Betsy Brandt made a surprise cameo as the widowed Marie Schrader for the Better Call Saul series finale. Not too long after the finale aired, Brandt reflected on playing her again after all these years.
In an interview with Variety, Brandt went into detail regarding what it was like to play Schrader again nearly a decade after last playing her in Breaking Bad. While Brandt is more than aware of how annoying her character is, she was so happy not only to play her again in Better Call Saul, but to play a more mature version of her.
Brandt made it clear how much she missed playing the one role she is perhaps best known for. "It was like putting on your favorite sweater that you forgot how much you loved. I’ve missed her. I know she can be a real pain in the ass, but I’ve missed her, that purple-wearing, obsessed person. The way they brought her back, she’s grown up a lot since we saw her." Brandt then added that while she wanted to portray Marie like she previously did, she also wanted to keep her deceased TV husband in mind when playing her. "I still wanted her to be the same person; you have to recognize her. Marie’s so tightly wound, and she still is, but she’s determined, and she wants to do right by Hank. I always had this feeling that... what kept her going after Hank died is that she wanted to make him proud, even after he’s gone."
Having Marie come back in Better Call Saul following all that happened in Breaking Bad served as a reminder to viewers that what Saul Goodman had done led to terrible consequences for victims like Marie, who did not deserve the fates they suffered. He may not have been responsible or even involved in the deaths of Hank Schrader and Steve Gomez, but his criminal affiliation with Walter White was what led to their murders. No matter how attached viewers had become to Saul, the fact of the matter was that a comeuppance was very much in order for the crimes he had committed.
While both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul humanized horrible people by giving them compelling story arcs, that does not change that they were still not good people in the slightest. Neither Walter White nor Saul Goodman had ever intended to hurt people like Marie, but knowing that their main intention was to make as much money as possible and that they were willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals, there was bound to be collateral damage. Marie's fate was a symbol of the damage that they caused together.
Of course, the one massive difference between Walt and Saul is that Saul drew the line at killing people. Even though he was a sleazy con artist at heart, taking someone's life was never something he would do. He certainly considered it to protect his safety in Better Call Saul's penultimate episode but ultimately couldn't when he realized he'd do that to someone who did not deserve such a gruesome fate. Saul Goodman may not have been a good person when it was all said and done, but unlike Walter White, he wasn't irredeemable.
Better Call Saul can currently be streamed on Netflix.
Source: Variety