James Morgan "Jimmy" McGill, better known by his business name Saul Goodman, is a fictional character created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould and portrayed by Bob Odenkirk in the television franchise Breaking Bad.

[7] Odenkirk at the time had been focused on mentoring upcoming actors in comedy, and, needing an opportunity, readily took the role at the encouragement of his friend Reid Harrison,[4] having not seen any of Breaking Bad and thinking that it was only intended for a short stint.

[4] Odenkirk was scheduled to appear in the second-season finale, but a prior commitment on How I Met Your Mother left him unable to do so; this led Gilligan to create the character of Mike Ehrmantraut, played by Jonathan Banks, to serve in place of Saul for that fourth episode.

They considered that like with Aaron Paul and Dean Norris, Odenkirk's acting capability significantly altered plans they had for these characters and the series in a beneficial manner, making them more central to the larger plot.

[26] He passed the bar exam hoping to be hired at HHM, but Chuck secretly compelled senior partner Howard Hamlin to deny Jimmy the opportunity.

[29] While arriving at and departing from court, Jimmy frequently butted heads with Mike Ehrmantraut, a former Philadelphia police officer who at that time worked as the courthouse parking lot attendant.

Unhappy with low-paying public defender work and other minor cases, Jimmy hopes to represent county treasurer Craig Kettleman and his wife Betsy, a couple accused of embezzling over $1.6 million.

[30] They retain HHM, but Jimmy's attempts to represent them leads to an altercation with Tuco Salamanca and Nacho Varga, members of the Juarez drug cartel.

[35] Assigned to enroll new clients for the Sandpiper case, Jimmy succeeds at signing up more residents, but his skirting of the ethical canons leads Chuck to chastise him in front of the other attorneys.

[41] Chuck's attempts to hide his electromagnetic sensitivity during the meeting with Mesa Verde causes him to become severely ill, and his caregiver Ernesto calls Jimmy for help.

To both pay his share of the rent on the office and make use of TV ad time for which he has already prepaid, Jimmy begins producing commercials for other businesses while using the on-air alias Saul Goodman.

Kim takes on a second client in order to generate the income necessary to keep the office but falls asleep at the wheel while driving to a meeting and breaks her arm.

Later, Chuck's EHS symptoms become more severe and he removes all the appliances from his house and pulls out the wiring in an effort to discover what is causing his electricity meter to keep running.

Realising that he indirectly led to his brother's death, Jimmy feigns indifference, conceals his role in the insurance issue and allows Howard to accept the blame.

[22] Kim is bored with practicing banking law for Mesa Verde, and begins accepting pro bono criminal defense cases, which she finds more satisfying.

To prepare for his appeal, Kim and Jimmy carry out several public displays that enable him to fake grief, including dedicating a law library reading room in Chuck's name at the University of New Mexico.

[58] Jimmy tells Kim the notoriety of the Saul Goodman name used in reselling prepaid phones gives him a ready-made client base for a criminal law practice.

He offers to help Kim trick a reluctant client to accept a favorable plea bargain; she refuses, but later runs the con alone, which leaves her angry at herself.

[74] During a meeting with Viola Goto, her former paralegal, Kim obtains the name of the retired judge who will mediate an upcoming settlement conference for the Sandpiper case.

Kim abandons her plan to meet in Santa Fe with Cliff Main and representatives of a foundation interested in funding her pro bono criminal defense work and returns to Albuquerque to help Jimmy hastily re-shoot the photos.

As Jimmy and Kim listen in on the conference call, Howard is humiliated in front of his clients and peers, and HHM and Davis & Main agree to settle the Sandpiper case.

After Kim decides to stop being an attorney he begs her to reconsider, but she tearfully refuses, confesses her guilt over ruining Howard's life and says she believes she and Jimmy will hurt everyone around them if they stay together.

[78] In a flashforward, Jimmy has fully embraced his Saul Goodman persona, as exemplified by his acquisition of a sprawling mansion (decorated in ostentatious motifs redolent of Bob Guccione's townhouse on New York's Upper East Side) and a white Cadillac DeVille.

He begins work upon waking, regularly employs prostitutes (offering an energy bar to a departing sex worker while he multitasks), and mentions his alprazolam dealer to Francesca on a preparatory phone call.

Saul is an astutely aggressive defense attorney, aided by his working knowledge of Spanish, but also engages in questionable as well as blatantly criminal activity, such as money laundering.

Worried meth cooks Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, the former being the aforementioned "Heisenberg", decide to visit Saul to convince him to not let Badger talk to the DEA.

Saul has his employee Patrick Kuby pose as a government inspector to inform Bogdan of supposed environmental concerns that will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to mitigate.

Ted plans to spend the cash, so Saul sends Kuby and Huell to force him to pay the IRS, and after Beneke signs the check he tries to run away, trips, and injures himself.

When Jesse realizes his marijuana was stolen, he figures out that Huell previously stole the ricin cigarette, meaning that Walt poisoned Brock and Saul knew.

[52] When a taxi driver from Albuquerque named Jeff (Don Harvey/Pat Healy) recognizes him, Gene initially calls Ed for help but then decides mid-call to fix the situation himself.