One Better Call Saul Recast Might Have Reasonable Explanation Within The Show

There were some minor recasts in Breaking Bad, but we bet you didn't even notice it. However, one noticeable recasting happened in Better Call Saul.

In season 4, in a black-and-white flashforward, we are first introduced to Jeff, a taxi driver who intimidated Saul (Gene) by staring at him in the cab.

In the next season's flashforward, we found out that Jeff recognized Saul as he lived in Albuquerque before. When he approaches Gene in the mall, Jeff pressures him into saying his "Better Call Saul" catchphrase.

Jeff was played by Don Harvey, and he portrayed the character as a troublesome and intimidating dude.

At first glance, it didn't seem like something important, but the fact that they included this character into two limited Gene's black-and-white moments in seasons 4 and 5 meant that this guy is going to have some significance.

And he did. However, viewers got really confused when they saw a new actor in the role of Jeff in season 6. Pat Healy was recast for the role due to Don Harvey's scheduling conflicts.

Not only Jeff's face changed but also his behavior. From being intimidating, he becomes intimidated — by Gene himself, as he gets close to Jeff's mother Marion.

While there can be no explanation of Jeff's change of appearance, fans found a possible explanation for his altered behavior. A Reddit user shared a theory that provides a convincing answer.

The theory suggests that it's not Jeff's behavior that changed, but rather Jimmy's perspective. When Gene first meets Jeff, he seems menacing and scary, because Gene himself got used to living in constant fear — a fear of being caught.

After the incident with Jeff, Jimmy even calls the vacuum cleaner guy (Ed Galbraith) to help him disappear. However, at the very last moment Jimmy tells Ed that he will fix it himself.

That is the moment when the persona of Saul Goodman wakes up. And with Saul Goodman also comes his savvy. He might start to see Jeff for who he really is — a sheep in wolf's clothing.

The theory sounds plausible, given that the creators could have guided Pat Healy to act the same way as Don Harvey, but they didn't.

So maybe it was really implied by the creators that with Saul breaking out, Gene also changed his perspective.

Source: Reddit