It’s (Not) All Good, Man: Better Call Saul and the Nostalgic Reconstruction of an Ever-Longing Character

Abstract

Constantly faced with the lives they cannot lead, Saul Goodman’s alter-egos in Better Call Saul, Jimmy and Gene, are defined by a longing, a nostalgic desire for past identities displayed as recursive through the different periods of his life. Nonetheless, character construction is not the only locus of nostalgia within the universe of Better Call Saul: its condition as an audiovisual multiplicity (being a spin-off and a prequel) entails a nostalgia of its own towards the narrative and aesthetic devices of the Breaking Bad series, from which it stems. Thus, through character and narrative analysis, this essay will ascertain the resources behind Better Call Saul’s configuration as a series that establishes a dialogue with memories of diegetic and televisual pasts.