Warning: SPOILERS for Better Call Saul season 6.
brother, Chuck McGill, made so prestigious in the world of law in New Mexico. The conflict between him and his brother leads Jimmy to the alienation he feels, as people constantly compare him to Chuck's unreachable standards. Never truly connected to the name McGill, over the years, Jimmy has constantly been trying to forge his own identity.
In Better Call Saul's season 4 finale, audiences believed they saw the final transformation as Jimmy legally changed his name to Saul Goodman and opened up his law practice under the same name. However, Jimmy's ties with Howard Hamlin, whose name is also included in Chuck's law firm, Hamlin Hamlin McGill (or HHM), meant that Jimmy never actually severed his connection to his family name. When Jimmy defended Lalo Salamanca in season 5, it once again seemed like Jimmy had completed his transformation into a lawyer who helps those dedicated to the wrong side of the law, similar to his work in Breaking Bad with Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. Yet it's actually in Better Call Saul season 6, episode 9, "Fun and Games," that viewers finally see the completion of Jimmy's transformation into Saul Goodman.
The unexpected time jump in Better Call Saul season 6 flashes forward to a time when there can be no mistaking that Jimmy McGill is dead and that he has truly become Saul Goodman. Saul lives in the gaudy house teased in Better Call Saul's season 6 opening as an empty bachelor, waltzing through his walk-in wardrobes with multi-colored shirts and ties, and waking up in bed with a sex worker. His house embodies the flashy façade that the Saul Goodman persona represents, and that is only made possible because of Saul's breakup with his wife, Kim Wexler, in Better Call Saul season 6, episode 9.
Why Jimmy Fully Becomes Saul Goodman After Kim Breaks Up With Him
Jimmy is well on his way to becoming Saul Goodman while he is in a relationship with Kim Wexler, however, their breakup is what enables him to fully complete his transformation. Kim is what kept Jimmy afloat; she was his love and purpose, and that's demonstrated by his heartbreaking line to her: "just tell me what I have to do to change." With their breakup and Kim's absence in Breaking Bad, Jimmy is free to become whatever he wants to be — and that's Saul Goodman, the antithesis of the kind of law that Chuck McGill practiced and upheld. Of course, after his breakup with Kim Wexler, Jimmy likely wanted to forget the part of himself that shined when he was with her, most likely because it was too painful otherwise.
Jimmy's detachment from Kim in Better Call Saul is symbolized by the mug on his desk. Kim bought him a travel coffee mug with the words "World's Best Lawyer" printed on it, although she did write "2nd" on it in felt pen. That mug eventually got an incriminating bullet hole in it, and as a result, Kim unceremoniously threw the coffee mug in the bin, foreshadowing their eventual split. After Better Call Saul's time jump, Jimmy has a new mug in his office, previously seen in Breaking Bad, which reads "World's Greatest Lawyer." By not replicating the pen mark that Kim scribbled on his mug, Jimmy both marks Kim's departure from law and their split as he does not replicate the sentimental value of the travel mug.
What Jimmy's Transformation Means For Better Call Saul's Ending
The time skip and Jimmy's transformation into Saul Goodman bring Better Call Saul's chronology much closer to Breaking Bad's timeline. As such, it's unlikely that any characters who hold some association with Chuck or Howard, such as Cliff Main and Rich Schwiekart, will be seen again in Better Call Saul's final season. They operate on the opposite side of the law to Saul Goodman, meaning that Jimmy will likely interact with more criminals.
There have been a few cameos from minor Breaking Bad characters, like Spooge, in Better Call Saul season 6, and audiences should expect to see several more. The most important of which will obviously be the long-awaited cameos of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, which may hold more significance than originally thought since many of Better Call Saul's storylines have been brought to a close. Despite this, Jimmy's transformation into Saul also brings Saul's transformation into Gene much closer. Season 6, episode 9 ends with a black and white preview of what seems to be the season's first flash forward to the Gene timeline, so it seems likely that Better Call Saul is saving a concluding story set in the future beyond Breaking Bad to conclude the prequel series.
Better Call Saul airs every Monday on AMC.