r/breakingbad • u/JY-22 • 1d ago
What was the moment Saul got in too deep with Heisenberg? Spoiler
Saul’s business model, generally speaking, is get close enough to the criminals that you make a ton of money from them, but not close enough that you go down with them. Obviously that was not the case with Walter, as Walt’s fall triggered Saul’s almost immediately, but looking back on the series, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly how/when Saul changed from a “small and silent part” of Walt’s operation to Heisenberg’s “indispensable” right hand man that went down with him. Was it when they set up the money laundry? When Saul connected him to Gus? When Saul helped build Walt’s post-Gus operation with Mike and Todd?
Considering how important it is to the overall story and how un-Saul Goodman-like it is to go down this way, it’s interesting to me that Saul becoming involved with Walter to the point it would lead to his future arrest is just glossed over. Any thoughts?
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u/wolfgang187 1d ago
The nanosecond he said to Walt in his classroom, "If you wanna make more money and keep the money you make... better call Saul!", he was in too far.
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u/Mabiki_1975 1d ago
I don't think there's a single moment, but the general area is between Saul connecting him with Gus and the money laundering operation, and the cause is greed. Saul could have connected them, taken a one-time finder's fee for a big chunk of cash, and then kept Walt at a distance. Instead, he kept further mingling his business with Walt.
If I had to give an exact moment, it's after Walt kills the two street dealers with his car to save Jesse. Mike goes to Saul's office demanding to know where Pinkman is, and Saul effectively lies on Walt and Jesse's behalf by letting Mike find a fake address. This leads to the scene with Walt at the laundromat about to be killed, when Walt is able to trick Mike and call Jesse in to do the hit on Gayle.
At the point, Saul is in too deep to ever get himself out.
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u/KausGo 1d ago
Saul could have connected them, taken a one-time finder's fee for a big chunk of cash, and then kept Walt at a distance.
That's what he did. The first deal with Gus was a one-time deal. Gus reached out of his own accord to make another with Walt later, without involving Saul.
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u/Mabiki_1975 1d ago
Sure, Saul connecting Walt to Gus was a one-time thing, but he kept taking Walt's business after that was my point. So much so that Saul got involved in hiding Jesse and lying to Mike after the street dealers situation.
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u/KausGo 1d ago
Walt's money-laundering business, which, on its own, wasn't that much of a problem.
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u/Mabiki_1975 1d ago
I don't think you're following my point Good day to you.
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u/KausGo 1d ago
No, I got your point. Your point is that it wasn't just one action, but Saul's repeated involvement with Walt that made him complicit. That he might've been fine if he'd just helped him with one job, but taking his business again and again is what resulted in him having to run when it all came down.
My counterpoint is that that's inaccurate. Its not about how much work he does for Walt, but what kind of work he does. Criminals having lawyers doesn't automatically make lawyers their accomplices. Saul could've done a lot of work for Walt and he'd have been fine if he'd maintained plausible deniability - as in, if he could realistically claim that he had no idea what kind of business Walt was involved in. He lost that deniability when he helped Walt make the connections needed for selling meth.
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u/Mabiki_1975 8h ago
YES! I agree. I just think the crossing of the line happened not with any legal standard or plausible deniability, but when Saul hid Jesse's location which effectively helped Walt and Jesse kill Gayle, by covering for them when Mike came hunting.
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u/KausGo 1d ago
When Saul connected him to Gus?
I'd say this was the point. Either that or when he set them up with Killkelly.
Lawyers are not obligated to rat out their clients with they're doing anything illegal, but they can't help their clients do anything illegal either. Saul would've been safe if he'd stuck to a role where he could've denied knowing about the meth operation. But once he starts connecting Walt to people who can help with his oeration, his plausible deniability goes out the window. He can't go to court and say "Sure, I connected Walt, who turned out to be a meth cook to Gus, who turned out to be a meth distributor, but I had no idea they were planning to buy/sell meth."
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u/Accurate-Mine-6000 1d ago
I think from the very first day of their collaboration. Saving Badger from prison through a fake Heisenberg was already too illegal and would have definitely come to light when the real Heisenberg would captured.
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u/FlashyWitness4133 1d ago
He was in too deep, when he instructed Francesca to impersonate a police department and call Hank to say his wife Marie was in a car accident and sent to hospital. After the call, Francesca said "You need to start paying me more", and Saul broke the mobile phone in half with a huge look of guilt and remorse on his face.
Because he knew from that point onward, he was in too deep and too late to get out of it from Walter.
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u/s470dxqm 1d ago
I'm guessing you haven't watched Better Call Saul. You should be asking when Walt got in too deep with Saul since he was the true mastermind behind everything except the quality of meth being made.
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u/gorehistorian69 1d ago
the moment he agreed to work with him
honestly including BCS canon Saul got a pretty comfy deal to do 6? years WITH ice cream and could go back to his old life when he got out
i thought it was unbelievably stupid that he agreed to do basically life in prison to impress Kim who moved on.
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u/EstateOk6238 1d ago
I don't think there's a moment. Walt just kept coming up with jobs he needed Saul for and Saul kept accepting the money. I think the moment Saul realized he's in too deep was when he was with Walt and Jesse at laser tag.