Why did Saul Goodman disappear in Breaking Bad? The full backstory from Better Call Saul

Breaking Bad debuted in 2008 and is about Walter White—a chemistry teacher at a high school who turns into a meth kingpin. His fall into crime is compelling and heartbreaking. With intricate plots, moral complications, and multidimensional characters, the show earned its place among the greatest dramas ever produced.

One oaf the best characters to feature in the show was Saul Goodman. He's flashy, quick-talking, and constantly working the angles. But behind the facade is Jimmy McGill—his real name. Saul Goodman appears in season two and immediately becomes a favorite. He's smart, brazen, and never afraid to bend the law.

As Walt and Jesse's attorney and handyman fixer, Saul finds himself in some of the show's most pivotal moments. So when he vanishes in the last season, it leaves a big question hanging.

That question is resolved in the prequel series, Better Call Saul. This series follows Jimmy on his journey as he becomes Saul Goodman. It doesn't only account for his decisions. It reveals what motivates him, what terrifies him, and why he flees. It brings new richness to a character we believed we understood.

Let's talk about why Saul Goodman disappears in Breaking Bad.

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Who is Saul Goodman? The man behind the persona

Saul Goodman is a name. The individual who stands behind it is Jimmy McGill. He began as a petty con man in Cicero, Illinois. He got into trouble young. But then he attempted to go straight. He moved to Albuquerque to work alongside his older brother Chuck at a high-end law firm—Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill.

But it wasn't easy. Jimmy's history kept pulling him under. And Chuck didn't trust him. No matter how hard he worked, Jimmy couldn't lose the sense that he was always going to be viewed as a joke.

Nevertheless, Jimmy did possess charm. He did possess hustle. He managed to make a name for himself by embracing what other people perceived of him. He didn't become merely a lawyer for criminals—he became a criminal lawyer.

The use of the Saul Goodman persona was his armor. It allowed him to get away from the hurt of rejection. And it attracted clients who were in need of someone who was bold, quick, and not afraid to get dirty.

Saul Goodman encounters Walt and Jesse when they need to get Badger out of jail. Saul instantly realizes how much trouble they're in—the DEA is close to discovering who "Heisenberg" actually is. So he devises a plan. He pays a man nicknamed "Jimmy In-'N-Out" to bear the blame for Walt. The man gets paid, Walt gets protected, and voila, their criminal business is off and running.

From then on, he's their fixer. He manages the cash. He keeps the cops at bay. And as their drug operation expands, so does Saul's danger. Things eventually go haywire. Law enforcement is closing in. And Saul realizes he's out of time.

Saul Goodman's vanishing takes place in the second-to-last episode of Breaking Bad, which is called Granite State (Season 5, Episode 15). By this point in the narrative, Walter White's meth empire has fallen apart entirely. Important allies have been assassinated. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is hot on his tail. And Walt himself is currently a fugitive.

Saul, with an acute sense of how perilous things have turned out, knows that staying in Albuquerque may cost him his liberty—or even his life. That's when he decides to contact Ed Galbraith, also known as "the Disappearer." Ed provides new identities and fresh starts, but only to the desperate who are willing to vanish forever.

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The circumstances leading to the disappearance

A number of small but important events combine to render Saul's ongoing presence in Albuquerque utterly impossible:

Saul Goodman's extensive involvement in Walt's illicit activities—money laundering and insider conspiracy—places him squarely within law enforcement's sights. Although his part wasn't as central, Saul still knowingly played along. That renders him a legal liability. And if apprehended, he would go down for serious charges and time behind bars.

With Walt's empire destroyed, the criminal underworld is more unstable than ever. Violent gangs, in particular, Jack Welker's white supremacist gang, are a very real danger to Saul's well-being. The killing of DEA agents Hank Schrader and Steven Gomez indicates just how far these individuals will go. In this environment, anyone who is associated with Walt is fair game. Loose ends are being wrapped up—permanently.

Saul Goodman has no idea how high the stakes are. He knows that both law enforcement and surviving criminals may be looking for him. The police want information. The criminals want silence. Either way, staying around is equivalent to being in grave danger. Saul's decision to go underground is motivated by fear, but also by a need to remain alive. It's a last resort that serves as self-preservation and a means to avoid prosecution.

In Granite State, Saul Goodman encounters Ed the Disappearer. Ed's business is creating new identities for individuals who must disappear. Saul's new existence is as Gene Takavic, the store manager of a Cinnabon in Omaha, Nebraska.

The episode illustrates Saul's final moments with Walt. You witness his silent acceptance of a life in hiding. He departs from the life he knew, one that he dominated with charm and cunning.

It's the last point in Saul's arc. Vanishing is his ultimate maneuver—a last-ditch effort—to get away from the consequences of his actions and the catastrophe that followed his association with Walter White.

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Full circle: Better Call Saul and the extended backstory

Better Call Saul fills in the gaps. It tells us how Jimmy McGill became Saul Goodman—and why he needed to get away.

We see Jimmy attempt to succeed as an attorney. He wants to be respected. He wants to do things correctly. But it is not simple. Chuck, his brother, never truly believes in him. The legal establishment treats him like a joke.

The only person who believes in him is Kim Wexler. She and he have a complicated relationship, but it is authentic. She believes there is something good in Jimmy that he himself would like to believe in. He desires legitimacy, but he also wishes to win. And at times, winning involves bending rules.

Those shortcuts turn into patterns over time. Then the patterns turn into who he is. The more that stumbles, the more he needs a means of remaining in the game. That's when Saul Goodman enters.

The look, the persona, the name—it's not an act. It's how he makes it through. It's how he manages to carry on in a world constantly saying no to him.

Finally, Better Call Saul falls back into place after he disappears. Now he's Gene Takavic, working under the radar at a Cinnabon in Omaha, hiding in plain sight.

Old habits, though, die hard. Gene begins to slip again, running cons, pushing limits. He just can't resist. He finally gets caught. The desperate call to Ed the Disappearer doesn't work, and the police arrest him.

From prison, he calls Bill Oakley for assistance. The government comes down to 30 years. But Saul Goodman has yet another scheme. He weaves a new narrative—portrays himself as Walt's pawn, not partner. He threatens to hang the jury, and it works. The deal is reduced to only seven years in a comfortable North Carolina prison.

After Saul Goodman attempts to capitalize on Howard Hamlin's murder to negotiate a better deal with prosecutors, he discovers that Kim has already confessed. That destroyed any negotiating power he believed he possessed. Without any cards to play anymore, Saul—now again Jimmy McGill—abandons the act. He relinquishes the schemes and chooses to confess to everything in court.

Rather than holding tight to a plea bargain that might have earned him a much shorter sentence, Jimmy gets up and speaks the whole truth. He admits to assisting in the construction of Walt's empire and all the harm he inflicted in the process.

The judge sentences him to 86 years in federal prison—a de facto life sentence. Jimmy no longer flees. He accepts responsibility, and in doing so, retrieves a piece of himself.

In the last scenes of Better Call Saul, Jimmy is in prison. Other prisoners know him, even accord him respect. Kim comes to visit him one last time. There's a silent moment between them. And then she turns and walks away, reminding us that although there is some redemption, there can be no return.