I find it strange as well. I am the weird guy who never watched Breaking Bad but has seen every episode of Better Call Saul, so I don't know what it might mean in that context. For me, it seems like an old-fashioned prison uniform that typically had wide stripes before orange jumpsuits became the standard.

I envy you, Trent. After you finish watching BCS, you get to watch BB with fresh eyes. I absolutely guarantee that you'll love it.

He's backed up against the wall and painted into a corner?

I think you are doing yourself a great dis-service by watching this before bb. I think the best way to view anything is in the order it was written. They write bcs with BB in mind, not the other way around. For example when we see Ken (the guy Saul and Kim con at the bar) we immediately recognize him as one of the first people to meet Walter whites wrath in the future. And that's just one of many. I can think of two others in just this recent ep. I believe having seen bb makes bcs a much more enjoyable experience.

I think it's OK to watch BCS first, but it's not easy to be sure because BCS is not finished.