Better Call Saul has now come to an end, and with season 6, I think we got one of the best
seasons of television in years.
After 61 episodes, we go the culmination of visually beautiful,
tension filled and fulfilling drama TV, becoming just as impactful as Vince Gilligan's previous
show.
In this video essay, I'm going to be discussing why I think season 6 of Better Call
Saul is a masterpiece and one of the best seasons that the Breaking Bad creaters have
ever put to screen.
There will be spoilers in this video, so if you're not up to date on Better Call
Saul, then I would recommend catching up before watching my analysis.
But before I get into it, if you want to see topical videos on the ending of Better Call
Saul, then don't forget to support this video by giving it a like rating,
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But without further a do, lets dive into my review and analysis of Better Call Saul Season
6.
So we finally say goodbye to Saul Goodman, the lead of the spin off prequel we never
expected to be as good as it was.
Over it's 6 seasons, Better Call Saul has grown into a more profound
drama about the corruption of human nature and it's developed into something more visually
impactful and transceneding then the parent show.
That's not to say that one is better than the
other, because I personally think both will go down as some of the greatest shows ever
made.
But on the topic of the prequel show, there hasn't been much on television that has dared
to challenge us practically or emotionally as
this has done, switching between storylines, telling us visually the importance of a given
moment or building to that in it's perfect character
expressions.
It doesn’t insult the audiences intelligence and the narrative and character moments work
because they keep the central questions in mind.
We were constantly asking this season...
How and why does Jimmy McGill become Saul Goodman?
What happens to Kim and why is she not in Breaking Bad?
And what does Gene Takovic do following his time in Omaha, and how
does this end the character we've followed for many years?
While we did get shocking answers to many of these questions, the back part of season
6 was able to give us more psychologically compelling reasons that link into exactly
the problems that Jimmy has faced since the beginning with his multiple personas.
There's a mixture of everything in the answers whether it be
the violence, death and darkness that sends Jimmy and Kim on their concluding arcs or
the light in Jimmy needing to free himself from the regret of his previous actions and
make it right with Kim Wexler.
It's full-on character evolution that stayed true to Better Call Saul's more nuanced and
silent take on this kind of development.
Ending the story with Gene sketching an explosive plan to get everything he wanted
is not how this show was going to end.
And if you've followed it from the start, you'll know that it's more interested in tackling
the complicated nature of a man, who on one side
has always been drawn to this, and on the other, feels deep down in the soul the pain
and regret of things he's caused.
An inversed Breaking Bad in that sense, that gives us a different
story than the one that was told masterfully before.
And I think most of this comes through how the final season has managed to meld genres
so effectively.
At times it was a part legal and relationship drama following Jimmy and his wife Kim,
and then it was also a crime thriller that spelled out Jimmy’s tragic and destructive
involvement with characters like Lalo, Gus and Mike.
And even most of those characters are given much
more human development towards what really makes them tick.
In reference of that brilliant merging of genres though, I think if you look at all
the different kinds of episodes we got in the final season, it makes the idea of pulling
this off an even bigger accomplishment.
Whether it be with the brutal and emotional impact of the 'Rock and Hard Place' episode,
showing us that the supporting players can't survive
in a world that is so devastating and unrelenting.
The Plan And Execution episode that details the twisted events surrounding Jimmy and Kim
trying to destroy Howard's Career, weaving all of the strands together, and ending it
with the shocking act of violence by Lalo right in front of them at their home.
Or the consequences of that moment in the next two episodes, with
the masterful tension of point and shoot being shown to us in real time and fun and games
going deep into the mindset of Jimmy and Kim and
what it means for their futures during Breaking Bad.
The confrontation between Kim and Jimmy here exposes the truth at the heart of their relationship,
the poison that they are when they're together even though they're having
fun.
And that posion is communicated right from the start with the zaphiro anejo bottle opener
lying in the road, and then also with the consequences for Gene and Saul after Kim walks
out, with the carboard cutout of him placed in the bin right next to his now seized mansion.
And this literally happens in the finale, with
Gene being caught while scrambling around with his belongings in the dumpster.
It's a tightly perfected season of different genres within different episodes, but they
are brilliantly merged together with the same purpose in mind.
Challenging what we know and what we are yet to know about how these characters function
and what they feel towards everything that's happened.
Kim’s feeling of guilt changes everything for her.
While Jimmy desperately tries to convince himself that everything can go on as normal.
And while some would argue that the series should have ended after fun and games,
because it shows us the transformation of Saul and frames exactly what both Jimmy and
Kim feel after everything they've been through, I'd
argue that the last 4 episodes were the right place to go because they dealt with the crucial
question that this show needed to answer, following the dramatic turns in the previous
episodes.
And that is... what does Jimmy, Saul or Gene become in the aftermath and can he really
overcome the loop he's been on since that very first season.
The subsequent episodes, mostly shot in black and white, initially feel like an epilogue
to the rest of the series, after all the lawyer drama, tension, and ultimately violence take
place.
But the slower pace is what makes this show come full circle in returning to exactly that
kind of storytelling that Better Call Saul has defined for itself.
A visually meticulous and poignant telling of who Jimmy McGill truly
is.
We’re first shown Saul’s transformation into the Cinnabon manager Gene Takovic, and
it seems to us that he’s done with the ways of the
past.
And the same goes for Kim, working for a sprinkler company, with a quite dull lifestyle.
But once the showrunners start to include colour flashbacks to important characters
from the Breaking Bad world, it becomes very clear
that this series has to answer the question of Jimmy's identity and what that means for
the ending with himself and Kim.
Jimmy became Saul Goodman to get over Kim, and he then became
Gene because he had no other choice.
Slippin Jimmy, Saul and Gene can’t resist the lure of the con, and he comes up with
a new one, starting with the elderly Marion and then a shopping
centre while he's in Omaha, resulting in his eventual downfall.
And how perfect to end this series where it began, both in a courtroom and
then eventually with Jimmy and Kim in a prison cell, reflecting their first impactful moment.
Throughout this season we've wanted to know how Jimmy and Kim would be punished for the
past, and whether they can have some kind of closure or peace with themselves and each
other.
And we get probabaly the best answer to all of this.
With Bob Odenkirk's heartfelt and deep performance, his character owns up to those
regrests for himself and Kim.
And then when she shares a cigarette with Jimmy in jail embodying those old ways that
made them click, it acts as a satisfying end to this story.
After many episodes of cartel violence, cons, family betrayals, and brutal murders, all
of that comes to the final expressions between Jimmy and Kim as
they face their own forms of bittersweet justice.
Jimmy faces a life in jail, but he came clean, and he's now somewhere where he can feel freedom
in not hiding that regret anymore.
And Kim faces her own criminal justice, but like
Jimmy, she's told the truth and has less of that burden.
They’re both much better with each other and they've helped themselves too.
Better Call Saul ends with an episode that touches on the past, examines the present,
and looks at the future with the more optimistic view, that regardless of a person's nature,
they can make a right choice.
In that regard, Jimmy McGill's story is brought to an end in a satisfying way and the themes
of this Breaking Bad world are delivered in all the ways a
well made drama should.
It's thrilling tension, brutal gut punches, and emotional drama are just the basic reasons.
It can extend to Better Call Saul's use of cinematography, lingering
on objects or mementos, like that previously mentioned bottle top or the metal foil blowing
in the desert, showing the show's confidence to take its time at developing ideas effectively.
Ultimately, this show is a lesson in how television can be immersive, epic, yet deeply focused
on detail.
We never thought that a Saul Goodman prequel could match the idea Gilligan had
for Breaking Bad, nor did we expect it to develop into the great show it's become.
Walter White’s journey from chemistry teacher to Meth King pin showed the evolution from
light to dark, whereas Better Call Saul, showed that Saul
has always been bad, with heart embedded beneath.
It's a show that has been about light and dark since the very beginning, and it's spelled
out clear for us in the end more than ever.
We're meant to believe that right up until the final moments Jimmy will never change,
but then he does make a better decision.
For a show that built it's story around a comic relief side
character, it's so great to see it end on such a high note, one that makes you trust
these creators even more.
It didn't only show us how effective a prequel series could be, but what
a new drama in this world of antiheroes could still do after already witnessing one of the
best of all time.
And while Better Call Saul evolved into one of the greatest TV shows
itself, Jimmy evolved into a better person too.
The idea we could take away from this is if someone as deeply bad as Saul Goodman can
change, then why can't anyone.
But that was my video essay on Better Call Saul Season 6, discussing why I think it's
a masterpiece.
There's been so many memorable moments in this show's final run and personally, I
think it will be a while before we see TV as well made and investing as this season
has been.
To be honest I think season 6 of the show has gone near the top of my favourite seasons
of all time, and Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould
did a fantastic job of building up to what we've seen and they really took the characters
in logical directions based on how their stories have progressed.
I'm looking forward to rewatching it and really seeing how the season lasts over time, but
on the few times I have watched it through, it's already a season packed with
quality, that like Breaking Bad, won't be forgotten about any time soon.
And it makes me even more excited to see what Gilligan is doing with that new show he announced
the other day.
Vince, his showrunners and writters have been so consistent with this world over the last
two decades and they've gone and delivered another iconic season of television.
I'm giving Better Call Saul Season 6 a rating of 9.5 out of
10.
If you want to check out any of my individual episode reviews for season 6, they are all
available on the channel and the scores I've given
them across the season, have resulted in this overall score I've just presented.
But what are your thoughts on the final season and were you as blown away by it as I was?
Let me know down below in the comments section.
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