- This article is about the complete chronology of the universe of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. For the timeline of Better Call Saul episodes, see Better Call Saul Timeline. For the timeline of Breaking Bad episodes, see Breaking Bad Timeline.
Pre-Better Call Saul Timeline[]
1912 |
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1939 |
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Early 1940s |
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1944 |
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Mid 1940s |
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November 2, 1945 |
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1950 |
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1953 |
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1957 |
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1958 |
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September 7, 1958 |
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October 8, 1958 |
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1959 |
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November 12, 1960 |
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1960 |
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1964 |
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March 1966 |
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February 13, 1968 |
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March 20, 1968 |
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1968 |
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1960s-1970s |
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1970s |
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August 11, 1970 |
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1971 |
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December 9, 1971 |
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1972 |
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1973-1974 |
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1973 |
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August 1973 |
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1974 |
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1975 |
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1976 |
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1977 |
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Late 1970s |
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1979 |
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1980 |
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Early 1980s |
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1982 |
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April 4, 1982 |
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1984 |
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March 17, 1984 |
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September 24, 1984 |
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1985 |
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Mid 1980s |
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1986 |
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1987 |
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1988 |
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1989 |
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1990 |
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1992 |
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July 18, 1992 |
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1993 |
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Spring 1993 |
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July 8, 1993 |
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1994 |
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Mid 1990s |
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1997 |
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June 1997 |
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1998 |
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Mid 1998 |
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1998-2002 |
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1999 |
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Early 2000s |
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2001 |
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2002 |
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May 12, 2002 |
Better Call Saul Timeline[]
Year | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Month | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Season | S1 | S2 | S3 | S4 | S5 | S6 |
Season 1
2002 | May | "Uno" May 13 to 25 (thirteen days) |
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"Mijo" May 25 to June 15 (three weeks) |
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June | |||
"Nacho" June 15 to 16 (two days) |
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"Hero" June 16 to 20 (five days) |
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"Alpine Shepherd Boy" June 20 to 22 (three days) |
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"Five-O" June 22 (one day) |
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"Bingo" June 23 to 25 (three days) |
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"RICO" June 26 to 28 (three days) |
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"Pimento" June 28 to 30 (three days) |
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"Marco" June 30 to July 18 (nineteen days) |
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July |
Season 2
2002 | July | "Switch" July 18 to 25 (eight days) |
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"Cobbler" July 26 to 27 (two days) |
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August | "Amarillo" August 15 to 17 (three days) |
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"Gloves Off" August 18 to 23 (six days) |
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"Rebecca" August 24 to 27 (four days) |
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"Bali Ha'i" August 27 to 30 (four days) |
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"Inflatable" August 30 to September 7 (nine days) |
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September | |||
"Fifi" September 8 to 13 (six days) |
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"Nailed" September 14 to 19 (six days) |
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"Klick" September 19 to 21 (three days) |
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Season 3
2002 | September | "Mabel" September 21 to 22 (two days) |
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"Witness" September 22 to 24 (three days) |
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"Sunk Costs" September 24 to 26 (three days) |
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"Sabrosito" September 26 to 30 (five days) |
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2003 | February | ||
"Chicanery" February 25 to 26 (two days) |
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"Off Brand" February 27 to 28 (two days) |
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March | |||
"Expenses" March 1 to 3 (three days) |
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"Slip" March 4 to 6 (three days) |
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"Fall" March 7 to 18 (twelve days) |
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"Lantern" March 18 to 22 (five days) |
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Season 4
2003 | March | "Smoke" March 23 to 31 (one week) |
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April | "Breathe" April 7 (one day) |
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"Something Beautiful" April 8 to 9 (two days) |
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"Talk" April 10 to 12 (three days) |
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"Quite a Ride" April 13 to 14 (two days) |
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"Piñata" April 15 (one day) |
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"Something Stupid" April 16, 2003 to January 16, 2004 (9 months) |
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May | |||
June | |||
July | |||
August | |||
September | |||
October | |||
November | |||
December | |||
2004 | January | ||
"Coushatta" January 17 to 20 (two weeks) |
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February | |||
"Wiedersehen" January 21 to 22 (two days) March 21 to 22 (two days) |
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March | |||
"Winner" March 22 to April 1 (Jimmy) (nine days) March 31 (Mike) (one day) |
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April |
Season 5
2004 | April | "Magic Man" April 1 to 8 (one week) |
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"50% Off" April 8 to 14 (one week) |
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"The Guy For This" April 14 to 17 (four days) |
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"Namaste" April 18 to 21 (four days) |
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"Dedicado a Max" April 21 to May 3 (one month) |
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May | |||
"Wexler v. Goodman" May 4 to 5 (two days) |
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"JMM" May 6 to 8 (three days) |
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"Bagman" May 9 to 11 (three days) |
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"Bad Choice Road" May 11 to May 12 (two days) |
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June | |||
"Something Unforgivable" May 12 to 14 (three days) |
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Season 6
2004 | May | "Wine and Roses" May 18 to 19 (two days) |
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"Carrot and Stick" May 23 to 24 (four days) |
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"Rock and Hard Place" May 24 to 25 (three days) |
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"Hit and Run" May 26 to 27 (two days) |
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"Black and Blue" May 28 to June 13 (two weeks) |
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June | |||
"Axe and Grind" June 14 to 24 (ten days) |
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"Plan and Execution" June 24 (one day) |
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"Point and Shoot" June 24 to 25 (one day) |
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"Fun and Games" June 25 to February 11, 2005 (7 months) |
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Post-Better Call Saul, Pre-Breaking Bad Timeline[]
circa 2004 |
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2006-2008 |
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circa Spring 2008 |
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Breaking Bad Timeline[]
Year | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Month | A | S | O | N | D | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Season | S1 | S2 | S3 | S4 | S5A | S5B |
Season 1
2008 | September | "Pilot" September 7 to 28 (three weeks) |
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"Cat's in the Bag..." September 29 to 30 (two days) |
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"...and the Bag's in the River" September 30 to October 1 (two days) |
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October | |||
"Cancer Man" October 3 to 9 (seven days) |
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"Gray Matter" October 8 to 13 (six days) |
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"Crazy Handful of Nothin'" October 14 to 24 (eleven days) |
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"A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal" October 25 to 31 (seven days) |
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Season 2
2008 | October | "Seven Thirty-Seven" October 31 to November 7 (seven days) |
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November | |||
"Grilled" November 8 (one day) |
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"Bit by a Dead Bee" November 8 to 11 (four days) |
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"Down" November 12 to 17 (six days) |
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"Breakage" November 18 to 29 (thirteen days) |
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"Peekaboo" November 30 (one day) |
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December | "Negro y Azul" December 1 to 2 (two days) |
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"Better Call Saul" December 3 to 5 (three days) |
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"4 Days Out" December 6 to 12 (seven days) |
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"Over" December 13 to 18 (six days) |
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2009 | February | ||
"Mandala" February 4 to 16 (thirteen days) |
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"Phoenix" February 16 to March 4 (three weeks) |
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March | "ABQ" March 4 to April 5 (one month) |
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April |
Season 3
2009 | April | "No Más" April 6 to 7 (two days) |
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"Caballo Sin Nombre" April 8 to 18 (ten days) |
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"I.F.T." April 19 to 22 (four days) |
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"Green Light" April 23 to 27 (five days) |
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"Más" April 28 to May 1 (five days) |
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May | "Sunset" May 2 to 3 (two days) |
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"One Minute" May 3 to 4 (two days) |
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"I See You" May 4 to 5 (two days) |
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"Kafkaesque" May 5 to 11 (seven days) |
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"Fly" May 12 (one day) |
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"Abiquiú" May 13 to 20 (eight days) |
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"Half Measures" May 20 to 22 (three days) |
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"Full Measure" May 23 to 30 (eight days) |
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Season 4
2009 | May | "Box Cutter" May 30 (one day) |
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"Thirty-Eight Snub" May 31 to June 12 (two weeks) |
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June | "Open House" June 13 to 14 (two days) |
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"Bullet Points" June 15 to 18 (four days) |
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"Shotgun" June 18 to 20 (three days) |
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"Cornered" June 21 to 22 (two days) |
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"Problem Dog" June 23 to 26 (four days) |
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"Hermanos" June 27 to June 30 (four days) |
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July | "Bug" July 1 to 7 (seven days) |
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"Salud" July 8-9 (two day) |
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"Crawl Space" July 9 to 13 (five days) |
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"End Times" July 13 to 15 (three days) |
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"Face Off" July 15 (one day) |
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Season 5A
2009 | July | "Live Free or Die" July 15 to 24 (eight days) |
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"Madrigal" July 25 to August 2 (eleven days) |
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August | |||
"Hazard Pay" August 3 to September 5 (one month) |
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September | |||
"Fifty-One" September 6 to 8 (three days) |
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"Dead Freight" September 9 to 17 (eight days) |
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"Buyout" September 17 to 29 (thirteen days) |
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"Say My Name" September 29 to October 2 (four days) |
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October | |||
"Gliding Over All" October 2 to March 7 (5 months) |
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November | |||
December | |||
2010 | January | ||
February | |||
March |
Season 5B
2010 | March | "Blood Money" March 7 to March 11 (five days) |
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"Buried" March 11 to March 13 (three days) |
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"Confessions" March 13 to March 15 (three days) |
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"Rabid Dog" March 15 to March 17 (three days) |
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"To'hajiilee" March 17 to March 19 (three days) |
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"Ozymandias" March 19 to March 20 (two days) |
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"Granite State" March 20 to September 3 (five months and two weeks) |
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April | |||
May | |||
June | |||
July | |||
August | |||
September | |||
"Felina" September 3 to 7 (five days) |
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El Camino Timeline[]
2010 | June | During "Granite State" June 2010 (unknown date) (two days) |
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September | "Felina" September 7 (one day) |
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"El Camino" September 8 to 9 (two days) |
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"El Camino" September 9 (one day) |
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"El Camino" September 10 to 12 (three days) |
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Post-Breaking Bad Timeline[]
2010 | October | "Uno" October 10 (one day) |
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"Switch" October 11 (one day) |
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"Mabel" October 12 (one day) |
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"Smoke" October 12 to 13 (two days) |
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"Magic Man" October 13 to 15 (three days) |
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"Nippy" October 16 to November 2 (two weeks) |
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November | "Breaking Bad" November 12 to December 5 (three weeks) |
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"Waterworks" November 11 to 19 (Kim) (nine days) |
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December | "Waterworks" December 5 to 6 (Gene) (two days) |
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"Saul Gone" December 6 to 10 (five days) |
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Temporally Ambiguous Scenes[]
- The cold open of "Rock and Hard Place", which shows a flower growing where Ignacio Varga died
- The cold open of "Breakage", which shows border-hoppers finding Tuco Salamanca's grill
Time References[]
- In the flashback at the beginning of "Inflatable", magazines are shown whose cover is dated August 1973, including the Time dated August 20. In an interview, Thomas Schnauz indicates that Jimmy is "like nine years old" in this flashback. However, this is an inconsistency as it would place Jimmy's birthdate in 1963 or 1964. Jimmy's birthdate was confirmed to be November 12, 1960 in "JMM", which means that Jimmy would actually be 12/13 in the flashback.
- During Kim's lunch with Rich Schweikart in "Bali Ha'i", Kim states that she has been with HHM for "ten years last August," most likely putting her start date at August 1992 (or possibly 1991 depending on context). She also states that she worked in the mailroom for six years, which would have her being brought on as an associate around 1998. However, this potentially conflicts with Kim stating that she's in her third year at UNM in the 1993 flashback in "Piñata" if HHM is paying for her schooling. Furthermore, the copy of Kim's affidavit included on the Season 6 Blu-ray states that Kim began working at HHM in 1989.
- In "Rebecca", Chuck refers to Kim as a fourth-year associate in 2002, implying that she became a lawyer sometime around 1998.
- Jimmy tells Erin in "Rebecca" that he came in to Davis & Main as a fourth-year, suggesting that he also became a lawyer in 1998, though some time after Kim.
- According to the script for "Winner", the flashback to Jimmy first becoming a lawyer and celebrating at the karaoke bar takes place "sometime in the year 1998."
- The Missouri license plate that Gene puts on his car when running away from Jeff has 2012 sticker tags on them ("Magic Man"). This could mean the scene takes place any time between 2010 and 2012 given that Missouri has biennial vehicle registration as an option and Gene wouldn't want to be pulled over by the police for outdated stickers. However, the Nebraska plate Gene removes from his car is shown for a split second to have a 2012 registration sticker - Nebraska has annual vehicle registrations. Some leniency may be required in interpreting these details given other anachronisms in Gene's scenes, including a whiskey bottle with a design only available from 2015, a Cinnabon promotion first available in 2014 and a song playing in the diner first available in 2017.
Trivia[]
- Walt's 50th birthday appears to be celebrated on a Monday but his official birthday (7th September 2008) would have to be Sunday. ("Pilot")
- Jimmy's (Gene's) position at the Cinnabon was alluded to in Breaking Bad episode "Granite State".
- The Post-Show Timeline is only shown during the opening scene of each season premiere episode of Better Call Saul. These brief scenes show what happened to Jimmy following the events of Breaking Bad after he disappears under Ed's disappearing program. This pattern is broken by the episode "Nippy", which is the first full black-and-white episode only featuring Jimmy as his alter ego Gene.
- In American Greed: James McGill, a brief presentation of Jimmy's college diploma shown that he graduated on May 19, 1998 with a degree of Juris Doctor, however on the Season 4 Blu-ray resume for Jimmy says that he graduated on June 1997.
- In a Breaking Bad episode Kafkaesque, his college diploma mentions he graduated on May 23, 1984 with a degree of Master of Arts. However, it could implied he simply made a replica with his preferred name Saul Goodman, degree, and date to show he's an experienced lawyer.
- Although before season 6 it was implied that the Gene Timeline took place years after "Felina" and El Camino, with most prominent time setting suggestions throughout the fandom being at least a few years in the future. With the release of season 6 of Better Call Saul, it was officially confirmed that the Gene timeline took place in late 2010, a mere few months after the finale and El Camino, although many details suggest that this may have been a retcon from the showrunners to add more tension to the series finale, as Jimmy would still be actively pursued by the police in 2010.