Spoilers for the Better Call Saul finaleBetter Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk gives his perspective on the big decision Jimmy makes in the series finale. As it gained steam through its exceptional last season, the Breaking Bad spinoff ended up boasting one of the most anticipated TV finales in years. The concluding episode of Better Call Saul, appropriately titled "Saul Gone," ties up a few more loose ends, brings in a few cameos, and offers resolution for the characters fans have been watching since the very beginning.
In particular, the Better Call Saul season 6 finale sees Odenkirk's Jimmy McGill make a surprise return of sorts. Having long since adopted the persona of amoral lawyer Saul Goodman, he comes clean and sacrifices his own freedom. Although he's staring down an exceptionally lenient seven years for his litany of crimes, Saul takes full responsibility for his association with Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and gets what is essentially a life sentence of 86 years. In the process, however, he unburdens himself. He apologizes for what happened to Chuck and Howard, and with Kim (Rhea Seehorn) in the room, he apologizes to her as well.
In an interview with perspective on Jimmy McGill's ending. The actor discusses his view on why Jimmy did the right thing in the end, and how his love for Kim factored into the decision. Odenkirk says that the best part of Jimmy was coming through, finally, proving that he wasn't all bad, and mentions that he was glad it happened. Odenkirk's quote is included below:
Hooray! [Laughs] My first thought was: “Hooray, you’ve given him all the feeling and intelligence that he’s had this whole time. And he’s embodying who he is — really the best part of himself is coming out finally. I’ve always felt he was capable of the choice he makes at the end to acknowledge his own part in this whole thing. And that he’s not a victim. I love that he does it, and he does it because he loves Kim, and he does it because he knows that in the long run, it’s the thing that’s going to show her that he was always a really good guy. And not a broken snake. [Laughs]
Although the decision may seem jarring on its face, it's true to the person that Better Call Saul fans have witnessed all along. By getting the deal down to seven years, in a prison of his choosing at that, Jimmy had already proven that he could have won - if he wanted to. It's his choice to come clean and take the infinitely harsher sentence, as Odenkirk correctly points out. His character is no victim, and, ultimately, that likely influenced his decision-making.
But Jimmy's big shift at the end of Better Call Saul was just as much, if not moreso, a grace note for fans that invested in the relationship between Kim and Jimmy. Unlike Breaking Bad, which could very much become focused on Walter White, the spinoff spread its focus out to several stories and quickly turned Kim into a leading character in her own right. The finale honors that, delivering a sendoff that isn't quite a happy ending, but is certainly redemptive and hopeful.
Source: EW
