Just like the series it is inspired by, Better Call Saul uses time jumps to tell its story. And Monday's episode, "Quite A Ride," presents viewers with the timeline they've been waiting so patiently waiting to see. Spoilers follow. During the pre-credits scene, Better Call Saul shows Saul in Breaking Bad. This is the first instance where Better Call Saul overlaps with the main events of Breaking Bad. And based on previous comments from co-creator Vince Gilligan, more scenes set in the Breaking Bad era are to come in Better Call Saul Season 4.
The origin story of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman's lawyer has showcased child Jimmy, con artist Slippin' Jimmy, aspiring lawyer James McGill, and even Gene — the manager of a Cinnabon in Omaha. And while Season 3 gave a glimpse of the earliest iteration of Saul Goodman, Better Call Saul has never crossed over into the Breaking Bad timeline until now. Gilligan had teased that Better Call Saul Season 4 would have new scenes set in the Breaking Bad time period to Entertainment Weekly. "We have a subplot that very squarely gets into Breaking Bad territory and brings us into the world — or at least points us on a path toward the world of Walter White and the territory of Walter White," Gilligan said. He clarified that this subplot would feature none other than Saul Goodman — and that's how "Quite A Ride" kicks off.
From a timeline standpoint, the scene occurs directly before the events featured at the beginning of the penultimate episode of Breaking Bad, "Granite State." Saul's assistant Francesca, who also served as Jimmy and Kim's assistant in Better Call Saul Season 3, shreds documents while Saul is busy destroying his office. He is searching for his stashes of cash as he prepares to call the vacuum repair guy Ed, who acts as the "Disappearer."
Besides the sheer delight of seeing Jimmy as Saul, there are also some fun Easter eggs in this moment. In his frantic state, Saul is unable to remember the word for "box cutter" to Francesca. "Box Cutter" is the name of the Season 4 premiere of Breaking Bad where Gus threatens to kill Jesse and Walt with the utility blade. But instead, he slits Victor's throat. And Saul uses the code to summon Ed that he first referenced to Walt in Season 4's "Crawl Space" and used for Jesse in Season 5's "Confessions:" "I need a new dust filter for my Hoover Max Extract Pressure Pro, model 60." Saul then destroys his burner phone, which he spends a significant amount of time peddling during "Quite A Ride."
With his purple shirt, his beaten-up face (courtesy of Jesse), and his blue suitcases full of money, Saul is about to head to Best Quality Vacuum Repair to get his new identity of Gene. (This is also where he will see Walt for the last time.) Since Better Call Saul Season 4 kicked off what a flashforward to Gene being followed, it's possible that the Breaking Bad era subplot that Gilligan promised will follow Saul as he journeys to Nebraska. However, in the words of Walter right before he made his own call to Ed in Breaking Bad, Saul still has got some things to do. And he has put Francesca in charge of this unspecified task, so it's possible that this subplot will follow her.
The episode's title references the final words that Saul says to Francesca, "Quite a ride, huh?" But before she leaves his office, Saul gives Francesca a card for a lawyer. He says, "Tell 'em Jimmy sent ya." Saul keeps the pronoun non-gender specific, but the lawyer that he's referring Francesca to is most likely Howard Hamlin. After all, Francesca already knows who Kim is since she worked for her at Wexler McGill. And Howard and Jimmy interact in the current timeline of Better Call Saul during "Quite A Ride" when they run into each other in the court's bathroom. While this is a scene to show that Howard is uncharacteristically distraught, it may also be a hint to viewers that his involvement in this story is far from over.
Saul asks Francesca to be somewhere on Nov. 12 at 3 p.m. While the episode keeps the task vague, it seems that Francesca is supposed to answer a phone at that time. So, who is going to be calling? A major Breaking Bad character? Or maybe, it will be Kim? Regardless of who is on the phone, Better Call Saul following Francesca as she cleans up Saul's final mess could be fascinating to watch and just may be what Gilligan alluded to.
No matter how it plays out, the Breaking Bad timeframe is in full force now on Better Call Saul. And the connections between the shows can only get better from here.
