Breaking Bad: Saul Goodman was never meant to exist - here's what changed everything

Breaking Bad is a cult phenomenon. We'd never seen anything like it when it first came to our screens. The concept of antihero was not mainstream back then. Breaking Bad took it to another level and popularized it.

Walter White was a character like no other. We rooted for him yet feared him. We hated him but also understood him. The complex story of an ordinary man's descent into darkness changed a lot about TV. It set a standard for shows and earned its place in history as one of the greatest shows ever made.

But making Breaking Bad was not as smooth as the story goes. One of the most memorable characters to come out of the show is Saul Goodman. He is sharp tongued and unlike any lawyer we'd seen before on TV.

But he wasn’t even part of the plan. Yes, the very same Saul who later got his own spinoff Better Call Saul which became a show that some people say is even better than the original. So how did he end up being a character on Breaking Bad?

Let’s find out.

Breaking Bad: Saul Goodman and his doomed relationship with his brother

One of the most complex and heartbreaking relationships in Better Call Saul is the one between Jimmy McGill and his older brother, Chuck. Jimmy is the hustler and underdog among the two of them. Chuck is a polished and prestigious lawyer with an almost god-like belief in law and order.

But what they have isn't typical sibling rivalry. They are sworn enemies.

There’s this underlying bitterness in their dynamic that makes every interaction feel like it’s teetering on the edge. Chuck sees Jimmy as a fraud and someone who manipulates the system instead of respecting it. And Jimmy is constantly trying to win his brother’s approval. But he realizes that Chuck will never see him as an equal.

It’s tragic because there’s clearly love there buried somewhere. But it is the years of resentment and pride that just won't let that love bloom. And watching that love rot into hatred is one of the most emotionally raw threads in Better Call Saul.

Breaking Bad: Saul Goodman was almost never meant to exist

Saul Goodman wasn’t even supposed to be a thing in Breaking Bad. AMC wanted to cut him off.

But before we get into how Saul was even born as a character on Breaking Bad, let's explore the fact that Michael McKean who played Chuck could have actually played Saul. He was once in the running to play Jimmy McGill himself.

But Bob Odenkirk had always been high on the list.

McKean ended up playing the one character who couldn’t be more emotionally and morally opposed to Saul Goodman. And maybe that’s exactly why it worked so well.

Now, Saul was born purely out of necessity. Co-creator Peter Gould shares in Alan Sepinwall’s Saul Goodman V. Jimmy McGill: The Complete Critical Companion to Better Call Saul how everything changed when Tuco Salamanca was suddenly no longer available for the show.

"We were at that point in the show where we were on a course that we had not expected. We thought that Walt and Jesse were going to be working for Tuco. And then, as you know, we found out that Tuco is not available to us.† So, Tuco is killed early in Season Two. And now, they’re out on their own. We started thinking about what are the problems that you have if you’re a novice drug dealer trying to move all that meth. And one of the basic problems was, what happens if one of your guys gets arrested? So, of course, we’ve already got Badger. And, the thought was, Who would be the lawyer here?... And first, in the room, we had a lot of ideas that were crazier even than what we ended up doing... And I remember, Vince came in with the name Saul Good. And then, one of the other writers said, “Saul Goodman.”... Really, his creation was all in service of Walt’s story."

Saul was never meant to be a standalone character. He was just supposed to serve Walt’s arc. But Bob Odenkirk brought so much nuance and charm to the role that Saul Goodman practically demanded his own story.

And thank God for that, honestly.

Saul wasn’t violent. He wasn’t scary. But he was sharp and unpredictable which made him absolutely unforgettable. And he became so much more than just Walt and Jesse’s lawyer in the end in Breaking Bad.

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