Better Call Saul season 6: release date, story, and what we know

When Better Call Saul started in February 2015, it didn't quite become the household name quite as much as its predecessor did. Now, after five excellent seasons, we’re strapped in and ready for Better Call Saul season 6. AMC confirmed the final season a month before the season 5 premiere, and it’s currently being written remotely amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

Co-creator Peter Gould and the writers spent five years carefully developing each complex character, and now the stories of Jimmy, Kim, and the drug kingpins of New Mexico are ready to reach their climax. Speaking to Deadline, Gould says Better Call Saul season 6 is “going to be big, and it’s going to be resolved.”

We already have a few clues as to who will survive, at least. As he plays a role in Breaking Bad, set six years after the prequel starts, it's essentially confirmed that Jimmy ‘Saul Goodman’ McGill is safe, but there are plenty of characters that are ripe for the chop. So let's get to it and break down what we know about the Better Call Saul season 6 release date, cast, and story. Be warned, season 5 spoilers follow.

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The Better Call Saul season 6 release date will be in 2021

Variety confirms that Better Call Saul will conclude in 2021. Expect it to be in the latter half of next year, though: there will be three more episodes than the usual ten, and there tends to be a year gap between each season. Also, the start of production could be delayed by Covid-19.

Work on the finale’s story is already underway, however. In an interview with Variety in April, Gould said “We just started working the last few weeks [...] There are some things going on in the writers’ room that I’m really excited about.”

Better Call Saul season 6 story: who will survive?

The season 5 finale set up two major storylines: Kim against Howard Hamlin, and Lalo Salamanca versus, well, everyone. In the final scene we left Lalo fuming with rage after Gus’ failed assassination attempt. With his house ablaze and mother dead, “Lalo has vengeance in his eyes and is heading north for revenge,” Tony Dalton told the LA Times. We know Lalo survives, though, since we recall Goodman’s terrified line to Walter White in Breaking Bad: “Did Lalo send you?”

One of the men with a target on his back is Nacho Varga, and Gould told The Wrap he’s “in deep, deep trouble.” Nacho disappears during the assassination, and the extended shot of Lalo fixating on the drinks he shared with Varga moments earlier confirms that he suspects his former colleague’s involvement. Nacho never appears in Breaking Bad, so don’t bet on him making it out alive.

What a Great Season it was! I Cannot wait for the final season 🎬🎥What do you guys think will happen to Kim? What's Lalo going to do next? What happens to nacho?😱 Will the #salamancatwins come and clean house? 😈🪓💀#BetterCallSaul #salamancatwins #BreakingBad pic.twitter.com/3nQZsBpLFrApril 21, 2020

Another central Better Call Saul character missing in Breaking Bad is Jimmy’s wife, Kim Wexler, and she doesn’t seem to be on a danger-free path either. After standing up to Lalo - so she has one foot in the grave already - it seems like the taciturn attorney is getting a taste for chaos: she wants to scam goody-two-shoes Howard out of his illustrious legal career, making the newlyweds millions. 

Gould is also concerned for Wexler: in an interview with The Wrap, he says “The title of the penultimate episode this season was Bad Choice Road. And, certainly, Kim Wexler seems to be on a bad choice road.” In a virtual Deadline panel, Rhea Seehorn reflected on her time on the show so far, explaining that playing Kim was more complex than just "one giant arc of this mask coming off" as her backstory interweaves with Jimmy's present. But while Seehorn claimed to not know where her story is going yet, Gould said "We have a lot of ideas."

In many ways, the roles of Kim and Jimmy have reversed. Following ‘Saul Goodman’s’ near-death experience in the desert, he’s reverted back to the unsure Jimmy McGill. Speaking to Deadline, Bob Odenkirk said “Jimmy is in a vulnerable place. He’s in a weak and uncertain and frightened place inside.”

We know that McGill makes it through Better Call Saul season 6, but will it be worth it? “He is an accessory to just awful, awful things, not just in the Walter White of it, but all the other things that he’s done,” Gould said to Deadline. “I feel that he has a karmic burden. Does this guy earn a happy ending?”

So lucky to be collaborating with this dude! #BetterCallSaul pic.twitter.com/QlwlonI3amApril 21, 2020

Better Call Saul cast: will more Breaking Bad characters return?

Better Call Saul wouldn’t exist without the man himself, so Odenkirk will return as Goodman. The Better Call Saul season 6 cast list isn’t confirmed, but we’ll certainly see more from Rhea Seehorn (Kim Wexler), Jonathan Banks (Mike Ehrmantraut), Patrick Fabian (Howard Hamlin), Micheal Mando (Nacho Varga), Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring), and Tony Dalton (Lalo Salamanca).

But while Gould has already confirmed that we won’t see Jesse (Aaron Paul) or Walter (Bryan Cranston), could we see any other Breaking Bad cameos? We were already treated to the return of Hank (Dean Norris) and his DEA buddy, Steven (Steven Michael Quezada) in season 5...

Will Better Call Saul season 6 outshine Breaking Bad?

It didn’t take long for Better Call Saul to justify its existence in its own right. Its undivided focus on character development makes it not only better than Breaking Bad in some ways, but one of the finest shows around. And chances are, it’s only going to get better.

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