Season 3, Episode 11 “Abiquiu”
Though Breaking Bad is rightly categorized as deeply serious crime drama, throughout its run it has continuously remained one of the funniest shows on television. The great moments of black comedy come from many members of the cast, notably Hank, Badger, and Jesse. However, by far the most consistently funny character on the show is Walt and Jesse’s lawyer Saul Goodman. Saul’s a complete sleaze ball, however even with his shady practices and complete lack of ethics; he’s still one of my favorite characters from Breaking Bad. A marketing whiz, Saul has a plethora of low budget late-night ads and even changed his name from McGill to Goodman so his clientele would think their getting a Jewish lawyer. I could have picked a number of hysterical Saul moments, but the one that made me laugh the most was when Saul met Skyler White.
In “Abiquiu” Skyler demands that Walt introduce her to the person laundering Walt’s meth money. This of course is Saul Goodman. The scene opens in Saul’s office, with Syler staring at Saul’s degree from the University of American Samoa hanging on the wall. Saul introduces himself and then says” Walt never told me how lucky he was. Clearly his taste in women is the same as his taste in lawyers, only the very best, with just the right amount of dirty.” What’s best is that he says the “just the right amount of dirty” part in a deep, seductive voice. Skyler has a blank stare on her face, so Saul clarifies that it was a joke explaining that clearly she is so very classy. Saul then attempts to explain money laundering to Skyler as if she were a 12 year old, using jelly beans to represent the money. After Skyler clears up that she’s a bookkeeper and knows what money laundering is, Saul continues to hilariously tell her his plans for laundering the future profits for Walt’s business. Additionally, throughout the meeting Saul continues to lewdly compliment Skyler on how beautiful she is. Skyler, however is not impressed with Saul’s plans and keeps pointing out holes.
Saul is classic Saul in this scene and the “Just the right amount of dirty” line might be his best from the series. Also, Skyler works as a great foil to Saul. Saul can’t help but being sexist and sleazy, which is what makes this interaction so great. He’s like a more ruthless version of Michael Scott. Breaking Bad sometimes verges on the brink of being too intense to be enjoyable entertainment, which is what makes scenes like this so valuable. Breaking Bad would not be the pantheon level show it is without Saul.
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