1. BCS, Season 1, Episode 1: "Uno"

(POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING)

Hot damn I forgot how good the Pilot episode of Better Call Saul is (whereas Breaking Bad's first episode doesn't age as gracefully). It establishes characters and themes that are built upon majestically throughout the six season run, and deftly intertwines dramatic beats with slapstick in a way befitting of the Saul Goodman persona.

Though we first see him in a "flash forward" as his on-the-run-alias Gene Takovic, in black and white, devoid of purpose and nostalgic for his previous life. After the cold open we see a younger him as his most authentic persona, the beleaguered and beguiling Jimmy McGill.

Every scene in this episode contains striking images, but for this post I'm obligated to focus on perhaps its most iconic moment: Jimmy and fellow upstart attorney Kim Wexler sharing a cigarette.

Throughout the series, Jimmy and Kimmy share cigarettes during times of crisis, invoking the old Film Noir trope of shared smokes being tied to repressed desires. Also the creators of the show thought smoking looked cool on camera.

The composition and music of this first encounter is echoed during one of the last scenes in the series finale, though we'll get to that eventually.

Similar to how Jesse Pinkman wasn't initially planned to be as pivotal as he became on Breaking Bad, the showrunners of BCS (Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, though with a crew of remarkably talented writers and producers) didn't know at first just how important a character Kim would be. Though the initial chemistry betweem Rhea Seehorn and Bob Odenkirk made them start to write a bigger role for Kim, who eventually became the co-lead and perhaps the most fascinating character of the BB/BCS universe.

BCS, even more than its courtroom and cartel sagas, is ultimately a romance. The deep love and connection between Jimmy and Kim is eventually what pulls "Saul" from the precipice of spiritual damnation, and the redemption they find within each other amidst a world of such sorrow and selfishness is profound.

Right before this first smoking scene, heel-who-becomes-hero Howard Hamlin says to Jimmy what is a thesis statement for the whole show:

"Sometimes, in our line of work, we get so caught up in the idea of winning, that we forget to listen to our heart."

Fittingly it is the Season 4 finale, "Winner" (featuring ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All"), where Jimmy officially takes on the "Saul Goodman" name, as his desire to be the victor against his brother Chuck, as well as Howard, are the moments that make him seal off his heart from remorse.

I chose this longer shot of J&K smoking, rather than the more recognizable close-up, because of the central exit sign. This symbol recurs throughout the series, most notably during Chuck's ruin in season 3's "Chicanery" and during Jimmy's salvation in the series finale, "Saul Gone".

With the exit sign in this shot being so minimal, and subterranean darkness overwhelming the frame, it's clear that Jimmy is far from escaping himself. Though he gets a brief reprieve nestled in a little corner of light, along with his true flame.