It’s all good, man, because Better Call Saul season 5 is back soon, continuing the (mis)adventures of Jimmy McGill, aka Saul Goodman, and his friends and enemies.
Better Call Saul season 5 has been a long time coming for fans, who have waited since October 2018 to see Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) complete his transformation into Saul. In the season 4 finale, Jimmy delivered an emotional plea to a judge to reinstate his law license — only to reveal to girlfriend Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) that it was all an act and that he plans to practice under the name Saul Goodman.
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Meanwhile, in the (more) criminal underworld, Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) fully broke bad by killing Werner Ziegler, the engineer in charge of building the meth lab for Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). Gus showed the still-under-construction lab to Gale Boetticher (David Costabile) while also dealing with his new cartel contact, Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton).
When Better Call Saul season 5 premieres Feb. 23 on AMC, it’ll pick up right where it left off — the newly created "Saul Goodman" is starting his law practice by offering a 50% off deal to new clients. Kim is not impressed. And Lalo Salamanca takes a firm hold of Hector’s drug business, all while continuing to search for the mysterious "Michael."
Here are some other plot twists, turns and long-awaited events you can expect on Better Call Saul season 5.
Warning: This story mentions events that happened in Breaking Bad and seasons 1-4 of Better Call Saul. It also has mild spoilers about season 5, based on episode summaries.
1. What delays the meth superlab?
In the season 4 finale, Gus showed off the under-construction meth superlab to Gale, who helped design it. Gale gushed over the "architectural feat," excitedly adding, "I can work with this." But Gus ominously warned him, "Not until it is complete."
While the engineers had done most of the work excavating the cavern, the finale showed it would be some time before the superlab was ready.
In Better Call Saul season 5, with Werner and his engineers off the project, the superlab will face some major obstacles to completion. As you may recall, when Walter White first visited the superlab in season 3 of Breaking Bad, the lab looked untouched and plastic wrapping still covered much of the equipment.
About four years lapse between the end of Better Call Saul season 4 (circa May 2004) and the beginning of Breaking Bad (circa September 2008). Gus seemed really intent on building the lab during season 4, so what causes such a long delay to completion? Most of the heavy lifting has been done. It seems most likely that the arrival of Lalo Salamanca (more below) or the interest of the DEA (also more below) causes major headaches for Gus and he presses pause on the lab.
2. Why does Mike fully commit to Gus?
Mike has always exhibited a complex moral code. On the one hand, he will engage in criminal activities. On the other hand, he doesn’t want anyone, especially innocents, to get hurt. But in the season 4 finale, he truly broke bad by murdering the lab’s lead engineer, Werner Ziegler, on Gus’ orders.
According to AMC, in season 5, Mike will be "wracked with guilt and regret" about killing Werner and will eventually hit rock bottom. While this could be a turning point for Mike, where he returns to being a regular security guard, we know from Breaking Bad that this doesn’t happen.
Instead, Mike will get fully involved in Gus’ organization. Mike’s biggest priority is his granddaughter; perhaps Gus offers him even more money that Mike can save for his family. Or maybe when Mike hits rock bottom, he comes to terms with who he really is — one of the bad guys.
3. How does the DEA finally get involved?
The Better Call Saul season 5 trailer teased the introduction of two characters new to the show but familiar to Breaking Bad fans: DEA agents Hank Schrader and Steve Gomez.
So far, Hector Salamanca’s drug empire hasn’t tangled with the DEA (that we’ve seen). But Hector has been incapacitated and his nephew Lalo Salamanca is in town to run the business. Lalo seems even more violent and mercurial than his uncle, so his activities may come to the attention of the DEA. The other possibility is that Gus himself tips the feds about his enemies (as he did in Breaking Bad).
And considering the timeline, fans may see how Hank and Steve recruit Domingo Molina, aka Krazy-8, to snitch on the Salamancas.
4. Can Nacho survive season 5?
Ignacio "Nacho" Varga will be in an extremely difficult position at the beginning of the season. He is ostensibly working for the Salamanca crew, and thus must earn the trust of Lalo, but he has secretly made a deal with Gus. The secret that Nacho slipped Hector the wrong pills could come out at any moment. If that happens, both sides will come for Nacho — Lalo to get revenge for his uncle and Gus to tidy up loose ends.
Breaking Bad doesn’t give us too many clues about Nacho’s future. The only reference to him is during Saul’s first-ever appearance on the flagship series. When Walter White and Jesse kidnap him, he blurts out, "It wasn't me, it was Ignacio! Lalo didn't send you? No Lalo!? Oh, thank god!"
Ignacio (Nacho) was never seen or talked about again in Breaking Bad. That could mean, by then, he was dead, in prison or had gone on the run. The latter is somewhat possible, since Albuquerque, New Mexico, has a great vacuum repairman who also helps disappear people.
One thing pointing to a more ominous fate is the synopsis for Better Call Saul season 5, episode 10: "Nacho gets closer to the cartel than he'd like." He may survive to the finale, but then find that he can’t maneuver out from between the rock and hard place.
5. What happens to Kim?
Aside from Jimmy’s evolution into Saul, the biggest question of the entire series has been this one. Kim Wexler was not a part of Breaking Bad, but she has been very important to Jimmy McGill in Better Call Saul.
Better Call Saul will end with a sixth and final season, and we will probably have to wait until then to learn Kim’s fate. But this batch of episodes should start to pave Kim’s road out of Jimmy’s life.
AMC has revealed that she will find herself on "a slippery slope of cut corners and white lies." The season 5 episode summaries also reveal that Jimmy has a "traumatic misadventure," after which "Kim takes stock of what is important." In season 5, while Kim is uncomfortable with Jimmy McGill's transformation into Saul Goodman, she sticks around. But consider the synopsis of the finale, which reads, "Jimmy and Kim make a sideways move that takes a serious turn." Does this mean Kim will finally reach her breaking point?
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