Better Call Saul 6x11 'Breaking Bad' | Early Access
Added 2025-07-22 14:01:09 +0000 UTC
Comments
As far as the timeline, the Breaking Bad flashbacks in this episode take place entirely within Breaking Bad Season 2, Episode 8, "Better Call Saul." This is all depicting Saul's first meeting with Walt and Jesse, but this time from Saul's perspective.
Francesca Langer
2025-07-22 15:46:10 +0000 UTCI think the point of this episode, and the reason it's called "Breaking Bad," is that the whole Gene story-line is a microcosm of what Jimmy did in Breaking Bad; Kim leaving him was the final heartbreak that led Jimmy to completely immerse himself in the Saul persona in order to dissociate from his feelings. He started escalating his level of criminality until he got involved with Walt, and that's what led to Saul's downfall. This episode shows Jimmy acting out the same self-destructive cycle in miniature; the phonecall with Kim makes him feel her rejection all over again, and so he throws himself into escalating schemes with Jeff in order to escape the painful feelings Kim stirred in him. This episode illustrates how Jimmy's destructive coping mechanisms have worked the entire series (including in Breaking Bad). His real personality is very sensitive and vulnerable, emotionally childlike, desperate for validation and approval, hungry for endless attention and love. The inner needy-baby Jimmy is in excruciating pain, he has lost everyone and everything he ever loved, and he is drowning in grief and guilt because on some level he knows it's his own fault. But he completely lacks the emotional maturity and strength to face the truth. So he retreats into his schemes, into fantasy and play and performance, treating everything like a game and hiding his real feelings within a Russian nesting doll of personas. This is what Saul Goodman has always been: A mask of cheerful cynicism and callousness that Jimmy wears in order to pretend he doesn't have real feelings. Edit to add: We saw a hint of this in the episode when Jesse asks Saul "Who is Lalo?" We see the sheer terror on Saul's face, and then we see him mask it, flippantly dismissing it as "Nobody," and then going right back into his typical Saul-banter. This moment is supposed to show that all of Jimmy's traumas and regrets still exist within Saul, he's just hiding them.
Francesca Langer
2025-07-22 15:41:33 +0000 UTC
