Editor’s note: Deadline’s It Starts on the Page features 10 standout drama series scripts in 2023 Emmy contention. It showcases the critical role writers’ work plays in a show’s success. All materials (the script and writers intro) were submitted before the WGA strike began on May 2.
The spinoff from Vince Gilligan’s Emmy-winning Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul wrapped its run on AMC by tying up all the loose threads that wove through the ambitious drama for six seasons and spanned characters that appeared in both series.
That feat culminated with Season 6’s 13th and final episode, “Saul Gone,” written and directed by series co-creator Peter Gould, who brought it all home by providing a platform that literally put Bob Odenkirk’s lead character — in essence a man made up separate entities in Jimmy McGill, lawyer/crook Saul Goodman and fugitive Gene Takavic — on trial for his numerous crimes and misdeeds.
It was one final piece of brilliance in a series that has been nominated for 46 Emmys so far, including five noms for writing.
Here is the script for “Saul Gone” with an introduction from Gould, in which he writes about the beats he wanted to hit in wrapping up the series, and whether Jimmy/Saul really did find what he sought in the end.
How to write an end? A sixty-third and final episode? Daunting is a good word. What I was hoping, more than anything, was to be true to the characters, true to the show.
The concept of the episode is to peel back the layers of the character. He goes from terrified fugitive Gene, to cocky Saul Goodman and finally to Jimmy McGill, a man who takes responsibility for his actions.
It’s a hell of a journey for a single hour of television.
And, inside this story, weaving together three “ghosts” from Jimmy’s past. Three men pivotal in his life: Mike, Walt and, at the heart of the matter, his brother Chuck. I’ve been writing these characters for almost fifteen years now, so the opportunity to revisit all of them (including Walt!), and write in these very different voices one last time was devastatingly emotional.
Fact is, it’s more than the characters. It’s the alchemy that happens when these actors play them. As odd as it sounds, I know I’m going to be hearing Bob, Rhea, Jonathan, Bryan and Michael’s voices in my head for the rest of my life — what a gift!
I never think of this as a redemption episode. In my book, this guy can never make up for the harm he’s done, but I wanted to leave the audience with a glimmer of hope. At the end, he’s a man worthy of looking Kim Wexler in the eye and sharing one last cigarette with her. Jimmy McGill may have lost his freedom but he gained his humanity.
Check out the script below.
