The second season finale of Better Call Saul airs on Monday night. It’s been a phenomenal, incredibly well-written and directed season of arguably the best drama on television since its predecessor, Breaking Bad. Speaking of Breaking Bad, its world is beginning to come into focus — as is how Mike and Jimmy McGill got involved with it. The Saul past, the Breaking Bad present, and even the future of Gene are merging.
After last week’s fantastic penultimate episode of the season, “Nailed,” we still several questions posed by this season of Better Call Saul that we’d love to see answered in the finale.
1. Is Chuck Dead?
No. Better Call Saul is not that kind of show. It doesn’t traffic in cheap cliffhangers (and if he had died, a bowl of oranges probably would’ve fallen on Chuck’s head).
Besides, death is too easy an out for Jimmy, and the Saul writers never take shortcuts. However, the guilt Jimmy may feel for being responsible for Chuck’s injury may compel him to confess to the Mesa Verde doc scam, or — given Chuck’s history with electronic medical equipment in hospitals — it may force him to commit Chuck in order for Chuck to get the medical help he needs, which will open up a huge can of worms with Hamlin. If Chuck is committed, Hamlin may be able to buy him out of the firm.
In either scenario, Chuck may ultimately disown Jimmy over this incident, which is probably a fate worse than death for Jimmy’s conscience. He obviously still loves his brother a great deal, even after everything has gone down, and if Chuck decided to push Jimmy out of his life, it may push Jimmy even harder toward Saul Goodman.
2. Will Kim dump Jimmy?
That’s actually a bigger concern here. Kim may have decided to let Jimmy be Slippin’ Jimmy, but in establishing separate law offices, she clearly wanted to separate herself from him professionally. She might have eventually forgiven Jimmy for the Mesa Verde business, because she could see it for what it is — a grand romantic gesture — but now Kim is implicated in Chuck’s injury. She’s the one who compelled Jimmy to cover his tracks. She defended Jimmy, even though she knew he was in the wrong. Chuck’s injury — whatever it may ultimately be — may be the last straw for Kim. Jimmy has pulled her too far into his life as Slippin’ Jimmy, and I don’t think Kim Wexler can live with that.
3. Will Jimmy turn into Saul in the season finale?
As much as we might love Jimmy, his transformation into Saul is fast approaching. With Tio, Tuco, and the Cousins already involved, and with Gus Fring potentially on the horizon, Saul is merging into the Breaking Bad world and timeline. It’s going to be hard to push it off much longer.
4. Will we see Jimmy’s commercial?
After all the build up, I certainly hope so. Plus, how cool would it be if the commercial is the introduction of Saul Goodman?
On the flip side, after Chuck’s injury, Jimmy’s interference with Mesa Verde, the lie he told about his other commercial, and the Hoboken Squat Cobbler, a Saul Goodman commercial may be the final straw, just the thing that drives Kim away for good.
5. What is the worst case scenario for Kim?
My biggest fear where it concerns Kim is that she gets implicated in Jimmy’s scheme to steal Mesa Verde from Hamlin, that Jimmy somehow escapes punishment, and Kim is the one that loses her legal career over it. That would rip Jimmy’s soul out, and Jimmy without a soul is Saul Goodman.
6. Will Tio figure out Mike was behind the heist?
Somehow, yes. I think Mike got cocky. I think he may have missed something. I have a feeling it involved the car. The guy he hog tied from the ice-cream truck got a really good look at the car Mike was driving. And no, that’s not the car that Mike normally drives, but there might be a way to connect him to it. Also, check out that license plate:
“BC2-E19.” Better Call Season 2, Episode 19 (of the entire series).
I love you, Vince Gilligan.
7. Will Mike be the cause of Tio’s stroke?
Somehow, I think he will be. I don’t know if it will be in the season finale, but I do think that Mike is the reason that Tio is in a wheelchair in Breaking Bad. It might have something to do with switching or stealing Tio’s pills, which we see him taking here while he flips out over the theft of $250,000.
8. Will Daniel “Pryce” Wormald return in the finale?
I don’t know, but if Mike were looking for someone who could supply him with pharmaceuticals to switch out with Tio’s medication, Pryce might be his guy.
9. What will Mike do with that $250K?
Probably that $250,000 will end up back with Tio, but I wish he’d give it to Fran, his waitress, as a tip. I don’t think he does, because Fran is still on Breaking Bad and a waitress with $250,000 doesn’t stick around. But, I could swear Mike actually blushed after flirting with her.
Adorable.
10. Will we see a new Breaking Bad character?
I still believe that we are going to see Gus Fring. Mike’s dispute with Hector has to eventually involve Gus. TVLine is suggesting that Gus may have originally been in the finale, but was cut, based on this Vince Gilligan statement:
Series creator Vince Gilligan shared that Better Call Saul had “a perfect opportunity for someone [else] from our Breaking Bad universe to show up” during its sophomore finale, but co-creator Peter Gould ultimately decided against it.
I don’t think it was Gus Fring. I think it was Marie, who was an X-Ray technician, which would have created the “perfect opportunity” for her to show up in order to provide X-rays for Chuck after his head injury.
