“Breaking Bad“ rests comfortably in the pantheon of all-time great television, there is little doubt of that. The chronicling of the transformation of “Mr. Chips into Scarface” is well known, well discussed, and well done. Emphasis on done. Walter White’s journey has a very clear beginning, a terminal cancer diagnosis, and a very clear ending which will not be exposed here for fear of spoiler retribution. This begs the question, what ultimate goal would be served by returning to a time prior to the events of the seminal series to focus on a secondary character?
The transformation from Jimmy McGill into Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) certainly doesn’t sound as compelling on paper. Hints to Saul Goodman’s past are sprinkled throughout “Breaking Bad”, but few offer any burning reason to travel back in time. However, Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould are less interested in filling minor gaps in continuity than they are in continuing to explore similar themes in their familiar New Mexico setting.
The first season of “Better Call Saul” has told less of a cohesive story as its predecessor series, jumping from plot point to plot point: the Kettlemans, Tuco, Nacho, Mike Ehrmantraut, the class action suit against Sandpiper Crossing, and of course, Jimmy’s brother Chuck (Michael McKean). What all these seemingly separate (but absolutely connected) story elements have in common is how they illuminate the man who will become Saul.
The most intriguing prospect of the pending season finale, “Marco”, is the opportunity for the continued exploration of whether Jimmy McGill is a criminal lawyer or lawyer criminal. After suffering a brutal betrayal at the end of “Pimento”, the penultimate episode this season, Jimmy finds himself at an emotional tipping point.
Backtracking a bit, towards the end of the series premier, Jimmy relays the story of Slippin’ Jimmy. In his youth, Jimmy was a petty scammer. He would feign slip and fall accidents to extort money from property owners. Jimmy is now a lawyer who hasn’t worn the Slippin’ Jimmy persona in years. However, some of his behavior this season might suggest he is now just Slippin’ Jimmy, Esq.
What we see as we get deeper into the series is Jimmy, more than anything, wants to be taken seriously. He craves validation. The one place he should be able to count on this validation is from his brother. Chuck McGill remembers the Slippin’ Jimmy era. He lived it and one can imagine he had to bail out his brother more than once. With that occupying a permanent place in Chuck’s brain, no matter the accomplishments of the younger McGill, he can’t help but see Jimmy as a screw up.
After the events of “Pimento”, that relationship is effectively torn asunder. This changes Jimmy. He no longer has the obligation of looking after Chuck through his electromagnetic hypersensitivity but this leaves him in a unique, morally ambiguous place. More so than any other time this season, Jimmy doesn’t have a moral anchor. He has bent the rules (accepting a bribe) and used his street smarts (talking his way out of being summarily executed at the hands of Tuco) more than once this season but he always wanted to be someone Chuck could be proud of by doing the right thing.
He returns the bribe and ensures Tuco also releases the skateboarding twins without killing them – both of these actions are fraught with shades of grey but it would be hard to argue Jimmy’s intentions weren’t in the right place. But now that the tether is severed, now that Jimmy no longer has a reason to do things the right way, now that Jimmy has no hope of working alongside his brother at HHM, is his soul effectively lost?
There has been speculation that losing a big case or inadvertently falling in with the Albuquerque underworld via Tuco or Nacho would lead our “hero” to shed his identity as Jimmy McGill and assume the Saul Goodman mantle. After “Pimento”, the answer might be more straightforward. More than wrapping up storylines or setting up season two, the season finale is poised to explore what really causes Jimmy McGill to go “full Goodman”.
“Breaking Bad” fans know Saul is a do-whatever-it-takes kind of guy. Does Jimmy descend down a dark path because that’s all anyone ever expected from him? As the season finale fades to black, I expect we’ll know.
