After Saul in ‘Breaking Bad’, we meet Jimmy, a much younger Jimmy, and an aged Gene in ‘Better Call Saul’. But how old exactly is Saul in those avatars?
Soon AMC and Vince Gilligan will release the sixth and final season for ‘Better Call Saul’, and then the entire chapter of Saul Goodman will be wrapped up. When fans met Saul and his many avatars in BCS, they were bewildered by the characters’ true identity, his history, and his transition from a criminal lawyer to a “criminal” lawyer. The character was portrayed by Bob Odenkirk with such finesse in all the avatars, that we can’t help but wonder about them. We wonder how many different timelines and different age levels of Saul and Jimmy was pulled off by Bob Odenkirk in the ‘Breaking Bad’ universe.
How old is Saul Goodman in all his avatars in the Breaking Bad universe?
Highlights —
- Saul Goodman and his age in ‘Breaking Bad’ and various Jimmy avatars.
- How old is Jimmy in ‘Better Call Saul’?
- Saul Goodman’s age in ‘Breaking Bad’ and after it.
- The difference in the age of Saul and Bob Odenkirk.
Saul Goodman and his age in ‘Breaking Bad’ and various Jimmy avatars
Saul Goodman, played by Bob Odenkirk, stayed one of the key characters in ‘Breaking Bad’ for his association with Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). The ‘Breaking Bad’ lawyer then received his own spin-off show ‘Better Call Saul’. In the spin-off, we met the original identity, Jimmy McGill, behind the altered personality of Saul. We also met the childhood version of Jimmy, the “Slippin’ Jimmy” version of Jimmy, and then a rather older and post ‘Breaking Bad’ version of Jimmy as “Gene”.
While ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Better Call Saul’ themselves exist in timelines that are almost a decade apart. The different versions of Jimmy in ‘Better Call Saul’ and ‘Breaking Bad’ are further varied in their timelines and age.
How old is Jimmy in ‘Better Call Saul’?
‘Better Call Saul’s’ beginning is set in the year 2002. However, not until the season 5 episode “JMM” we get a definite clue of his age. In the episode, when Saul and Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) are getting married, we see Saul’ driving license with his DOB i.e. November 12, 1960.
How old are Saul, Jimmy, and Gene in ‘Better Call Saul’ and ‘Breaking Bad’?
Now, as calculated by “Screen Rant”, this makes Saul, aka Jimmy McGill, 41-years-old at the beginning of ‘Better Call Saul’ Season 1.
Now, as per the show’s timeline, Season 1 and Season 2 of ‘Better Call Saul’ are set in the same year i.e. 2002. Season 3 then takes the show to the next year i.e. 2003. Season 4 of BCS begins around March 2003 and takes the timeline to March 2004. The latest season i.e. season 5 is set in mid-2004. Now, calculating Jimmy’s age through all the years of ‘Better Call Saul’s’ timeline, we figured out that Jimmy was 41 years old in season 1 and 2; Jimmy turned 42 in season 3; season 4 drags Jimmy to 43 years of age; season 5 of BCS still has Jimmy at 43 years of age.
With this calculation, you can now easily guess how old Jimmy aka Saul must have been in ‘Breaking Bad’. Also, ‘Better Call Saul’ Season 2 episode “Inflatable” calls back to a much younger Jimmy in 1973. As the producer Thomas Schnauz told Yahoo!, Jimmy is around 9-10 years old in those flashbacks. He said: “He’s like 9-years-old.”
Saul Goodman’s age in ‘Breaking Bad’ and after it
Jimmy becomes Saul in ‘Better Call Saul’, and after a few years, he appears as Saul in ‘Breaking Bad’. This gap in the timeline also means an older Jimmy. We met Saul Goodman for the very first time in the ‘Breaking Bad’ universe in season 2 episode 8 of ‘Breaking Bad’ titled “Better Call Saul”.
Saul’s age from Slippin’ Jimmy to Jimmy to Saul, and then to Gene post ‘Breaking Bad’.
As per ‘Breaking Bad’s’ timeline on Fandom, season 1 of the show is set in the pre-fall months of the year 2008 i.e. September and October. Season 2 of ‘Breaking Bad’ starts from November 2008 and runs till March 2009, with Saul’s introduction set in December. Next two seasons, Season 3 and Season 4 of ‘Breaking Bad’, stays in 2009, while the final season i.e. season 5 transits from 2009 to 2010 and ends in September 2010 with “Felina”. Thus, when we are introduced to Saul in ‘Breaking Bad’ Season 2, he is 48 years old. And as he runs away to Omaha in the later seasons, he is approximately 49 years old.
The mystery of Saul Goodman’s age in ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Better Call Saul’.
‘Better Call Saul’ also shows us glimpses of an older Saul Goodman living in Omaha disguised as Gene post ‘Breaking Bad’. With the probabilities of those events taking place a year after ‘Breaking Bad’, around 2011-2012, our guess claims that Saul is 51-year-old during those flash-forwards.
The difference in the age of Saul and Bob Odenkirk
While all of Jimmy’s avatars were in the early 40s in ‘Better Call Saul’, Bob Odenkirk was around a decade older than his character at the beginning of the series i.e. around 53-year-old. However, in ‘Breaking Bad’, while Saul was around 50-year-old, Bob Odenkirk was a decade younger at 41 years of age. Now, as Bob is 58-years-old, we’ll soon see him back in the avatars of Jimmy.
Now you know Saul Goodman’s age in ‘Breaking Bad’ and his age in various avatars of Jimmy in BCS. Does it change your understanding and perception towards his actions in both the shows? Let us know in the comments box below.
