone. We also learn more about Nacho Varga and his role in the Salamanca cartel that is revealed to be strained and against his own will. Lalo Salamanca is introduced, a truly psychopathic Salamanca sent up from Mexico to watch over the family business and Nacho after his uncle Hector is paralyzed and put in a nursing home.

The first episode of each season features a special black-and-white teaser scene that shows Jimmy in the future, after the events of Breaking Bad as Gene Takavic after buying himself a new identity to avoid arrest for his crimes committed with Walter White. By the sixth season, there are entire episodes dedicated to this black-and-white future of the man formerly known as Saul Goodman. Through a series of events from being recognized as Saul to reaching out to Kim, who has since divorced him and moved across the country to Florida, Jimmy decides to turn himself in and face his crimes as Saul Goodman, earning him a total of 86 years in prison, essentially a life sentence. The series finale serves as a full-circle moment for the character, as he finally changes his lying and scheming behaviors by facing his errors and repenting.

Characters
Main Cast


 * Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman/Gene Takavic
 * Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler
 * Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut
 * Patrick Fabian as Howard Hamlin
 * Michael Mando as Ignacio "Nacho" Varga

Major Supporting Characters


 * Giancarlo Esposito as Gus Fring
 * Michael McKean as Chuck McGill
 * Tony Dalton as Lalo Salamanca
 * Kerry Condon as Stacey Ehrmantraut
 * Max Arciniega as Krazy-8

Fanon
Better Call Saul was met hesitantly after the idea of a prequel to one of the greatest shows ever made was proposed. However, the series soon came into its own, receiving glowing critical acclaim for every aspect of the film-making process. It was able to join its predecessor as being touted one of the greatest shows of all time and has collected over 280 total nominations, including 46 Emmy nominations. The show was created by Vince Gilligan, creator of Breaking Bad, alongside Breaking Bad writer Peter Gould, who originally created the character of Saul Goodman on the first show.

With so many new dynamics and characters, audiences gravitated to a multitude of ships, most of which were not considered or even present at all in Breaking Bad. Fans were overjoyed at the series finally confirming the canon queerness of cartel kingpin Gus Fring, being shown more evidence of his connection to his tragically murdered partner Max, as well as his attempt at allowing himself to love again after the tragedy. New characters Nacho, Lalo and Kim were also fan favorites for their connections and interactions with Jimmy as well as each other.

Fandom
FAN FICTION



FAN ART



WIKI