Future Generations Will Say Better Call Saul Is Superior To Breaking Bad - Here's Why
By Published May 9, 2026, 7:30 PM EDT Blaise Santi is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts majoring in Dramatic Writing and minoring in Comedy. He's a frequent performer at the Brooklyn Comedy Collective in the sketch comedy group Golfers as well as in the improv show Cast Party. Aside from writing, Blaise's hobbies include listening to music, playing and reading. Blaise currently lives in Brooklyn. follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
It's always risky to take a widely beloved show and spin it off into a new series, but when it goes right, it produces a show like . Even though its predecessor, Breaking Bad, still consistently ranks among , making an entire prequel series focused on Bob Odenkirk's crooked lawyer Saul Goodman was originally seen as a gamble. However, six seasons later, Better Call Saul proved naysayers wrong.
Breaking Bad aired in an era when television characters were too squeaky clean. Instead, it followed in the footsteps of shows like The Sopranos, framing an anti-hero as its protagonist. By turning mild-mannered Walter White into criminal emperor Heisenberg, Vince Gilligan and the writers weaved a tragic web over the course of the original series. Better Call Saul, which could have chosen to reheat Breaking Bad's nachos, not only fleshed out the original series' world but also added depth that went unrecognized in Walter White and his peers.
Though some may view Better Call Saul as a stroke of luck, in reality, it's the key to understanding the entire Breaking Bad franchise. It may seem like sacrilege to label a spinoff/prequel superior to the original, but, in a few years, it won't be controversial to say that Better Call Saul deserved at least as many Emmys as the original show was awarded, if not more.
Future Generations Won't Have The Same Attachment To Breaking Bad
When Breaking Bad first aired, it wasn't considered appointment TV like it was by the end. The AMC series took time to amass its mainstream audience, whereas Better Call Saul mainly had to coast off viewers who had already seen Breaking Bad and were willing to give the spinoff a chance. Many will probably be tempted to consider Better Call Saul only "as good as" Breaking Bad, since the original show is what they fell in love with.
[SITEURL] | 99.1% Heisenberg Files Personality Quiz ScreenRant/ TV/ Breaking Bad/ Personality Quiz AMC · Character Profile Which Breaking Bad Character Are You? “I am the one who knocks.” ⚗ Walter White The Chemist 🔥 Jesse Pinkman The Heart 🎯 Mike Ehrmantraut The Professional ENTER THE LAB → QUESTION 1 / 8PERSONALITY 01 You’re backed into a corner with no good options. What do you do? AOutsmart the situation — there’s always an angle nobody else has considered, and I’ll find it BPanic first, then act on instinct — I may not have a plan, but I’ll fight my way out CStay calm, assess the situation, and handle it quietly — emotion gets people killed NEXT → QUESTION 2 / 8INSTINCTS 02 Someone offers you a shortcut that’s morally questionable but highly profitable. What do you do? ATake it — I can rationalize anything if the end result secures my family’s future BI’d probably take it, feel terrible about it, and then convince myself I had no choice CDepends on the risk. If the math works and the exposure is minimal, it’s just business NEXT → QUESTION 3 / 8TEAMWORK 03 Your partner makes a costly mistake that puts you both at risk. How do you react? ABerate them and take over — if you want something done right, you do it yourself BFeel hurt and angry, but ultimately try to fix it together — loyalty matters more than mistakes CClean up the mess without a word, then make sure they understand — no half measures NEXT → QUESTION 4 / 8CONFLICT 04 A dangerous enemy threatens your family. What’s your response? ABecome the danger — I will eliminate the threat with calculated, terrifying precision BDo whatever it takes, even if it destroys me — protecting the people I love is all that matters CHandle it professionally — no drama, no speeches, just a problem that needs solving NEXT → QUESTION 5 / 8TRUST 05 Someone you work with has been lying to you. How do you handle it? AConfront them emotionally — betrayal cuts deep and I can’t just pretend it didn’t happen BSay nothing yet — let them think I don’t know while I figure out how to use it CCut them out cleanly — I don’t have time for liars, and second chances get people killed NEXT → QUESTION 6 / 8WEAKNESS 06 What’s your fatal flaw? APride — I’d rather burn everything down than admit someone else is smarter than me BMy conscience — I feel everything too deeply, and it makes me weak when I need to be strong CLoyalty — I follow the code even when the people I serve don’t deserve it NEXT → QUESTION 7 / 8APPROACH 07 Law enforcement is closing in on your operation. What’s your move? AStay three steps ahead — I’ll manipulate the evidence, the people, and the narrative until I’m untouchable BRun — or try to cut a deal. I never wanted to be in this deep in the first place CLawyer up, destroy the evidence, and keep my mouth shut — this isn’t my first rodeo NEXT → QUESTION 8 / 8VALUES 08 What ultimately drives your decisions? ADuty — I do the job because someone has to, and I do it right because that’s who I am BLegacy — I refuse to be forgotten, to have lived a small, invisible life when I was capable of greatness CRedemption — I’ve made terrible mistakes and I just want a chance to make things right REVEAL MY CHARACTER → The Cook Is Done Your Breaking Bad Identity ⚗ Walter White (Heisenberg) “Say my name.” You’re the brilliant mind who was never given the recognition you deserved — and you know it. Beneath a mild exterior lies a volcano of ambition, pride, and ruthless intellect. You can rationalize anything: every dark choice becomes a necessity, every betrayal becomes strategy, every line you cross was drawn in the wrong place to begin with. People underestimate you, and that’s their fatal mistake. Like Walter White, you tell yourself it’s all for your family, but deep down you know the terrifying truth — you do it because you’re good at it, and you like it. Brilliant Prideful Calculating Ego-Driven 🔥 Jesse Pinkman “Yeah, science!” You feel everything — and that’s both your greatest strength and your deepest wound. In a world full of people who have learned to shut off their emotions, you never could. You’re impulsive, sometimes reckless, and you’ve made more than your share of mistakes, but underneath it all beats a conscience that refuses to die. People have used you, manipulated you, and written you off — but you keep getting back up. Like Jesse, you’re proof that even in the darkest places, the capacity for goodness can survive. Emotional Loyal Resilient Conscience-Driven 🎯 Mike Ehrmantraut “No half measures.” You’re the professional in a world of amateurs. While everyone else is driven by ego, emotion, or ideology, you’re driven by competence. You do the job, you do it right, and you don’t waste time explaining yourself to people who wouldn’t understand. Your composure is legendary — you’ve seen enough to know that panic solves nothing and speeches are for people who don’t have a plan. Like Mike, your loyalty runs deep but your patience has limits, and God help anyone who mistakes your silence for weakness. Pragmatic Disciplined No-Nonsense Lethal ↻ PLAY AGAIN
But with time comes objectivity, and audiences will likely soon view the entire Breaking Bad universe as a completed body of work. Without nostalgia clouding people's judgment, viewers will come to see that Breaking Bad's successor is more unpredictable in its narrative, with better characters, storytelling, and stakes than they may have noticed upon first watch — all of which improve Breaking Bad's story, rather than diminish it.
Better Call Saul Is More Polished Than Breaking Bad
Though are also among the best TV episodes ever made, it's also inconsistently paced compared to Better Call Saul. Coming off the last season of Breaking Bad — which surprisingly stuck the landing after killing off its best villain at the end of season 4 — Better Call Saul is confident in its pace from the very start. Jimmy McGill's transformation into Saul Goodman is a slow burn, but it becomes all the more satisfying as the series inches closer to the beginning of Breaking Bad.
Additionally, Better Call Saul showcases much more finesse in its directorial style. Saul favors flashy montages, tonal shifts, and extended periods of dialogue-less action. It's almost as if Breaking Bad was the test run for the writers' room, and by the time they got to Better Call Saul, they had the necessary experience to take more stylistic risks than Breaking Bad ever did. By the final season of Better Call Saul, there's no need to question whether the show will have a satisfying conclusion, and it still manages a welcome surprise ending.
Jimmy McGill & Kim Wexler Are More Complex Characters Than Walt & Jesse
Really, comparing the character arcs of Jimmy and Kim in Better Call Saul to Walt and Jesse in Breaking Bad is like comparing apples and oranges. Walt and Jesse have a toxic father-son relationship that changes from season to season, but despite all the bad blood between them, Walt finds it in himself to save Jesse's life in the show's final moments. The last look they share recognizes this final act of grace, though it doesn't allow forgiveness for all the cruelty Walt shows Jesse throughout the series.
Jimmy and Kim, on the other hand, share a beautiful, tragic love story, despite Jimmy's descent into criminality and Kim's reluctance to follow him. Whereas we root for Jesse to drive away at the end of Breaking Bad, there's a bittersweetness to the idea that Jimmy and Kim can't be together at the end of Better Call Saul.
To a certain degree, , with the final season testing their relationship and fully sending Jimmy into the dark side without her, just as Jesse and Walt enter Saul Goodman's life. However, in the final scenes of Saul, it doesn't feel out of character for Kim and Jimmy to share a quiet cigarette, unlike when Walt spontaneously saves Jesse's life. It's the culmination of a series-long romance that, as Kim tells Jimmy, is bad for everyone around them, even though it's deeply loving.
From A Certain Point Of View, Jimmy Is The Franchise's Real Main Character
Even though "Saul Goodman" doesn't appear until season 2 of Breaking Bad, as Jimmy McGill says himself in the series finale of Better Call Saul, Walter White might've stayed an amateur meth cook were it not for him. The final episodes of Better Call Saul recontextualize exactly why Saul feels the need to offer his services to "Heisenberg," recognizing the potential for fortune and disregarding Mike Ehrmantraut's undeniably wise warning against getting involved with an egomaniacal cancer patient.
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are essential to understanding how his character behaves in Breaking Bad. Likewise, Bryan Cranston's appearances in Better Call Saul, including one where Saul goads Walt into talking about his regrets rather than making disruptive noise trying to fix a pipe, are just as important in understanding who Heisenberg really was: a gadfly Saul manipulated into becoming a kingpin.
Better Call Saul will hopefully someday earn the respect it deserves, not just for knocking it out of the park as a successor to one of TV's most beloved dramas, but also for completely reframing the story of the entire Breaking Bad universe. It's not a tragedy about a petulant chemistry teacher destroying the lives of everyone around him, but a story about how that teacher's corrupt lawyer, with a lot of blood on his hands, is finally convinced to do the right thing because of love.
Walter White may have been the anti-hero of Breaking Bad. Jesse Pinkman may have found redemption in El Camino. Even so, Better Call Saul's Jimmy McGill is the true unexpected hero of Vince Gilligan's entire TV universe.
Cast
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Jimmy McGill -
Mike Ehrmantraut
Franchise(s) Breaking Bad Creator(s) Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould Expand Collapse
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