At what point in Better Call Saul does the first scene of Breaking Bad take place in?

Question

At what point in Better Call Saul does the first scene of Breaking Bad take place? I am not talking about the flash-forward scene that the first episode (pilot?) starts with, which is Walter White in the desert; I am talking about the first scene from where the story of Breaking Bad actually starts. This is actually a 3 part question, where all 3 parts are related closely enough that I don't think each merits its own question. Here I am also guessing that the first (coloured) scene of Better Call Saul happens before the first scene of Breaking Bad.

1. As mentioned above, at the point in in-universe time when the first scene of the story of Breaking Bad starts, what is going on in Better Call Saul?

2. When the last scene in Better Call Saul is taking place (the coloured parts of BCS not the black and white parts, where Saul has already turned into Gene), what is going on in Breaking Bad?

3. When the first scene of Better Call Saul takes place (the black and white scene where we see Gene working at Cinnabon), what is going on in Breaking Bad (assuming this scene takes place while Breaking Bad has not completely ended; my assumption here is that during this scene Walt is still hiding in the cabin the vacuum cleaner guy put him in, but please point out if this is not so)

Is there enough information to answer this with the season / episode number (and with the scene if possible)?

Answer 1

Lots of spoilers below

This answer has to have a lot of details about the eventual fates of many characters in both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. You have been warned.

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The bulk of the main story in Better Call Saul all occurs in the period 2002–4, and the main story of Breaking Bad happens in the period 2008–10. The good folks at the BB/BCS Fandom wiki have put together a fairly detailed timeline showing when most of the events take place.

1. By the time Breaking Bad starts, on Walt's 50th birthday in September 2008, most of the events shown in BCS (particularly those shown in color, rather than black-and-white) are at least four years in the past. Jimmy & Kim have divorced, Jimmy has fully adopted the persona of Saul Goodman and has a thriving legal practice in his particular niche, and Kim has moved out of New Mexico and is (presumably) living in Titusville, Florida. There are, however, a small number of scenes from BCS that take place during the timeframe of the main BB storyline:

   • The first scene in "Quite A Ride" (BCS S4E5) takes place as Saul is cleaning out his office and preparing to flee, presumably just before the opening scene of "Granite State" (BB S5E15).
   • The initial montage in "Wine and Roses" (BCS S6E1), showing agents seizing Saul's property, presumably takes place in late 2010 as well, around the same time as "Granite State" and "Felina" (BB S5E16).
   • Several flashbacks in the episode "Breaking Bad" (BCS S6E11) show Saul's perspective on the events of the episode "Better Call Saul" (BB S2E8).
   • A flashback scene during "Saul Gone" (BCS S6E13) shows a conversation between Saul and Walter while they are waiting for extraction, during the events of "Granite State".

2. As noted above, the main storyline of BCS takes place before the events shown in Breaking Bad. Walt is still teaching high school chemistry and working part-time at the A1A Car Wash to help make ends meet. To the best of my recollection, there aren't any flashback scenes in Breaking Bad that show events during the period of 2002–4, while Better Call Saul is taking place.

3. The first black-and-white scene of Better Call Saul, introducing the story of "Gene Takovic", takes place in October 2010. This is about a month after the death of Walter White on his 52nd birthday, in September 2010 (as shown in "Felina"). The remaining black-and-white scenes of BCS take place over the subsequent two months.