Culture Crash: The End of “Better Call Saul”

Better Call Saul has ended its run, capping off a spectacular 6th and final season and ending – for good, we think – the wider Albuquerque universe first introduced in Breaking Bad.

Breaking Bad captivated the culture and won 16 Emmys during its run, and while the cultural impact of Better Call Saul is not as widespread as Breaking Bad, it’s not for lack of dramatic tension or rewarding TV payoffs. Each season, it felt, Saul operated as patiently as any TV show I have ever seen. Jimmy and Kim – the show’s main characters – are diligent, methodical lawyers and the show modeled itself after their behaviors. Saul was the kind of show where a throwaway line in episode 3 could come back as a major plot point in episode 9. Often audiences were shown entire sequences that were hard to contextualize, only for the audience to realize later that those scenes were essential to character arcs and plot mechanics.

I compare Better Call Saul to an incredibly well-made watch. Every piece matters, everything fits together just so, and sometimes you just have to stand back and admire how good some people are at their jobs.

If you loved Breaking Bad but never jumped on the Better Call Saul bandwagon, whether because you were skeptical of the show’s intentions or because you just couldn’t find the time, now is the time to binge-watch the series in its entirety. Like Breaking Bad before it, Saul was the rare example of a show clicking in all phases: the acting is second to none, the writing is so smart and sophisticated, and the locations, sets, and cinematography kept me constantly engaged. Better Call Saul is an instant classic TV show, and one I cannot wait to revisit it many times over in the future.