The legacy of Breaking Bad can still be felt in the TV landscape today through its successor show, and prequel, Better Call Saul. While it started out as a fairly standard origin story for one of Breaking Bad’s most iconic characters, Saul Goodman, Better Call Saul has grown and evolved into one of the best shows on television currently airing today.
The transformation of Jimmy McGill into the morally bankrupt Saul Goodman has been a long trek, but fans will finally get to see how the journey ends when the show begins airing its final season in April 2022. While it has been delayed for a number of reasons, several fans haven't minded the wait as they have comforted themselves by binge-watching the previous five seasons in anticipation. Along the way, some fans have discovered several important details about the show that might have gone amiss during the first watch.
Bob Odenkirk’s Age Doesn’t Match Jimmy McGill’s Age In The Show
It's hard to imagine anyone else in the role of Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman other than Bob Odenkirk. Bob Odenkirk, in one of his best roles, perfectly captures the moral ambiguity and sardonic personality of the character, while also playing those emotional and compromising moments with real grace. However, one thing that fans of the series must ignore while watching the show is the age discrepancy between actor Bob Odenkirk and Jimmy McGill in Better Call Saul.
Better Call Saul, season 1, is set in 2002 (six years before the events of Breaking Bad), and Jimmy McGill is confirmed to have been born in 1960, making the character around forty two when the show began. Odenkirk, in contrast, was in his mid-fifties when the show premiered in 2015. While it's not uncommon for Hollywood actors to play characters far younger than themselves, the age discrepancy can be a little jarring in Better Call Saul, particularly as the show frequently flashes back to earlier moments in Jimmy's life. A certain amount of suspension of disbelief is needed in those moments when Bob Odenkirk is meant to be playing Jimmy in his twenties and thirties.
The Ending Theme Is A Rearranged Version Of The Breaking Bad Theme
Better Call Saul's ending theme is a surfer rock-inspired riff that is very distinctive. The music of Better Call Saul in general is much more laid back than the more Western-inspired dark and brooding music of Breaking Bad. Dave Porter, the man responsible for the music of both shows, actually reworked the main Breaking Bad theme into the ending theme of Better Call Saul (via RepublicWorld).
Listening to both tracks back to back, it's clear to see how Better Call Saul's closing theme draws on the musical cues of Breaking Bad's iconic opening, perhaps foreshadowing the impending events of Breaking Bad.
Vince Gilligan Has Very Little To Do With The Show
Whenever there is talk of Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul, the name mentioned most often is Vince Gilligan. He created Breaking Bad, and co-created Better Call Saul. Yet when it comes to the day to day running of Better Call Saul, Gilligan admits that he has very little involvement.
In an interview with Rich Eisen (via Youtube), Gilligan admits that it's actually show co-creator Peter Gould who deserves most of the credit for Better Call Saul's phenomenal run. Gould took over the show after Gilligan stepped away to write and direct El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.
The First Letters Of Each Season Two Episodes Signalled The Return Of Gus Fring
One of the most exciting things about Better Call Saul is the way that it has expanded and developed many of the characters and storylines of Breaking Bad. Characters like Mike Ehrmantraut and Saul Goodman are given more time to breathe than they were in Breaking Bad. The most exciting returning character so far has been fan-favorite Gus Fring, who finally appeared in the show's third season. However, despite not appearing in the first two seasons, there was a big hint at the eventual reveal over the course of season 2.
If you take the first letter of each episode title of season 2 and rearrange them, it spells "FRINGSBACK," foreshadowing the return of Breaking Bad's most iconic villain in Better Call Saul's season 3.
Initial Plans For The Show Changed Drastically During Production
As it stands, Better Call Saul is a pretty straightforward prequel to Breaking Bad. The show is visually similar to its predecessor and the episode structure is more or less the same. In fact, as the seasons have progressed, the show has grown more and more into a Breaking Bad prequel, rather than a Saul Goodman origin story. However, the original concept for Better Call Saul was very different though.
In an interview with The Rolling Stone, series creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould revealed that the original concept was that the show would be a half-hour comedy show, similar to the animated show Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, where Saul would be visited by different celebrity guests every week. Eventually, this concept for the show was abandoned, and Better Call Saul organically grew into the show audiences know and love.
The Spinal Tap Connection
Michael McKean's turn as Chuck McGill in the first three seasons of Better Call Saul was a tour de force. Chuck's turn and jealousy against his own brother is played brilliantly by McKean, who was Emmy-nominated for his role. With a long history in both film and television, there's a number of places fans may recognise McKean from. What many fans may not know is that McKean is actually one of the founding members of the fictional rock group Spinal Tap.
Most famous for their rock music mockumentary This is Spinal Tap, Michael McKean played the lead singer of the fictional group David St. Hubbins. It's a testament to McKean's skill as an actor that he can lend his hand so seamlessly to both comedy and drama.
Nominated For 39 Emmys, No Wins
Better Call Saul is one of the most critically acclaimed television shows on television today. Despite the continual praise heaped on the show and its stars over the course of its, as yet, five-season run, the show has never won an Emmy award.
The show has been nominated a total of 39 times, in a host of different categories, but has failed to win on each occasion. It's a truly staggering statistic, and something that will hopefully be rectified after the show's final season concludes. The role of Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman has been one of Bob Odenkirk's best roles, and he deserves an Emmy for his portrayal.
Season 6 COVID-19 Delays & On-Set Tragedy With Bob Odenkirk
Better Call Saul will finally debut its final season this coming April, but the road to the final chapter of Jimmy McGill's story has been long and fraught with delays and tragedies. Better Call Saul's fifth season finished in April of 2020, meaning there's been an almost two year gap between the fifth and sixth season. The primary reason for this was the COVID-19 pandemic that halted the production of the show for several months (via TV Line).
On top of the delays resulting from the pandemic, the production was also stalled due to Bob Odenkirk's horrific heart attack, which he suffered in July 2021 (via BBC), while the show was still in the midst of shooting the show's final season. Fortunately, Odenkirk has made a full recovery from his incident. In an interview with Howard Stern (via Youtube), Odenkirk credits his intense physical training from the movie Nobody with saving his life.