Saul Goodman's 'Phoenix' scene showed he could lead his own spin-off

Collider argues that a roughly five-minute sequence in Breaking Bad's Season 2 episode "Phoenix" proves Bob Odenkirk's Saul Goodman was more than comic relief and could carry a spin-off.

In the episode, after the shooting of Jesse's dealer Combo, Walt and Jesse sit in Saul's office while he tells them, "You two suck at peddling meth," and offers a contact with the line, "I know a guy who knows a guy... who knows another guy." That contact is the future antagonist Gus Fring, presented as a business executive who treats meth like a corporate enterprise. Saul also arranges money laundering by hiring a hacker to funnel drug proceeds into Walter Jr.'s donation PayPal, leading Skyler and Junior to believe strangers had donated thousands.

The piece says the scene underscores Saul's cold, calculating expertise beyond his quips and tacky suits and, in hindsight after Better Call Saul, reads as a darker signal of Jimmy McGill's moral decline. Moments like this, the article concludes, made the premise for a Saul-centered series clear despite initial doubts after Breaking Bad ended in 2013.

Key Topics

Culture, Saul Goodman, Bob Odenkirk, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Gus Fring