Future Generations Will Say Better Call Saul Is Superior To Breaking Bad – Here’s Why

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Spinning off a popular show is always a risk, but when it works, the result can be fantastic, like Better Call Saul. Despite its predecessor, Breaking Bad, remaining one of the greatest TV shows ever made, focusing an entire series on Bob Odenkirk’s character Saul Goodman seemed like a gamble at first. But after six seasons, Better Call Saul proved the doubters wrong.

When Breaking Bad first aired, many TV characters were portrayed as purely good. This show, like The Sopranos before it, centered around a flawed protagonist. Creator Vince Gilligan and his team transformed the unassuming Walter White into the ruthless Heisenberg, crafting a compelling and tragic story. The spin-off, Better Call Saul, didn’t simply revisit familiar ground; it expanded the world of Breaking Bad and offered a deeper understanding of characters, including Walter White himself, revealing complexities that weren’t fully explored before.

While some might think Better Call Saul simply got lucky, it actually provides a deeper understanding of the entire Breaking Bad story. It might feel wrong to say a spin-off is better than the original, but in the future, it won’t be surprising to hear that Better Call Saul should have won just as many, or even more, Emmy Awards than Breaking Bad.

Future Generations Won’t Have The Same Attachment To Breaking Bad

When Breaking Bad initially came out, it didn’t immediately become a must-watch show, but it grew into one. Better Call Saul, on the other hand, largely benefited from the existing fanbase of Breaking Bad, with viewers eager to try the spin-off. Because of this, many people might judge Better Call Saul simply by comparing it to Breaking Bad, as that’s the show they first enjoyed.

Over time, people will be able to look at both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul as a complete story. Once the initial excitement fades, viewers will likely realize that Better Call Saul is actually more complex and features stronger characters, writing, and tension than they initially thought—and that ultimately enhances the impact of Breaking Bad, rather than taking away from it.

Better Call Saul Is More Polished Than Breaking Bad

While Breaking Bad had some truly exceptional episodes, its pacing wasn’t always consistent, especially when compared to Better Call Saul. Better Call Saul benefited from a strong finish to Breaking Bad – surprisingly, it managed to end well even after removing its most compelling villain at the end of season four. From the beginning, Better Call Saul established a confident and deliberate pace. The show’s slow and steady portrayal of Jimmy McGill’s evolution into Saul Goodman makes the journey all the more rewarding as the story connects to the events of Breaking Bad.

Compared to Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul demonstrates a more refined directorial approach. It uses techniques like dynamic montages, changes in mood, and long sequences without dialogue. It feels like the writers learned and experimented with Breaking Bad, and then confidently took bigger creative chances with Better Call Saul. The final season delivers a satisfying conclusion while still managing to surprise viewers with its ending.

Jimmy McGill & Kim Wexler Are More Complex Characters Than Walt & Jesse

Comparing the journeys of Jimmy and Kim in Better Call Saul to Walt and Jesse in Breaking Bad isn’t a fair comparison. Walt and Jesse’s relationship is a complicated, often harmful dynamic that resembles a father-son bond, and it shifts throughout the series. Despite all the conflict between them, Walt ultimately saves Jesse’s life, a final act of kindness acknowledged in their last scene together. However, this doesn’t erase the pain and mistreatment Walt inflicted on Jesse over the course of the show.

Jimmy and Kim have a deeply moving, yet heartbreaking, love story, even as Jimmy becomes more involved in crime and Kim hesitates to join him. Unlike the hopeful feeling at the end of Breaking Bad where we want Jesse to escape, the ending of Better Call Saul leaves us with a sad feeling that Jimmy and Kim are unable to find happiness together.

As a huge fan of both shows, I’ve always seen a fascinating parallel between Kim Wexler’s journey in Better Call Saul and Jesse Pinkman’s in Breaking Bad. The final season really pushed their relationship to its limits, and just like Jesse and Walt meeting Saul, Kim isn’t around to pull Jimmy back when he fully embraces ‘Saul Goodman’. But that final scene with Kim and Jimmy sharing a cigarette felt right, you know? It wasn’t some out-of-nowhere moment like Walt saving Jesse. Instead, it felt like the natural ending to a love story we’d been watching for years – a deeply affectionate, but ultimately destructive, relationship, as Kim herself admits.

From A Certain Point Of View, Jimmy Is The Franchise’s Real Main Character

Although Saul Goodman doesn’t show up until the second season of Breaking Bad, Jimmy McGill suggests in the finale of Better Call Saul that Walter White might never have become a serious meth cook without him. The final episodes of Better Call Saul reveal why Saul was so eager to help “Heisenberg,” seeing a chance to make a lot of money despite Mike Ehrmantraut’s strong advice to stay away from the dangerous and self-centered cancer patient.

The most powerful dramatic scenes featuring Bob Odenkirk in Better Call Saul are key to understanding his character’s actions in Breaking Bad. Similarly, Bryan Cranston’s appearances on Better Call Saul – like the moment when Saul intentionally pushes Walt to confront his regrets instead of distracting himself with a repair – are equally important for truly understanding Heisenberg. These scenes reveal Heisenberg as someone Saul cleverly manipulated into becoming a major criminal.

Hopefully, Better Call Saul will eventually be recognized as a truly great show, not just because it successfully followed Breaking Bad, but because it offered a fresh perspective on the entire world of those shows. It wasn’t simply a tragic story of a flawed teacher causing harm, but a story about how his morally compromised lawyer, burdened by his past, was ultimately driven to redemption through love.

While Walter White was the complex protagonist of Breaking Bad and Jesse Pinkman ultimately found a path to recovery in El Camino, Jimmy McGill from Better Call Saul is arguably the most surprising and genuinely heroic character across all of Vince Gilligan’s shows.

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2026-05-10 02:41