- This article is about the Better Call Saul episode. For other uses, see Breaking Bad. For the Breaking Bad episode with the corresponding title, see Better Call Saul (episode).
"Breaking Bad" is the eleventh episode of the sixth season of Better Call Saul, and the sixty-first episode of the series altogether.
Summary[]
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In 2008, Saul Goodman, bound and with a sack covering his head, is transported into the desert in the back of an RV. The two men driving eventually take Saul out of the vehicle, presenting him with a mock grave. When the sack is removed from his head, Saul turns around to insists to his captors: "It wasn't me. It was Ignacio."
Act I[]
On November 12, 2010, Francesca deals with a clogged sink caused by two stoner tenants. Remembering her prior arrangement with Saul, she gets into her car and drives through downtown Albuquerque. Along the way, she diverts her route to shake off what she suspects to be a police tail. Francesca soon finds herself at an abandoned gas station in the middle of the desert, waiting near some payphones. Just as she is about to leave, one of the phones begins to ring.
On the other end of the line is "Gene Takavic", calling from a pay phone outside a diner in Nebraska. Gene gives Francesca instructions on how to find a hidden pouch containing several thousand dollars near her location. After she retrieves the money, she updates him on what has happened since he left Albuquerque: all of Saul's assets and shell companies have been seized, Skyler White took a plea deal, Huell returned to New Orleans after being released from DEA custody, Bill Oakley has become a defense attorney, and Jesse Pinkman is believed to have fled to Mexico. Finally, she divulges that Kim called to check on her after "everything went down", and that she asked about Gene as well. Gene is affected by this last bit of news. He tries to bid Francesca goodbye, but she unceremoniously hangs up on him.
Driving back to Omaha, Gene reaches an intersection. Emotionally torn after hearing about Kim, he goes back to the phone booth and makes a call to a business in Titusville, Florida, called Palm Coast Sprinkler, where she works. The succeeding conversation is inaudible outside the phone booth, but is a heated argument. The call ends with Gene hammering the handset down on the receiver and kicking one of the glass panels of the phone booth until it shatters.
Act II[]
Gene returns to Omaha and works a shift at the Cinnabon, contemplating his next move. The following morning, he visits Jeff's house and is greeted by Marion, who shows him a new laptop computer that Jeff had bought for her with the proceeds from the mall heist. Jeff returns home to find them together in the kitchen. Gene excuses Jeff and himself to the garage, where he asks Jeff to take the night shift at the cab company and to acquire barbiturates. Jeff is confused, as Gene had previously warned him to stay away. Gene nonverbally tells him that they are "back in business" and both share a toast.
That night, Gene, using the alias "Viktor St. Clair", performs at a karaoke bar. The mark in his latest scam is Alfred, an obnoxious patron who coaxes Gene into a series of humiliating bets. At one point, Alfred orders drinks for both of them on Gene's tab. Gene empties his own glass with a siphon tube hidden in his sleeve. Outside, Jeff picks up Alfred in his cab, leaving Gene behind. Gene disposes of the drinks that were siphoned into a rubber bladder hidden under his shirt. Meanwhile, Jeff gives Alfred a bottle of water spiked with barbiturates and gives Alfred's address and time of arrival to Buddy, who poses as the taxi company's dispatcher.
Act III[]
Jeff drives Alfred to his home, a large house in an affluent neighborhood. As Alfred opens his front door, Jeff covers the lock cutout in the door jamb with a strip of duct tape. As he drives away, Buddy and his dog enter the house. Leaving the dog at the foyer, Buddy finds Alfred asleep on the living room sofa. He removes Alfred's wallet from his jacket and takes out all of his government ID, credit, and banking cards, snapping photos of their front and back. He then goes into Alfred's office and snaps photos of his checkbook, his bank and tax forms, and his passwords. Buddy quietly leaves the house with the dog, almost forgetting to remove the duct tape from the lock.
Act IV[]
Back in 2008, after they pay him for his services, Saul steps back into the RV with his would-be kidnappers, Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. Saul takes note of the duo's chemistry equipment, realizing that they make the "blue stuff" and that Walt is the man known as "Heisenberg." Walt tries to drive the RV, but it stalls out; to cool off the overheated fuel pump, he switches the vehicle off. After an awkward moment of silence, Jesse asks Saul who "Lalo" is; he uneasily replies, "Nobody". Walt manages to restart the RV and the trio drive off into the night.
The shot segues to Gene lying in bed in 2010, hearing a knock at his front door. He goes downstairs in his residence and collects a package, which contains a Swing Master machine. With the aid of Jeff and Buddy, Gene starts a new routine: he befriends well-off bar patrons, sends them home in Jeff's cab, and has Buddy enter their homes to steal their financial information. Jeff sells the information to identity thieves in exchange for payments of cash and whiskey. Gene stockpiles his money on top of his shoebox in a hidden compartment, and resumes indulging in some of his other old habits as Saul, going to strip clubs with Jeff and Buddy and having one-night stands with prostitutes.
One night, Gene targets a bespectacled bar patron. After they engage in conversation about the stock market and moral consequences of white-collar criminals, the mark's electronic alarm sounds and he begins taking pills, revealing that he has cancer. Gene initially seems hesitant to go through with the scam and asks the mark if he should still be drinking in his condition, to whcih the mark responds, "You only go around once." Gene then takes him outside and leads him to Jeff's cab.
Act V[]
In 2008, Saul is lying on his office floor with the Swing Master and takes a call from Francesca about his upcoming schedule. Mike, now Saul's private investigator, steps into the office to update him on several cases the two are handling. Upon Saul's query, Mike divulges the full names and occupations of Walt and Jesse, disclosing that Walt has terminal lung cancer. Knowing about the chemical purity of Walt's product, Saul is eager to go into business with him; Mike, however, advises against it, telling him that Walt is an amateur who will get himself either caught or killed if the cancer doesn't kill him first. Saul wonders if this appraisal of Walter is Mike's thoughts or Gus; Mike responds that Gus is not concerned about Heisenberg or the blue meth as he deems Walt to be "small potatoes." Saul then asks Mike about another case, but as Mike explains, Saul zones out of the conversation.
Act VI[]
In 2010, after settling in to watch TV, Gene receives a call on his earphone from a frantic Jeff. From her bedroom window, Marion sees the three men argue and enter the garage. Inside, Buddy tells Gene that he can't go through with the scam on the cancer-stricken mark, explaining that his own father had pancreatic cancer. When Buddy says that he removed the duct tape from the mark's lock, Gene angrily fires him and warns him to not talk about what they have been doing. He quickly enlists Jeff to drive him to the mark's house so that he can commit the break-in himself, dismissing Jeff's own misgivings. As Gene exits the cab, there is a brief scene of Saul entering the science wing of J. P. Wynne High School, walking past Walt's Pontiac Aztek. The episode ends as Gene breaks through a glass panel to unlock the mark's front door.
Trivia[]
Episode Poster
Storyboard of the episode
- The title of this episode, "Breaking Bad", is a reference to Better Call Saul's predecessor series Breaking Bad, and how it introduced Saul Goodman in an episode titled "Better Call Saul".
- This is the first episode in Better Call Saul to feature a cameo appearance from Breaking Bad characters Walter White and Jesse Pinkman.
- Their scenes were filmed seven months before the rest of this episode was filmed, in order to accomodate both Bryan Cranston's and Aaron Paul's schedules. The scene was filmed at the same time as "Carrot and Stick".
- Director Thomas Schnauz had to remind Cranston during filming to portray Walt as he was in the second season instead of how Walt was portrayed in the fifth season.
- This episode shows the events of "Better Call Saul" from Jimmy's perspective rather than Walt and Jesse's.
- The 1986 Fleetwood Bounder appears in the flashbacks which begins with Jimmy's abduction to the desert. It reveals more of what happened following Jimmy making a deal with Jesse and Walt. It breaks down for a short time, ironically referencing the next episode, "4 Days Out". While he was canonically transported in the RV in "Better Call Saul", this marks the first and only time Saul is physically shown in the RV.
- Jesse is revealed to have never heard Lalo's name on the streets before Jimmy mentioned him.
- Walt's 2004 Pontiac Aztek and J. P. Wynne High School both appear in the flashbacks as well.
- The events in the Gene timeline begin on November 12, 2010 and end on December 5, 2010.
- The phone call with Francesca takes place on November 12, 2010, Jimmy McGill's 50th birthday. The Breaking Bad episode "Pilot" takes place partially on Walter White's 50th birthday. Both men "break bad" out of restless mundanity at the same life milestone.
- The flashbacks to the RV take place on December 4, 2008, while the scene with Mike and Saul visiting J. P. Wynne High School takes place on December 5, 2008. This means the episode's flashbacks take place exactly two years before the end of the episode.
- The phone call mentioned in the flashforward in "Quite a Ride" that Francesca is supposed to answer is revealed to be from Jimmy himself.
- The fate of several characters post Breaking Bad is revealed by Francesca:
- Walter White's death didn't stop the federal investigation and instead made it worse for the remaining low-level players connected to his drug empire.
- Skyler White reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors as Walt had intended in "Felina". This would indicate that Hank Schrader and Steven Gomez's bodies were recovered, as Walt had given her their location as leverage for the deal.
- Jesse Pinkman's car was found near the border as intended by Badger and Skinny Pete in "El Camino", which was helpful in Jesse's successful escape to Alaska. The police are still looking for Jesse, as he and Jimmy are the last of Walt's accomplices left to pursue.
- All of Jimmy's assets have been seized, leaving him with only the belongings that he took with him to Omaha.
- Huell Babineaux has returned to New Orleans after the DEA were forced to release him, due to them holding Huell under false pretenses.
- Lydia Rodarte-Quayle is not mentioned, but is implied to be dead as Francesca says that Jesse and Saul are the DEA's only remaining targets. A news report in El Camino mentioned that she was not expected to survive her poisoning.
- Bill Oakley has entered private practice as a defense attorney. His picture on a park bench proclaims him to now be a part of "William Oakley & Associates."
- Lastly, Francesca herself is still being surveilled by the authorities in an effort to find Jimmy.
- The whereabouts of some characters, namely Patrick Kuby and Ira, are left unknown.
- Gene asks about "Danny", which Thomas Schnauz has confirmed pertains to Daniel Wormald, a character from earlier seasons of Better Call Saul; his status is also unknown.
- Kim Wexler is revealed to have moved to Titusville, Florida, after leaving Jimmy in "Fun and Games". In "Confessions", Jimmy suggests Florida as a destination for Jesse’s new life. Kim now works at a business called Palm Coast Sprinklers.
- The opening title sequence again mostly features a blue background with the title and creator credits, but flashes twice to new images that were previously unseen:
- Gene's recliner chair rocking back and forth with a drink in the cupholder, with a distorted and out of tune theme song playing.
- A crossroads in a Nebraska cornfield that Gene drives through during the episode, which briefly flashes after the title and creator credits.
- This episode intercuts the events of "Better Call Saul" with the Gene timeline, with the events in the flashbacks being in color and the Gene scenes being in black and white.
- There is a reference to both the poem Ozymandias and the episode "Ozymandias" in the scene where Jimmy says to Walt: "Hey, are you gonna try that again, cause--or they gonna find us, you know, buried in a sandstorm a thousand years from now?"
- When Jesse asks Saul about Lalo, Saul says "It's nobody...". Using the word "Nobody" was a recurring theme with Lalo, like in "Bagman", where Lalo refers to Jimmy as a nobody, or in "Plan and Execution", when he said he himself was a nobody.
- The gas station where Francesca calls Gene is the same one Jesse previously bribed the cashier with meth in "Green Light".
- After Saul becomes officially the lawyer of Walt and Jesse in the desert and he reenters the RV, he starts messing with a round bottom boiling flask. This is the same kind that Walt presented to Jesse as the 'pièce de résistance' when they started their partnership in "Pilot".
- The scam Gene set up is designed so that none of the victims will be aware they were robbed until it is too late to identify the robbers or even know when or how they operated, just like the department store heist that was set up in "Nippy".
- Buddy's role in the scam is the same method used by the Vamonos Pest crew where only information on the victim's valuables are taken and sold to other criminals ("Hazard Pay").
- Thomas Schnauz has a brief cameo, appearing on one of the stolen IDs in the episode's crime montage.
- The montage uses an acoustic version by Mike Nesmith of Tapioca Tundra by The Monkees, which are one of Schnauz's favorite musical acts. The Monkees' music previously appeared in "Say My Name", which was also both written and directed by Schnauz.
- Before being fully revealed in "Waterworks", the conversation between Kim and Jimmy was audible in the German dubbed version. Warning, spoiler (hover to reveal): Jimmy manages to reach Kim, but she advises him to turn himself in. The translation of the conversation would be: "Hey, why don't YOU turn yourself in? You don't have to take me into consideration, I can only be hanged once! Okay, listen Kim... why are we even talking about this, we are both too smart."
- During the flashbacks, while stranded briefly in the RV with Saul, Walt takes the keys out of the ignition and an indicator light goes out. This is a reference to "4 Days Out" when Jesse left the keys in the ignition, causing the indicator light to drain the battery and strand Walt and Jesse in the desert.
- This is the first episode to show Albuquerque, New Mexico in black and white.
- Francesca's tenants are watching the cartoon Jackie Chan Adventures.
Production[]
Credits[]
Starring
Guest Starring
Co-Starring
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Uncredited
- TBA
Featured Music[]
- "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" by Looking Glass
- "Tapioca Tundra" by The Monkees (1967 Alternate Stereo Mix)
Memorable Quotes[]
- Gene: "Ok. Well. Tell me... how hot?"
- Francesca: "How hot?"
- Gene: "Yeah."
- Francesca: "Well, I still get followed. Not as often as when the shit first hit the fan, but I still see them. My mail gets opened. My phone at home clicks whenever I use it."
- Gene: "So the Mastro buying the farm didn't change anything?"
- Francesca: "No, if anything, it made it worse. Skyler White got her deal. So, the only ones left to go after are you and Pinkman. And I heard they found his car down by the border so, adios dopehead."
- Gene: "Oh, so they're still into me."
- ―Francesca Liddy updates Gene on the situation following Walt's death.
- Francesca: "Remember Bill Oakley? He switched sides."
- Gene: "He came out, huh?"
- Francesca: "No, he's not gay. He's a defence attorney now."
- ―Francesca Liddy tells Gene about how Bill Oakley is doing.
- "Oh. Another good one. Oh, hey, Jeffie! Look what the cat dragged in! (...) Yeah, well, he... he got it for me, and I didn't know what the hell to do with it, but, uh, look, Gene showed me. You... You go to the box up here... And then you type in "funny cat videos." I mean, that's it, just "funny cat videos." These funny cat videos just pop up! Look at this one. Look, look. Cat eating an ice cream. Can you believe it?"
- ―Marion discussing the funny cat videos with Gene Takavic and Jeff.
- "Alright, we're done. We're done with the questions. We ask the questions. So, you have a job, one job... and I still don't understand how you're gonna pull it off."
- ―Walt telling Saul Goodman not to ask any further questions.
- "Look, nothing would be different in this moment except you panicking and flooding the engine. (...) We just need to sit a moment, that's all! When it idles too long, the fuel pump overheats, and so we just need to let it cool down."
- ―Walt telling Jesse Pinkman and Saul not to overheat the fuel pump.
- Jesse: "So. Who's Lalo?"
- Saul: "Who?"
- Jesse: "Lalo. Thought some dude named Lalo sent us. You seemed pretty freaked out. Never heard of no Lalo on the street."
- Saul: "It's nobody."
- ―Jesse Pinkman asks about Saul's freakout over Nacho and Lalo.
- Mike: "Now listen, even if this guy was gonna live, I wouldn't go near him. He's a complete amateur."
- Saul: "Well, you see an amateur, I see a hundred and seventy pounds of clay ready to be molded."
- Mike: "Well if the cancer doesn't get him, it'll be the cops, or a bullet to the head."
- Saul: "Is that your appraisal or is that what "He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named" says about him?"
- Mike: "He doesn't say anything. The guy's small potatoes."
- Saul: "Yeah, okay. I hear you. I just... I got a feeling about this. This Heisenberg guy's got something. It's top of the line product, that's the buzz on the street, and I just think, with the right management..."
- Mike: "You know, years ago, I bought a Betamax. Good product. "Top of the line." Experts said it was better than a VHS. Turned out to be a complete waste of time and money."
- ―Mike warns Saul about doing business with Walt and Jesse.[src]
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