Dean Norris returns for Better Call Saul Season 5
David Farnor | On 17, Jan 2020
Raise a Schraderbräu – Hank is back! Yes, Dean Norris will appear in Better Call Saul Season 5, AMC has announced.
Yesterday at the Television Critics’ Association Press Tour, Better Call Saul executive producer Peter Gould announced that the show’s highly anticipated fifth season will welcome back Breaking Bad alum Dean Norris as a special guest star, reprising his role as DEA Agent Hank Schrader in a two-episode appearance.
Norris’s fan-favorite character will return alongside his partner in crime-stopping Gomez (Steven Michael Quezada) as the world of Better Call Saul inches ever closer to that of its predecessor Breaking Bad.
“To be called by the genius Vince Gilligan to play a character that changed my life, and to get to work with the great Bob Odenkirk on a show I adore, what more could I ask?” Norris said in a statement. “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.”
While Hank in Breaking Bad might have been in the dark about Walter White’s extra-curricular activities, he was all too familiar with Saul Goodman, who often found his way into Hank’s interrogation room while defending Jesse Pinkman and others who crossed paths with the DEA.
And even though it’s been several years since he played Hank, Norris said it’s like he never left. “It’s like riding a bike,” he added. “I didn’t have to do anything special to get back into this character. It was just putting the orange shirt on, and I’m there.”
After facing an uphill battle to regain his law license in Season 4, Season 5 sees Jimmy McGill decide to take on the world as Saul Goodman. But in order to do that, he’ll have to build his new persona piece by piece. Needless to say, Jimmy’s transformation into Saul will create unexpected and profound waves of change for those in his orbit. But for those who’ve been waiting for Jimmy’s Breaking Bad alter ego to come to life, Season 5 promises to be an explosive, exciting journey.
Better Call Saul Season 5 will premiere on Netflix UK on Monday 24th February, within 24 hours of its US debut. You can see a photo of Hank back in action above, or watch the latest Season 5 teaser below
First look: Better Call Saul Season 5 set for February release
21st November 2019
Better Call Saul Season 5 will officially premiere in February 2020, Netflix has confirmed, and we’ve got our first look at the dodgy lawyer’s return.
Two months after Breaking Bad sequel El Camino, AMC’s prequel will once again take us back to the Gilligan Cinematic Universe. After clawing his way back into the world of law in Season 4, with the one weapon he knows best — a well-performed con — Jimmy McGill‘s back in the courtroom. But in Season 5, Jimmy will make the decision that changes everything — to practice law as “Saul Goodman”. And this decision will soon create unexpected and profound waves of change for everyone in his world.
The series stars Bob Odenkirk (Jimmy), Rhea Seehorn (Kim Wexler), Jonathan Banks (Mike Ehrmantraut), Michael Mando (Nacho Varga), Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring), Patrick Fabian (Howard Hamlin) and Tony Dalton (Lalo), and is executive-produced by showrunner Peter Gould, Vince Gilligan, Mark Johnson, Melissa Bernstein and Thomas Schnauz.
You can see them all back on action on 24th February, when Episode 1 arrives on Netflix UK within 24 hours of its US debut. Episode 2 is set to follow the next day, with episodes then arriving weekly.
Here are the first images released from Season 5:
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Better Call Saul Season 5 starts shooting
7th August 2019
Better Call Saul Season 5 has officially started shooting.
AMC’s spin-off from Breaking Bad has been a hit since its debut, earning a Peabody Award and picking up 23 Emmy nods in its first three seasons. Created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, the series stars Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian, Michael Mando and Giancarlo Esposito, and charts the transformation of lawyer Jimmy McGill to the sleazy, corrupt Saul Goodman, as well as his friendship with enforcer Mike Ehrmantraut and connections to Albuquerque’s rising drug kingpin Gus Fring.
Season 4 aired last year and took us several steps closer down the slow journey of Jimmy into Albuquerque’s underworld, with Gilligan hinting that cameos from Aaron Paul’s Jesse and Bryan Cranston’s Walter would be likely in the near future, even though neither appeared in Season 4. Whether that will happen in Season 5 or not will be the subject of much speculation, as filming now begins once more on location. Rhea Seehorn, who plays Kim, revealed that production was back in swing this morning, tweeting a picture of herself back in the familiar town.
The bad news, though, is that the show won’t be back on our screens for quite some time, with Season 5 not set to air until 2020.
AMC said in its most recent earnings call that it would be pushing Season 5 to next year, with Sarah Barnett, president of the entertainment networks group at AMC Networks, speaking to Vulture recently about that decision.
“It’s driven by talent needs, which we would not override if it would result in a worse show,” she explained in an interview.
“We know clearly the end was already written before the beginning began,” she added, of the show’s slow progression towards its yet-to-be-announced final season.
“The writers, they have a very particular, very clear sense of the arc of their show,” she added, refusing to be drawn on how many more seasons are left until the end point. “We’re certainly getting closer to it,” she teased.
On the plus side, that means more time to catch up with the first four seasons. You can read our reviews of each episode here.
Better Call Saul renewed for Season 5
29th July 2018
Better Call Saul has already been renewed for a fifth season, before Season 4 has even aired.
AMC’s spin-off from Breaking Bad has been a hit since its debut, earning a Peabody Award and picking up 23 Emmy nods in its first three seasons. Created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, the series stars Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian, Michael Mando and Giancarlo Esposito, and charts the transformation of lawyer Jimmy McGill to the sleazy, corrupt Saul Goodman, as well as his friendship with enforcer Mike Ehrmantraut and connections to Albuquerque’s rising drug kingpin Gus Fring.
Season 4 will premiere on Tuesday 7th August on Netflix UK, within 24 hours of its US debut on AMC. That season will pick up after the events of Season 3, which catalyse Jimmy McGill’s transformation into Saul Goodman. In the wake of the Season 3 finale, Jimmy takes steps into the criminal world that will put his future as a lawyer — and his relationship with Kim — in jeopardy. Howard and Kim also find themselves increasingly on opposite sides of a battle sparked by the Brothers McGill.
Meanwhile, Mike Ehrmantraut takes a more active role as Madrigal Electromotive’s newest (and most thorough) security consultant. It’s a volatile time to be in Gus Fring’s employ, as Hector sends shock waves throughout the Albuquerque underworld and throws the cartel into chaos — tearing apart both Gus and Nacho’s well-laid plans.
Earlier this month, Gilligan told fans at San Diego Comic-Con that cameos rom Aaron Paul’s Jesse and Bryan Cranston’s Walter would be likely in the near future, even though neither would appear in Season 4. Gould teased that Season 4 “very squarely gets into Breaking Bad territory and brings us into the world — or at least points us on a path toward the world of Walter White and the territory of Walter White”.
Now, the season that might finally do it is officially in the pipeline. AMC announced the news at the TCA press tour last night, with Bryan Cranston reportedly turning up to flaunt a tattoo of the show on his bottom. You can watch the trailer for Season 4 here – or click here to catch up with our reviews of Season 3.