We have reached the end of the road. The final episode of everything Better Call SaulSaul Gone, has ended and with it the saga of one of the most complex universes ever seen in the history of TV series.
Breaking itself is a monumental cult object. But Better Call Saul took a seemingly ridiculous and innocuous story to unexpected levels, taking the narrative and format of this type of production one step further.
In the penultimate episode, Waterworks, we witnessed the prelude to a crisis from which there seemed to be no point of return and here we see it.
Saul Gone begins with a flashback in the desert, Mike and Saul walk with the 7 million Lalo, find water and already relaxed talk about what they would do if they had a time machine. Mike feels remorse for things he’s done, Saul doesn’t.
We return to the present with Gene escaping from Marion, he manages to go home, rescue his box with belongings that give away his identity, leaves his house, but ends up cornered and the police arrest him hiding in a garbage can.
Jimmy is prosecuted and ends up calling Bill Oakley to represent him. He spends time and is extradited to Albuquerque, there in an appearance he runs into Marie Schrader who reproaches him for everything that happened with Hank, there Jimmy initiates a manipulation to show himself as a victim permanently threatened by Walter White.
Negotiations begin, if Jimmy goes to trial the jury could buy his story so the prosecution ends up accepting a reduced sentence of 7 years in a minimum security prison. Just as he’s about to pull off a more serious reduction he discovers that Kim has already confessed to the whole Howard thing.
We get another flashback where Saul and Walt wait to be dispatched to their post-crisis hideout seen before the Granite State episode of Breaking Bad. Saul applies the talk he had with Mike at the beginning of the episode about the time machine. Walter makes him realize that the essence of the talk is about regrets.
On the plane back to prison, Saul discovers that Kim is in dire straits at risk of losing everything if Howard’s widow sues and makes his next move. Kim, who was taking up volunteer law practice, finds out.
The day of the appearance before the judge arrives, everyone is there, including Kim. The meeting is to reaffirm their reduced sentence deal in theory, but in the end Saul blames himself for everything and saves Kim, even if that means losing the deal and ensuring an infinity sentence, he renounces the name of Saul Goodman and resumes that of Jimmy McGill.
In another jump in time Saul has one last talk with Chuck where the affection they both had is shown. His older brother read The Time Machine by HG Wells. There we understand that the question Jimmy asked all those times was actually related to his brother.
After saving Kim Jimmy is transferred to ADX Montrose, there on the bus the other inmates recognize him and celebrate him. They respect him and he can’t help but smile.
Time passes, Jimmy is now the baker of the prison where he is. He gets a visitor and it turns out to be Kim, they have a moment where they relive their old chats in the HHM parking lot. They both say goodbye, Saul watches Kim leave the prison from the prison yard.
He mimics that old gesture of hers where he shoots with his hands like he’s a cowboy.
Winks to Breaking Bad
This episode has a brutal number of nods to moments from past seasons, so the allusions to Breaking Bad are in the background.
For example, the edition of The Time Machine that Chuck reads is the same one that Jimmy keeps on his nightstand in Carrot & Stick and the one we see at the beginning of the season when his house is searched. Which leads us to think that it is something that he keeps there as a memory of his brother.
Special mention goes to that scene of his self-immolation in court when he mentions his brother and a plane parallel to an exit sign is observed.
The most emotional and climactic moment of the episode is experienced when they recreate the shared cigarette scene from the first episode of the first season almost shot by shot. To then close with a farewell gesture where Jimmy imitates Kim.
Returning to Breaking Bad terrain here we see Marie as a totally unexpected and pleasant surprise. We confirm that the bodies of Hank Schrader and Steven Gomez have been recovered.
The scene between Saul and Walt shows us what the process of being disappeared under a new identity with the help of Ed Galbraith was really like.
This sequence alters the canon of Breaking Bad and enriches it since everything suggested that the last scene between the two characters was the one in the video above, and what we now saw would have been what happened just before.
Gene’s laugh when he’s trapped in the cell is pretty much the same in tone as Walter White’s when his whole plan collapses in Crawl Space.
Everything indicates that Jimmy would have taken his flight as a prisoner in a Wayfarer, just like the same type of plane that crashes in Breaking Bad.
There are quite a few more things to digest from this great series.