Better Call Saul Season 3 - 5 Facts You May Not Know

Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul may not have the same cultural ubiquity as its predecessor, but the show has proven over its first two seasons that it knows how to be just as complex, rich, and entertaining as the Bryan Cranston classic. With the series set to return on April 10 at 10 p.m. on AMC, here are five facts you may not know about Better Call Saul's third season.

Giancarlo Esposito is on board to return as his Breaking Bad character Gus Fring in Episode 2 of Better Call Saul's third season. Creator Vince Gilligan told Entertainment Weekly that fans should expect Saul's Gus to be pretty similar to Breaking Bad's (although in the prequel he is still, you know, alive), and that the character, despite being at an earlier stage of his career than in the parent series, won't be fumbling through his criminal dealings.

"I don't think we wanted to deflate all that mystery that we've come to know and love about this character," he said. "He is as competent and capable and fearsome a competitor as he ever was." Co-creator Peter Gould added that the series will show Gus acting as a teacher in a sense, although he did not say how.

Gus' teaching moment could (potentially) be a part of Jimmy McGill's transformation into Saul Goodman, something which star Bob Odenkirk teases will happen in a very unexpected way. Odenkirk says that, for him, the difference between the two characters is that Saul is "emotionally callous," while Jimmy has "soft spots in his heart and a lot of hope." However, he ominously teased that the show's story will "beat the hope out of him" (something Gus could definitely play a part in). Gould told EW that this season will be when we see Saul appear (although he also says it won't happen in the way you're expecting), so it should be just a matter of time before we see Jimmy's transformation.

While it's unlikely that the one who knocks will be making an appearance on Saul this season (although anything is possible), the series' creators and stars have teased that there will be more Breaking Bad characters than just Gus showing up in Jimmy's life. Gilligan told EW that there will also be another Breaking Bad fan favorite making a return in Episode 2, an appearance that he says he thinks is going to "please a great many people immensely." While Odenkirk says that some are characters only super fans will recognize, others are "immediately obvious." Gould added that fans will see some others that "they've missed a lot" as the season goes on, while Odenkirk says that the characters who stop by will raise the stakes of the prequel.

Gilligan told Variety that the show will get "quite a bit darker" this season, bringing it closer in tone to Breaking Bad. He says that the heavier tone came "organically" as they wrote the story, adding that Gus' arrival will begin to topple a lot of dominoes at the end of the season which should make a potential Season 4 "a rollercoaster ride." The series has thus far maintained a lighter tone than its predecessor, but it appears that as it gets closer to the original series' timeline and as Jimmy gets closer to becoming Saul, it will start to adopt a lot more of Breaking Bad's darkness.

Most critics are loving Better Call Saul's third season so far, with the new episodes hitting a 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The Hollywood Reporter praised the season's "quickened pace" and said that the show lays clear groundwork for how Jimmy will become Saul (and loops his brother Chuck into the transformation). Yahoo! loved the series' continued focus on "infinitely relatable" details and said that it "celebrates silence above wordplay, a unique quality among loud narratives crowding the landscape." And while TVGuide said the new season did still move slowly, it said "expectations get upended all over the place" and noted that the show was still "beautifully written, masterfully acted, and exquisitely directed."

You can decide how you feel for yourself about Better Call Saul's third season by catching the episodes as they air on Mondays at 10/9c on AMC.