Breaking Bad

I spent a lot of time after this episode working out for myself why Saul is so set on this final scam going through.

The aftermath of last episode’s successful heist revives within Saul some nostalgia for his previous life, spurring him to search out every remaining connection he has to his time in Albuquerque. First, he tries to coax whatever news he can from an understandably disgruntled Francesca. His failure to reconnect with Kim sends him back further, to Slipping Jimmy: he returns to Jeff after hatching up the identity theft scheme, because this is the stuff that makes him feel alive, risk be damned. As Saul’s last mark says to him after revealing that he’s dying of cancer, “You only go around once.”

Only, it’s not actually clear what satisfaction Saul is getting out of the whole enterprise. When the plan falls through due to the scruples of Jeff’s friend, Slipping Jimmy would have cut his losses. If the goal were the moneyThe money is just a trophy; Francesca reminds us that Saul must have taken a hefty sum of cash with him. or even the joy of the con, it’s plain to see that it would be wiser to lick his wounds and regroup. Yet when Jeff’s friend holds his ground against Saul’s objections, Saul pleads for him to reconsider“Alright, I get it. You get over it, okay? Please, believe me. Before you know it, you forget all about it.” There’s tragedy in Saul assuming that everyone’s morals can be wished away just like his. He takes the same tack as when he tried to convince Kim to move past Howard’s death., ultimately turning against him and detonating the entire partnership. He desperately needs this scam to go off exactly as planned because it represents his last lifeline to Saul Goodman.

This is an apt time to close the loop with Breaking Bad. The flashbacks pair Saul’s lively swagger at his peak against the immaculate but joyless execution of this episode’s schemeand his tired indulgence in its spoils: empty expressions at the strip club and waking up next to prostitutes. The fluid transition between him closing the door to Jeff’s taxi and to his own car outside Walt’s high school foretells of imprudence on the order of Saul hitching his wagon to Walter White.

On some level, Saul must know this. You don’t smash in a glass window and expect to commit a perfect crime. Saul needs to complete this scam, but he’s also grown bored of his plans going off like clockwork with minimal, rote effort“Yeah, but I’m, I’m so much closer to it. It’s like giving me the money.”. He’s lacked a challenge for so long that maybe he genuinely doesn’t believe he’ll be caught. Maybe he doesn’t even care.

I think what Saul is missing is the exhilaration of having someone on his level to work off ofIt’s also something I’m realizing, as a viewer, I’ve been missing over these past two weeks.. He no longer has Kim as a partner, Chuck as a role model/adversary, Mike as a foil to his flamboyance, or Lalo as an unpredictable threat. In Omaha, Saul is the unrivaled master – and victim – of his own machinations.