The Evolution of Jimmy McGill: From Comic Relief to Tragic Antihero
Emma Martinez
Published May 17, 2026
By Published Apr 3, 2026, 1:00 PM EDT Ben Sherlock is a Tomatometer-approved film and TV critic who runs the massively underrated YouTube channel I Got Touched at the Cinema. Before working at Screen Rant, Ben wrote for Game Rant, Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop. He's also an indie filmmaker, a standup comedian, and an alumnus of the School of Rock. Summary Generate a summary of this story 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
Bob Odenkirk introduced the world to his unexpected dramatic skills when he played Saul Goodman in , but his subsequent role as Jimmy McGill went a lot deeper. As a writer on Saturday Night Live and The Ben Stiller Show, on the ‘90s comedy scene. When he got his own sketch series, Mr. Show, co-hosted with David Cross, he left his mark on TV history.
Odenkirk could’ve retired there and gone down as one of the greatest comedy minds of all time. But he was just getting started. In the late 2000s, between various directing gigs and , Odenkirk joined the cast of Breaking Bad as Walter White’s *criminal* lawyer Saul Goodman, and completely changed his career.
After Odenkirk showed off his dramatic chops in Breaking Bad, he started getting cast in prestigious movies by iconic directors, like Steven Spielberg’s The Post and Greta Gerwig’s Little Women. He also became an action hero with his bone-crunching antics in the Nobody franchise. But is, well, Saul — or, rather, Jimmy McGill.
Better Call Saul's Jimmy McGill Was An Even More Fascinating Character Than Saul Goodman
When it was first announced that , there was naturally some skepticism. Saul was a great character in Breaking Bad, but he was primarily comic relief. Odenkirk got to shine in the occasional dramatic scene, like Saul being intimidated by Walt or Jesse confronting Saul about Brock’s poisoning, but for the most part, Odenkirk was there to lighten the mood with rapid-fire quips.
But, within a couple of , it was clear that the Saul we saw in Breaking Bad was just a facade. As we saw in Better Call Saul, that clown show was just a mask that a very broken human being put on to disguise his pain. The prequel showed us that Saul wasn’t always like that.
Jimmy McGill was once a wayward attorney hoping to forge a legitimate career in the law. But people’s preconceptions about him, and his own brother’s lack of faith in him, stalled those plans and drove him to a life of crime. Better Call Saul took a comic-relief character and turned him into a tragic figure, and a riveting protagonist.
Saul was already a fascinating character in Breaking Bad. We never saw him behind closed doors — we never saw him outside his responsibilities as Walt and Jesse’s lawyer — but that was enough to make audiences curious. Saul is a lawyer who will do whatever it takes to stay out of court, and doesn’t think twice about bending the law to help his clients.
Better Call Saul Made Jimmy Just As Tragic & Complex As Walter White
By , Jimmy had become every bit the tragic, complex, three-dimensional antihero that Walter White was. Across , we saw Walt transform from a mild-mannered, well-meaning chemistry teacher into a callous, murderous monster, and Bryan Cranston deftly conveyed every emotional turn in that journey.
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Before Better Call Saul aired, there was some skepticism that Odenkirk could repeat the same magic, or even that Saul could anchor a series as effectively as Walt did. But those skeptics were quickly silenced by the show’s razor-sharp storytelling, the mix of prequel and sequel elements giving a rounded portrait of Saul’s entire arc, and, of course, .
Odenkirk’s dramatic breakout in Breaking Bad has led to a ton of great career opportunities. He starred in Glengarry Glen Ross on Broadway, he played Uncle Lee in a couple of , and he just made a new thriller with Ben Wheatley. But the best role he’s gotten since playing Saul has been Saul himself in Breaking Bad’s spinoff.
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