Overview
It's television's greatest tragedy, and one that's been more than a decade in the making. Watching Better Call Saul, it's impossible not to think about the route its protagonist takes through Breaking Bad. We already know how Saul Goodman's (Bob Odenkirk) story ends, so as we explore his pre-Walter White life — when he was known by his birth name of Jimmy McGill and genuinely wanted to be a legitimate lawyer — the feeling is bittersweet, to say the least.
The same sensation applies to former cop Mike Ehrmantrout (Jonathan Banks), whose Breaking Bad fate is also already known. Before getting caught up with Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), he first crossed Jimmy's path as a car park attendant at the Albuquerque court house — and Better Call Saul tells his tale as much as its namesake's
For four seasons since 2015, the Breaking Bad prequel has stepped through the earlier existence of these two characters, as well as others in their orbit — such as Jimmy's successful older brother Chuck (Michael McKean), his girlfriend and fellow lawyer Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), and Mike's widowed daughter-in-law Stacey (Kerry Condon) and granddaughter Kaylee (Abigail Zoe Lewis). As the episodes pass, the two central figures slowly start inching towards their Breaking Bad lives. Familiar faces, such as Fring and Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis) also pop up.
The result: a series that's as excellent as its predecessor, and one that provides another excuse to spend more time in Breaking Bad's world. After last airing episodes in 2018, it's returning for a fifth season this year — and if you can't wait until February 24 to see what comes next, a pair of sneak peeks have dropped.
The teasers are incredibly brief, as proved the case when glimpses of 2019's El Camino — A Breaking Bad Movie first started releasing. Still, they show what we all knew was coming: that Jimmy McGill is slipping further away — and Saul Goodman is emerging.
Check out the teasers below:
Better Call Saul's fifth season starts streaming on Stan from Monday, February 24.