Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul!
There has been a lot of debate about if Breaking Bad, but these 10 moments prove that it actually is. Breaking Bad is one of the most beloved and critically-acclaimed TV shows of all time, with it raising the bar for the quality of prestige TV to new heights. However, Better Call Saul stood up to the challenge and sured it, with 10 scenes proving that Better Call Saul is truly better than Breaking Bad.
Better Call Saul is the prequel to Breaking Bad, with the series focusing on Walter White's lawyer, Saul Goodman (who in the prequel goes by Jimmy McGill). All kinds of Breaking Bad characters are in Better Call Saul, with many of the side characters from the original series getting greatly expanded on throughout Better Call Saul's six seasons. This gives Better Call Saul more time to improve on the story of Breaking Bad, with these 10 scenes highlighting just how much better the prequel was.
10 Jimmy Recognizing The Skateboarders' Con
One of the show's best scenes occurs in the Better Call Saul pilot episode, immediately improving and expanding on the titular character. Early in the pilot, Jimmy hits a young man on a skateboard, with him and his friend threatening that they will call the police unless Jimmy gives them money. Jimmy instantly recognizes the con, with it later being revealed that he had done something similar in the past. Saul Goodman is a notorious con artist and criminal lawyer in Breaking Bad, and this scene shows that his spirit of chicanery was present in a younger Jimmy McGill back in 2002, six years before the events of Breaking Bad.
9 Hector Threatening Mike's Granddaughter
In Better Call Saul, Hector Salamanca threatens the granddaughter of Mike Ehrmantraut, Kaylee. Mike talks about Kaylee in Breaking Bad, with her even being shown a few times, but this scene in Better Call Saul season 2 is the first time that she is directly brought into the action of the story. Mike's reaction to the threats and his love for his daughter are shown here, not told as it is in Breaking Bad. This instantly makes Mike a more sympathetic character, with Better Call Saul's greater focus on Mike making him a much better character than he was in Breaking Bad.
8 Jimmy's First Con With Huell
Another Breaking Bad character that gets expanded on in Better Call Saul is Huell Babineaux, with him first appearing in season 3. Huell is one of Saul's employees in Breaking Bad, but he is nothing more than a bodyguard that cracks a few jokes. Jimmy's first con with Huell, however, shows that the two have a history and an actual friendship, retroactively making Breaking Bad better. In the scene, Jimmy has Huell plant a battery on Chuck, leading to Chuck's iconic rant at Jimmy's disbarment hearing. Not only does this scene improve Huell, but it also makes him integral to one of the best scenes in Better Call Saul.
7 Chuck's Freak Out Scene
In the same episode, Chuck goes on a long rant, screaming about Jimmy's chicanery after discovering that the battery has been planted on him. Jimmy definitely wronged Chuck, but it is clear that Jimmy feels incredibly bad about it. This scene and Jimmy's reaction to Chuck McGill's death prove that Chuck is a better person and more realistic character than Breaking Bad's Walter White. Walt never really gets a scene that shows how bad he feels about hurting his family, despite constantly claiming that family is the motivation behind his crimes. This scene makes Jimmy a more three-dimensional character than Walt ever was in Breaking Bad.
6 Nacho's Relationship With His Father
One common criticism leveled at Breaking Bad is the idea that essentially every character of Hispanic descent is portrayed as evil, due to them all being part of the drug cartel. As time has ed, allegations of racism on the part of Breaking Bad have become more and more accepted, and Better Call Saul attempted to fix that through the character of Nacho Varga. Nacho is still a cartel member, but he knows that what he's doing is wrong, with the character constantly trying to leave. Nacho's relationship with his father goes a long way in humanizing Nacho, showing that he's motivated by love for his family rather than greed.
5 Mike's Killing Of Werner Ziegler
Mike Ehrmantraut is forced to kill an employee of Gus' from , and this scene perfectly copies the intensity of Breaking Bad while adding an extra layer of depth and maturity. In the scene, it is hard for Mike to kill Werner Ziegler, as the two have built a bit of a friendship while working on Gus Fring's super lab. Mike's choice to kill Werner is actually selfless, as Gus was originally planning on sending his people after him. Mike lets Werner say his final goodbyes to his wife, with him them killing Werner in one of Better Call Saul's most tragic scenes - one more emotionally complex than Breaking Bad.
4 The Everett Acker Storyline
Better Call Saul's Everett Acker storyline is another improvement over Breaking Bad, showing how Saul and Kim's actions directly affect those around them. Everett Acker is an elderly man that lives on a plot of land that is supposed to be destroyed in order to build a new call center for Mesa Verde Bank. Although Kim works for Mesa Verde at the time, she uses her law skills alongside those of Saul's to delay Acker's eviction, eventually securing his house for good. Saul and Kim showing their altruism so late in the show allowed it a level of emotional complexity that can be seen as mostly absent from Breaking Bad.
3 Gus Fring's Scene At The Wine Bar
Gus Fring is a terrifying villain in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, but his scene at the wine bar in season 6 makes him a better character in the prequel. The season 6 scene all but confirmed that Gus Fring was gay, something that was subtly implied in a flashback scene in Breaking Bad. This was a huge fan theory throughout Breaking Bad's run, and the fact that Better Call Saul confirmed this makes Gus Fring a more three-dimensional character than he was in Breaking Bad.
2 Howard Hamlin's Death
Although the aforementioned scenes mostly improved on elements of Breaking Bad, Howard Hamlin's death scene proves that the sequel is better due to it being the tensest sequence in the Breaking Bad universe. The scene was perfect, with it converging Better Call Saul's drug cartel and HHM storylines. Lalo's killing of Howard was so shocking that it blew up the internet immediately after it aired, and it was the last scene before the Better Call Saul season 6 mid-season break. Howard Hamlin's death was more tragic, shocking, and tense than any of the major character deaths in Breaking Bad.
1 Kim Wexler Escaping To Florida
The final scene that makes Better Call Saul better than Breaking Bad is when Saul discovers that Kim has escaped Albuquerque and is living in Florida. The Breaking Bad universe is full of tragic endings for horrible people, with Walt, Gus, and Mike dying, Jesse hiding in Mexico, and Saul getting sentenced to prison for the rest of his life. Out of all the main characters, Kim is the only one that realizes her mistakes and makes it out unscathed, showing that Better Call Saul can still do something new even at the very end of the Breaking Bad universe.