Better Call Saul’s first scene told viewers that Breaking Bad’s Saul Goodman was gone before introducing Gene Takovic and Jimmy McGill. Bob Odenkirk got to play three different versions of the same character in Better Call Saul, including the classic Saul Goodman. However, Better Call Saul did not want to replicate what Breaking Bad had done with Saul, which the spinoff series’ opening sequence quickly established.
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Despite the show being promoted as a Breaking Bad prequel, Better Call Saul’s first scene was set after Walter White's death. The spinoff series confirmed that Saul Goodman had not been caught and managed to start a new life with a new identity, Gene Takovic. Better Call Saul’s opening sequence also summarized how much the character changed after Breaking Bad, even if only a few months had passed in the Breaking Bad timeline.
Gene's Hairstyle Represents The Death Of Saul Goodman
Better Call Saul season 1, episode 1, “UNO” opens with a look at Saul Goodman’s new life in Omaha, Nebraska. The very first time audiences see Saul in Better Call Saul was zoom-in on the top of the character’s head, revealing Saul’s bald patch. Saul now also had a mustache and wore glasses, resulting in a very different-looking character compared to Breaking Bad. Saul Goodman’s hairstyle in Breaking Bad was a comb-over, combined with his colorful suits, exemplified his salesman-esque persona. By ditching Saul Goodman’s original look in the Gene timeline, Better Call Saul quickly established that Breaking Bad’s Saul Goodman no longer existed.
While Gene obviously had to look different from Saul Goodman to hide from the police, this drastic change in the character’s look also served Saul’s story narratively. Better Call Saul does not spend too much time on the post-Breaking Bad timeline, as most of the show is a prequel depicting how Jimmy McGill became Saul Goodman. Still, Better Call Saul’s black-and-white scenes highlighted how Jimmy had lost everything after Breaking Bad, including his Saul Goodman persona. Saul was both a business alias and a way of life for Jimmy, both of which were lost after Breaking Bad’s finale.
Why Better Call Saul Opens On Gene's Bald Patch
Apart from Better Call Saul’s final season, which had multiple sequences in black-and-white, the show never spent more than a few minutes in the post-Breaking Bad timeline. Therefore, before audiences were introduced to Jimmy McGill, Better Call Saul had to establish what happened to Saul Goodman after Breaking Bad quickly. It took only a few minutes for “UNO” to reveal that Saul was now working at a Cinnabon in Omaha and using the name “Gene Takovic.” Opening Better Call Saul with a zoom-in on Gene’s bald patch told viewers that the Saul Goodman they knew from Breaking Bad would not be on that show.
The idea of a Breaking Bad spinoff series centered on Saul Goodman could suggest that Better Call Saul would be just more of the same, an extension of Breaking Bad featuring more of its funny lawyer. This was not at all what Better Call Saul wanted to achieve, which is why landing the opening sequence was so important. A black-and-white shot of a radically different-looking Saul Goodman was the exact hook Better Call Saul needed to set itself apart from Breaking Bad and introduce a brand-new story. Gene allowed Bob Odenkirk to play a different character entirely, joining Saul and Jimmy as the three layers of Better Call Saul’s main character
Gene's Hair Made A Better Call Saul Season 6 Twist More Shocking
Better Call Saul put a lot of work into showing how different Gene was from Saul, a result of him having to live in constant fear of being caught. That made Better Call Saul season 6’s “Saul Goodman return” twist even better. After staying on the low for months, Gene relapsed back into his “Slippin’ Jimmy” days and entered a crime spree fueled by hate and bitterness. Jeff’s attempt to blackmail Gene, Saul’s memories of Walter White, and Jimmy’s phone call to Kim all contributed to this abrupt change that brought a version of Saul Goodman back, even if briefly.
From the cons with Jeff to the round of negotiations with the federals, Better Call Saul got to show a few glimpses of Breaking Bad’s Saul Goodman. Obviously, Gene’s crime spree itself was closer to “Slippin’ Jimmy” than to anything else. Still, after seeing Gene hesitate to even look people in the eye, having this version of Saul back to his old schemes and maneuvers was an interesting creative decision. Before his redemption in the cathartic Better Call Saul season 6 finale, Jimmy had to be the worst version of himself again. Gene’s return to villainy set the stage for Better Call Saul’s ending, and the character’s looks contributed to it.