After a brief hiatus due to the pandemic, Better Call Saul has begun production once again. The Breaking Bad prequel series began shooting its sixth and final season this month in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After more than a year since the premiere of the fifth season, fans are anxious to know what happens next to their favorite “criminal” lawyer.
Season 5 of Better Call Saul sees Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) fully embrace his new morally ambiguous identity as Saul Goodman while being roped into a conflict among the Juárez Cartel. Following his actions, his wife and fellow defense attorney, Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), is forced to re-evaluate her usually rigid moral code. Meanwhile, the game of cat and mouse between Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) and the Salamanca family is escalates to new levels. As Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) becomes a major player in Gus’ business, he acts as the connection between Jimmy and Gus. The biggest wild card is Nacho Varga (Michael Mando), who is blackmailed into playing both sides and providing intel on the Salamancas’ agenda.
After Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis) was rendered disabled by a stroke that was secretly caused by Nacho, his nephew, Lalo (Tony Dalton), took his place as the head of the operation. Lalo’s sadistic and chaotic nature means trouble for Gus’ operation as a low-key battle is initiated between them. After being implicated in the murder of a civilian, Lalo calls upon Jimmy to represent him in court. The two come up with a plan for Lalo to skip bail and flee back to Mexico. The plan is successful, but shortly after arriving in Mexico, Gus sends a group of assassins to kill him with Nacho’s aid. Lalo survives, and upon realizing that both Gus and Nacho were involved, he forces an assassin to report that he has been killed. He then goes into hiding to plot his revenge, setting up a major confrontation in Season 6.
Because Better Call Saul is a prequel, we already know where Jimmy’s shady dealings lead him, but there are still many unanswered questions. Season 6, which will serve as the link between the series and Breaking Bad, is set to make things more clear. Bob Odenkirk offered some insight on the connection between the two, stating, “I’ve been told by [co-creator] Peter Gould that when Better Call Saul wraps up, everyone will see Breaking Bad in a different light. I don’t know what that means. I don’t have any specifics beyond that, but I think there are more amazing things to come that will comment on or inform the actual incidents of Breaking Bad in a surprising way.”
Another major question involves the fate of Jimmy. It is revealed in flash-forward scenes that due to the aftermath of Breaking Bad, Jimmy was forced to go into hiding and create a new identity for himself as Gene, a Cinnabon manager. When his cover is blown by a cab driver, tense moments ensue, leaving him with a big decision to make. However, Odenkirk believes that since Gene has been around the block a few times, he has hopefully learned from previous mistakes. He explained, “We’ll see how [Gene] behaves as a more experienced person having lost everything — at least one time. I wonder what Gene will do to protect himself, or to strike back at the world.”
Media by Cole Simpson.
