Better Call Saul Turned A Throwaway Breaking Bad Line Into Something Bigger Than Anyone Could Have Expected

A throwaway line from Saul Goodman’s introduction in Breaking Bad ended up paving the way for the creation of two of Better Call Saul’s greatest characters. Saul was first introduced in Breaking Bad season 2, episode 8, “Better Call Saul.” After Badger was arrested by an undercover cop for selling meth on the street, Walt and Jesse hired Saul to represent him. This episode established Saul’s penchant for less-than-legal schemes, as he brought in a career inmate to pose as Heisenberg, but it didn’t reveal much else about him.

For the next four seasons of Breaking Bad, Saul existed mainly as a comic relief character. He facilitated plot points like money laundering and Walt’s working relationship with Gus Fring, but his primary function was to spout quippy one-liners. When Saul got his own spinoff, Better Call Saul, he was expanded into every bit the complex, three-dimensional antihero that Walt was. Better Call Saul gave audiences a chance to get to know Saul — or, rather, Jimmy McGill — in much more depth than they did in Breaking Bad. But Breaking Bad laid the foundation.

Better Call Saul Turned Breaking Bad's "Lalo" And "Ignacio" Into Major Characters

Saul Name-Dropped Nacho & Lalo In Breaking Bad

When Saul was reluctant to take Walt’s bribe and have Badger lie under oath, Walt and Jesse kidnapped Saul outside his office and drove him out to the desert. They knelt him in front of an open grave and held a gun to his head to intimidate him into taking the job. Saul’s immediate response was to say, “It wasn’t me! It was Ignacio, he’s the one!” They had no idea what he was talking about, so a confused Saul asked if Lalo sent them. When Walt started coughing, Saul realized who he was.

Saul's first Breaking Bad episode, "Better Call Saul," originally aired on AMC on April 26, 2009.

At the time, the Ignacio/Lalo reference was just a throwaway line to suggest that Saul has made a lot of enemies in his career as a *criminal* lawyer. But when it came time to give Saul his own spinoff, Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould used that throwaway line as an opportunity to create two of the Breaking Bad universe’s greatest characters. In just its second episode, Better Call Saul introduced Ignacio “Nacho” Varga as an enforcer for the Salamanca cartel. In its fourth season, the spinoff introduced Lalo Salamanca as one of the cartel’s leaders.

Played by Michael Mando, Nacho was one of the most likable characters in Better Call Saul. He just wanted his dad to be safe, which drew him deeper and deeper into a life of crime. He was forced to keep working for the Salamancas as a double agent for Gus. He had a compelling arc that built to a tragic ending. Lalo, on the other hand, was a despicable villain; a cold-blooded, psychopathic killer with no capacity for empathy. But thanks to Tony Dalton’s performance, Lalo was also oddly charismatic — and endlessly watchable.

A Lot About Jimmy McGill's Story In Better Call Saul Was Established In Breaking Bad

"My Real Name Is McGill"

Since Saul only appeared in Breaking Bad in a professional capacity in relation to Walt and Jesse, very little of his personal life was shown. He was seen whenever Walt needed to get in touch with a freelance crook or Jesse needed to get out of a police interrogation room. Breaking Bad never made any mention of Saul’s rivalry with his late brother Chuck, his longstanding love for Kim Wexler (except for a couple of glib ex-wife jokes), or the elaborate series of pranks that led to the death and disreputation of Howard Hamlin.

When Walt first hired Saul, he confessed that Saul Goodman isn’t his real name; he told Walt, “My real name is McGill,” and that the Saul persona is an act. This dual identity would become the dramatic crux of Better Call Saul.

But in spite of this, Breaking Bad still laid most of the groundwork for Jimmy’s story in Better Call Saul. Saul’s one-liner about how he convinced a woman he was Kevin Costner became a great gag in Better Call Saul, and his joke about managing a Cinnabon in Omaha formed the basis of Better Call Saul’s black-and-white flash-forwards. When Walt first hired Saul, he confessed that Saul Goodman isn’t his real name; he told Walt, “My real name is McGill,” and that the Saul persona is an act. This dual identity would become the dramatic crux of Better Call Saul.

Better Call Saul Is A Rare Example Of Retcons Making The Original Show Better

Better Call Saul Enhanced Breaking Bad

Walt and Jesse hold Saul at gunpoint in the desert in Breaking Bad

When a TV show’s spinoff has to retcon its lore, the changes are usually for the worse. Saved by the Bell: The College Years took the cast out of high school, and Young Sheldon retconned Sheldon’s family to be much less complex. Better Call Saul is a rare example of retcons making the original show better. Now that Better Call Saul has established that Jimmy used the Saul persona as a coping mechanism after getting his heart broken, it’s much sadder to go back and watch his scenes in Breaking Bad.