Before he became the flamboyant, morally bankrupt strip-mall lawyer known as Saul Goodman, he was James Morgan McGill. Season 1 establishes Jimmy as a struggling, well-meaning public defender working out of a cramped boiler room in the back of a nail salon.
The conflict between Jimmy and Chuck serves as the emotional spine of the season, culminating in a devastating betrayal that permanently alters Jimmy’s moral trajectory. Before he became the flamboyant, morally bankrupt strip-mall