Bob Odenkirk saved Carol Burnett from an untimely death on ‘Better Call Saul’

Carol Burnett owes her life — or at least her Better Call Saul character’s life — to series star Bob Odenkirk.

Burnett, who joined the sixth and final season of AMC’s Breaking Bad prequel, played Marion, the mother of Pat Healy‘s Jeff, who recognizes Saul from his days in Albuquerque. The penultimate episode, titled “Waterworks,” ends with Marion recognizing Saul before calling the police and Saul making a run for it.

“Carol, there’s something that you should know,” Odenkirk told the audience during Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love on NBC Wednesday night. “[Series creator Vince Gilligan] wanted my character to kill you in that scene. Look at him, he’s shaking his head. His exact words to me were, ‘Saul ends up killing Carol Burnett.’ And if I remember correctly, he didn’t say, ‘Kill Carol’s character,’ he said, ‘Kill Carol Burnett.’ But I refused, and I told him I’d walk.”

“I was willing to risk my career and never working in this town again. Because I didn’t want little children who watched our show — and I hope many of them did — to see me on the street and say, ‘Mommy, that’s the man who killed Carol Burnett,'” he joked. “That’s all I wanted to say. That I’m your real friend and Vince is not. And one more thing, Vince and I, and everybody on our show, we think you’re the greatest.”