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Entertainment Now | April 16 - 22, 2022 By Dana Simpson TV Media S ome know him as Jimmy McGill, but everyone re- members him as Saul Goodman. "Breaking Bad" actor Bob Odenkirk returns to his complicated triple role as Jimmy, Saul and Gene Takovic in a much- anticipated new season of "Bet- ter Call Saul." The show's sixth and final season, premiering Monday, April 18, on AMC and streaming service AMC+, offers new insight into the formative years of the seediest criminal lawyer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Saul Goodman, as he de - fends the guilty and commits crimes of his own before meeting up with his most famous client yet, Walter White (Bryan Crans- ton) of "Breaking Bad." While "Bad" fans have yet to catch a glimpse of the original se- ries' meth-cooking character and his equally guilty partner, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul, "BoJack Horseman"), the past five sea- sons of "Saul" have given view- ers plenty of background infor- mation to take in. As last season began, Jimmy was still struggling to process the death of his brother, Chuck (Mi- chael McKean, "Laverne & Shir- ley"), from the previous season, and had just managed to get his law license back with help from his on-again, off-again partner — both professionally and ro- mantically — Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn, "Things Heard & Seen," 2021). Having officially adopted the name Saul Goodman on the job so as not to further tarnish his al- ready damaged given name, Jim- my gets deeper into crime on both sides of the border while try- ing to separate himself from his pain and grief. At the beginning of Season 5, Jimmy managed to get several new clients by selling burner phones to criminals. Upon re- building his client base under the Goodman name, Jimmy soon be- comes the go-to man for criminal defense. While defending others, however, he becomes involved in another underhanded operation of his own when he agrees to help Kim settle a sticking point in her case with Mesa Verde Bank and Trust. Despite Jimmy and Kim's plan eventually blowing up in their faces, it does lead them toward a new plan: get married. Now legally bound to one an- other and having signed a full- disclosure honesty pact before the union, Kim and Jimmy have agreed to back each other up and share everything, no matter how dark things may get. Perhaps not surprisingly, however, those plans fail as soon as Jimmy is tasked with the dangerous job of collect- ing $7 million in cash for Lalo Sal- amanca's (Tony Dalton, "Mr. Avi- la") bail. Juárez cartel member Lalo was arrested in Season 5, thanks to Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks, "Community"), who was out for vengeance after being forced to kill his friend, Werner Ziegler (Rainer Bock, "Wonder Woman," 2017), last season. By getting Lalo arrested for Season 4's murder of a TravelWire employee, Mike set up a series of events that ultimately leads into Season 6. Of course, the man behind the scenes throughout the entire se- ries is Pollos Hermanos owner and "Breaking Bad" favorite Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). Due to Lalo's constant attack on his businesses, Gus plans to have Lalo released on bail so that he can enlist Nacho (Michael Mando, "Orphan Black") to lead him to Mexico, have him killed and settle his cartel problem once and for all. But like most things in the Breaking Bad Universe, his plan didn't exactly go off without a hitch. When Season 5 wrapped up in April 2020, Lalo had managed to escape his own assassination and have one of the dying assassins call to confirm his death. This means that heading into Season 6, Gus, Nacho, Jimmy and Kim all think they're safe from Lalo, who they assume is dead. This false safety, however, appears to crum- ble rather quickly for Kim, who in the Season 6 trailer asks, "Do you ever feel like you're being fol- lowed?" And while Kim has spent most of the series as the voice of rea- son and a defender of good (with some exceptions, of course — no one is perfect), she spent the end of Season 5 with Jimmy, dream- ing up ways to crush fellow law- yer Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabi- an, "Veronica Mars"). Jimmy, however, despite formerly wreak- ing havoc on Howard with every- thing from bowling balls to poor- ly timed prostitutes, expresses concern for Kim's serious inten- tion to sabotage Howard's career. Assuming that Kim wouldn't want to sacrifice her own career to ruin Howard's — even though it would mean a settlement in the Sandpiper lawsuit and approxi- mately $2 million for Kim and Jimmy — Jimmy says, "Kim, do- ing this, it's not you. You would not be OK with it, not in the cold light of day." "Wouldn't I?" Kim responds wryly, demonstrating her com- plete descent into the show's per- vasive criminality. While she justi- fies her choice by saying she'll use her part of the money to open up a pro-bono office for under- privileged citizens, Kim may prove to be "Saul's" most inter- esting character in the final sea- son. As fans learn more about Kim's boundaries, Saul's newly re-estab- lished practice, Lalo's hunt for re- venge, and Howard's potential downfall, it must be noted that there are also many questions re- garding Gus's past in Chile and Jimmy's life as Takovic as well. But no matter what may have hap- pened in the past, Mike reminds fans in the trailer, "Whatever hap- pens next, it's not going to go down the way you think it is." Lawyer up for the Season 6 premiere of "Better Call Saul," airing Monday, April 18, on AMC and AMC+. Rhea Seehorn stars in "Better Call Saul" The Goodman, the 'Bad' and the wicked: Final season of 'Better Call Saul' begins on AMC 2 | Cover story A/Grindstone Charlie's B/Norris Insurance 1 x 4" Moore's Home Health 5 x 2"

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