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After Breaking Bad was declared to be the greatest TV series ever made, Vince Gilligan risked tarnishing its reputation with a prequel series chronicling Saul Goodman’s rise and fall. But Better Call Saul has defied those odds and become just as much of a masterpiece as the saga of Walter White.

Updated May 27, 2022, by Jason Van Duine: With the first half of the sixth and final season now done and dusted, fans of Better Call Saul will have to wait over a month to discover how Jimmy’s saga will end. The long-awaited season began strong, however, giving fans seven fantastic episodes filled with crazy schemes, shocking moments, and tremendous tension. With the first half of season six containing plenty of great material, it’s hard not to imagine that the show’s ultimate ending will be nothing short of spectacular.

13 Lantern (9.2)

The inevitable tragic ending of Chuck’s character arc came in the season 3 finale “Lantern.” After turning his own brother against him, Chuck also loses the support of HHM.

His mental state worsens until he’s eventually seen at his breaking point in the episode’s haunting closing moments, kicking the gas lantern off of his coffee table to burn the house down with himself inside it.

12 Carrot and Stick (9.2)

The long-awaited season 6 premiere of Better Call Saul kicked off with two great episodes; the second of which, “Carrot and Stick,” saw the unexpected return of two unforgettable characters from the show’s first season. In preparation for their scheme against Howard, Jimmy and Kim convince the Kettlemans that Howard is a drug addict. The Kettlemans are then manipulated into telling Cliff, who now begins to suspect as well.

Meanwhile, Nacho begins to suspect that he’s being watched. He’s attacked by the Salamanca cousins, which results in a tense shootout and one of the most exciting action scenes in both Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad. The return of the Kettlemans was a nice surprise, bringing a level of familiarity and humor back into the series.

11 Nailed (9.3)

The penultimate episode of season 2 ends on one doozy of a cliffhanger. After tampering with Chuck’s legal documents, Jimmy watches from across the street as his brother berates the copy store clerk that he paid off to conceal his identity.

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As the confrontation gets more and more heated, the electricity in the store gets to Chuck and he passes out, smacking his head on a table on the way down. So, Jimmy has to decide if he’ll leave his brother to die or save him and give himself away.

10 Wexler V. Goodman (9.3)

Kim gets cold feet about scamming Mesa Verde in “Wexler v. Goodman,” so she tells Jimmy to call it off and he agrees. However, when it comes to the actual meeting, Jimmy pulls the old switcheroo on Kim and goes through with the scheme anyway.

The blackmail scheme works perfectly. Jimmy backs Mesa Verde into a corner with a ridiculous $4 million demand (against their $75,000 offer) and a series of ads about class-action suits against Mesa Verde.

9 Something Unforgivable (9.3)

The season 5 finale “Something Unforgivable” set the stage for one heck of a final season. After being invited into the Salamancas’ compound, Nacho was pressured to let Gus’ hit squad in to kill Lalo. But Lalo managed to turn the tables on his attackers. Now, he’s out for revenge.

Meanwhile, Kim is seemingly about to break bad, as she wants to pull a prank on Howard that wouldn’t just damage his car or mildly embarrass him, but would destroy his career.

8 Pimento (9.4)

Mike begins his career as a freelance bodyguard in the season 1 episode “Pimento,” which is named after the kind of cheese sandwich he brings to the job. The other bodyguards have brought guns, but after Mike promptly disarms them, he proves he doesn’t need any backup.

Jimmy’s storyline in “Pimento,” as he tries to work alongside Howard and Chuck on the Sandpiper case, gets to the root of how HHM’s treatment of Jimmy effectively led to the rise of Saul Goodman.

7 Five-O (9.4)

Mike’s tragic backstory as a corrupt cop in Philly was filled in by season 1’s “Five-O.” He tracked down the dirty cops who murdered his son, then drunkenly told his killers he knew what they did, so they offered to give him a ride and instead took him to a discreet location to shoot him.

But when they reached that discreet location, Mike revealed he was actually stone-cold sober and shot both of them dead. This episode added a ton of new depth to Mike, who was previously a strong, silent type.

6 Winner (9.5)

There’s a lot of debate among the Better Call Saul fan base over when exactly Jimmy McGill transformed into Saul Goodman. In the most literal sense, it happens in the season 4 finale “Winner,” in which Jimmy feigns grief to curry favor with the board in charge of reinstating his law license.

After convincing them he really cared about his brother’s death, he immediately asks for the paperwork required to begin practicing under the name Saul Goodman. Then, he tells a concerned-looking Kim, “S’all good, man!”

5 Rock and Hard Place (9.7)

While Nacho might have been a character with good intentions, his sendoff was a long time coming. His death, while predictable, was still shocking to see take place so early in the show’s final season. Nevertheless, the writers of Better Call Saul still managed to give the character a proper farewell.

As Nacho continues to evade the Salamancas, he eventually agrees to surrender so long as his father is protected. The only way out for Nacho is to stage an execution of sorts, but Nacho takes matters into his own hands by choosing to commit suicide after telling Hector that he was responsible for his condition. Michael Mando has always been a great actor, but this episode showcases his most powerful performance to date. Combined with the expert writing and emotional buildup, Nacho’s death is one of the most memorable in the series.

4 Chicanery (9.7)

Jimmy’s conflict with Chuck came to a head in season 3’s “Chicanery,” as the two feuding brothers found themselves on opposing sides of the courtroom. Chuck wanted to get Jimmy disbarred, supposedly for tampering with his legal documents, but mainly because he never respected him as a lawyer.

In the episode’s shocking final scene, brilliantly played by Michael McKean, a scam pulled by Slippin’ Jimmy and Huell prompts Chuck to meltdown and unravel his true intentions, leaving the courtroom in a state of stunned silence.

3 Bagman (9.7)

In the opening act of season 5’s “Bagman,” Jimmy is tasked with driving out into the desert to pick up Lalo’s bail from a couple of cartel guys. He talks so much about how simple the job is that it foreshadows something terrible.

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As Jimmy and Mike are stranded in the desert and trudge their way back to Albuquerque, “Bagman” becomes a kind of neo-western version of The Sopranos episode “Pine Barrens.”

2 Bad Choice Road (9.8)

“Tell me again.” The penultimate episode of Better Call Saul’s fifth season culminates in one of the tensest scenes in TV history. As Mike watches through a sniper scope from across the street, Lalo confronts Jimmy about the bullet holes in his Suzuki Esteem.

Jimmy offers to return Lalo’s money, but Kim knows there’s a bullet hole in his flask that’ll give away his lies, so she steps in and manages to get Lalo to back down with nothing but well-chosen words.

1 Plan and Execution (9.9)

The shocking mid-season finale for season 6 manages to pull everything together and immediately leave viewers wanting more. As “D-Day” begins, Jimmy and Kim are forced to make some last-minute changes to their scheme against Howard. And just their luck; Lalo is back in town.

Howard’s breakdown as the scheme goes seemingly as planned showcases Patrick Fabian’s best performance as the character. The season’s two storylines merge subtly, leading to a tragic conclusion for one of the show’s supporting characters. It’s the culminating moment where Jimmy and Kim’s actions catch up with them, and the end of Jimmy’s series-long downfall begins.

The final season of Better Call Saul will resume on AMC on July 11, 2022.

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