Spoiler Alert: The following article contains plot details for third to last episode of AMC’s “Better Call Saul”
After several confirmations from both creators and stars in recent months, and years of eager anticipation from fans, “Better Call Saul” finally welcomed Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) into the fold.
Monday’s episode of the AMC drama opened with the same storyline from the Season 2 episode of “Breaking Bad” that first introduced Bob Odenkirk’s Saul Goodman. But this time around, we experienced this first fateful introduction from Saul’s perspective rather than Walt and Jesse’s.
Bound and hooded in the back of that infamous RV, Saul unwittingly set a chain of events in motion that would go on to irrevocably change dozens of lives in “Breaking Bad.” But this episode of “Saul” didn’t retread old ground, opting instead to explore the never before seen immediate aftermath of this doomed first meeting.
Here’s how it played out:
After securing attorney client privilege (which was covered in “Breaking Bad”), Saul pokes around the famous RV and makes repeated inquiries into Walt and Jesse’s little operation. Old Heisenberg isn’t interested in disclosing any information, but Jesse is more forthcoming. Despite the low-fi aesthetic — the dusty RV, the bullet-riddled door — Saul sees a spark of potential.
Side note: These two iconic characters cast such a long shadow that it’s difficult not to get swept up in the familiar nostalgia. Their reappearance comes complete with known staples such Walt’s withering looks, Jesse’s absentminded conclusions, and endless bickering between the two. It would be hilarious if it weren’t so tragic.
“Who’s Lalo?” Jesse asks Saul as they head back to his office. A glaze of fear and the pang of bad memories crosses Saul’s face, but only for a moment. “It’s nobody,” he says before changing the subject.
In the present timeline, Gene is thinking back to this fateful night, though apparently not learning any lessons from it as he cooks up a series of elaborate schemes and scams. One poor mark has cancer, but Saul’s experience with Walt leaves him without any sympathy.
Back in the “Breaking Bad” timeline, none other than Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) supplies Saul with all the background information he needs on Walt and Jesse, calling them “small potatoes.” He hasn’t even mentioned them to Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) because they’re such “amateurs” who pose no threat. Yet Saul can’t seem to shake the feeling that with the right guidance, these two and their top of the line product could be a real cash cow.
It wouldn’t be the first or last time Saul’s starry eyes led him astray.
The final moments of the episode intercut between the present day Gene timeline and the “Breaking Bad” timeline as Saul visits Walter at his high school (complete with a Pontiac Aztek cameo!) in the latter and Gene breaks into the home of his cancer-riddled quarry. The episode leaves viewers with the tease of more Walt and Jesse to come.
Jimmy, Saul, or Gene can run as far as possible and reinvent themselves as many times as they want, but they can’t escape their own bad decisions.
