Here's everything we know about 'Better Call Saul' season 4

It’s been on the cards ever since episode one began with that haunting black and white sequence set in the ‘present day’ but Better Call Saul is well on the way to being every bit as classic a TV series as that which birthed it: Breaking Bad.

Somehow, the show’s creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould have managed to sprinkle the show with a dash of Breaking Bad magic yet, resolutely, the Better Call Saul is very much its own, different beast, proceeding at a slow, yet beautiful pace, and featuring some truly stunning cinematography.

But enough waxing lyrical about it, let’s get on with the case at hand: season four is nearly upon us.

Those of you who watched through season three, which went out on Netflix from April to June last year, (*spoiler alerts*) will have been left open-mouthed at that finale, as a broken Chuck, finally outmanoeuvred by Jimmy, and condemned by Howard, sets his destroyed house on fire.

Will he return for the new series?

*Spoiler alert*

Well, no.

After much speculation about whether Chuck would survive, Michael McKean, the actor who played him, confirmed that the incident was fatal in an interview with Collider, stating:

“It seemed like this was kind of the end of Chuck’s chapter in the life of Jimmy McGill slash Saul Goodman. It’s almost like the rock and a hard place — they can’t be too comfy together for too long or else you have to ask, what is the point of having Chuck? If Chuck is the person that Jimmy cared for and took care of, and who transformed into his antagonist, and then transformed into this wreck - this person who has no choice but to try and fix himself and has no tools for himself - it seemed like a logical step.”

So, with Jimmy effectively having to start again after his Sandpiper manipulations, Kim managing to survive a car crash and Hector suffering a heart attack after his medication is swapped out by Nacho, it’s all to play for in the new season.

According to reports, it will apparently “catalyze” the change of Jimmy into Saul Goodman as he slips deeper into the world of crime, while Kim finds herself at odds again with Howard in a new legal battle. Mike will become further ensconced in Madrigal, the parent company of Los Pollos Hermanos, while Hector’s collapse impacts the cartel as well as Gus and Nacho’s plans.

And there’s finally a teaser trailer for the upcoming series - just 15 seconds, but it’s enough to get us very excited:

This comes in addition to the first images, released a few weeks ago:

AMC have announced that the new season will premiere in the US on 6 August at 9pm - a slightly later time in the year than previous seasons - with it’s UK premiere on Netflix expected to be the following day.

And, as before, it’ll feature 10 episodes. There may even be some familiar sights for Breaking Bad fans, with Gould telling viewers can expect “some things that will definitely ring a bell”. This comes after season three brought plenty of Gus, as well as Lydia’s first Better Call Saul appearance.

Gould and Gilligan have remained cagey when it comes to the prospect of an appearance for Walter White in season four, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see elements from the Breaking Bad narrative from a different perspective.

The official synopsis reads:

“In Better Call Saul‘s fourth season, Chuck’s death catalyses Jimmy McGill’s transformation into Saul Goodman. In the wake of his loss, Jimmy takes steps into the criminal world that will put his future as a lawyer — and his relationship with Kim — in jeopardy. Chuck’s death deeply affects former colleagues Howard (Patrick Fabian) and Kim as well, putting the two of them once again on opposite sides of a battle sparked by the Brothers McGill.”

Bring. It. On.

(Images: Nicole Wilder/AMC/Sony Pictures Television)