- This article is about the character. For the tenth episode of the first season of Better Call Saul, see Marco.
- "Hey Jimmy you know what...(...) This was the greatest week of my life...."
- ―Marco last words to Jimmy
Marco Pasternak was Jimmy McGill's longtime friend from Cicero, Illinois.
History
Little is known about Marco's past, except that he was Jimmy's closest friend in Cicero. They would often extort money from people through various scams. In one of their scams, Slippin' Jimmy (using the alias "Saul Goodman") works with Marco to trick others into trading cash for fake Rolex watches ("Hero").
After Chuck McGill helped secure his brother's release from jail, Jimmy stopped by a local bar to say farewell to Marco. He tells Marco that he’s moving to Albuquerque to work in the mail-room at Chuck’s law firm. Marco bemoans Jimmy’s decision, arguing that the move is a waste of Slippin’ Jimmy’s talents – but Jimmy’s mind is made up, and he leaves to Marco's disappointment. ("Marco"). Following Jimmy's leaving, the two friends did not stay in touch much and Marco eventually started working for his brother in law as a standpipe installer, a job he clearly despised.
Season 1
After suffering a nervous breakdown while ranting to a bingo parlor about the state of his life, Jimmy returns to Cicero for a sabbatical and is reunited with Marco. After catching up with each other, the two friends decide to return to their old ways of scamming people again. After a long week of successful scamming, Jimmy says that he needs to go back home to his clients but Marco tempts him to stay, but the concern for his elderly clients, Chuck, and a job offer from the law firm of Davis & Main in Santa Fe sways Jimmy to return to New Mexico. Marco begs Jimmy to pull off one more scam using the last fake Rolex watch, to which Jimmy reluctantly accepts. During the scam, Marco suffers a heart attack and his final words are telling Jimmy that the week they just had was the best one of his life. Marco then passes away.
Receiving Marco's pinky ring from his mother and remembering his last words, Jimmy ultimately decides not to take a job with Davis & Main, as he no longer feels obliged to "do the right thing."
Season 2
Marco's pinky ring appears all throughout the second season. Before Jimmy takes the job at Davis and Main, he feels Marco's ring, serving as a symbol of lack of moral compass.
Personality
Although he only appeared in two episodes, Marco was shown to be a man who enjoyed scamming people and seemed to lack a moral compass in general as shown when he questioned Jimmy if his job as a lawyer meant he was scamming elderly people for their money.
He was a good friend and practically another brother to Jimmy and praised him for his con artist skills. Although not as skilled as Jimmy, Marco was also a great scam artist and appeared to be highly sneaky and cleaver. When Jimmy was forced to leave Chicago and Marco behind, Marco reluctantly started to lead a normal life as a standpipe installer though he clearly did not enjoy living this way of life and even revealed to Jimmy that he had almost nothing of importance in his life except their scamming endeavors.
During the last week of his life Marco clearly enjoyed being able to scam people again with Jimmy and with his dying breath revealed to Jimmy that the week they had was the best one of his entire life.