Typically, after a successful show or movie, the studio and creators tend to work on a sequel instead of a prequel. Breaking Bad was superbly successful, prompting AMC to expand that world, so Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould were tasked with elaborating on Saul Goodman in Better Call Saul. With the same hard work and talent sourcing they provided for Breaking Bad, they once again put together one of the greatest shows. To this day, Better Call Saul stands as one of the most successful prequels.

Because there wasn’t much previous information about Saul Goodman, Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould were able to build his character for Better Call Saul from the ground up. They had only explored the tip of the iceberg of Goodman’s character within Breaking Bad, so by creating the prequel, they could create an entire backstory for his character. When they finally put it all together, creating the lovable Jimmy McGill, they realized the true tragedy: they never wanted to get to the fully formed version of Saul that appears in Breaking Bad.

The Better Call Saul Creators Realized They Didn’t Want to Get to the Final Version of Saul Goodman

In Breaking Bad, the focus was mostly on Jesse Pinkman and Walter White. It would touch on characters related to them, but they were the focal point. So the creators had a clean slate to establish every little detail they wanted to add to Saul Goodman’s character in the prequel. However, when they were first tasked with the prequel project, they didn’t know where to begin. Gilligan told Rolling Stone:

…This character seemed so comfortable in his own skin. Peter and I do not possess those kinds of personalities. We thought, ‘Regardless [of] how much comedy is in it, how do you find drama in a guy who’s basically okay with himself?’ So then we thought, ‘Well, who was he before he was Saul Goodman?’

So, instead of focusing on the Saul Goodman that fans knew from Breaking Bad, they decided to focus on “the character before the character.” A character who is less comfortable with himself is better equipped to sustain a drama series. However, in the beginning, they were worried that if they didn’t get to the version of Saul people knew from Breaking Bad, fans would feel swindled. Gilligan told Rolling Stone, “Because the show is named Better Call Saul, we thought that we had to get to this guy quick or else people will accuse us of false advertising — a bait and switch.”

However, thankfully, since they were working in television, the medium allowed the creators to figure things out relatively slowly, compared to film. Gilligan revealed that seasons into the project, they realized how Saul’s character arc needed to evolve. He said:

Then lo and behold, season after season went by and it dawned on us, we don’t want to get to Saul Goodman … and that’s the tragedy.

Better Call Saul Provided Growth and a Backstory for a Character People Loved

In Breaking Bad, the audience figured out that Saul Goodman had been married a few times and his real name was James “Jimmy” McGill. They also learned that he once convinced a woman that he was Kevin Costner, which became a funny callback from Breaking Bad in Better Call Saul. Through Saul Goodman’s ridiculous antics, he provided major amounts of comic relief and acted as an advisor for Walter’s meth operation. He grew closer to Walt’s meth empire when drug kingpin Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito’s best role) was no longer in the picture. When he first met Walter, though, things didn’t go exactly as planned.

“If you’re committed enough, you can make any story work. I once told a woman I was Kevin Costner, and it worked because I believed it.” – Saul Goodman

In the episode of Breaking Bad titled “Better Call Saul,” Brandon Mayhew gets caught selling some of Walt and Jesse’s blue meth to an undercover cop. Brandon, also known as Badger, is one of Jesse’s long-time friends, who Jesse enlisted to help push their meth. Jesse and Walt hire Saul Goodman as their lawyer to represent Mayhew. This was Saul’s introduction to the Breaking Bad world. He then becomes their lawyer for the duration of the show. The creators, in a sense, reverse-engineered the character of Goodman from this episode and further Breaking Bad appearances.

Better Call Saul started from the beginning of Saul Goodman’s journey, back when he was still Jimmy McGill. Vince Gilligan said to Rolling Stone:

Ignorance is bliss. And in fact, we don’t know where it ends up — and thank goodness for that. Because we have a whole potential world of storytelling with Gene, Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman’s third alter ego in Omaha, Nebraska.

Better Call Saul demonstrated Jimmy’s criminal history and his efforts toward becoming a lawyer. It also expanded on the important relationships in his life. He struggled with his brother, who was a prestigious lawyer. This had inspired him to pursue law in the first place. He met Kim Wexler, who got into schemes with him up until it cost someone their life.

In the first half of the final season of Better Call Saul, the audience gets an almost fully formed Saul Goodman when he signs divorce papers with Kim Wexler. Of course, it arrives with heartbreak and an acceptance of him officially becoming the criminal lawyer that he’ll be known for in Breaking Bad. This all happens after one of the saddest deaths in the entire Breaking Bad universe, the death of Howard Hamlin. While they didn’t directly cause his death, Jimmy’s ties to the cartel did, unintentionally bringing Howard into the wrong place at the wrong time. The unfortunate thing about Better Call Saul is that the new characters in it couldn’t exist in the future, or at least they couldn’t have prominent roles for the sake of continuity in Breaking Bad. Because of this, the final season was a mass extermination of characters created in Better Call Saul.

The Tragedy of Jimmy McGill Is Just as Heartbreaking as the End of Walter White

At the end of Better Call Saul, the audience doesn’t want to lose Jimmy McGill because of how great it was to follow his story. Jimmy’s character went through many changes, and for some time, he was a good lawyer. Unfortunately for the creators, by the final season of Better Call Saul, it was finally time for Saul Goodman to arrive in all his comfortably sleazy glory.

In Better Call Saul, it was the final nail in the coffin for Jimmy and the catalyst to fully form Saul when Kim splits with him due to Howard’s death. The transformation from Jimmy to Saul wasn’t the last change for his character. After everything goes wrong in Breaking Bad, Saul becomes Gene Takovic to lie low from the law.

The final moments of Better Call Saul go down as one of the saddest and most bittersweet moments in the entire show. It’s not because Jimmy McGill gets caught. It’s not because Kim Wexler watches him in all his shiny glory as all the charges against him are read. It’s because the journey of Jimmy’s arc is officially over. The masterful character arc draws to a close with Jimmy in jail for decades, but at least he gains back some of his dignity in the process.

The reason Better Call Saul was so successful is that it was as tragic as Breaking Bad. While the final moments of Jimmy McGill were spent in jail, he still redeemed his honor and restored as much dignity as he could in front of Kim Wexler. Better Call Saul took its time in getting to Saul Goodman’s full creation because it meant the end of everything. It meant the end of Jimmy McGill, the end of Kim Wexler, and the end of one of the best television shows ever made.