Here are the most significant details Better Call Saul season 4 revealed about Breaking Bad. It is extremely rare for a spinoff series to live up to the reputation of its parent but the positive reaction Better Call Saul consistently draws from critics and viewers will ensure that the show goes down as a shining example of what a spinoff should be. Sure, Better Call Saul may not have become the international phenomenon that Breaking Bad did, but it has attained success on its own merits, free from the sizeable looming shadow of Walter White.

With that said, each passing season of Better Call Saul inevitably brings viewers closer to the events of Breaking Bad and the showrunner duo of Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould have gradually introduced more characters and story arcs that first emerged back in Walt and Jesse's cooking days. Better Call Saul has already explored the origins of villains Hector Salamanca and Gus Fring, depicted Mike's journey from jaded ex-cop to criminal handyman and introduced Jimmy's long-suffering receptionist, Francesca.

Related: Every Breaking Bad Cameo in Better Call Saul

Season 4 has ventured even further down the Breaking Bad rabbit hole, recalling more familiar faces, exploring more backstory and bringing Jimmy McGill closer than ever before to becoming the Saul Goodman fans know and love. Here are the biggest reveals about Breaking Bad that came to light in Better Call Saul season 4.

Lalo

Mark Margolis as Hector Salamanca and Tony Dalton as Lalo in Better Call Saul

When Saul Goodman first appears in Breaking Bad as a captive of Walt and Jesse, he mistakenly thinks he's been abducted by "Lalo" and desperately blames Ignacio (most likely meaning Nacho) for whatever transgression he's supposed to have committed. This line immediately let Breaking Bad viewers know that Saul is a generally shady guy and heavily involved with local gangs and with that goal successfully achieved, Lalo is never mentioned again.

That is, until Better Call Saul season 4, which finally saw the introduction of the fabled Lalo Salamanca, Hector's nephew. Lalo has come to town after Hector's stroke and the violent gangster is already causing trouble for both Gus and Mike. Although Lalo and Saul have yet to meet, the fact that Jimmy is now back practicing law means that season 5 could see him hired by Mike to help deal with the threat of Lalo.

Exactly why Lalo would end up wanting to go after Jimmy remains to be seen but, if we assume the Ignacio mentioned in Breaking Bad is Nacho (Ignacio Varga is his full name), then there are several possibilities. Perhaps Lalo finds out that someone meddled with Hector's medication and blames Jimmy instead of the real culprit, Nacho. Alternatively, Jimmy's first case as the lawyer Saul Goodman could be to help Gus drive Lalo out of town - an act that would obviously irk the volatile gangster.

Related: Better Call Saul May Have Already Referenced Jesse Pinkman

Gus Fring's Super-Lab

Gus Fring talking to the camera while on his restaurant in Game of Thrones.

In Breaking Bad, arch-villain and drug kingpin Gus Fring was the proud owner of a custom-built meth lab hidden underneath an industrial laundry facility. Although fans weren't exactly clamoring to find out the origin story of this building, it proved an interesting arc in Better Call Saul nonetheless.

While this plot was predominantly a backdrop for Mike's descent into criminality, fans witnessed the lengths both Gus and Mike went to in order to build the perfect drug factory, with the former showing a level of perfectionism that would naturally attract him to the genius of Walter White further down the road.

Breaking Bad viewers may not have fully appreciated the feat of architecture and engineering Gus' lab represented, but any repeat viewings of the original series will now be tainted with thoughts of its tragic German designer, Werner Ziegler. Interestingly, Gus insisted that the lab was unfinished in the recent season finale and its existence was also discovered by Lalo Salamanca. This could mean that Better Call Saul season 5 will continue the building of the super-lab story, as Gus' grip on the state's drug business tightens.

Gus and Gale

Gale humming to Mozart tunes at his apartment in Breaking Bad

Another Breaking Bad supporting character that fans immediately took to their hearts was mild-mannered meth cook, Gale. Indeed, the moment where a tearful Jesse murders Gale in cold blood is one of the most heartbreaking in the series and begs the question as to how such a meek and harmless scientist could get so deeply involved in the criminal underground.

Better Call Saul provided some answers to that in its fourth season. Despite Gus and the Salamanca gang maintaining an uneasy alliance, the chicken shop owner has been steadily setting the board for an aggressive takeover in season 4 and, to this end, he had the current drug supply tested for purity. Fring's trusted man confirmed that the batch was low grade and claimed to be able to do far better with minimal equipment. Gus declined this offer but hinted at a future partnership with the man. That man's identity? None other than Gale Boetticher.

Related: Better Call Saul May Have Already Referenced Jesse Pinkman

The season 4 finale episode went on to show Gale inspecting the progress of Fring's custom meth lab and becoming visibly excited over the possibilities, blissfully unaware that he would ultimately be replaced by a high school chemistry teacher.

Page 2 of 2: How Jimmy Went Closer To Saul In Season 4

Lavell Crawford as Huell in Better Call Saul

Saul's Strong Relationship With Huell

Saul's muscle man, Huell Babineaux, became a cult favorite in Breaking Bad due to his unique outlook on life and penchant for lying on large piles of cash - making his return in season 3's "Chicanery" a highlight of Better Call Saul. While this cameo revealed how Jimmy first came to know about Huell's services, season 4 took things even further.

Related: Better Call Saul: Chuck's Letter, When It Was Written & What It Really Means

When Jimmy starts selling mobile phones to the criminals of Albuquerque, he enlists Huell as a personal bodyguard. Due to a hilarious misunderstanding, Huell ends up hitting a police officer with a bag of shopping and, feeling responsible, Jimmy pulls out all the stops to get his pal off the hook. Jimmy and Kim's "Free Huell Babineaux" con is a key moment for the pair in which both of them realize and admit to enjoying the less lawful side to practicing the law.

Seeing the early stages of Jimmy's relationship with Huell, and the efforts it took to keep the bodyguard out of jail, perhaps provides some explanation as to why Huell puts up with so much from his employer in Breaking Bad.

Hector's Bell

Mark Margolis as Hector Salamanca in Breaking Bad

It may not have been the biggest revelation in Better Call Saul's fourth season but it was definitely a nice touch to see how Hector came to own the iconic bell that, for a brief time in the early 2010s, inspired a glut of GIFs online. For Breaking Bad to have one of its major antagonists communicate solely by bell was a brave move but the risk certainly paid off, as the image of Don Hector furiously dinging in response to unwelcome news became a signature image of the series.

Shortly after the arrival of Lalo in Better Call Saul, the bell's origin was revealed to be a present to Hector from his nephew as a better means of making himself heard after suffering a stroke. It's a minor touch from Gilligan and Gould but considering that Hector's bell plays a key role in Gus' eventual death, it's symbolic how, just as the chicken shop owner is laying the foundations for his empire, the circumstances for his death are also being set into motion.

The "Saul Goodman" Moment

Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy and Rhea Seehorn as Kim in Better Call Saul

Jimmy McGill has used the "Saul" alias several times in Better Call Saul, usually to denote when he's doing something suspect (much like Walter White's Heisenberg hat did in Breaking Bad). Since the very first episode however, viewers have been wondering whether there would be one defining moment when Jimmy disappeared and Saul took his place and that moment appeared to arrive in the final scene of the spinoff's season 4 finale.

Related: Better Call Saul Has Become Breaking Bad (And That's Okay)

Fresh from conning his way back into the law business and losing the respect of his lover in the process, Jimmy declares that he's no longer going to practice under his own name, but will be adopting the alias Saul Goodman.

Undoubtedly, Jimmy's evolution into Saul has been a slow process with a number of defining moments but, arguably, this is the final step. Jimmy's decision could also potentially lead to many more Breaking Bad connections next season and one can realistically expect Saul's famous office to finally appear, along with his hiring of Francesca and the filming of the corny TV ads that give the spinoff series its title.

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Better Call Saul has already been green-lit for a fifth season and, if the trend continues, viewers could see even more familiar characters return to the franchise. Many are anticipating an appearance from either Walter White or Jesse Pinkman, with both actors having publicly declared a willingness to appear. Whether those characters arrive or not, Better Call Saul looks set to keep delighting Breaking Bad fans with callbacks, Easter eggs and tie-ins, all while maintaining its own personality and story arcs.

Next: Better Call Saul Season 4 Finale Ending Explained