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The story of Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
Background[]
Jimmy working at his father's store in 1973.
Jimmy McGill was born in 1960 to Ruth and Charles McGill Sr. in Cicero, Illinois. He had an older brother, Charles "Chuck" McGill Jr., who always held resentment towards Jimmy for being the one his parents seemed to favor more (as well as his ability to easily charm others, particularly Chuck's ex-wife, Rebecca) - despite Chuck always playing by the rules and Jimmy committing the act of theft since he was at least 9. Despite this, Jimmy always held an admiration for his brother and would eventually become a lawyer to follow in his footsteps.
When Jimmy was a child, he began working for his dad in his department store-constantly having to see him get conned into giving money to grifters, despite the young Jimmy's warnings to his father. At one point, Jimmy embezzled nearly $14,000 from his father's store, which lead to its closure as well as his father's death 6 months later. Jimmy was deeply grief-stricken over the death of his father, but over time began to blame his father for it, due to never being able to take "no" for an answer. Jimmy claims to have had multiple wives in his past, one of whom he caught sleeping with his stepfather.
Better Call Saul[]
At the start of the series, Jimmy McGill highly looks up to his older brother, Charles "Chuck" McGill, who is a lawyer and co-owner of the law firm Hamlin Hamlin and McGill, but claims to suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity, and Jimmy does everything he can to become a high-ranking partner with his brother at the firm.
At the time, he is mostly lawyering for small crooks and is very underpaid, until one day when he is practicing elders law, he notices that a retirement home is grossly overcharging the residents, making the elders pay more than they need to without knowing it. And Jimmy sees the opportunity to come up with a potential million-dollar case that can let him work with HHM. But Chuck refuses to let Jimmy work with him on the case and practically steals the case from him, as he doesn't trust Jimmy for being a con artist in the past.
As the series progresses, Jimmy loses his morality as he evolves into the egocentric ace attorney known as Saul Goodman, while also developing connections with the Cartel. By the end of season 6, Jimmy suffers a string of personal tragedies, which include losing Chuck to suicide after he meddled with his malpractice insurance, accidentally getting Howard Hamlin killed by his client Lalo Salamanca, and his breakup with his wife Kim Wexler as a result of Howard's death. This leads to the death of Jimmy McGill and the permanent takeover of his Saul Goodman persona.
Breaking Bad[]
Saul serves as the lawyer and adviser for meth cooks Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, getting them out of several difficult situations. Saul boasts extensive criminal connections and resources, and serves as a go-between connecting drug distributors, evidence removers, impersonators, and other criminals-for-hire. He arranges for Walt to launder drug money through Walter White Jr.'s website; has an old man pose as Heisenberg when one of Jesse’s drug dealers gets caught and decides to turn Heisenberg in; and dispatches Mike Ehrmantraut to coach Jesse and dispose of any incriminating evidence in his apartment after his girlfriend Jane overdoses.
Other than his connections, Saul is also a highly competent lawyer who is able to solve problems and find loopholes in order to protect his clients. He is shown to have at least some kind of code of honor and one of the few only ethical concerns Saul has is to never betray his clients, and is reluctant to be associated with violence or murder. He is also shown to be horribly shocked after Jesse reveals to him that he participated in Walt’s poisoning of Brock, an 8-year-old boy whom Jesse basically saw as a son.
Saul became a trusted consigliere to Walt, helping launder drug money for Walt and, later, his wife Skyler. Saul expanded Walt's profits by arranging for the latter to supply crystal meth in bulk to Albuquerque drug dealers via Mike, who was himself consigliere to the local kingpin Gus Fring. Eventually, however, after Walt's criminal secrets were discovered by his brother-in-law, DEA agent Hank Schrader, and discovering Walt's poisoning of Brock leads to a wrathful Jesse attacking him, Saul was forced to abandon his life as a criminal lawyer with the help of Ed Galbraith, his "disappearer".
Post-Breaking Bad[]
Saul as Gene Takavic, working as a manager of Cinnabon in the aftermath following the previous events.
Sometime later, as Saul predicted, he ends up working as a manager at a shopping-mall Cinnabon in Omaha, Nebraska, under the alias Gene Takavić. Jimmy is constantly living in fear of someone recognizing him and watching his old commercials at night to compensate for his depression over leaving his old life behind. He has become so paranoid about getting caught that he refuses to open an emergency exit door once he gets locked in a garbage room out of fear of the police coming. He almost stays there all night until a custodian lets him out. He writes "SG was here" on the wall.
One day during Saul's lunch break, he spots a shoplifter trying to hide from a couple of security guards in a photo booth. Saul rats on him to the guards, but immediately feels guilty afterwards and advises him to "Say nothing and get a lawyer", much to the guards' irritation. Due to the adrenaline of getting one piece of his old life back, he passes out when he gets back to work. He's taken to the hospital and is released once they rule out a heart attack and discover his blood pressure is normal.
Saul almost leaves but is stopped by the nurse at the desk who needs another look at his driver's license. Saul becomes anxious about getting caught as the process takes a while, but she eventually works it out and lets him leave. Saul gets a taxi to drive but realizes that the driver has an air freshener from Albuquerque hanging up on his rear-view mirror. The driver also seems to be observing Saul as if he recognizes him becoming so distracted he doesn't immediately go at a green light. Saul becomes worried and has the driver drop him off earlier than he wanted in a neighborhood. As he walks away, he pretends to tie his shows to look behind himself-only the see the taxi hasn't left yet.
Panicked that he has been recognized, Gene empties out a container of diamonds, changes his license plates to Missouri plates and flees the city. After a while, Gene convinces himself that nobody is looking for him and takes a few days off of work to hide in his home and drink while listening to the police scanner. When he returns to work, he is spotted by the cab driver, Jeff, who excitedly recognizes him. Gene insists that he is not Saul Goodman, but is eventually pressured into doing the catchphrase to avoid suspicion after noticing some cops nearby. Gene immediately calls Ed Galbraith from a payphone for another extraction, as his identity has been compromised. Ed warns him that it will be difficult and is double the price. However, after a moment of consideration, Gene changes his mind and claims: "I'll fix it myself" before hanging up and walking away.
One Last Con[]
Following the confrontation with Jeff, Gene devised a mastermind plan to make sure Jeff would never be able to rat him out to the authorities. Through assisting Jeff's mother, Marion, with getting through the snow, Gene was able to come into contact with Jeff again at his house. Gene deduces that Jeff has not reported "Gene" to the police because he wishes to learn how to get into the criminal lifestyle, and offers to teach Jeff his skills in "the game". The following night, after closing hours, Gene visits the security guards and offers them Cinnabon samples in gratitude for their help during his unexpected fainting. However, this is just an excuse for Gene to begin a nightly routine of observing how long it takes for them to finish their food, eventually calculating their time to be three minutes. Gene also visits the shopping mall's high-end department stores and figures out the locations of valuable goods.
Thus Gene devises a strategy for Jeff to raid the mall with a three-minute time limit and shoplift some expensive clothing during closing hours. At first, Jeff expresses distrust in the plan, calling it crazy, but Gene tells him what's really crazy is a 50-year-old chemistry teacher acquiring "a pile of cash as big as a Volkswagen" in just a year. Jeff reluctantly agrees to go along with Gene's plan. One night, Gene and Jeff, with help from Jeff's friend, Ricky, carry out the operation. Gene monitors Jeff's progress from the security room, distracting the guard with his usual Cinnabon delivery. While he is initially successful, Jeff slipped on the floor during his last run and passed out. Thinking on his feet, Gene crafts a feigned sob story about how his parents and brother are dead, and how he has no wife or kids. This distraction diverts the guard's attention for long enough for Jeff to recover and complete the heist.
The next morning, Jeff and Ricky glorify the loot at Jeff's house, having gotten away with a high-end heist. Unfortunately for them, this was all part of Gene's plan - the Cinnabon manager immediately blackmails the men into their silence, informing them that, since they committed this crime, any attempt to root out Gene's true identity would result in mutually assured destruction for both parties. A delusional Marion oversees Gene observing an old car engine with her son. She tells Gene her son fell into a bad crowd when they lived in Albuquerque, and thanks Gene for his "positive" influence on Jeff. Knowing his identity is safe for now, Gene resumes his daily routine at the Cinnabon, with greater confidence than before. During his lunch break, Gene stumbles upon the department store, where he tries out a new shirt and tie before walking away.
Returning to Crime[]
On November 12, 2010, Gene receives a call from his former secretary, Francesca Liddy, where he is informed of the fates of some of his former associates and the fact that all of his assets as Saul were seized by the authorities. He is also told that Kim, who is now living in Florida, called after "everything went down". Excited by this news, Gene calls Kim, but the conversation quickly breaks down into a heated argument when Kim suggests Gene turn himself in.
Due to the adrenaline of his most recent con, Gene drags himself back into the criminal world, hiring Jeff and Ricky to assist him in a series of scams where Gene would "befriend" wealthy individuals at bars, and Jeff and Rick would break into the homes of the victims to steal their personal details. However, their latest victim informs Gene that he has cancer. Ricky is unable to go ahead with the operation, as his father also had cancer. Gene proceeds to fire Ricky and decides to raid the mark's house himself. However, the theft goes wrong when a police cruiser pulls up behind Jeff's cab, causing a panicking Jeff to crash in an attempt to escape. He is taken away by the cops as Gene flees.
Revelation[]
Gene's true identity as Saul is exposed by Marion.
Upon making it back to his house, Gene receives a call from Jeff, who has been arrested for the robbery at the mark's house. Gene comforts his partner in crime and tells him there is no evidence linking him to the scam. Gene then calls Marion to help get Jeff out of jail. Unfortunately for Gene, Marion had figured out who Gene really was by watching Saul Goodman's old commercials on YouTube and searching up "con man Albuquerque" using a new computer Jeff had bought for her using the heist money from his first crime. Gene considers killing Marion when she attempts to call the police, but he is distracted when Marion says "I trusted you", buying enough time for her to press her LifeAlert button and inform the operator of the fugitive. Saul Goodman flees the house with his true identity finally exposed.
Redemption[]
Saul immediately returns to his house to take his box of diamonds and a burner phone as the police are alerted of Saul Goodman's presence in Omaha. Climbing into a dumpster, he desperately attempts to contact Ed again, hoping to leave the city as a free man. However, he is caught by the cops and arrested before he is able to do so.
Saul admitting his pivotal role in Walt's Drug Empire to the court during his sentencing trial.
In police custody, Saul contacts Bill Oakley, who had since replaced him as the dominating defense attorney of Albuquerque, to try and convince him to be his legal representative for the inevitable charges against him. Oakley, however, doubts he can establish a solid defense due to the masses of evidence against Saul, but Saul states that he will "(come out) on top, like always". Later on, Saul is extradited back to New Mexico, where Oakley negotiates a plea deal with Saul's prosecutors. Noticing Marie Schrader watching, Saul invites her inside, where she proceeds to blame Walter White for the deaths of Hank and Steven Gomez. Saul tries to play the victim game, but is brutally shut down by Marie, who advises the prosecutors against making a deal with Walt's former consigliere. Oakley eventually manages to secure a deal of seven and a half years at a low-security prison in North Carolina. Saul proceeds to confess to Howard Hamlin's murder, hoping it would bring him even more leverage. However, he is shocked to learn Kim had already confessed before him.
On the day of the sentencing hearing, Saul, realizing what his life had come to, decides to make his ultimate confession. He makes a grand speech to the court, revealing he was far from a victim of Walt's Drug Empire, and instead willingly aided the kingpin in destroying livelihoods and terrorizing the Southwest for his own financial gain. He then proceeds to defend Kim, taking all the blame for her, and admits to playing a fundamental role in Chuck's suicide. Lastly, for the first time in six years, Saul addresses himself as "James McGill", finally killing Saul and paving way for Jimmy's rebirth.
Jimmy and Kim looking at each other one last time.
Thanks to his confession, Kim walked away as a free woman, while Jimmy's plea agreement was squashed and he was sentenced to 86 years at a maximum security prison. The other prisoners recognize Jimmy and begin to chant "Better Call Saul!" in respect of the former lawyer. Sometime later, Jimmy is visited by Kim, where the two share a conversation with each other, reminiscing on their memories together. Before leaving the prison, Kim spots Jimmy watching her from the prison yard, the latter making finger gun gestures as a sign of goodbye. Jimmy smiles to himself as Kim turns the corner to leave, finally redeeming himself for his crimes. It's presumed that Jimmy will spend the rest of his days behind bars and most likely getting visits from Kim whenever possible, though he does mention the slight possibility of being paroled for good behaviour at some point during his sentence, yet even if that doesn't happen, it's not like Jimmy cares, as he finally achieved his second chance to start anew.