Does the Better Call Saul season 5 premiere directly tie into El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie through its Gene timeline? It might have been a while since viewers were last acquainted with the legal adventures of Jimmy McGill, with season 4's finale airing in October 2018, but the release of El Camino did much to bridge the gap, following the original Breaking Bad story and catching up with Aaron Paul's Jesse Pinkman. However, McGill himself didn't appear in the film, and the closest Bob Odenkirk's criminal lawyer came to featuring in El Camino was a throwaway line from Robert Forster's Ed, who ominously warns Jesse, "From where I see it, you made your own luck. As did your former partner. As did your lawyer."
The scene in question sees Ed reminding Jesse that his current problems with the law are of his own making, and the comparison to Walter White (deceased and hated by his family at this point) is not an encouraging comparison. By "your lawyer," Ed is clearly referring to Saul, and his inclusion in the lecture is not a promising sign for the Better Call Saul star. Ed wouldn't be using Saul as a cautionary tale if his post-Breaking Bad life was going swimmingly.
The Better Call Saul season 5 premiere could connect to this very El Camino scene. In the Gene timeline, Saul is recognized by a former Albuquerque resident from his cheesy TV commercials, worsening his already rampant paranoia. Almost as a reflex, Saul phones Ed, the man who arranged his initial disappearance and asks to be relocated once again, but the vacuum salesman demands double the cash. Despite initially accepting, Saul seems to have a change of heart, resolving that he can't run forever, and opts to fight for his new life working at Cinnabon.
This is obviously a risky tactic. The whole point of becoming Gene Takovic was for Saul to completely escape his past and remove any ties to his former criminal dealings in Albuquerque. Now Saul has not only been recognized, but has foolishly admitted to his false identity, and the best move would've undoubtedly been to escape and relocate further afield. Sticking around has huge potential to backfire and land Saul directly in the hands of the authorities, or worse. Watching the Better Call Saul season 5 premiere without any context from El Camino, the audience would surely be cheering Saul on, hoping he's able to finally settle into a peaceful life as a humble purveyor of baked goods. But El Camino perhaps already confirms that Saul's efforts do not go to plan, and that he would've been better off hiring Ed's services once again.
Since it's hard to say exactly where El Camino takes place in relation to the Gene timeline, there are three possibilities as to how the film connects to Better Call Saul. Ed's conversation with Jesse could take place before Saul calls him in the season 5 premiere asking for another extraction, and therefore Ed's warning to Jesse was simply alluding to Saul being forced to skip town. Secondly, the El Camino scene could come after Better Call Saul season 5, with Ed never hearing from "Gene" again, and his line in El Camino simply an allusion to the lawyer's new identity being rumbled. Lastly, and perhaps most likely, Saul has tried to deal with his problem alone and once again swam out of his depth, meeting an eventual demise. Naturally, this would get back to Ed, who would have to clean up some of the mess to avoid being caught himself, and knowing Saul's ultimate fate is why he uses the lawyer as an example to Jesse.
Better Call Saul season 5 continues with "The Guy For This" March 3rd on Netflix.