Bob Odenkirk refused to kill off one ‘Better Call Saul’ character

With Better Call Saul having finished its six season run late last year, folks familiar with the Breaking Bad universe and its Bob Odenkirk-led spinoff may have been predicting a much higher final body count than what ended up transpiring in the final few episodes. For one thing, we certainly weren’t expecting Kim Wexler to still be drawing breath by the time the credits rolled on the series finale, “Saul Gone,” but for better or worse, Better Call Saul wrapped up in what may be considered a “tame” fashion. 

Recently, it came to light that if series creator Vince Gilligan had his way, the show’s kill tally may have been one person higher, had it not been for the intervention of Saul himself, Bob Odenkirk. That character was none other than the sweet old lady played by Carol Burnett, Marion – the mother of the cab driver Saul ended up in cahoots with while on the lam as Gene Takavic. 

During NBC’s Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love special celebrating the actresses birthday and career, Odenkirk made a special appearance to reminisce on their brief time together on Better Call Saul. Vince Gilligan was also present as Odenkirk addressed Burnett and the audience: 

“Carol, there’s something that you should know. Vince wanted my character to kill you in that scene. Look at him, he’s shaking his head. His exact words to me were, ‘Saul ends up killing Carol Burnett.’ And if I remember correctly, he didn’t say, ‘Kill Carol’s character,’ he said, ‘Kill Carol Burnett.’ But I refused, and I told him I’d walk. Carol, I was willing to risk my career and never working in this town again, because I didn’t want little children who watched our show, and I hope many of them did — to see me on the street and say, ‘Mommy, that’s the man who killed Carol Burnett.’ That’s all I wanted to say. That I’m your real friend and Vince is not. And one more thing, Vince and I, and everybody on our show, we think you’re the greatest.”

So there you have it – on Saul’s final rampage in the closing episodes of the series, the shady lawyer may well have murdered sweet, innocent Marion after she discovered what his true identity was. Whether or not Odenkirk was embellishing the details for the sake of a laugh, we’re glad he supposedly spoke up, and it ended up playing out in the way it did. After all, Saul’s decision to finally face the music and take accountability for his sins wouldn’t have been quite as poignant if he’d murdered a little old lady in cold blood just days before his sentencing. 

As amazing as the show turned out to be, its final season failed to score a single Emmy last year, and needless to say, Breaking Bad fans absolutely rioted. All six seasons of Better Call Saul are now streaming on Netflix, along with Gilligan’s other works in Walter White’s universe, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie as well as the series that started it all.