It’s not often a show has a perfect series finale, but Vince Gilligan has achieved it with Better Call Saul.
Everything comes to a head as Jimmy’s crimes catch up with him once and for all. He does his best to talk his way out of trouble, but with Kim’s confession and the evidence mounting against him, it seems his time has come. Did he want to get caught? Maybe so. A life on the run has not exactly been kind to him as Gene. His recent interaction with Kim has shaken him. After realizing the cops are on his tail, he takes off into a tunnel but unfortunately doesn’t make it far and the cops find him hiding in a dumpster.. an apt metaphor for how his life is currently going. Jimmy soon finds himself asking for his one phone call – to the Cinnabon, to inform them they will need a new manager.
The stress and anguish sinks in as he sits in his police station cell. He manages to summon Bill Oakley to serve as his advisory counsel, a decision Oakley quickly comes to regret. I was surprised and happy to see Marie Schrader appear during Jimmy’s plea negotiation where Jimmy – to Marie’s disbelief – tells the (partially) true story of how everything was Walt and Jesse’s fault and they’re the reason he did everything he did. Jimmy knows he only needs one juror on his side to potentially weasel his way out of some charges – but not all of them.
He manages to bargain his way down to seven years in the prison of his choosing, which is not much in the grand scheme of things. He’ll serve his time and be free and clear. He is adamant about wanting ice cream on Fridays – which I feel “ice cream” is code for “visits with Kim” as nothing else would be worth that much to him. When he attempts to use his knowledge of what really happened to Howard for more leverage, he discovers Kim confessed. Oops. Leverage gone. Jimmy is also disappointed to found out that Kim also opened herself up to a civil suit by going directly to Howard’s widow.
The courtroom scene is hard to watch – Kim sits silently in the back of the room, watching Jimmy finally be charged over their crimes. The flashbacks during episode talk of time machines and regrets, and it’s clear Jimmy would do anything to go back and undo some of his bad choices. It’s this that brings Jimmy to the decision to reject the seven-year plea deal and lay it all out on the table in front of the judge, Kim, and all the witnesses in court. This is Jimmy McGill, not Saul Goodman. Jimmy stands up for himself, the McGill name, and shows Kim he is still the man she fell in love with. This is a love story. This is Jimmy’s redemption. He talks about his motives, his brother, Walter White, and how his actions led him here today.
His reward for his confessions is 86 years in prison.
We then flash forward to Jimmy’s life in prison. He seems well liked, working in the kitchen and baking like he used to at Cinnabon. I’m sure he’s helping others with their appeals and passing on courtroom tips and tricks to his friends. In a beautiful ending to the series, Kim finds her bar card is still good and uses it to visit Jimmy. The two share a cigarette – a callback to the first episode in the series – with only the ember of the cigarette shown in color. Like a spark of hope, of the love that remains for one another.
Thank you, Better Call Saul – it’s been an wild ride. Jimmy and Kim, I’ll miss you.
Photo Courtesy: AMC
