While his alias was nothing more than comic relief on Better Call Saul showed Jimmy McGill as a much more complicated character. In the tragic odyssey of the small-time lawyer's evolution to big-time "criminal lawyer," Saul Goodman, and Nebraskan Cinnabon manager, Gene Tackovic, he built up quite a long list of transgressions.
The series finale had him finally facing the consequences for his actions on Breaking Bad, but throughout Better Call Saul, he was involved in some other activities that he never quite got the proper punishment for. Which could be considered the absolute worst?
The "Chicago Sunroof" Incident
Back in his early con man days in Illinois, after having a few drinks one day, Jimmy did something that would forever change the course of his life, for better and worse. After recognizing a man named Chet, who both owed him money and slept with his then-wife, he decided to pull a "Chicago Sunroof" (defecation through his car's sunroof) as revenge, unaware that Chet's children were in the back seats.
This was the incident that brought his brother Chuck back into his life and set off the domino effect for him to become a lawyer. While he learned his lesson from it and used it as motivation to better himself for a time, it doesn't make the incident any less wrong or gross, and there's absolutely no doubt that Chet's children would've needed serious therapy to recover from any potential trauma.
Ruined His Father's Business
During Jimmy's youth, he worked for a small convenience store owned by his father, Charles Sr., where he beared witness to several s of his father being taken advantage of by scam artists. Over the years, over $14,000 was embezzled from the store, and while a majority of that money may have been from his father's naive generosity, Jimmy also contributed to it by pocketing small amounts.
The store eventually closed, and his father died six months later, which would lead to a lifetime grudge held by Chuck. Even if Jimmy only took a small percentage of the embezzled money, he was still stealing from his own father whose business was already struggling. Even for a young child, that's still a pretty terrible thing to do.
Identity Theft Of Businessmen
Even while hiding from the authorities in Nebraska under his new alias, Jimmy still couldn't help but fall back into the game. In his new con, Gene would get wealthy businessmen drunk at a bar, Jeff would drive them home and give them a water bottle laced with barbiturates, and then Buddy would subtly enter their homes while unconscious and photograph their ID's, bank records, etc. and sell them for a hefty profit.
It's not at all difficult to understand just how wrong this entire scheme is, not just legally, but morally. Even when Buddy dropped out after finding out one of their victims was a cancer patient, Gene decided to push forward anyway, proving just how heartless he had become.
The Manipulations Of Marion And Irene
Jimmy always had a way with the elderly, but it was also a social skill that he used to take advantage of them whenever it suited his needs. Knowing how much money he could make from the Sandpiper case, he hatched a scheme to have Irene accept the settlement sooner, which led to a period of her being rejected by her friends.
The case with Marion wasn't as bad, lying to her to get close to Jeff to ensure his identity stayed secret, but learning that their friendship was based entirely on lies left her completely brokenhearted. Her manipulation in particular was one of several critical mistakes Saul made in the end that directly led to his downfall. Irene and Marion were two old women who thought they had found a friend in Jimmy, but his involvement in their lives only offered disappointment.
Indirectly Ruined Kim's Life
Kim Wexler was a brilliant lawyer with a seemingly high moral com, but that slowly began to change with the connection she had with Jimmy. Their close friendship blossomed into a romance that would ultimately do more harm than good to both themselves and others. She got caught up in Jimmy's involvement with the cartel, an incident that left her indirectly responsible for Howard's murder.
Her trauma from it all led her to resignation as an attorney, divorce from Jimmy, and her move to Florida, where she began a mediocre new life. It can be argued that Kim made some critical mistakes and that her downfall was entirely of her own doing, but the negative influence Jimmy had on her life is undeniable.
Became Saul Goodman
After his marriage to Kim fell apart, Jimmy fully embraced his Saul Goodman persona, becoming the exact kind of lawyer that Chuck always feared he would be. Jimmy had always bent the law to get his way, but he took it to a completely unethical level as Saul, going to the extreme to get his clients off scot-free even when they were fully and unapologetically guilty of the absolute worst crimes.
If his connections to the cartel weren't bad enough, through his immoral methods and crude demeanor, it was obvious just how far Jimmy had fallen to the dark side. From his continuous sexist comments toward his secretary sca to his nonchalant advocation for murder as a solution to certain issues, Jimmy's transformation brought out the absolute worst in him and others.
Enabled Walter White's Actions
Throughout the course of Breaking Bad, Walter White did plenty of shameless things, but as his lawyer, Saul never did much to dissuade him. He may not have been the one pulling all the strings, but he often acted as the devil on Walt's shoulder, and even itted in the end that Walt and Jesse's operation would've never gotten as far without his connections.
He profited off an illegal business that ruined the lives of several people, and was completely guilty by association.
Tried To Paint Himself As A Victim
In the series finale, "Gene" was finally caught by the police and brought in to face the music for the major role he played in building Walter White's drug empire. During his plea bargain, Jimmy claimed his participation was all out of fear rather than legitimate interest. With this, along with other bits of traded information, he was miraculously able to reduce his potential life sentence down to seven and a half years.
Of course, any Breaking Bad fan knows this is untrue and that Saul was a fully active and willing participant driven by the monetary factor. While he makes up for it in the end by telling the full truth at his trial, earning a more suitable 86-year sentence, the fact that he tried to gain leniency with such a bold lie was one of his lower moments.
Indirectly Drove Chuck To Suicide
The complicated relationship between Jimmy and Chuck took a turn for the worst in seasons 2 and 3. After discovering the lengths that Chuck went through to keep him away from HHM, Jimmy would go to even greater lengths to get back at him. He even its in the series finale: "Whenever I saw the chance to hurt him... I took it."
Whenever Chuck tried to gain the upper hand in their rivalry, Jimmy hit back even harder. In one of the greatest betrayals of the series, he even went so far as to expose his mental illness and get his malpractice insurance canceled. Jimmy ultimately blamed Howard for Chuck's breakdown, but it's obvious who had a bigger influence.
Ruined Howard Hamlin's Legacy
Howard Hamlin suffered from one of the most undeserving fates, with Jimmy and Kim's petty revenge scheme painting him as a paranoid drug addict. Even worse, their mutual association with Lalo Salamanca indirectly led to Howard's murder, and the cover-up that tainted his reputation even further.
Kim did her best to make up for it when she submitted a written confession to the DA, but even that might not have been enough. Jimmy may have been quick to get over what happened, but the irreparable damage to Howard's life and legacy was something that most would consider unforgivable.