Can Gus Fring Save 'Better Call Saul'?

Better Call Saul, AMC's spin off of the wildly popular Breaking Bad, has not exactly been a stellar performer, ratings-wise. But in the series' second season, the show's producers teased the impending arrival of one of the parent series' most popular characters, a move that could finally lure more of Breaking Bad's loyal audience to the new series.

Better Call Saul is ostensibly about the transformation of loser attorney with a heart of gold Jimmy McGill into Breaking Bad's totally amoral Saul Goodman, much like Breaking Bad was about the transformation of high-school chemistry teacher Walter White into murderous drug kingpin Heisenberg. Fans of Breaking Bad have assumed that McGill's association with drug lord Gustavo Fring, played by Giancarlo Esposito, was a big part of that transformation, but so far, Gus hasn't been included in Better Call Saul. That's likely to change in the series' third season.

Confirmation of Gus' upcoming inclusion in the show came when viewers noticed that the first letters of the second season's episode titles were an anagram for "Frings Back." Showrunner Vince Gilligan admitted that the puzzle was authentic and that the show's producers had hoped to tease Fring's return over the summer, not expecting viewers to figure it all out so quickly.

AMC has confirmed that Better Call Saul will return in the fall, but no season premiere date has been announced yet.