Editor's note: The below article contains spoilers for the series finale of Better Call Saul.In Better Call Saul’s excellent final episode, “Saul Gone,” Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) explores the regrets he’s had in his life. First, Saul tells Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) that if he had a time machine, he’d go back and become a trillionaire with the help of Warren Buffett. Later, he tells Walter White (Bryan Cranston) that he regrets a slip-and-fall incident at the age of 22 that permanently screwed up his knee. But ultimately, during his day in court, Saul spills his guts about his regrets, from helping Walter White to not being more patient with his brother Chuck (Michael McKean).

In both Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad, these characters have all had moments where they were presented with opportunities to continue down their current path or to significantly alter the direction of their lives—which could lead to great things, or the possibility of life in prison, and even death. By the end of Better Call Saul, both Saul (aka Jimmy McGill) and Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) make the difficult choice to admit their mistakes and take whatever consequence is handed to them, and even though the possibilities are dire, there seems to be a weight that has lifted off their collective shoulders by the end of BCS.

This choice of paths is essential to the power of Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad. What if Walter White had asked for help instead of cooking meth? What if Jesse (Aaron Paul) and Jane (Krysten Ritter) had started a new life instead of taking one last hit of heroin? What if Jimmy had just left Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian) alone? With these “what if” questions, we don’t see the alternate route that these characters could’ve potentially gone down; instead, we see paths taken for the sake of greed, selfishness, and pride. Yet, in the final scene with Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) in this world, we see the possibilities of the road not taken, and that makes Fring’s conclusion one of the most heartbreaking scenes in this universe.

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Image via AMC

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Throughout both these shows, Fring was shown to be a calculating, precise man. To the public, he’s the generous but demanding owner of a string of chicken restaurants in the New Mexico area. In the drug world, he’s an equally demanding and silently terrifying kingpin who wants control. Fring always presents himself as in control of everything in the world around him, leaving nothing to chance. No matter where he is, the aura of Gus Fring warrants respect.

But in this attempt at greatness, Gus Fring is also an extremely solitary figure. So much of Fring’s life is defined by the murder of his business partner and love Max Arciniega (James Martinez) by Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis). It’s that loss that motivates so much of Gus’ life—especially his plan to take over the drug trade and destroy the Salamanca family. Gus never lets anyone in, showing a cool exterior that is impenetrable by even his closest associates. In Breaking Bad, when Walt goes to Gus’ house, the emptiness of his home is noticeable, and an opportunity for Gus to entertain Walt for dinner seems like a legitimate joy for the man. Gus almost seems to see detachment and isolation from others to be a requirement of his success, the source of his powers as a great businessman.

It’s that presentation of Gus as a lone leader, a man with no one close to him, that makes his final scene in Better Call Saul so tragic. In the episode “Fun and Games,” we watch as characters are given difficult choices and what they do with them. For Kim, it’s the decision to leave Saul. For Jimmy, it’s the choice to fully embrace the Saul Goodman persona once he doesn’t have Kim. With Mike, we see the rare opportunity where he lets his guard down to give himself and Manuel Varga (Juan Carlos Cantu) some closure. For Gus, the episode marks his receipt of a significant segment of the Salamancas' drug territory, despite the protests from Hector that Gus is a traitor. To celebrate the latest expansion of his business, Gus visits his favorite wine bar.

While there, he talks with David (Reed Diamond), a sommelier who lights Gus’ face up in a way that we’ve never seen before. Gus is fascinated by the way that David discusses exquisite wines, and for Gus, a man who strives for perfection, David’s passion for wine matches Gus’ own standards. We’ve seen the cold exterior of Gus, we’ve seen the facade he puts on for the public, but is something wholly new. This is happiness, true happiness, the kind he hasn’t had since losing Max all those years ago.

Gus lets David excitedly talk to him about wine, his experiences in Europe, and their shared contempt for those who don’t appreciate fine wine. While Gus certainly shows that he loves wine, it’s clear that it’s David’s passion for his job and his dedication that truly draws Gus in. This pair has a history of these types of discussions, as Gus mentions that a year ago, David talked about a bottle of 1978 Cote Rotie; after their conversation, Gus went home and bought a bottle, which he says he’s saving for a special occasion. For someone as meticulous and considered as Gus, it makes sense that Gus would do this and wait for the opportunity to share this bottle with David, whenever the perfect chance came up.

David returns Gus’ interest in this “special occasion,” then goes off to grab a bottle of Guigal that he knows Gus will appreciate. Again, the joy on Gus’ face is almost heartwarming, despite the horrors we’ve seen this man can inflict. But with David gone, Gus once again reconsiders his facade, once again remembers the dangers of letting someone in—all of which we can see on the face of the great Esposito. With a deep sigh, Gus tells the bartender that he has been called away, before David can return. Gus leaves the bar, back to his life of solitude. It's the last time we see Fring in Better Call Saul, an even more tragic conclusion than his previous end, where half his face gets blown off by Hector Salamanca in Breaking Bad.

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Image via AMC

Whenever these other characters have been given the opportunity to make a different choice, one that might bring them more happiness—or at least extract them from the world of meth cooking and distribution—we’re left to wonder what that other path could have entailed. We’ll never know what Mike’s life would’ve been like if he were given a time machine, or what would have happened if Walt had stayed invested in the company he co-created. For Gus, we are given a glimpse at the happiness that was possible, a choice that Gus considers while sitting at that bar, and decidedly turns away from.

Even more tragic is that we know where the path Gus goes down leads. Sure, he will help Walter White create a booming meth empire, one that will flood the market, and make Gus an untold success with an embarrassment of riches (if Walter has a storage unit full of cash, who knows how many riches Gus has accrued over an even longer period?), but in the events of Breaking Bad, we never see Gus light up the way he does when talking about wine with a man that makes him question his current path.

In both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, everyone has someone they could lose and need to protect, and while necessity might lead them down the path we see them on, it’s quite often greed that keeps them on that path. But for Gus, all he has is his pride, his desire for revenge, and a lust for power that seemingly can’t be satiated. There’s no endgame, no amount of power or wealth, that can make him close to as happy as he is just talking wine with someone that he allows to see the real him. As the events of Better Call Saul lead into the events of Breaking Bad, the audience never again sees the sheer delight Gus has in his final BCS scene, as in that moment, Gus actively makes the choice to turn his back on the elation that could finally bring him contentment, and instead, knowingly goes down a path that will never bring him that bliss and will only lead to his downfall. For the briefest instant, we saw a mere glimmer, a glimpse down the path that Gus could’ve taken — and that makes his conclusion all the more tragic.