Better Call Saul is over.
Monday night, the thrillingly well-executed Breaking Bad prequel/sequel/all-around universe-expander closed out after six seasons with its finale episode “Saul Gone,” written and directed by series co-creator Peter Gould. To be clear, this article will not be dealing in spoilers and will instead be zeroing in on a touching video message shared overnight by star Bob Odenkirk.
As Odenkirk (who also portrayed the title character, a.k.a. Jimmy McGill, a.k.a. Gene Takavic, in Breaking Bad) explained in the social-shared clip, answering the question of how it feels to send off the show is a uniquely difficult task.
“Everybody’s been asking me how I feel about saying goodbye to Saul Goodman and Better Call Saul and I’m not good at answering the question because it’s frankly hard for me to look at that experience and even at that character too closely,” Odenkirk said. “It’s just, it’s too many moving parts and they fit together too beautifully and it’s a mystery to me how it even happened.”
Among those receiving specific shout-outs from Odenkirk were Saul co-creators Vince Gilligan and the aforementioned Peter Gould, as well as the extended cast with whom the actor has shared the screen for quite some time now. Odenkirk also shouted out the local Albuquerque crew for their unmatched professionalism and gave the fans a heartfelt expression of gratitude for allowing this chapter to unfold at its own pace following the success of Breaking Bad.
“It’s been an unbelievable experience,” Odenkirk said. “I want to thank the crew in Albuquerque. These people are the most beautiful, sweet, hardworking pros ever. I’ll never be around so many great people doing their jobs so well. I can’t imagine it. God bless you guys for everything you did to make this show great. And the fans, thanks for giving us a chance. Because we came out of maybe a lot of people’s most favorite show ever and we could have been hated for simply trying to do a show, but we weren’t. We were given a chance and hopefully we made the most of it.”
Closing out his message, Odenkirk noted how the series rewarded its more studious fans with a nuanced exploration of what makes us human.
“A little slow at times but in the end—if you paid attention—it was about big, big things inside people,” he said.
While Saul has indeed wrapped its acclaimed run, recent comments from major involved players suggest the Breaking Bad universe itself may not be finished expanding. In the meantime, it’s important to remember: triples is best.
