A Major Breaking Bad Event Almost Didn’t Happen

A Better Call Saul meeting between Gus Fring, Don Eladio and the Salamancas proves how a major event from Breaking Bad almost didn't happen. Gus Fring's cartel massacre represents a landmark Breaking Bad moment - Better Call Saul shows how differently events could've played out. In Breaking Bad season 4's "Salud," Gustavo Fring orchestrates a mobster masterstroke by poisoning Don Eladio in his own home alongside all his high-ranking capos. This power play completes Fring's long-gestating plan to assert total control over regional meth operations, whilst simultaneously avenging his lover, who was killed by Eladio's cartel two decades prior.

Better Call Saul season 6 - the prequel's final season, set four years before Breaking Bad - finds Giancarlo Esposito's character still bending the knee to Don Eladio, feigning loyalty and biding his time with utmost patience. Any moves Gus Fring makes against the cartel in this era (killing Lalo Salamanca, for instance) must be executed in absolute secrecy to avoid Eladio's suspicion, building towards that fateful day in Breaking Bad season 4 when checkmate can finally be declared.

Better Call Saul brings its prequel era to a dour close, season 6's "Fun & Games" sets the stage for a happy overall ending in the Gene timeline. Better Call Saul's "Fun & Games" leaves Jimmy McGill in a dark place, but promises a happier ending ahead for the Gene timeline. Better Call Saul season 6 brings the story of Bob Odenkirk's Jimmy McGill to a close... twice. On one hand, there's the pre-Breaking Bad narrative set around 2004; on the other, there's "Gene Takovic" working at Cinnabon after running away from the wreckage of Walter White's busted meth operation circa 2010. Both demand their own separate resolutions.

Better Call Saul season 6, episode 9 more or less resolves the prequel timeline. Gus Fring orders construction on the superlab to resume, the Howard Hamlin case is settled thanks to some stomach-churning deception from Kim Wexler, and Jimmy's marriage dissolves when the specter of Howard's death (and the weight of responsibility for their role in it) becomes too much to bear. A time-skip then shifts Better Call Saul considerably closer to Breaking Bad, with Saul Goodman's office, fashion sense, car, and general demeanor all falling in sync with Walt and Jesse's era. All that remains now is for Better Call Saul to reveal what becomes of Gene Takovic, and thanks to "Fun & Games," all signs now point towards a happy ending for Jimmy McGill's overall Breaking Bad universe journey.

Kim successfully navigates Better Call Saul's prequel narrative without dying or getting thrown in jail, and that alone is conducive to a potential return in Gene's timeline. And although Kim breaks off their relationship, she does admit to still loving Jimmy. Their romance didn't go stale - Kim just believes their union is too destructive to continue. By the end of Breaking Bad, however, Jimmy McGill is a changed man, and not just because of the new name and corny 'stache. Conspiring with Walter White takes Jimmy into the very highest realms of organized crime, before the whole operation comes crashing down spectacularly and ruins both their lives. Surely, Jimmy has experienced enough wrongdoing for a lifetime thanks to Walt and Jesse, leaving a strong possibility that he and Kim could reunite in the Gene timeline having both separately outgrown their destructive desires.

Fring and Eladio's working relationship becomes more fragile as the years pass and Gus grows bolder, but the Don treats this subversion like Gus is a child testing his parents' boundaries, acknowledging in Breaking Bad, "I had to spank you... Once every 20 years, you forget your place." Better Call Saul season 6, episode 9 ("Fun & Games") goes much further, revealing Eladio actually knew Gus harbored a burning, intense hatred towards him. After their meeting with the Salamancas, Eladio utters, "When I looked into your eyes... hate." If the Don knew how Gus felt, he could (and probably should) have done something about it, either by exercising more caution around his bespectacled employee, or killing Fring as soon as he stepped out of line in Breaking Bad. Eladio knew Gus held this grudge. He knew their feud was personal, not just a result of Gus' overambitious nature. Had Eladio acted upon that knowledge, Breaking Bad's "Salud" massacre would never have transpired.