The Better Call Saul Finale Was Inspired By A Holiday Classic

According to Gould, who co-created the series with Vince Gilligan and helmed “Saul Gone,” that climactic moment of confession was inspired in part by a classic story. “We used to talk about the progression of Jimmy McGill, of Saul Goodman as being a little like ‘A Christmas Carol,'” Gould told AMC Talk. 

In Charles Dickens’ classic story, heartless miser Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by three ghosts, each of which helps him better understand the error of the way he’s been living. By the end of his long, dark night of the soul, he emerges a changed man, and his ability to gain new insight and compassion after decades of misdeeds is seen as a Christmas miracle.

It’s a story that’s so familiar that watching an on-screen or stage adaptation can often feel more like a comforting holiday ritual than a genuinely heartfelt experience. But with years of commitment to its story, “Better Call Saul” breaks down the raw emotional power of Dickens’ structure of atonement and contemplation, recontextualizing it for modern viewers in a way that hits us square in the heart.

Written by: Slash