History Series / BetterCallSaul

* LateArrivalSpoiler: An infamous Netflix trailer for the fourth season, which would automatically play when the site was visited, revealed [[spoiler:Chuck's death]] in under five seconds.

** In [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS4E6Pinata Piñata]], [[spoiler: Howard to Jimmy]], in response to [[spoiler: Jimmy's]] TheReasonYouSuck speech.

** Though his death was a major part of "Five-O", Mike's late son Matt never showed up on camera.

** Lalo sets up a meeting between Saul and his cousins, promising that "they're nice boys" and Jimmy will like them.

* BlatantLies: It’s obvious from both his breakdown right after and just watching their interactions that Chuck chose the worst thing to try and push Jimmy away in “you’ve never meant that much to me”. But Jimmy takes it to heart anyway.

* DistantPrologue: The first episodes of each season start with a flashforward to after the end of ''Breaking Bad'', with Saul in his new identity as lowly Cinnabon manager "Gene," living a pretty dull and miserable life.

*** "Fun and Games": [[spoiler:Gus decides to continue with his desire to ruin the Salamancas further rather than move on and have a peaceful and content future while Mike tells Manuel what happened to Nacho and received Manuel's ire for thinking that picking sides when it comes to gang on gang violence matters in any way. Kim eventually cracks under the pressure of living the lie about what happened to Howard, has her law license withdrawn, packs her bags and prepares to leave Jimmy believing the two of them together constantly ruins the lives of everyone they encounter as well as admitting she knew Lalo was alive but chose to say nothing so that they could move forward with the scam on Howard which she now severely regrets. She also say that she thought things would end between them because he'd want them to hide and forget about the plan. Cue a TimeSkip going forward many years later to when Jimmy is now in full swing in his role as Saul and is about to meet Brandon "Badger" Mayhew in a matter of days.]]
*** "Nippy": [[spoiler:Gene manipulates Jeff and his friend into a massive robbery of merchandise from the mall only for the purpose of extorting them and guaranteeing their silence about him being Saul—all while now getting the taste for schemes and cons again as a result.]]

*** "Waterworks": [[spoiler:Jimmy speaks to Kim for the first time in years, Kim confesses to the conspiracy against Howard Hamlin and the true circumstances of his death, Kim meets Jesse Pinkman in a flashback, and Gene's plans get Jeff arrested when he tries to flee from the police and crashes his car and Gene's true identity is uncovered by Marion, who calls the police on him after he all but threatens her—forcing him to now flee for his life.]]

** "Nailed:" Chuck's integrity is thrown into question by Jimmy's forgery of his Mesa Verde documents. He ends up having an EMS attack in a copy center when trying to find evidence of it. Mike pulls off a heist on one of Hector's trucks and later learns that an innocent bystander was killed by Hector for stumbling upon the driver.
** "Klick": Mike is warned to not go through with his attempt to take out Hector by someone powerful who's been keeping eyes on him (every episode of Season 2's first letter rearranged spells out "FRING'S BACK") and Chuck fakes his retirement in order to guilt Jimmy into confessing to sabotaging Mesa Verde's files—which Chuck secretly recorded.
** "Chicanery": While cross-examining Chuck, Jimmy exposes and proves that his condition and negative reaction to electricity is not a physical one, but a mental one by having Huell Babineaux plant a fully charged phone battery on him and not telling him about it nearly two hours. Chuck loses it and blurts out his resentment and mistrust toward Jimmy in front of everyone as a result of the prosecutor saying he has Schizophrenia and then realizes he's now wrecked his own credibility in the process—and begun to realize his condition actually isn't what he thought it was.
** "Lantern": [[spoiler:Nacho's plan to give Hector a heart attack works, only for Gus to notice. Jimmy leaves on his mic in a plan to confess to driving Irene away from her friends, setting the path for him to become Saul. Finally, trying to permanently sever ties with Jimmy and suffering a horrible mental breakdown because of it—Chuck kills himself after being dismissed from HHM—Howard paying him out of pocket to protect the firm and condemning him for his pettiness—burning his house down.]]
** "Smoke": [[spoiler:In the aftermath of Chuck's death, Howard confesses his own feelings of responsibility and how he thinks ousting Chuck from HHM led to his fatal breakdown. Rather than take responsibility for his own part—getting Chuck's insurance canceled by letting word of his illness slip—Jimmy instead chooses to deny it and lean into Howard's own guilt.]]

** "Widersehen": [[spoiler:Werner flees from the facility when his request to take time off to meet with his wife is denied, Lalo looks into Gus's business more closely while Nacho continues to be dragged along for the ride and Jimmy is denied the chance to have his suspended due to not talking about his relationship with Chuck at all—to which Jimmy spews BlatantLies over how he doesn't think about or miss Chuck at all, before projecting onto Kim that she thinks of him as a lowlife like Chuck did]].

** "Bagman": [[spoiler:Jimmy is nearly killed in the desert by gunmen sent to prevent him from delivering Lalo's bail, is saved by Mike who then guides him through the desert, the Esteem is ultimately severely damaged and abandoned to a ditch by Jimmy and Mike, Kim sees Lalo and her involvement increases—with Mike telling Jimmy that "she's in the game now."]]
** "Something Unforgivable": [[spoiler:Jimmy and Kim start hatching a plan to destroy Howard's career, Mike and Gus make arrangements to have Lalo killed with Nacho assisting in the gunmen being able to enter through the gate. This however results in Lalo killing everyone sent for him, discovering Nacho betrayed him and setting out on the war path against all his family's enemies.]]

* HistoryRepeats: The cast of this show go through similar arcs to the ''Breaking Bad'' cast.

** "Widersehen": [[spoiler:Werner flees from the facility when his request to take time off to meet with his wife is denied, Lalo looks into Gus's business more closely while Nacho continues to be dragged along for the ride and Jimmy is denied the chance to have his suspended due to not talking about his relationship with Chuck at all—to which Jimmy fails to realize why that's considered insincere when he says to Kim that losing Chuck doesn't bother him]].

** "Chicanery": While cross-examining Chuck, Jimmy exposes and proves that his condition and negative reaction to electricity is not a physical one, but a mental one by having Huell Babineaux plant a fully charged phone battery on him and not telling him about it nearly two hours. Chuck loses it and blurts out his resentment and mistrust toward Jimmy in front of everyone as a result of the prosecutor saying he has Schizophrenia and then realizes he's now wrecked his own credibility in the process.]]
** "Lantern": [[spoiler:Nacho's plan to give Hector a heart attack works, only for Gus to notice. Jimmy leaves on his mic in a plan to confess to driving Irene away from her friends, setting the path for him to become Saul. Finally, Chuck kills himself after being dismissed from HHM, burning his house down.]]

** "Winner:" [[spoiler:Jimmy makes a compassionate speech about Chuck to the bar association, convincing them to reinstate his law license. Immediately afterwards, he admits to Kim that he didn't mean a word of it and intends to no longer practice under his own name, signifying his final transformation into Saul Goodman. Also, Mike is forced to kill Werner--who escaped to go try to meet up with his wife--when Lalo is on his tail and everything is at risk.]]

*** "Point and Shoot": [[spoiler:Lalo sends Kim to kill Gus—but it's really a distraction, Jimmy is tied up and forced to remain at the condo with Howard's body and the trauma of Lalo saying he will come back and question him again stays with him for years and Gus is captured by Lalo and taken to be executed at the super lab as Lalo films it, but then Gus is able to step on the switch to turn off the lights and shoot Lalo dead with a concealed gun. Mike then oversees as Howard and Lalo's bodies are buried underneath the bedrock of the super lab.]]

*** "Breaking Bad": [[spoiler:Saul is advised in a flashback by Mike against working with Walter White because he's way too new and ignorant to the business—which Saul clearly ends up ignoring when he goes to see Walt at his high school anyway and in present day, Gene roping Jeff and his friend into a scheme that involves drugging rich guys and taking their money and/or other info in their house—only for Gene to get Jeff to help finish an aborted scam against [[IronicEcho a cancer patient]] in which Gene actively has to force his way into the house by means of breaking a window and unlocking the door.]]
*** "Waterworks": [[spoiler:Jimmy speaks to Kim for the first time in years, Kim confesses to the conspiracy against Howard Hamlin and the true circumstances of his death, Kim meets Jesse Pinkman in a flashback, and Gene's plans get Jeff arrested when he tries to flee from the police and crashes his car and Gene's true identity is uncovered by Marion, who calls the police on him after he all but threatens her.]]

** "Axe and Grind": [[spoiler:Upon the discovery that the judge they're making it look like Jimmy is bribing is currently in a cast—meaning they can't use the photos in which the look-alike is not wearing a cast—Jimmy asks Kim if they should call it off rather than try to fix it with only so much time. Kim after a moment of reflection, [[TemptingFate pushes to go forward no matter what]].]]

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Kim and Jimmy will (from season three) talk about Saul Goodman like a ThirdPersonPerson, or character separate from Jimmy. It serves three purposes: Jimmy's personality fracturing, [[ForegoneConclusion a reminder that Saul will happen eventually]] and the fact that [[PluckyComicRelief original flavour Saul]] and [[TragicVillain Jimmy [=McGill=]]] ''are'' technically different characters.

** The flashback at the start of "Axe and Grind" reveals that Kim, of all people, once attempted to shoplift as a teenager. She is caught by the store's owner, but is let go with a warning.

** Excluding the GrandFinale "Saul Gone", the rest of the sixth and final season counts:

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: [[spoiler:we don't see Kim and Jimmy actually say "I love you" to one another until the 59th episode, but we know. In the previous episode we see that Kim was prepared to kill for Jimmy, and Jimmy was prepared to die for Kim.]]

** "Winner:" [[spoiler:Jimmy makes a compassionate speech about Chuck to the bar association, convincing them to reinstate his law license. Immediately afterwards, he admits to Kim that he didn't mean a word of it and intends to no longer practice under his own name, signifying his final transformation into Saul Goodman. Also, Mike is forced to kill Werner--who escaped to go try to meet up with his wife--when Lalo is on his tail and everythign is at risk.]]

** "Hit and Run": [[spoiler:Upon discovering she and Jimmy are being followed, Kim meets Mike for the very first time who tells her he was having them watched because Lalo is alive and wanted to make sure he knew if he came to them at any point—and that Mike is telling her because he thinks she can handle the truth better than Jimmy. Kim ultimately decides not to tell Jimmy as well.]]
** "Axe and Grind": [[spoiler:Upon the discovery that the judge they make it look like Jimmy is bribing is currently in a cast—meaning they can't use the photos in which the look-alike is not wearing a cast—Jimmy asks Kim if they should call it off rather than try to fix it with only so much time. Kim after a moment of reflection, [[TemptingFate pushes to go forward no matter what]].]]
** "Plan and Execution": [[spoiler:Saul and Kim's plot to end the Sandpiper case by discrediting Howard goes as planned despite the last-minute complication. Howard later appears at their home to chew them out for their actions, but Lalo arrives shortly after and kills Howard so he can interrogate the couple.]]

** "Bagman": [[spoiler:Jimmy is nearly killed in the desert by gunmen sent to prevent him from delivering Lalo's bail, is saved by Mike who then guides him through the desert, Kim sees Lalo and her involvement increases—with Mike telling Jimmy that "she's in the game now."]]

** ''Axe and Grind'': [[spoiler:Upon the discovery that the judge they make it look like Jimmy is bribing is currently in a cast—meaning they can't use the photos in which the look-alike is not wearing a cast—Jimmy asks Kim if they should call it off rather than try to fix it with only so much time. Kim after a moment of reflection, [[TemptingFate pushes to go forward no matter what]].]]

*** "Fun and Games": [[spoiler:Kim eventually cracks under the pressure of living the lie about what happened to Howard, has her law license withdrawn, packs her bags and prepares to leave Jimmy believing the two of them together constantly ruins the lives of everyone they encounter—cue a TimeSkip going forward many years later to when Jimmy is now in full swing in his role as Saul and is about to meet Brandon "Badger" Mayhew in a matter of days.]]

** "Rock and Hard Place": [[spoiler:Nacho dies, and does so on his own terms.]]
** "Plan and Execution": [[spoiler:Saul and Kim's plot to end the Sandpiper case by discrediting Howard goes as planned despite a last-minute complication. Howard later appears at their home to chew them out for their actions, but Lalo arrives shortly after and kills Howard so he can interrogate the couple.]]