Editor’s note: The below interview contains spoilers for the first two episodes of Better Call Saul Season 6.The long-running AMC seriesBetter Call Saulmight technically serve as a prequel toBreaking Bad, but has carved out a storytelling niche all its own in the realm of drama television thanks to unexpected twists and phenomenal performances. The show chronicles the journey of Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), a former conman who aspires to become a decent lawyer, through his seemingly-inevitable descent into the role of crooked criminal defense attorney Saul Goodman. Throughout the prior five seasons, Jimmy’s backstory has played almost in tandem with flash-forward scenes from his post-Breaking Badlife, as we learn more about the people who played such a formative role in shaping his burgeoning professional career in law (like his now-wife Kim Wexler, played byRhea Seehorn, or his now-late older brother Charles McGill, played byMichael McKean). We also learn how Jimmy’s path first crossed with that of former police officer and security expert Mike Ehrmentraut (Jonathan Banks), and how he ultimately became a “friend of the cartel” rather unwittingly, thanks to tangling with members of the deadly Salamanca crime family, spearheaded by the unpredictable Lalo (Tony Dalton), who frequently clashes with rival drug lord Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito).
Ahead ofBetter Call Saul’s Season 6 premiere, Collider had the opportunity to speak with Odenkirk about some of the most pivotal moments of the first two episodes. Over the course of the interview, which you can read below, the actor teases what’s to come for Jimmy and Kim’s relationship this season, especially as it pertains to their plans for revenge on Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian) and what they could still earn if the Sandpiper Crossing case is settled once and for all. Odenkirk also discusses the return of the Kettlemans in these first two episodes, the looming threat of the cartel in Jimmy’s life heading into Season 6, and more.
Collider: One of the things that Season 6 is really starting to delve into is… Kim and Jimmy’s strategy to strike back at Howard starts to come into play. Their plan feels a little aligned, but also diverges at times as we see the differences in their approach. Do you feel like this season sees them becoming more united in their plan, or do you think the cracks are starting to form in that union?
BOB ODENKIRK: Both things are simultaneously true. They are more on the same page than ever. They are more volatile than ever. Kim’s willingness and even eagerness to play games with ethical choices and pull stunts is a powerful drive that sort of slowly appeared in her, in the character, and then became more and more prevalent and sort of strong and powerful, and now here she is. We’ll see what happens. She’s leading the way.
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One of the ways we definitely see her start to step to the forefront in these first two episodes is [with] the return of the Kettlemans, which was a delightful surprise. From your standpoint, how was it to play out that reunion? Did it feel like a full-circle moment of a sort?
ODENKIRK: I loved it. I love how no feeling, action, choice, or character in these universes gets tossed aside and forgotten completely. Everything is… it still exists in the world, and that’s true of the real world. Not only are the Kettlemans out there, they are probably in the vicinity, because people get stuck in a part of the country. They don’t move. And so here they are… Oh, well, we can’t give this away, right? But I love that. I love that about the show, and it felt like a fun reunion of those characters, and I was so glad to see them back.
When somebody dies, they don’t just disappear. Even a bad guy, their name comes up again, the legacy of what happened there resonates and comes back, and that’s just a really cool thing because mostly in show biz and in movies and TV shows, there’s a fair amount of sort of collateral damage that just disappears into the ether. I think Vince Gilligan led the way withBreaking Bad, and now with Peter Gould and Vince and that team of writers, they’re very aware. You could do something bad, and you can get away with it. But you didn’t really get away with it, and it didn’t just disappear.
At what point in makingBetter Call Sauldid you realize it had every intention on delivering the backstory behind the lines that you first utter inBreaking Bad?
ODENKIRK: Well, I knew they were trying to do that. Of course, we didn’t meet Lalo for four years. I think when Lalo came around, I started to sense that they were going to deliver on all the intimations and suggestions that existed inBreaking Badthat you could pick up on, and even the ones that were just an accident. In fact, Lalo and Nacho were kind of an accident. They were just names, and Mike wasn’t even supposed to… Mike was invented because I had to doHow I Met Your Mother. So these guys… and we have a lot of women writers. We have a predominantly female staff. They find every little loose end and make it matter.
Speaking of the cartel, I feel like we’re seeing them start to loom in an especially big way leading into this final season. How much of a continued presence are they going to be in Jimmy’s world? Because it’s hard to imagine the possibility that this is a one-and-done job for him.
ODENKIRK: Yeah. Well, you don’t get to make that choice once you work with the cartel. They say, “Don’t accept any favors in prison, because you owe people.” So the minute he does anything for the cartel, it’s really like he owes them. He’s just tied in forever. They’re huge. They’re the undertow that you’re able to’t get rid of. Once you throw your lot in with them, which he did, you don’t get to walk away. I can’t tell you any more.
I’m sure that there’s so much that you can’t talk about, and actually, that’s probably a good—
ODENKIRK: Can I tell you one thing?
ODENKIRK: The two shows,Breaking BadandBetter Call Saul, in this final season, are married up more than they ever have been. So that’s a fun thing to look for, and I would say if you loveBetter Call Saul, you should watchBreaking Badone more time before it airs.
Season 6 ofBetter Call Saulairs Monday nights at 9 PM ET/PT on AMC.
