Breaking bad vs. Better Call Saul

*Attention - Contains spoilers!

Which one is your favorite character? Walter White or Saul Goodman/Jimmy McGill? The Better Call Saul finale that was released a few weeks ago has left us as writers thinking a lot!

Today I'd like to argue that the series you choose as your favorite says a lot, first and foremost about yourselves, and not so much about the value of each of these shows. Why do I say this?

After watching the finale of Better Call Saul (airing 8/15/2022,) you can't help but admit that the creators of Breaking Bad outdid themselves. Almost every scene, at one point or another, in the finale, is a scene that could have been the final scene. But the finale unfolds masterfully, over and over again, and takes the character from the position of the "morally fallen" hero to the position of the hero who has finally found a way to redeem himself.

Saul redeems himself when he finally admits that he must pay the price for a life that has sometimes flirted with illegality and sometimes aided and abetted it (as in the person of Walter White, whom he helped launder money) and at times, was truly illegal, as in the various scams he ran from his youth (as "Slippin' Jimmy") to his organizing heists for the last time in Nebraska under the alias Gene Takavic. Jimmy/Saul/Gene changed identities like shirts, but you were assured, as a viewer, that despite his moral shortcomings, you were dealing with a man who was essentially a good guy. He cared about others, such as his brother, whom he cared for, and there were many times when he put aside his own self-interest to serve others. How complex Saul's character and his relationship with his brother are and how heartbreaking it is for us to watch, is a topic for another post! The most important thing is that Saul finds redemption when he acknowledges that if he didn't, he wouldn't be human anymore. He seems to think that if he accepts punishment, he will be worthy of love again. We could argue this point forever, but bear with me for a moment as I go on with the following comparison.

Similarly, Walter White follows the "character arc" (as we call it in scriptwriting) from a basically "good guy" to a basically "bad guy" who is driven by self-interest alone. He starts out as a simple family man, a high school chemistry teacher, and evolves into a drug manufacturer and drug dealer. At first, he tells himself, as an excuse, that he has to do it: he is suffering from lung cancer, and he has to pay for his treatment and leave some money behind for his family to make sure they have a comfortable life, so that his children can go to college when he dies. But Walter White actually has a much deeper need to do what he does - he wants to prove that he is the best at something. It doesn't matter if all that he's making is a drug. It is the most perfect, the most "pure" methamphetamine. He is the best Chemist who can do that, and he is also "the one who knocks." "I am the one who knocks!" - this famous line, in his monologue to his wife, reveals the admission that he is the "bad guy" of the story. This is a guy who doesn't really care about what his partner thinks of him anymore, as long as she fears him and does as he says. It also reveals his lust for power. At some point, he makes far more money from the drug trade than he could use or launder. So when is "enough?" Pinkman and Skyler ask him. On this we could say a lot, in terms of scriptwriting, about the need versus the hero's desire - a need that, in Walter White, stems from the fact that he has failed as a scientist to be reimbursed and rewarded for his talent. But the point I want to make is not about need and desire, it's something different.

Walter White eventually retires from the drug trade. But when he is retired, he already has 14 murders of people on his record and is morally responsible for the deaths of hundreds of others. The first murder, is Emilio's murder by chemical explosion at the legendary meth manufacturing trailer/lab. Then, he kills dealer Krazy-8 with his own hands. He has set up bombs repeatedly - thus killing his rival Gus Fring, Tio Salamanca and Gus' bodyguard Tyrus Kitt. Two of the worst things he does are: a) attempting to poison a child, Brock (son of Andrea, Pinkman's affair,) who almost dies because of him, and b) he has left Pinkman's beloved girlfriend Jane to die when he could have saved her life. All this, just to manipulate Pinkman and keep him close. Walter White has the role of mentor to Pinkman, and fights tooth and nail to keep that role. He tries to convince him that he is "a good guy" in every way possible. That everything he does, he does out of necessity. But everything he does, he does only because he needs someone beside him whom he can control and command, and in front of whom he can feel superior. However, Pinkman sees (very slowly, but he finally understands) how Walter is manipulating him. Ironically, Walter's retirement coincides with the circumstances that will lead to the death of his son-in-law, DEA agent Hank Schrader. Circumstances for which he is again responsible. And Walter's redemption comes much later, when he manages to free Pinkman. It is perhaps the only thing that can redeem him in our eyes as viewers, anymore. Otherwise, he never reaches redemption like Saul does.

So I'll go back to the beginning: who your favorite character is, says something about you. The adoration towards Walter White by fans of the show, who also profess to be disappointed with the Better Call Saul spin off, shows, quite simply, the adoration towards toxic masculinity built on the basis of control, the use of violence, and the acquisition of money. Walter's adoration of them also goes hand in hand, as one can see from the various comments by fanatics of the show, with their hatred of his wife, Skyler. That hatred is sexist. Because Skyler as a character does what any sane person would do if confronted with the manipulation and lies of a man she considered her husband, and thinks she knows him, only to realize in the end that she didn't. Skyler has to confront the monster that Walter has turned into. She realizes too late how far he has strayed from his old self. Meanwhile, in order to keep Walter out of jail, and protect her children, she makes the wrong choice not to turn him in, and becomes his co-conspirator. But she does so out of fear. And the truth is, without Skyler, Walter probably wouldn't be able to launder the money he was making from the drug trade. In some ways, Skyler is a lot smarter than he is. Before you get even more mad at me for what I wrote, check out what the show's creator Vince Gilligan himself has said. "The farther I get away from Breaking Bad, the less sympathy I have for Walter" (here's the New Yorker article about it.)

Personally, I think Better Call Saul is better than Breaking Bad. And Saul/Jimmy, a better man than Walter White. Jimmy McGill may have been a crook, but he never killed a man. Not for any reason.

If you ask me who my favorite character in both shows is, I'll answer with my hand on my heart: Mike Ehrmantraut, if I had to choose between characters who have blood on their hands. I would choose Mike because he's not greedy like Walter. He's forward-thinking and cool-headed, much more so than Walter, who considers himself a genius but makes incredible mistakes. Mike will do anything to avoid taking people's lives. Even if he ends up killing nine people. Mike will die for no reason in the end, at the hands of Walter. So, for this death, and many others, I cannot forgive Walter.

I could go on and on about these two series indefinitely, but I'll limit myself to these comments! I'm looking forward to the Emmy Awards tonight... How many awards do you guys think Better Call Saul will win this year?