I want to believe theres a heaven. But I can not not believe theres a hell.Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan has used this quote cribbed from his partner Holly Rice to explain his moral outlook. It may seem cynical on the surface but buried within is a belief in justice. After all the last moment of Breaking Bad is Walter White Heisenberg Bryan Cranston falling dead as Badfinger sings Guess I got what I deserved.
Gilligans philosophy of justice permeates Saul Gone the finale of prequel sequel Better Call Saul about Heisenbergs lawyer the once and future Saul Goodman real name Jimmy McGill Bob Odenkirk. During Saul Gone the captured Jimmys goal changes from escaping justice to redeeming himself in the eyes of his ex wife Kim Wexler Rhea Seehorn. So he throws away the mother of all plea deals lays his soul bare in court and is sentenced to prison. Its not quite a happy ending, but it is a fair one. Even if Jimmy achieved personal redemption, he did not earn the right to walk away scot free either.
Series co creator Peter Gould, who personally wrote and directed Saul Gone has said A Christmas Carol influenced the episode specifically citing the three ghosts featured in flashbacks Mike Ehrmantraut Jonathan Banks Walt and Jimmy's brother Chuck McGill Michael McKean. However the closer parallel to Jimmy McGill is not Ebenezer Scrooge but Rodion Raskolnikov the protagonist of Fyodor Dostoevskys Crime and Punishment. An anti-hero tormented by his actions Raskolnikov is an ancestor of the morally grey characters who inhabit Gilligan and Goulds Albuquerque.
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