Better Call Saul Season 3 Premiere: 7 Ups & 1 Down From 'Mabel'

6. Cinnabon Gene

The season starts, as ever, with a look at where the present-day Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman has ended up, the Cinnabon-managing Gene.

Once again in black-and-white, the prologue starts with Gene at the start of his day, ready for the tedium that is now his existence but clearly being increasingly worn down by it.

Last year we saw him fearful of an encounter with the police, but he can't escape it here. And so scared is he by the sight of the badge that he gives up a young shoplifter who was hiding in a photo booth, the kind of kid he'd normally try to protect - indeed, the kind of kid he once was.

Then, however, he has a sudden outburst, telling him to get a lawyer. It shows the old Jimmy/Saul still lurking underneath his new identity, and struggling harder than ever before to break free. Bob Odenkirk has already crafted two wonderful iterations of this person, and Gene is very much becoming a third.

I think we'll see more of him the longer the series goes on, and indeed get some finality on where he ends up. Based on this cold open, it's going to be every bit as captivating as Jimmy's fall, but hopefully there will be some redemption for the character.