What Better Call Saul Showrunner Peter Gould Imagines Happening After The Finale

That's all, folks. After years of speculating about what would happen to the man we once knew as Jimmy McGill and Saul Goodman, theorizing about whether he'd die by cops like Walter or ride off into the horizon like Jesse; after being shocked by Kim's fate being far simpler yet more complex than anyone could have imagined, the "Better Call Saul" finale managed to pull yet another magic trick. The result was a finale that felt simple, appropriate, complex, and utterly satisfying.

Indeed, out of the three main players in Heisenberg's meth empire, Jimmy is the only one that ended up facing the law and owning up to his actions. He gets a clean conscience and makes things right with Kim (kind of), but still has to spend the rest of his days in prison. 

Or does he? Though it doesn't seem like we'll get more Saul Goodman after this, it doesn't mean that the folks involved with the show don't have ideas for what happens next.

The heart of the finale — and most of the last season too — was Jimmy and Kim. In a touching, and gorgeously lit scene, Kim visits Jimmy in prison and the two share a cigarette as they used to do back in the first season. After a little while, she departs, and we are left wondering if she ever went back to visit. In an interview with AMC Talk, co-creator and episode writer and director, Peter Gould spoke about the ending of the show and Kim's reaction to Jimmy's confession.

"To me, Kim is shaken up and she's upset by seeing this person who she's loved – and maybe she still loves him. I think she probably does. But they're not in a relationship and they probably never will be again."

Now, before you get sad all over again (I know I am), Gould does offer some words of comfort. We may not get a proper TV continuation, but "in a perfect world, these characters are both alive and you kind of keep writing the story in your head a little bit and keep thinking about the things that could happen and the potential."

"My perfect world is that one where the characters live in the hearts of the audience beyond the end of the show and that's what we're reaching for."

So there you have it. If you want Kim to continue visiting Jimmy every week for the rest of their lives, sharing a single cigarette every time, that's now canon.

Gould also has something to say to those disappointed that the great Saul Goodman would spend his remaining days in prison. "I don't know about you, but I feel like this guy is so clever, I kind of wonder how long he's really going to be in prison."

Of course, leave it to Bob Odenkirk to take this further and offer the perfect epilogue to "Better Call Saul." Speaking in the last episode of the "Better Call Saul" Insider Podcast, Odenkirk offered an idea of what happens in the scene where Kim and Jimmy share a cigarette.

"In her other hand is a spoon, a metal spoon, with a slightly serrated edge," Odenkirk suggested. "He takes that with his other hand and slides it into his prison jumpsuit. We know he's gonna dig out. That's the beginning of the end."

Jimmy may not have been the type to build an automated machine gun that shoots from the trunk of a car like Walter White, but who is to say he isn't capable of digging a tunnel out of prison with a spoon? What if we get another "El Camino," but it's actually "The Great Escape" with Jimmy McGill? Again, Odenkirk has some thoughts. Describing the scene where Kim and Jimmy look at each other for one last goodbye, Odenkirk added:

"Behind Jimmy is a pommel horse and some of the guys are playing hoops, but some are jumping over the horse. I'm holding that spoon and I run over there and I start doing the pommel horse, which is a reference to 'The Great Escape.'"

And that is how Jimmy McGill turns into Steve McQueen. Just put him on a motorcycle and watch the cash and the awards pour in.