“S’all good, man.” It’s been almost a year and a half since Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) uttered those three fateful words to Kim (Rhea Seehorn) in the Season 4 finale of Better Call Saul, signaling his transformation to ‘criminal’ lawyer Saul Goodman. As the prequel series creeps closer to the Breaking Bad timeline, and its own impending conclusion, more and more familiar characters are showing up. Sunday night’s Season 5 premiere saw the return of Ed (the late Robert Forster), a vacuum cleaner salesman with a lucrative side-hustle relocating wanted criminals.
Like every season, tonight’s premiere started out with an extended black-and-white segment of Jimmy/Saul living out his days in hiding as Gene, a lowly Cinnabon manager in Omaha, NE. In the Season 4 premiere, Gene was recognized by a cab driver (General Hospital alum Don Harvey). Tonight, the driver spotted Gene again, this time pressuring him into reciting his old “Better call Saul” tagline — complete with the signature finger point.
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Knowing his identity’s been compromised, Gene calls Ed asking for another relocation — and another new identity. However, at the last minute, something awakens in him, and he tells Ed that he’d prefer to “fix it myself.” No one knows what Gene has planned, but fans were thrilled to see Ed back in action.
This guy has been getting a lot of these requests. #BetterCallSaul pic.twitter.com/vUt1AbGy60
— Better Call Saul returns TONIGHT! (@BetterCallSaul) February 24, 2020
“Aww, RIP Robert Forster,” wrote one viewer, adding that he was still “holding down that Hoover Max Extract Pressure Pro Model 60.”
“Robert Forster on [Better Call Saul], be it old footage or CGI, it brought a lump to this old throat,” added another.
“I am jealous of these guys who can call a vacuum cleaner guy for a stealthy pickup and relocation” tweeted a third. “That’s such a cool setup!! Not that I need it, but I like the idea! What a way to get outta town!!”
Ed was last seen in 2019’s El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, an epilogue that offered closure to Jesse Pinkman’s (Aaron Paul) story in the wake of the series’ meth-fueled 2013 finale. Sadly, Forster died on Oct. 11, the same day El Camino premiered on Netflix. His final role will be in an upcoming episode of the latest iteration of Amazing Stories on Apple TV+.
Forster won’t be the only actor to reprise their character for Better Call Saul’s fifth season. Dean Norris and Steven Michael Quezada will also be back as Albuquerque’s favorite DEA agents, Hank Schrader and Steve Gomez, in the coming weeks. Co-creator Vince Gilligan has also teased “some familiar faces” before Season 5 wraps up.
Better Call Saul will continue its two-night premiere Monday at 9:00 p.m. ET on AMC.
