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S'all good, man: 'Better Call Saul' is back on AMC

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Author: 
Kyla Brewer / TV Media
Bob Odenkirk stars in "Better Call Saul"

Bob Odenkirk stars in "Better Call Saul"

Television has evolved. With entire series available at the touch of a button through on-demand and streaming services, TV fans don't need to wait to be entertained. Still, some things are worth waiting for. After a long hiatus, everyone's favorite "criminal" lawyer is headed back to prime time.

Bob Odenkirk ("Mr. Show With Bob and David") returns as Jimmy McGill, aka Saul Goodman, in the two-night season premiere of "Better Call Saul," beginning Sunday and continuing Monday, Feb. 23 and 24, on AMC. The character famously originated in AMC's "Breaking Bad" and proved so popular that Odenkirk was given his own show, which serves as a prequel to the previous series.

Goodman's origin story continues in the new season of "Better Call Saul," which follows Jimmy/Saul as he sheds his one-time hapless persona for that of a sleazy but highly capable lawyer. All the while, longtime friend and sometimes lover Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn, "Whitney") makes her way as an ambitious lawyer, albeit with a very different approach to practicing law.

Mike Ermantraut (Jonathan Banks, "Breaking Bad") is also back this season. The cantankerous former cop finds himself on the other side of the law as he works for underworld figure Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito, "The Mandalorian"). Both Fring and Ermantraut were main characters who met their demise in "Breaking Bad."

Fans have been waiting a long time for new episodes of "Saul." The Season 4 finale aired in October 2018, and fans will likely be expecting a big payoff for their patience. By all accounts, Odenkirk appears to think that they will be satisfied with "Better Call Saul's" 10-episode fifth season. At the 2020 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour, the actor said that the new season would be "bigger."

"I do feel like we go faster in Season 5," he said. "More happens. It's a bigger season. The snowball is coming down the mountain and it's breaking up."

At the same event, Peter Gould, who co-created both "Breaking Bad" and "Saul" with Vince Gilligan, echoed Odenkirk's enthusiasm for the new season: "I'd say this season, where it goes, is a little more kinetic," Gould explained. "There are scenes that are certainly as violent as anything we had on 'Breaking Bad.'"

Speaking of "Breaking Bad," fans of the now-defunct AMC drama may be happy to know that a couple of familiar faces will show up in the new season of "Better Call Saul." The biggest buzz is that Dean Norris ("Claws") will guest star as Hank Schrader, DEA agent and brother-in-law to "Breaking Bad's" main character, meth cook Walter White (Bryan Cranston, "Malcolm in the Middle"). In a blog post on AMC.com, Norris was quoted as saying:

"I was absolutely thrilled to revisit my old friend Hank Schrader. It was particularly fun to play the early Hank with swagger. Getting time on set again with my 'Breaking Bad' family was a cherry on top. I hope the fans enjoy it as much as I did."

Rhea Seehorn as seen in "Better Call Saul"

Rhea Seehorn as seen in "Better Call Saul"

As an added bonus, Schrader's ever-loyal sidekick, Gomez (Steven Michael Quezada, "Beerfest," 2006), will be back in action, too. They're scheduled to appear in two episodes of the new season, and the dynamic duo caused a hullabaloo when they showed up in the "Better Call Saul" Season 5 trailer.

The trailer offers some glimpses of what's to come. Saul and Kim share a kiss. Gus appears to be engaged in some intense wheelings and dealings. "Breaking Bad" psychopath Tuco Salamanca (Raymond Cruz, "The Closer"), who appeared in the first and second seasons of "Saul," returns with his bell. Gang member Nacho (Michael Mando, "Orphan Black") broods. In the trailer's best clip, Mike shows some young whippersnappers that he's not to be trifled with.

In addition to the other "Breaking Bad" alums, Robert Forster ("Jackie Brown," 1997) is set to make an appearance as vacuum cleaner salesman Ed Gailbraith, who has a side job helping people disappear witness-protection style -- for a fee, of course. Sadly, Forster appears posthumously, having died in October 2019, from brain cancer.

With so many nefarious characters in the new season, Saul should have no trouble finding clients for his burgeoning law practice, shady though it may be. His transformation from Jimmy to Saul should be almost complete by the season's end, but there will surely be more to explore since "Better Call Saul" has already been renewed for Season 6. Unfortunately, that will be its final season, as the prequel nears the "Breaking Bad" timeline. Who knows, perhaps White and partner-in-crime Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul, "The Path") will turn up in Season 6? Critics and fans praised Paul's reprisal of Pinkman in last year's Netflix film "El Camino," which served as an epilogue for "Breaking Bad," proving that there's still a hunger for the show's characters.

As Season 5 kicks off, Saul comes up with an unorthodox strategy for getting new clients that tests Kim's patience. Elsewhere, Lalo (Tony Dalton, "Sr. Avila") searches for the mysterious Michael. Don't miss what happens next in the season premiere of "Better Call Saul," airing Sunday and Monday, Feb. 23 and 24, on AMC.