Better Call Saul' Season 6, Episode 13

2022 - 8 - 15

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The New York Times"

'Better Call Saul' Season 6, Episode 13 Recap: Life (The New York Times)

In the series finale, Jimmy and Saul go to war. Kim flies across the country, twice.

He becomes the toxic version of Saul because of Kim. He returns to the morally fastidious version of Jimmy for the same reason. Oh, and a hat tip to Betsy Brandt, who turns up in the finale and gives what is arguably Marie Schrader’s finest soliloquy. In the comments section, opine on this episode and the entire series. It’s a narrative cliché that character is destiny, and Jimmy/Saul’s true character was a coin toss until the end. There were goofy elements to the scheme to frame Howard, for instance, which felt out of place even before the guy was murdered. In the next to last scene, the two are sharing a cigarette, just as they did at the beginning of their legal careers. The finale and the last few episodes were designed to keep viewers wondering which of these two — Jimmy or Saul — would have the upper hand. In Omaha, we watched his on-the-lam persona, Gene Takavic, devolve into what might have been the most contemptible version of his character we have ever seen. Or rather, it was the result of a decision that managed somehow to seem both determined and out of the blue. To Mike, in dialogue set during their near-death march through the desert in Season 5, Jimmy says that given a time machine, he would teleport back to 1965 so he could invest early in Warren Buffett’s epochal moneymaking run at Berkshire Hathaway. It was a sweetheart deal based on a version of his working relationship with Walter White that was utterly fanciful, one in which he was a victim of the deceased meth king, not his most important enabler. In the ultimate reverse Perry Mason moment, Saul confesses to everything in open court, defying both an incredulous judge and his stupefied co-counsel, dooming himself to life behind bars.

Better Call Saul Series Finale Recap: Did Gene Finally Face Justice? (TVLine)

'Better Call Saul' has rested its case after six glorious seasons, and it made quite a closing statement — read our series finale recap.

Back in the present, Jimmy (let’s just call him Jimmy, huh?) rides a prison bus on his way to the subpar facility he tried to negotiate his way out of, the one he dubbed “the Alcatraz of the Rockies.” One of the other prisoners recognizes him as Saul Goodman, and though he tries to tell him his name is McGill, word spreads fast, and soon the whole bus full of prisoners is chanting “Better call Saul!” Jimmy allows himself a little smile at this. “You had them down to seven years,” she says with admiration — and after his confession, now he’s been sentenced to 86 years. Saul says he’d go back to when he was 22 and pulled a slip and fall outside a department store and really hurt himself: “My knee’s never been the same.” Walter chuckles to himself: “So you were always like this.” I wanted her to hear this.” He confesses that he “was more than a willing participant” in Walt’s crimes. “Where do you see this ending?” Bill asks, and Gene answers: “With me on top, like always.” Bill accompanies Gene to a meeting with the feds — with Hank’s widow Marie watching! After that, he killed himself.” He adds sadly, “And I’ll live with that,” before taking his seat again. He looks behind him and locks eyes with Kim before continuing: “What happened to Howard Hamlin, it was… (“It’s really good ice cream,” Gene counters.) Kim is volunteering at a free legal service firm in Florida when she gets a call from Suzanne Ericsen, who lets her know Saul was arrested and is being extradited to New Mexico: “He’s giving testimony that affects you, personally.” Marie is horrified, but the feds reluctantly work with Gene and Bill, dismissing a bunch of charges and eventually whittling his sentence down to a measly seven years. He rings his old pal Bill Oakley, offering to make him his “advisory counsel” and basically acting like he’s doing Bill a favor by hiring him. Money. You did it all for money.” Gene tries to offer her his condolences for Hank, adding: “You and he are victims… He’d also go forward in time and check on some people, “see if they’re doing OK.” As for Jimmy, he’d go back to the day Warren Buffett took over Berkshire Hathaway and invest in it so he’d be filthy rich.

'Better Call Saul' Finale: Jimmy Returns to the Light in 'Saul Gone' (TV Insider)

Everything comes to a conclusion in the 'Breaking Bad' prequel's last episode.

Jimmy wonders if what he says in front of the air marshall is privileged and when he learns it isn’t he realizes he has the ears of the prosecution because of that. Heading into court sporting a suit reminiscent of Saul’s heyday, he enters the court in Albuquerque to see Kim sitting in the back. He says what happened to Howard was horrible and he commends Kim for picking herself up and carrying on with life, admitting that he was the scared one who metaphorically ran away. As she exits the prison, she looks back at the yard where Jimmy is standing by a chainlink fence. Hearing this, Jimmy wonders why Walt never came to him for advice as he could have helped him get what he was owed, but Walt says he’s the last lawyer he would have reached out to. As Bill and Jimmy prepare to walk into a meeting, he notices Marie ( Betsy Brandt) speaking to a lawyer in a separate room. When he’s put into a cell, Jimmy begins pacing and repeatedly questions himself, “this is how they get you?” He’s in disbelief that he’s been caught and is angry at himself to the point where he begins punching the cell door. As their conversation continues, Walt asks Jimmy about his regrets, but instead of saying anything about Kim or his brother Chuck ( Michael McKean), Jimmy mentions a slip and fall scheme he pulled at 20. She mentions how she heard he was found in a dumpster and proceeds to tell him what a good person her husband Hank ( Dean Norris) was and how his partner Gomez (Steven Michael Quezada) was also brutally murdered for no reason, leaving behind a wife and three kids. In the station, he sits cuffed to a bench where he watches a group of cops in another room who are viewing his commercials. He informs Bill that he’s going to be a part of Saul Goodman’s advisory council as he faces criminal charges, but Bill is reluctant at first. As he tries opening up the burner phone he’s going to use to make the call, Jimmy knocks over the tin and desperately tries scooping up the diamonds and also tries making hast with the call, but soon a knock sounds from above and he exits with hands up.

'Better Call Saul' Review: Twisting Series Finale 'Saul Gone' Weighs ... (IndieWire)

Given death or regret or redemption, showrunner Peter Gould delivers a farewell episode that rejects the need for a choice. [Spoilers]

Is it a neat and tidy parallel to the beginning of their partnership? The truth for what’s left of Jimmy McGill is more gradual, and even more in the eye of the beholder. He swaps the promise of a life in the clear for a life with a clear conscience. Not sure either of them would use the word “atoned,” but they’ve each given up the idea of hiding from the guilt or consequences of their shared time in New Mexico. As a result, neither are condemned to isolation. The 2004-era McGill-Wexler alliance was a toxic cocktail of ambition and cleverness and spite. The flashbacks in “Saul Gone,” aside from gathering in all the Albuquerque buddies for one last party, are part of the case that “Better Call Saul” has been building in its own trial of Saul Goodman for years now. Playing for clients, playing for judges, playing for his wife: maybe it was a mistake to reduce the man to a simple Jimmy/Saul binary. This certainly isn’t the last chance to salute the “Better Call Saul” creative team, but it’s worth noting some of the folks who made this final collection of affirmations as clear as it could be. It’s not just the Fosse hands in the mirror or the slicked-back hair or the pinky ring (one of the show’s only supporting characters to not make a return visit for the finale). Along with Gould, Odenkirk locates the idea that Saul Goodman was only as good as a reflection of his audience. (Given this creative team’s appreciation for — and participation in — TV history, it can’t be a coincidence that significant stretches of this episode are drama-series echoes of a finale for another of the greatest shows of all time.) Marie happens to be the representative present for one last “Better Call Saul” scheme, with Saul going from pacing around mumbling in a small Douglas County holding cell to engineering a dessert-topped plea deal in a manner of on-screen minutes. His smug additions to the terms of his cooperation with the federal government are delivered with the confidence of a man who ultimately gets what he wants, even if he has to spend a few months living in a different state before that happens. He offers a fabricated sob story — hinging on Badger, of all people — that raises enough of a specter of a hung jury to get an artisanal plea deal.

What Time Will 'Better Call Saul' Season 6, Episode 13 Premiere? (Decider)

No, for this final season, Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould gave us three extra episodes. Is that a commentary on Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) himself and how he's ...

Netflix subscribers in United Kingdom, France, India, and over 30 other international regions will have access to new episodes of Better Call Saul thanks to next-day streaming. New episodes of Better Call Saul premiere on AMC+, AMC’s streaming service, the same time they premiere on the channel. In the past when it came to this show, AMC preferred to keep seasons off Netflix until a new season was set to premiere. That’s what happens in “Waterworks.” After showing Jimmy’s phone call with Kim (Rhea Seehorn) in “Breaking Bad”, the episode finally explained why Jimmy lost his temper. The final ever episode of Better Call Saul premieres tonight (August 15) at 9/8c p.m. on AMC and AMC+. If you have to miss this first showing, don’t worry. Then you better have some free trials left. If you choose the yearly option, that will save you $24 total. Sling TV, fuboTV, Philo, YouTube TV, or DIRECTV STREAM all include AMC. New episodes will also be available for next-day streaming on AMC’s website and on the AMC app. It seemed that Better Call Saul couldn’t possibly compete. Maybe! Regardless, grab your popcorn and maybe some whiskey as you prepare to watch Episode 13, “Saul Gone.” When Better Call Saul first premiered in 2015, fans were nervous. Is that a commentary on Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) himself and how he’s overstayed his welcome as a criminal?

'Better Call Saul' Co-Creator Peter Gould Breaks Down the ... (Variety)

It was a finale rife with references to regret, time machines and how there's “no shame in going back and changing your path,” as Chuck McGill (played by ...

And the wonderful thing was to have the transition to instead of asking, “When are we going to see Bryan and Aaron?” it was “What’s going to happen to Kim? Please don’t kill Kim.” That just meant the world to me. And watching Vince direct that and watching how Michael plays that role, I think changed the course of the show tremendously. It just reminded me of the very first scene that Michael and Bob had together, which was also a scene that I wrote for the pilot. So I was so grateful that she was willing to come to Albuquerque. She has a couple of scenes, so she was there for quite a while. And he doesn’t until the very end of the episode. “The Time Machine” book, we’ve seen earlier in the season a couple of times. What led to the focus on time travel and regret in this episode? The first thought was, even if he’s become Jimmy McGill again in his own mind, to the outside world, he’s always going to be Saul Goodman. Forever. Until the day he dies, to the world he’s going to be Saul Goodman. There’s no way for him to win back his average humanity, and that’s a mixed bag. I think the other side of it was, if we had just said he’s going to this awful prison, you’re going to picture every cliche about what happens to people in prison. As a result, he ends up in the prison he wanted to avoid. But he does that by looking Marie Schrader in the eye, and saying that he was a victim like her. And yet, in the scheme of things for “BB” and “BCS,” it was kind of a happy ending.

Better Call Saul ends with blasts from the past and one last twist (The A.V. Club)

The series finale “Saul Gone” is a supremely satisfying sendoff.

Later, in his flashback to the visit with Chuck, Chuck has a paperback book on the kitchen counter: H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine. For a minute, they are those two people in the first episode of the series, “Uno,” when they are in the HHM parking garage, oozing chemistry while they are passing a cigarette back and forth. She makes a point of telling Jimmy she got in to see him with that New Mexico bar card that has no expiration date on it. Saul gets emotional as he tries to talk about what happened to Howard, but then, when he sees Kim at the back of the room and sees that she’s really listening to him, he finally reveals what he did to Chuck, ruining his ability to practice law, to purposefully hurt him, after which Chuck killed himself. Poor Bill tries to save some semblance of the case, because while Saul was getting his Jimmy McGill on and redeeming himself with Kim, he was costing himself that sweet government deal. At first, we think Saul is angry that Kim got the better of him and has limited what he may be able to get out of the government. All is not lost, though: During that bus ride, his fellow inmates recognize him not as Jimmy, but as “Better Call Saul,” and they stomp their feet and shout his catchphrase in appreciation of their hero. - Jimmy’s big break began with dumpster diving for info to help the Sandpiper residents sue the company. In another beautifully shot scene, Kim and Jimmy (that’s what she calls him) stand against the visiting room and share a cigarette she has snuck in for him. Showrunner and episode writer and director Peter Gould’s storyline sent Saul to jail early in the finale, which amped the excitement about all that awaited us. When asked to give a hint about how Better Call Saul would wrap up during a Tribeca Festival panel in June, Bob Odenkirk offered two words: “second life.” That clue turned out to be much pithier and more perfect than anyone might have guessed. He can totally own his opponent, even when he should be looking at decades in prison.

Better Call Saul' Season 6, Episode 13