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canyonwalkerFinally, after 35 episodes of Better Call Saul, titular character Saul Goodman appears. In episode 3.06, the 36th episode of the series and just past the halfway point of the third season, Jimmy McGill uses the pseudonym Saul Goodman for the first time.
It's not what you'd think, though. Saul Goodman appears not as Jimmy's ambulance-chasing lawyer persona but as a TV producer who helps local small businesses create TV ads.
As news of the suspension sets in Jimmy scrambles to shore up his finances. His income from specializing in elder law wasn't all that great to start with, and lawyers in private practice have a number of expenses. One is a series of TV ads he's paid for. They're not "Better call Saul!" though. He hadn't starting using that name yet. His latest slogan was "Gimme Jimmy!" He tries to get his money back for the unaired ads— it's thousands of dollars— but can't.
Jimmy gets the idea that if he can't get a refund he can run somebody else's ad in his slot. The TV station contract prohibits him from selling the ad time, though... so as a conniving lawyer he gets the idea of selling his services as a TV commercial creator and throwing in the ad time for free.
Anyway, in this episode where Jimmy creates the character, he offers a different explanation for "Saul Goodman". As he explains to his girlfriend, Kim, who asks, he picked it because "Saul Goodman" sounds surfer-cool like, "It's all good, man!" 🤙
It's not what you'd think, though. Saul Goodman appears not as Jimmy's ambulance-chasing lawyer persona but as a TV producer who helps local small businesses create TV ads.
Why did it take so long?
Jimmy creating his Saul Goodman persona 36 episodes into the story comes down to the showrunners needing to set a deliberate pace. I found the slow pace frustrating at first in the first few episodes but then realized it's necessary for good storytelling. The showrunners need to present their main character as a whole person. If they attempted a fan-service prequel, one where Saul-the-corrupt-lawyer is already Saul-the-corrupt-lawyer, they would have exhausted interesting storylines after just a few episodes. That's how The Book of Boba Fett fell apart after 4 episodes and became season 2.5 of The Mandalorian.Why now, in the 36th episode?
Jimmy creates the alter-ego Saul Goodman in the 36th episode because he's hit bottom as a lawyer and needs to change. After a trial before the state bar in the previous episode, the verdict arrives: Jimmy isn't disbarred, but the board does suspend him from practicing law for one year.As news of the suspension sets in Jimmy scrambles to shore up his finances. His income from specializing in elder law wasn't all that great to start with, and lawyers in private practice have a number of expenses. One is a series of TV ads he's paid for. They're not "Better call Saul!" though. He hadn't starting using that name yet. His latest slogan was "Gimme Jimmy!" He tries to get his money back for the unaired ads— it's thousands of dollars— but can't.
Jimmy gets the idea that if he can't get a refund he can run somebody else's ad in his slot. The TV station contract prohibits him from selling the ad time, though... so as a conniving lawyer he gets the idea of selling his services as a TV commercial creator and throwing in the ad time for free.
Why "Saul Goodman"?
Somewhere in Breaking Bad Jimmy quips that he changed his name to Saul Goodman because (slightly paraphrased) "It sounds Jewish, and clients trust a Jewish lawyer." That explanation always sat poorly with me because I'm related by marriage to a Goodman who's a lawyer— and he's not Jewish. And, moreover, I'm married into a Jewish family, and my Jewish relatives shake their heads at Jimmy's claim that "Goodman" sounds Jewish. Rosen, Katz, Siegel, Lieberman, Goldberg; those are a few common (Western European) Jewish surnames. Goodman is very Anglo.Anyway, in this episode where Jimmy creates the character, he offers a different explanation for "Saul Goodman". As he explains to his girlfriend, Kim, who asks, he picked it because "Saul Goodman" sounds surfer-cool like, "It's all good, man!" 🤙
