It may have been over a month since “Better Call Saul” aired its finale on Aug. 15, but the show is still on the minds of fans due to its incredibly high quality. The “Breaking Bad” prequel spent a total of eight years on air, with its first season coming out all the way back in 2015. In honor of the ending of this spectacular show, let’s take a look at one way to rank the six seasons from good to perfection. Note that season six has been split up into two parts, as there was a break between the airing of its two halves.
7. Season Two
The second season of “Better Call Saul” is by no means a bad season of television, but it struggles with its pacing. One of the highlights of this season is the relationship between ex-cop turned con man Michael Ehrmantraut and cartel associate Nacho Varga as the two plot to put Varga’s boss, Tuco Salamanca, in jail. However, the season struggles on the lawyer-side of the show, as the storyline of Saul Goodman working at Clifford Main’s law firm is not particularly compelling. Overall, the season has its ups and downs, but its quality is a testament to the fact that all of “Better Call Saul’s” seasons are quite good.
6. Season One
The opening season of the show is probably the most unique. In this season, Goodman is a struggling lawyer making barely any money by doing public defender overload cases. The audience gets to slowly watch him lose his morality, giving an origin for his corrupt behavior in “Breaking Bad.” The season does a great job of introducing new characters, such as Goodman’s brother, Charles “Chuck” McGill, rival lawyer, Howard Hamlin and Goodman’s love interest, Kim Wexler. What holds back the first season is its lack of identity, as the show did not really seem to know where it was going.
5. Season Four
This is the point where “Better Call Saul” really hits its stride, as seasons three through six could easily all be placed at the top of the list. What makes season four excellent is its ending, as the audience finally gets to see Goodman embrace the Saul Goodman persona fans loved in “Breaking Bad.” This season also contains perhaps the best montage sequence from all of “Better Call Saul” with the montage to the song “Something Stupid” in the seventh episode, depicting the daily lives of Goodman and Wexler. However, what holds back season four is that it stagnates in its early episodes to deal with the death of McGill, which happened at the end of season three.
4. Season Three
The third season of “Better Call Saul” has some of the best moments of the show. From Varga switching Hector Salamanca’s pills to the entire “Chicanery” episode, season three marks a change from “Better Call Saul” just being another lawyer show to being must-watch television. This season also perfectly concludes the story of McGill, with the end of his relationship with Goodman informing much of what happens to Goodman in future seasons and “Breaking Bad.”
3. Season Six Part One
The first half of season six contains perhaps some of the best episodes of “Better Call Saul,” but also some of the weakest ones. The highlights are certainly the third and seventh episodes, featuring the deaths of Varga and Hamlin, respectively. These are classic episodes that will have fans talking for years to come, but unfortunately the rest of the episodes of season six part one are not as memorable. On the whole, season six part one might have the highest highs of any season, but also some unfortunate lows.
2. Season Five
The fifth season of “Better Call Saul” might be the only season to truly have no down episodes. The whole season is captivating, from Goodman’s return to the law after a brief hiatus to the return of DEA agents Hank Schrader and Steven Gomez from “Breaking Bad” and, finally, to the episode “Bagman,” where Goodman and Ehrmantraut get stranded in the desert. The final three episodes of the season, starting with “Bagman,” are some of the tensest and nail-biting of the entire show. The fact that season five is not the best season of the show is only because of just how epic the final half of season six is.
1. Season Six Part Two
While it is the shortest “season” if you want to call it one, the six episodes of part two of season six are each unique yet equally superb. There is a surprising amount of variety in these episodes, as there is some main “Better Call Saul” timeline content set before “Breaking Bad,” four episodes set entirely after “Breaking Bad” and some special “Breaking Bad” content thrown in for the fans. It would be impossible to talk about season six part two without mentioning two things — the return of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman from “Breaking Bad” and the finale of the show itself. Both White and Pinkman are handled masterfully, as their appearance serves the show beyond just being fan service, and the show ends in a very satisfying way as Goodman owns up to his crimes and receives the legal repercussions that he deserves.