Better Call Saul season 6 is delivering on something few prequels have ever achieved; it’s dramatically elevating the series that came before it. Considering that series was Breaking Bad — one of the greatest TV shows of all time — that’s no mean feat. But with every nod to its predecessor, every cameo, and every loose end connecting the two series together that it ties up, it completes Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad universe in a way no one was expecting.
When it was revealed that Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) would be making their return to the series, there was excitement mixed with an air of trepidation that Better Call Saul might end with a greatest hits tour. Walt and Jesse’s stories were roundly concluded in both Breaking Bad and El Camino, so what could Better Call Saul possibly do with the characters that we hadn’t already seen? As we’ve now learned from season 6 episode 11, the answer was ambitious: recontextualize the entirety of Walter White’s story, by making him Frankenstein’s monster to Saul’s Dr. Frankenstein.
Better Call Saul’s Frankenstein connection explained
Better Call Saul’s connection to the story of Frankenstein was made clear in episode 11 (fittingly titled ‘Breaking Bad’). Most obviously, Saul refers to Jesse as Igor in the flashback scene in the RV. There’s also Saul’s name when performing his cons — Viktor with a K, a specific choice that mirrors the name of Viktor Frankenstein, the monster’s creator. Saul mentions Frankenstein in his conversation with Mike, referring to how the elderly hitman shuffles around with his movement. Then there’s Saul’s reference to “James Whale’s traveling roadshow” while in the RV with Walt and Jesse — James Whale being the director of the 1931 Frankenstein movie.
The comparisons to Frankenstein were first spotted over on Reddit, lifting the lid on a whole host of other peculiarities that tie Better Call Saul into the story of Frankenstein. Chuck’s fear of electricity? Frankenstein’s Monster was created using lightning. The lauded Breaking Bad episode ‘Ozymandias?’ Its title is based on a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, the husband of Mary Shelley, the author of the classic Frankenstein novel. There are too many similarities for this connection to be a coincidence.
But what does it mean for the story of Jimmy McGill? In episode 11, we witness flashbacks of his initial interactions with Walter White. In Breaking Bad, Saul always appeared to be on the back foot in his interactions with Walt. Yes, he was clearly whip-smart, but he also appeared cowardly and afraid of what Walt could do. However, episode 11 recontextualized this relationship and implied that Walt was instead the by-product of what Saul could do.
We see Mike implore Saul to not get tied up with Walt, expressing that the man known as “Heisenberg” is an “amateur” who would lead to trouble — advice Saul overlooks, referring to Walt as “170lbs of clay, ready to be molded.” From this statement, Better Call Saul provides viewers with a shocking twist — Heisenberg is Saul’s creation.
The evidence has been there since Breaking Bad. Saul’s gaudy style and over-the-top personality may have made him the show’s comic relief, but his knowledge of the law and how to bend it around his little finger routinely pushed Walter White down a deeper, darker path. While Saul wasn’t wholly responsible for Walt’s actions, he was certainly the one who pointed him in the wrong direction. Without Saul’s involvement, Walter is likely found out and arrested or killed a couple of seasons in.
Up until this point, Saul seemed like a crooked lawyer who nonetheless was one of many whose life was turned upside down by knowing Walt. After episode 11, it is made clear that Heisenberg is the manifestation of Saul’s worst impulses. The latest episode concludes with Saul breaking into the house of the suyobject of a con gone wrong, unable to control himself after being offered reasonable, better advice to leave the victim alone. Parallels are drawn to his first meeting with Walter White, entering his lab in the school after Mike pleads with him to forget about the meth-dealing chemistry teacher. As Kim said — “we are bad for everyone around us.”
Vince Gilligan has pulled a Star Wars on us. We spent five seasons with Breaking Bad thinking Walter White was the Chosen One of our story, only for Better Call Saul to swoop in and reveal Saul to be its Anakin. Much like Frankenstein’s monster is often incorrectly referred to simply as Frankenstein, with Better Call Saul we have been shown that we’ve been looking at the wrong villain all this time.
Viewers may still find Saul a sympathetic character — just as they did with Walt before him — but Better Call Saul shows us that he was the one who put together the parts to create Heisenberg. What was once a story about a chemistry teacher who broke bad and became a criminal overlord, is now a story about how an “amateur” criminal was catapulted to infamy by the tale’s jester. There’s only one true mastermind in the Breaking Bad universe — and it ain’t Walter White.
