Summary

• Better Call Saul seasons ranked higher than almost any other show on TV, surpassing the original Breaking Bad.
• Better Call Saul achieves exceptional storytelling by telling both a prequel and sequel, spanning six seasons.
• Each season of Better Call Saul is excellent in its own right, with arguments about which is the best when ranked.

From the time the Breaking Bad spinoff aired in 2015 to its finale in 2022, the Better Call Saul seasons ranked better than almost any other show on TV. Better Call Saul's first season picks up six years before the character appears in Breaking Bad. The majority of the show acts as a prequel to the original series, though it does have scenes that take place after it, primarily found in Better Call Saul season 6's latter half. Better Call Saul achieved something many thought impossible by matching and in some ways surpassing Breaking Bad.

In telling both a prequel and sequel, and spreading the story across six powerful seasons, Better Call Saul joins the rest of the franchise alongside Breaking Bad and El Camino as some truly spectacular storytelling. In light of this, it is worth noting that Better Call Saul does not have a single bad season; all are excellent in their own right. However, there are arguments about which is better when it comes to every season of Better Call Saul ranked from worst to best.

6 Better Call Saul Season 2

February 15, 2016 - April 18, 2016

Though it's not a bad season, the worst season of Better Call Saul is objectively the second. The reason largely comes from each character's story not being as engaging as in other seasons. Kim is relegated to document review work at Better Call Saul's main law firm, HHM, and Jimmy has a crisis of faith in the law through his new job at Davis and Main. The final two episodes of Better Call Saul season 2 make it hard to justify it being the worst, both of which feature fantastic work from Bob Odenkirk and Michael McKean.

The final two episodes set up the conflict between the two brothers in season 3 and continue to place Better Call Saul's characters among some of TV's all-time best. Though the second may be the worst out of all Better Call Saul seasons ranked for quality, it's not bad. Jonathan Banks' Mike remains the most compelling in season 2, clashing with Tuco and Hector Salamanca and building his relationship with Nacho. It is only a testament to Better Call Saul's high quality that a season better than most others on TV ranks the lowest.

5 Better Call Saul Season 1

February 8, 2015 - April 6, 2015

The first two episodes of Better Call Saul masterfully rope viewers back into the world of Breaking Bad through the introduction of Tuco Salamanca while avoiding too much connective tissue this early on by setting up Nacho as Jimmy's main cartel contact. Better Call Saul season 1 does a fantastic job of setting up each of Better Call Saul's new characters, from the seemingly villainous Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian) to Saul's brother Chuck McGill and his health conditions, both mental and physical.

This only extends to Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler, whose introduction sets up what will become one of the Breaking Bad universe's best characters. While featuring standout episodes such as "Mijo", the Mike-centric "Five-O," and the penultimate episode "Pimento," which begins Chuck and Jimmy's divide, Better Call Saul season 1 ranks below most that follow. This is only because the season needs to introduce new stories and characters apart from Breaking Bad, which results in a lot of time to set up the world.

4 Better Call Saul Season 4

August 6, 2018 - October 8, 2018

Much of Better Call Saul season 4's success comes from the exploration of Jimmy's mental state after Chuck's death. From the initial depression and holding himself responsible to the emotional shut-off of anything related to Chuck after using Howard's guilt as a scapegoat, Better Call Saul uses Chuck's death to further Jimmy's turn into the cold-hearted Saul Goodman. This transfers into the finale, in which Jimmy feigns sadness over Chuck's death to become reinstated as a lawyer only to practice under the name Saul Goodman.

Season 4 of Better Call Saul also sees the furthering of the feud between Gus Fring and Hector Salamanca, while bridging the gap to Breaking Bad. Gus begins building the meth superlab beneath the laundromat, something that piques the interest of Tony Dalton's Lalo Salamanca, thus introducing one of Better Call Saul's best antagonists. The final two episodes are phenomenal, showcasing Jimmy's con to become reinstated and Mike's heartbreaking murder of Werner Ziegler, who threatens Gus' operations.

3 Better Call Saul Season 3

April 10, 2017 - June 19, 2017

Better Call Saul season 3 exemplifies the sheer quality of the show as a whole. The second episode of the third season soft-launches Gus Fring's introduction through a familiar chicken restaurant while also furthering Chuck and Jimmy's feud when Chuck has Jimmy arrested. This then culminates in arguably the greatest episode of the entire series, "Chichanery" which has one of the best-written, most tense courtroom scenes in TV history.

The episode features Better Call Saul's best work from Michael McKean as Chuck and truly exemplifies the shattering of his and Jimmy's relationship that directly leads to the emergence of Saul Goodman a season later. This episode also reintroduced Francesca from Breaking Bad. That is not to mention elements like Gus' introduction, and the continued bridging of Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad by showing how Nacho put Hector Salamanca in a wheelchair.

Alongside Mike's further induction into the empire of Fring and Kim's sympathetic story of being overworked, these elements coincide to make Better Call Saul season 3 an outstanding season of television.

2 Better Call Saul Season 5

February 23, 2020 - April 20, 2020

Better Call Saul season 5 is great largely due to the outstanding consistency shown from episode to episode. With the first episode introducing the direct rivalry between Gus and Lalo, as well as furthering Kim's dark turn toward Jimmy's - or more appropriately, Saul's - way of life, Better Call Saul season 5 begins on a high note. Season 5 also starts one of Better Call Saul's most unexpected yet emotionally impactful arcs, the development of Howard Hamlin.

What started as an unsympathetic, rich jerk archetype slowly becomes much more endearing, elevated by the exploration of Howard's grief over Chuck in season 4. All of this is showcased in the first two episodes of Better Call Saul season 5, whose hot streak continues in episode 3 with the return of a fan-favorite Breaking Bad character: Hank Schrader. All of this is only elevated with the exceptional four-episode run to end the season: "JMM," "Bagman," "Bad Choice Road," and "Something Unforgivable."

These episodes see Jimmy tied directly with the cartel through the show's best villain, Lalo Salamanca, with the middle two episodes ranking among "Chicanery" as some of the series' best episodes. With stellar performances across the board and incredible tension, Better Call Saul season 5 ends with the same consistency it started with.

1 Better Call Saul Season 6

April 18, 2022 - August 15, 2022

In terms of Better Call Saul seasons ranked, season 6 is largely considered the best. Better Call Saul season 6 is split into two parts, with 13 episodes. This enabled each part of season 6 to focus on different aspects. The first half continued from season 5, furthering Saul and Kim's attempts to ruin Howard's reputation to force the Sandpiper settlement. Due to this, large portions of the first half of season 6 give off heist-style elements, bolstered by the fantastic episode 3, which saw the death of Nacho.

Mando gives his best performance of the series in a chill-inducing scene where he confronts everyone who manipulated him over the years. Nacho gets revenge while going out on his terms. Part one culminates in "Plan and Execution," which sees Jimmy and Kim's con come to fruition to both the thrill and displeasure of viewers. In building Howard's character to be more sympathetic, Better Call Saul's mid-season finale is all the more heartbreaking through his death at the hands of Lalo.

This leads into the home stretch of Better Call Saul, which resolves Gus' feud with Lalo in an extremely satisfying fashion and begins the aspects of Better Call Saul that connect the story to Breaking Bad. Featuring more heist-like elements, surprise returns from Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman respectively, and an overwhelmingly satisfying series finale, the sixth season is undoubtedly the best Better Call Saul season for how it elevated the Breaking Bad universe.

Is Better Call Saul Better Than Breaking Bad?

As for whether Better Call Saul seasons ranked higher than Breaking Bad, the consensus is seemingly yes: the prequel is better than the original. Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould perfectly leveraged every useful element in their crime universe to make Jimmy McGill's Saul Goodman an even better antihero than Walter White. As the Better Call Saul season 6 ending explained - specifically through Jimmy's final testimony - it was Saul Goodman who put together Heisenberg's criminal empire.

Walt made the meth and killed the competition himself, but none of it would have been possible without Saul Goodman, who served as Walt's guide through the criminal underworld. This is fully reflected in the superior storytelling of Better Call Saul. At the same time, the fact is that Saul Goodman wouldn't have been able to fly had Walt not laid the foundations for their meth empire. Just as Walt and Jimmy needed each other, so did Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.

While Better Call Saul elevated Breaking Bad's story, the former wouldn't exist without the other. One of these shows may be better, but not only do they play off each other, but either show is great in its own right, especially considering how few other crime shows can compare to both.