Watch Better Call Saul Recap Gene Takovic's Story

By Cameron Bonomolo

Who is Gene Takovic? The answer isn't so black-and-white. The fugitive formerly known as Slippin' Jimmy McGill and crooked criminal lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) broke bad before Breaking Bad, disappearing from Albuquerque after the DEA uncovered his shady dealings with notorious meth cooks Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). By the time of Better Call Saul's monochromatic flashforwards set post-Breaking Bad, Jimmy/Saul is in hiding as "Gene," the paranoid and mustached manager of an Omaha Cinnabon — and now that he's been recognized by creepy cab driver Jeff (Don Harvey, since recast with Pat Healy), Gene's cover is blown.

In the cold open of Better Call Saul Season 5 episode "Quite a Ride" — set during the Breaking Bad era between the events of "Ozymandias" and "Granite State" — Jimmy/Saul orders a new dust filter for a Hoover Max Extract Pressure Pro Model 60 from Ed the Disappearer (Robert Forster). While Walt disappears to New Hampshire, Jimmy/Saul is granted a new identity in Nebraska, leaving the fate of wife Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) unknown. 

That's where the above video begins: inside the Albuquerque office of Saul Goodman before recapping the black-and-white Gene scenes from the first five seasons of Saul. AMC Networks released the 10-minute refresher before Better Call Saul returns with its final six episodes Monday, July 11, on AMC and AMC+. 

Watch: Better Call Saul's Jimmy McGill Breaks Bad in CNBC's 'American Greed' Documentary

"We're pulling a lot of threads together — sometimes they're threads, sometimes they're ropes," series co-creator and showrunner Peter Gould told EW of Saul's collision with the Breaking Bad timeline, which will include appearances by Walt and Jesse in Season 6. "This is the climax — at least for the moment — of all those episodes, 62 episodes of Breaking Bad. We have [sequel movie] El Camino. This pulls a lot of the elements from all three projects together and weaves them, but always in the context of the story of Jimmy McGill, Kim Wexler, Mike Ehrmantrout (Jonathan Banks)."

Gould teased: "I don't think you're going to look at Breaking Bad the same way again after you've seen this whole season."

Starring Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Rhea Seehorn, Tony Dalton, and Giancarlo Esposito, the final season of Better Call Saul airs Mondays on AMC and streaming on AMC+.

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