What would you do with a time machine? Mike Ehrmantraut would go back to the day when he took his first bribe—a memory that made such an impression that he remembers the date decades later—presumably to stop himself from taking bribes and walk another path. Walter White would go back and stop himself from being cut out of Gray Matter and its billions.
And the man born Jimmy McGill? He would go back in time to the day Warren Buffett started at Berkshire Hathaway—a date that made such an impression that he remembers the date decades later—to invest money in the company and become a billionaire. Even stuck in the desert after crossing the cartel, that’s the thing he picks, perhaps too immersed in his role of “friend of the cartel” to have an honest reaction.
The finale of Better Call Saul flashes back a few times to the time machine motif. The flashbacks reveal character to the viewers but they also may be choice vignettes Jimmy is remembering now that he has been caught and faces a long prison sentence. His late brother Chuck tells him there’s no shame in going back and changing his path if he thinks he’s going the wrong way. Does present-day Jimmy regret not changing his path? The whole thought exercise is about regret, as Walt notes, having no time for time machine foolishness. In that flashback, as he awaits a new life as Gene in Omaha, Jimmy regrets injuring his knee in a slip-and-fall years before.
“You were always like this,” Walt tells Jimmy in disgust. That hits the nail on the head of Jimmy’s character and in this series finale, it’s the twin of Walt’s “I did it for me” in the Breaking Bad series finale—each line neatly illustrates what each man is about.
(The cameo by Bryan Cranston emphasizes what an asshole Walt always was. He can’t just let the minor and temporary water heater problem lie but has to make a lot of noise in the middle of the night fixing it. He can’t even entertain the harmless exercise of the time machine question but has to throw a wet blanket over it by noting time machine isn’t real. And then when he does pick a moment he regrets, it’s tied to his hubris over Gray Matter. This is after he just got his brother-in-law killed and after he just got into a friggin’ knife fight with his wife and after he just took his daughter and left Skyler screaming in the street. And the only thing he can come up with is an ancient grudge over Gray Matter? Sounds about right for Walt. But his glance at the watch Jesse gave him may show a tinge of regret over sending his partner to his apparent death.)
There were a few parallels to the end of Breaking Bad. Jimmy’s speech in court, trying to keep Kim out of trouble when he could have nailed her in their Albuquerque shenanigans, for me echoed Walt’s phone call in “Ozymandias” when he exonerated Skyler. Both men told lies with a grain of the truth in them. For Walt, this was being a melodramatic misogynist toward his wife, when he really did feel some resentment toward her. For Jimmy, this was exaggerating his fear of Walt and Jesse during their drug trade, while I think he did fear Walt at the end when he went totally around the bend. In their speeches, both men also bragged about the drug empires they created, each a feint to get their loved ones off the hook.
In the end, Jimmy McGill escapes the specter of Saul Goodman, telling the judge he wants to be addressed as Jimmy. He strives for a complicated kind of redemption. At first, he’s arrogant before the government, working out a plea deal that includes a pint of ice cream every week, in a minimum-security prison for seven years. Even in black and white, his Saul-brand shiny suit is glaring. Widows Marie (played by Betsy Brandt as if she’s never been away) and Blanca show up to hammer home that people died in part because of Saul.
It's Kim who indirectly spurs him toward this redemption. Her owning up to her part in Howard’s death took away his leverage with the feds and also made him want to take accountability. He mentions only needing to win over one juror, but the one he really wants to win over is his ex-wife. He admits his own part in Howard’s death, and his part ruining Chuck’s life, and gets 86 years in Supermax for his trouble. But it’s a start to another life.
Jimmy can’t escape Saul completely. Every prisoner on the bus recognizes him from the “Better Call Saul” commercials when he represented criminals like them. Their “BETTER CALL SAUL!” chant could be a victory lap for this show. In prison, he’s happy to trade on his reputation for favors and esteem.
After a few seasons of worrying about Kim’s fate, she is one of the few on Better Call Saul who ends up being OK in the end. Volunteering at the free legal aid office was a step toward her own redemption and a path to doing real good once again. (I wonder if she became a lawyer again at the end. Her clothes were sleeker and her hair looked better.)
At the end, there’s a beautiful grace note with Jimmy and Kim. The light of the cigarette they share is the only thing lit in the black-and-white scene—a spark between them that still endures. It’s shot like film noir and it’s lovely and oddly lighthearted.
I didn’t have any interest in Better Call Saul when it started and I skipped the first season. Now I can’t even remember my misgivings. I won’t say Better Call Saul was as good as Breaking Bad (what is?) but it’s up there. As much as I enjoyed the cartel side of things, I quickly became very engrossed in the legal side, with the small battles and schemes Jimmy and Kim fought seeming like consequential wars. What a rare treat this show was, and I’m sad to see it end.
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