Better Call Saul: 7 character transformations that felt inevitable

If Breaking Bad was the story of a good man turning bad, Better Call Saul is the tale of bad just taking its time. The show gave us six seasons of slow-burning brilliance, showing how even the most well-meaning characters can get tangled in choices they never thought they’d make. Every episode was like a carefully placed domino, and when one fell, it triggered a chain reaction that changed people forever.

What made Better Call Saul truly special wasn’t just the courtroom drama or cartel chaos - it was how these characters changed right in front of us. Not with big, dramatic flips overnight - but through small, often painful decisions that felt earned. These transformations didn’t shock us like jump scares, they haunted us because we knew they were coming.

So let’s break down 7 character transformations in Better Call Saul that felt inevitable, yet heartbreaking.

7 character transformations that felt inevitable in Better Call Saul

1) From Jimmy McGill to Saul Goodman

This one’s a no-brainer, but the journey was anything but simple. We always knew Jimmy McGill would become Saul Goodman - the flashy, morally flexible criminal lawyer from Breaking Bad. After all, the name of the show is Better Call Saul. But watching him get there? That was the real magic. Jimmy starts off as a struggling, well-intentioned underdog trying to make something of himself. He wants to do good, especially in the eyes of his brother Chuck and love interest Kim. But the system, as well as his own tendencies, keep pushing him down.

After years of being belittled, betrayed, and punished for trying to bend the rules instead of breaking them, Jimmy eventually decides that if being good won’t work, being Goodman just might. His Saul persona is an armor - bright suits, fake bravado, and all. It's not a sudden turn, it’s a slow evolution. And by the time he changes his name legally to Saul Goodman, we’re not shocked - we’re just sad it had to happen.

2) Kim Wexler’s descent into moral chaos

If there’s one character whose transformation quietly crushed us, it’s Kim. Kim Wexler starts out as the moral compass of Better Call Saul - disciplined, hardworking, and everything Jimmy isn’t. But the more time she spends with him, the more her moral center starts to shift. She finds thrill in bending rules and outsmarting powerful men. And while she tells herself it’s for justice or fun, we can see the cracks forming.

The turning point is their scam against Howard. At first, it’s just a harmless bit of fun. But when it leads to Howard’s tragic death, Kim is forced to confront the weight of her actions. Her decision to leave Jimmy and quit law isn’t just her way of hitting the brakes, it’s the only way to stop from completely becoming someone she can’t recognize. Her transformation in Better Call Saul into someone capable of such destruction felt slow, but inevitable.

3) Mike Ehrmantraut’s quiet fall into the underworld

Mike may be one of the calmest characters on the surface, but his arc is heavy. We meet him as a quiet parking lot attendant with a mysterious past in Better Call Saul. Over time, we learn about his life as a cop, the death of his son, and his deep need to provide for his daughter-in-law and granddaughter. These motivations become his North Star, even as he keeps plunging deeper into the criminal world.

What’s tragic is that Mike doesn’t become “bad” - he becomes efficient. He’s methodical, calculating, and willing to do anything as long as it fits within his personal code. But that code slowly gets blurrier. He justifies his choices by saying it’s for his family. But he knows deep down, that he’s lost control of the direction his life is heading. Mike’s transformation into Gus Fring’s right-hand man isn’t shocking, it’s the only path left for a man who already believes he’s beyond saving.

4) Chuck McGill’s tragic spiral

Chuck’s transformation is less about change and more about revelation. At first glance, Chuck is the noble, genius older brother - a man brought down by illness, still clinging to old-school values. But as Better Call Saul peels back his layers, we realize Chuck’s biggest flaw isn’t his electromagnetic sensitivity, it’s his pride. He simply cannot accept that Jimmy might deserve success. He sees Jimmy as a conman who should never be a real lawyer.

His growing obsession with bringing Jimmy down becomes all-consuming. Ironically, his actions - from sabotaging Jimmy’s career to their infamous courtroom battle, only fuel Jimmy’s turn into Saul Goodman. Chuck wanted to “protect the law,” but in doing so, he pushed his brother further into crime. Chuck doesn’t really change, but our understanding of him does. And his downfall, while painful, feels like the tragic conclusion to a man who couldn’t stop burning the bridge he was standing on.

5) Howard Hamlin: More than just a suit

Poor Howard - he started off as the typical rich, smug partner at HHM. We thought he was the bad guy. But the more we got to know him, the more we realized he was just a guy trying to hold everything together. Howard took the blame for things Chuck did, he tried to support Kim, and he even attempted to reach out to Jimmy with empathy. But he was always a symbol of the establishment - someone Jimmy and Kim wanted to beat.

His downfall came not because he deserved it, but because he got caught in the crossfire of someone else’s game. When Lalo kills him in cold blood, it’s not just shocking, it’s gut-wrenching. Because by then, Howard had become one of Better Call Saul’s most decent characters. His transformation wasn’t about becoming evil or corrupt, it was about becoming a victim - and showing us that sometimes, even the wrong people pay the price.

6) Nacho Varga’s heroic exit

Nacho Varga always felt like a man trying to play a game where the rules kept changing. He wasn’t a cold-blooded killer or a power-hungry criminal, he just wanted out. But once you’re in with the cartel, getting out isn’t that simple. Nacho’s story is full of desperate moves, dangerous alliances, and risky sacrifices - all for the sake of protecting his father.

His final act - orchestrating his own death to save his father and avoid cartel torture, is the stuff of Greek tragedy. Unlike other characters who transform morally, Nacho’s change is about resignation. He stops trying to survive and starts making peace with what he has to do. His end is one of the most heroic moments in Better Call Saul. And while it felt inevitable from the moment he got tangled with Hector Salamanca, it still hurt like crazy.

7) Gus Fring’s cold ascent to power

We knew Gus was a cold and calculated villain in Breaking Bad, but Better Call Saul gave us the blueprint. Here, he’s not just a drug kingpin - he’s a man building an empire from the ground up. We watch him lay the groundwork: building the lab, manipulating the Salamancas, and playing a long, deadly game of chess. Everything he does is careful, measured, and terrifyingly precise.

What’s fascinating is that Gus never really changes, he just reveals more of himself. He hides behind a calm exterior, runs a chicken empire by day, and orders executions by night. But his obsession with revenge against the Salamancas - especially Hector, becomes his Achilles’ heel. His transformation in Better Call Saul isn’t about growth, it’s about becoming the full version of the monster he was always capable of being. And somehow, we never doubted that’s exactly where he was heading.

Better Call Saul didn’t just give us character arcs, it gave us emotional rollercoasters disguised as legal drama. These seven transformations weren’t shocking plot twists, they were slow dances with destiny. And by the end, we realized that the true heartbreak wasn’t that they changed...but that they never stood a chance!