"Better Call Saul" is the eighth episode of the second season of the American television drama seriesBreaking Bad. It was written by Peter Gould and directed by Terry McDonough. This episode marks Bob Odenkirk's first appearance as the fast-talking criminal lawyer Saul Goodman in the series. He was promoted to series regular in Season 3, stayed with the series until its end, and then reprised the role in the prequel series Better Call Saul.
Plot summary
After Badger is arrested in a sting operation by the Albuquerque Police, Walt and Jesse look into hiring a shady, flamboyant lawyer named Saul Goodman. Saul has already offered to be Badger's legal counsel and has found out that the DEA is hoping that Badger will lead them to "Heisenberg." Walt poses as Badger's uncle and goes to Saul's office, where he learns that Saul will advise Badger to flip to avoid prison. Walt offers Saul a bribe to keep Badger from confessing, but Saul refuses. Walt and Jesse resort to kidnapping Saul, threatening to kill him if he does not keep Badger from informing on them. However, Saul sees through their scare tactics and instead asks for payment so he can legally represent them, and keep their talks confidential. Saul tells the duo about a man, Jimmy "In-'N-Out" Kilkelly, who makes a living being paid by other criminals to go to jail, and offers to have him stand in for Heisenberg. The DEA busts Kilkelly when Badger gives them a fake deal, but Hank is not completely convinced. Later, Saul visits Walt at his school, telling him that he is too easy to find. Saul offers to be Walt's full-time legal counsel and adviser in covering his tracks. Skyler goes to work on a Saturday, and Walt notices that she is dressing especially well for her job with Ted. Seeing that Hank has holed himself in his house, Walt gives him a motivational speech, talking about how he has not had any fear in his life since he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. This helps Hank leave the house, but he still has panic attacks. Meanwhile, Jesse has slept with Jane and learns she is in recovery from addiction. Later, after Jesse orders a mattress for his apartment, he and Jane have sex once again.
Production
The episode was written by Peter Gould, and directed by Terry McDonough. It aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on April 26, 2009. Saul's dialog and interactions in "Better Call Saul" became essential elements in setting up characters and plotlines for the spinoff Better Call Saul prequel series. When Walter and Jesse wear masks and try to coerce Saul at gunpoint to accept their case, Saul, having mistaken the two for cartel enforcers, tries to lay blame on a man known as "Ignacio" and asks if "Lalo" sent them. Within Better Call Saul, this was revealed to be Nacho Varga, a member of the Salamanca cartel, and Lalo Salamanca, nephew of Hector Salamanca. Saul further begs to know if they are "friends of the cartel", a phrase that is shown to be something he learned from Lalo while being forced to work to defend him in court.
Critical reception
The episode was very well received. Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A, and praised Jesse and Walt's evolving role in the drug world. In 2019 The Ringer ranked "Better Call Saul" as the 12th best out of the 62 total Breaking Bad episodes.
