To quote Saul Goodman: “It’s never too late for justice.”
Except this one involved [checks notes] self-sacrifice, self-improvement, and radical honesty.
The price of redemption?
Greg Lewis/AMC
About 80 additional years in a federal prison.
How did Jimmy complete this turnaround?
Emmy-nominated Bob Odenkirk shares his first thoughts on “Saul Gone” and his final thoughts onBetter Call Saul.
Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler on ‘Better Call Saul’.Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television
What were your first thoughts when you read in the script that Mr.
Shortcut took the hard way?
BOB ODENKIRK: Hooray!
And he’s embodying who he is really the best part of himself is coming out finally.
And that he’s not a victim.
And not a broken snake.
Then he owns his role in driving Chuck [Michael McKean] from the law and into suicide.
What did he see in her face and realize in that moment that made him level up?
Even though it sounds like a concession, it’s another angle I am probably working.
And then he turns and he shares it all.
And he owns it all.
It’s the bravest, most honest thing he can do.
So far, it’s something that’s been beyond him, completely.
He’s always just tacked to yet another manipulation.
She’s worth it.
How do you view him now?
I think it is redemption.
He’ll never again be hiding from himself, like he did through the whole series.
He’s realized it’s not worth it, you know?
He’s an older guy.
The dialogue is sparse, there’s just so much there under the surface.
They recognize who each other really are and their flaws, and it’s incredibly bittersweet.
What was going through your head when you saw that scene?
But there’s a peace.
They’re at peace, and they’re finally able to exhale hence, the cigarettes.
I mean, cigarettes are a great way of showing that, characters exhaling.
They’re not doing any kind of presentation to each other.
They’re being together, fully.
I love it so much!
There’s not a lot going on.
There’s a lot going on.
They’ve just been restless, restless characters.
I mean, Jimmy is the epitome of a restless guy.
His brain is always moving from the time we first meet him onBreaking Bad.
He’s got love for the rest of his life.
He’s got her.
They each have a piece of the other one’s heart.
You could say they know they’ve f—ed it up and there’s regret there.
But weirdly, I don’t think it’s about regret at all.
I think it’s about acceptance
And maybe a new chapter?
Yeah, a new chapter, moving on.
He’s a better man than he ever was in the whole series.
It was really beautiful.
It was a sharing that you feel you’re able to carry forward through life.
And I think we’ll feel that way about this experience, too, Rhea and I.
In a way we’ll never leave that set, some part of us and it’s beautiful.
She walks away, looks back at you one last time.
What do the finger guns symbolize to you?
Was it an acknowledgement of “What a ride that was and we’ll always have that connection”?
Yeah, I think it was a smile.
I think it was a, “And the scams were fun, too.”
[Laughs] “And come on, we had fun, too.
We’re off on a caper.”
Even though he’s admitted how much wrong they did and that he was wrong to do those things.
I think it’s important not to forget we had fun and good times together.
[Laughs] We want to see people do the wrong thing.
How does the story continue in your head?
When do they see each other next?
I think she comes to see him!
I think she comes to see him once a year every other year at the least.
He gets treated really well.
And I don’t think he gets out early…-ish.
I don’t think he gets out.
I don’t know what she does, though.
She doesn’t seem very happy at the water place.
She’s on a good, healing path too.
Walter White had that burning ego driving him that was just so intense.
He carried his resentments like nobody alive, and that’s always a mistake.
It was amazing what he did.
Speaking of Walter, we see him one last time when the two of them are waiting for extraction.
He was like Chuck.
He was a smarter guy than me in a lot of ways.
Walter White would say, “You f—ing idiot.”
He was like, “You’re just a scumbag lawyer who’s just after money.”
He didn’t respect me just like Chuck.
I just put myself in this f—ing paradigm again!
And that Walter White scenario is the same thing again.
Walter is just a different version of Chuck.
Chuck, Walter super smart guy who has a very strong sense of himself.
Unlike Jimmy, who’s a little unsure.
It’s true that Jimmy gets carried away with his plots and plans.
He gets excited like a kid.
And he’s more carried away with the plans than almost with the end game.
He doesn’t really care about the end game.
It’s kind of a likable fault because he’s energized and excited.
And that’s fun to watch.
And that’s what they let happen.
What do you think Chuck’s reaction from the grave would be?
How surprised would he be to see that turn that Jimmy made?
I think his eyes would pop open.
[Laughs] He’d go, “Wait, what?
No, no, that can’t be true!”
Because the worst thing about that is it proves that Chuck was wrong, right?
It really proves to Chuck that he was wrong about Jimmy, that Jimmy was irredeemable.
So Chuck would probably be saying, “Wait, what’s your game here?”
And realizing there’s no f—ing game.
“How could he do that?
How could he just prove everything I live for wrong?
And I’m an asshole.
I’m a huge asshole in the ground.”
[Laughs]
What was the scene that was the most challenging to film?
The courthouse speech would seem to be a monster.
We shot it over three days.
We had two days to shoot it.
And it was really hard.
It’s very emotional.
It’s very heavy.
Jimmy is fighting with himself in the scene.
He’s really not wanting to let go and accept what’s happened and who he is.
And then he finds the strength to do that.
And it’s a super emotional scene.
And I played it with, I think, the appropriate amount of emotion.
Then I turned to Peter and I said, “And can I reshoot the entire scene?”
And people were like, “What?
You’re going to do it again?
You did it so great!
No, no, you don’t need to do it again!”
And I said, “No, I think I do.
I think I was too emotional.”
Over the years doing this show, I’ve become so suspicious of feelings on screen, especially tears.
I really have gotten to feel like they have to be really earned.
And I think Rhea’s bus scene is a great example of earned tears.
And I said, “I think I went too quickly, too easily to the well here.
I’d like to do a more restrained version.”
And it was great because we came back a week later, we got the set back.
It was not an easy set to get.
That’s a federal courtroom, so they don’t just give those out.
And you know what was great about it?
It made more sense.
It’s just better in every way, and everyone agreed when we were done.
It was like, “Yeah, you were right.
I’m glad we shot it again.”
The worst thing he did is he wanted approval from other people.
You might win for a little while, but it will crack.
He does enjoy being Saul.
He’s great at it.
But of course, that goes off the rails for various reasons.
And that’s the core of this character: He’s made too many bad choices.
And I think that he does that and I’m proud of him.
I’m proud of him for doing that.
I hope she does.
I get to see Carol Burnett again.
I’d do anything to get to hang out with Carol.
She’s the best, the f—ng best!
Dude, that was the greatest time.
Or maybe she’d be at least okay with the fact that he owned it all in the end?
Yeah, she would.
She’s a tough, tough but kind lady.
And she would totally respect it.
She’d just be mad at her son.
