Huell Babineaux's role in Breaking Bad was limited but his involvement in Better Call Saul allowed for more screentime, as well as a backstory. The character portrayed by Lavell Crawford made his Breaking Bad debut in season 4 as Saul Goodman's bodyguard. Huell was eventually caught up in Walter White's crime spree, and eventual downfall.
Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) used Huell as his bodyguard while assisting in Walt's dangerous dealings, clearly hired for his intimidating size rather than his intelligence. The bodyguard often worked with Saul's henchman, Patrick Kuby (Bill Burr) on various missions. The "A-team," which Saul called them, were once sent to force Ted Beneke into repaying his IRS debt, a mission that led to Ted breaking his own neck. Huell, the expert pick-pocketer, was also involved in Jesse's ricin mishap which eventually led to the realization that Walt poisoned young Brock. The bodyguard was later taken by the DEA and subsequently spilled the beans to Hank regarding some of Walt's wrongdoings. But that wasn't the last fans would see of Huell.
Crawford reprised his role for the prequel spinoff, Better Call Saul, which provided more insight into the character's past. Saul Goodman, who still went by Jimmy McGill at this point, met Huell in Better Call Saul season 3 through Caldera, the veterinarian with a wide array of connections. Jimmy instructed Huell to slip a battery into Chuck's pocket in order to dispute his brother's electromagnetic hypersensitivity. The successful ploy gave Jimmy a reason to hire Huell in season 4, which is where things get interesting.
Huell worked as Jimmy's security guard for his burner phone business. Everything was going great until Huell assaulted a police officer. To make matters worse, the cop recognized Huell as someone he arrested years prior for pick-pocketing, so he thought he was assaulted on purpose. Jimmy enlisted the help of Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) to get the prosecutor to drop the case since Huell was looking at years in prison. The outlook looked grim for Huell so Jimmy and Kim came up with a new plan.
Huell was revealed to have grown up in Coushatta, Louisiana. Jimmy and Kim traveled to his hometown on a con-mission to prove that Huell was a beloved member of the community. The duo asked bus passengers to write fake letters and then Jimmy mailed them from Coushatta to the judge so that they looked to come from actually community members. Jimmy went as far as to include phone numbers to his burner phones so that he could talk to the judge by vouching for Huell's good-nature and heroism.
The plan eventually worked as the Judge decided to lower the Huell's charge to a misdemeanor. Helping Huell stay out of jail also made Kim realize that she enjoyed helping Jimmy commit various crimes and has an urge to do it again.
Fans know where Huell ends up in the future thanks to the events of Breaking Bad but there's still more of his story to be told. Huell is expected to be back when Better Call Saul returns for season 5 in 2020.
Next: Better Call Saul Will Be Longer AND Shorter Than Breaking Bad