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The third season of the American television drama series Better Call Saul was announced in March 2016. The series returned on April 10, 2017.[1] It consists of 10 episodes,[2] each running approximately 47 minutes in length.

Story[]

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Season 3 promotional poster

In a flash-forward, Gene is in his lunch break when he points out to mall security guards a shoplifter hiding in a photo booth, but yells at him to stay silent and obtain counsel. After getting back to work, Gene starts suffering from stress and passes out. Back in 2002, Jimmy helps Chuck remove foil from his walls and reminisces over a children's book they read together, but Chuck promises consequences for the fraud that humiliated him. Chuck plays Jimmy's confession to Howard, who says it has no legal value, but Chuck insists it has a use. Chuck later asks Ernesto to change the player's batteries and Ernesto hears the confession, but Chuck swears him to secrecy. Determined to discover how someone prevented him from killing Hector, Mike dismantles his station wagon and finds a tracking device in the gas cap. He then finds the same type of device in his sedan. Mike obtains a similar tracker and a receiver for monitoring it, replaces the tracker from his car with the new one, drains the battery of the one he took from his car, and stays up overnight. He sees someone replace his gas cap, thinking he has picked up the tracker with the dead battery. The man is actually carrying the tracker Mike installed, which enables Mike to follow him. ("Mabel")

Chuck meets with a private investigator. The individuals who changed tracking devices on Mike’s car meet with a courier, whom Mike tails until he stops at Los Pollos Hermanos. Mike asks Jimmy to watch the courier inside the restaurant. Jimmy notices nothing unusual and reports to Mike in Mike's car as Gus watches from a distance. Mike notices Victor leave, and sees the tracking device is moving, so he follows. When the device is again stationary, Mike finds it with his gas cap and a cell phone in the middle of a remote stretch of road. The phone rings, and Mike picks it up to answer. Ernesto tells Kim he heard Jimmy's taped confession. Kim has Jimmy engage her as counsel to obtain attorney–client privilege and tells him about the tape. She tells Jimmy it is useless in court and wonders what Chuck is planning, so she suggests Jimmy wait for Chuck to make the first move. Jimmy is overcome by anger, however, and breaks in to Chuck's house and destroys the tape. Howard and the private investigator reveal themselves and tell Chuck they witnessed the crimes Jimmy committed, enabling Chuck to report him to the police. ("Witness")

Gus meets Mike, and they agree that Gus will stop tracking Mike and Mike will not kill Hector. Mike continues trying to attract police attention to Hector, and Gus does not object. Mike obtains a small amount of cocaine from Dr. Barry Goodman, stuffs it into the toe of a sneaker, and hangs the pair from a cable spanning the road where Hector's drivers stop to stash their guns before crossing the Mexican border. As they depart, Mike shoots the sneakers, causing cocaine to spill onto the truck. When the truck arrives at the border crossing, drug-sniffing dogs are alerted, and Hector's drivers are arrested. Jimmy is arrested for the break-in at Chuck's, pleads not guilty, and posts bail. The prosecutor informs Chuck that she takes the charges seriously and will press for jail time, but Chuck suggests a better solution than criminal prosecution. Jimmy tells Kim that Chuck's proposal includes Jimmy confessing to the break-in in exchange for probation and a diversion program that could wipe his record clean, but only if he submits his confession to the New Mexico Bar Association, which could result in disbarment. Kim convinces Jimmy to let her help him fight Chuck's plan. ("Sunk Costs")

In a flashback, Hector delivers a cash tribute to Don Eladio, but is humiliated when Gus sends a significantly larger tribute via Juan Bolsa. Back in 2002, Hector demands Gus use his trucks to smuggle Hector's drugs. Gus seems to reluctantly agree, with Hector not realizing this is part of Gus's plan. Gus sends payment to Mike for his disruption of Hector's trucks, but Mike refuses the money. Jimmy hires Mike to pose as a handyman to repair Chuck's door, which is a ruse allowing Mike to photograph the interior of Chuck's house and document his bizarre living conditions. Gus informs Mike that he is interested in hiring him, and Mike says he is willing to consider it. Jimmy, Kim, Howard, Chuck, and the prosecutor meet to finalize Jimmy's confession, with Jimmy agreeing to have it reviewed by the bar association. Afterwards, Kim confronts Chuck and tells him she suspects he has a copy of the tape. Chuck confirms it and states that he plans to submit it as evidence at Jimmy's disciplinary hearing. Kim relays the information to Jimmy and reveals that having Chuck admit the existence of the second tape was part of their strategy for defending Jimmy. ("Sabrosito")

In a flashback, Chuck tries to win Rebecca back by inviting her to dinner at his house and works with Jimmy on a ruse to hide his EHS. Rebecca answers her cell phone, and Chuck knocks it out of her hand. He refuses to explain and forbids Jimmy from doing so, and Rebecca angrily departs. Back in 2003, the clerk prepares the hearing room for Chuck’s testimony by turning off the lights and removing all the electronic devices. Rebecca arrives after Jimmy says Chuck needs her help, but Chuck believes it is a ploy to embarrass him. Jimmy stands near Chuck during cross-examination and asks how close an electronic device has to be before Chuck is affected. Suspecting a trick, Chuck correctly guesses that Jimmy is carrying his cell phone. Jimmy then reveals that he's hired Huell to plant Jimmy's cell phone battery in Chuck's pocket, which Chuck carried for more than an hour without noticing. The bar association's counsel suggests that Chuck's mental illness should not affect the proceedings, and the idea that his illness is not real triggers an outburst from Chuck, who vents his frustrations about Jimmy. Chuck realizes too late that his tirade has shocked the entire room into silence. ("Chicanery")

Hector compels Nacho to beat Domingo when his weekly payment is short, disillusioning Nacho. The bar association suspends Jimmy for a year, but does not disbar him. As Kim and Jimmy celebrate, Rebecca arrives and asks Jimmy to help her see Chuck, who will not answer his door, but Jimmy refuses. Howard visits Chuck and suggests he end the feud with Jimmy and look to the future, and Chuck agrees. Nacho and Arturo pick up cocaine from Gus's warehouse, and Nacho attempts to take six packages instead of the expected five. Tyrus calls Gus, who orders Tyrus to give it to him. At the end of the call, Gus is revealed to be scouting a commercial laundry with Lydia. Hector wants Nacho's father's upholstery shop as a front for a new smuggling route, to which Nacho objects. Hector is informed that Tuco's sentence will be extended following a prison fight, and suffers an angina attack. He drops a nitroglycerin capsule, which Nacho steals. Jimmy attempts to avoid losing money he prepaid for TV commercials by making on air pitches for other businesses under the alias Saul Goodman. ("Off Brand")

Jimmy unsuccessfully tries to sell the TV ad time for which he has already paid. Nacho approaches Daniel with the nitroglycerin capsule he stole and asks Daniel to obtain him empty, unsealed lookalikes. Paige gloats over Chuck's demise and praises Kim's cross-examination, but Kim expresses regret for her actions. Mike helps with construction of the new church playground and receives help from other members of Stacey's support group. Daniel asks Mike to be his bodyguard at his planned meeting with Nacho, but Mike declines. After hearing Anita tell the support group about how her husband mysteriously disappeared while hiking years previously, Mike changes his mind and accompanies Daniel. Nacho tells Mike about his plan to stop Hector by replacing his nitroglycerin with ibuprofen in hopes of inducing a fatal heart attack. Mike advises Nacho that if Hector dies, Nacho should immediately take the placebos from Hector and replace them with the real medication, in order to minimize the chance that Hector's death will be recognized as murder and traced back to Nacho. Jimmy attempts to obtain a malpractice insurance premium refund, which is actually a ruse that allows him to feign distress over Chuck's health. ("Expenses")

In a flashback ("Marco"), Jimmy and Marco recover Jimmy's coin collection from the abandoned McGill store in Cicero and find one to use later in a con. Marco fondly reminisces about Jimmy's parents, but Jimmy criticizes his father as a "soft touch". Back in 2003, Chuck follows Dr. Cruz's advice for overcoming his EHS and becomes able to walk outdoors and shop on his own. Two of Jimmy's advertising clients refuse to pay, so he stages an accident which nets him enough to pay his half of the rent. While at lunch with Kevin and Paige, Kim encounters Howard and tries to repay her law school loan, but Howard refuses. Jimmy coerces his community service supervisor into giving him credit for hours worked while he rests his injured back and earns $700 from another crew member, a drug dealer, by persuading the supervisor to allow him to leave early. Nacho switches Hector's capsules with ibuprofen lookalikes. Mike locates the body of the Good Samaritan that Hector killed and reports it to the police. Gus agrees to help Mike launder the remaining $200,000 of the $250,000 he stole from Hector. ("Slip")

Jimmy receives an update on the Sandpiper case from Irene Landry, the class representative, and finds that HHM and D&M have rejected a substantial settlement. He asks Howard why they will not accept, and Howard says they believe they can obtain more by waiting. Howard and Chuck meet with their insurance agent, who proposes substantially raising their malpractice premiums or having another attorney supervise Chuck. Chuck refuses and Howard says he will force Chuck to retire. Chuck responds by suing for $8 million, the value of his share of HHM. Mike becomes a contracted security consultant for Madrigal Electromotive, and the monthly payments enable him to launder his stolen money. While Jimmy is suspended, Kim takes on a second client to earn additional income and becomes exhausted from overwork. Nacho admits to his father that he works for Hector and begs him to follow Hector's orders, but Manuel orders Nacho to leave his house. Jimmy tricks Irene into believing that refusing the Sandpiper settlement is against her friends' wishes, so she accepts, meaning Jimmy will receive his share—more than $1 million. Kim falls asleep while driving to a meeting with her new client and crashes into a boulder. ("Fall")

In a flashback to childhood, Chuck reads to Jimmy by lantern light. Back in 2003, Kim suffers a broken arm in the car accident. Jimmy agrees to break their office lease so Kim can save money by working from home. Chuck is forced out of HHM when Howard pays the first installment to buy him out. Hector bribes Manuel to use his business as a drug front, and Manuel reluctantly accepts. Nacho intends to ambush Hector but is caught in a meeting between Hector, Gus, and Juan Bolsa. Bolsa informs Hector that Eladio wants Salamanca drugs smuggled from Mexico in Gus's trucks to be a permanent arrangement. An enraged Hector suffers a stroke. Nacho replaces the fake capsules with Hector's real nitroglycerin, but Gus is suspicious. Jimmy tries making amends with Chuck, but Chuck refuses. Jimmy tries mending relations between Irene and her friends, but Irene's friends refuse. He arranges for them to overhear him admit tricking Irene into accepting the Sandpiper settlement, vindicating her and causing her to withdraw acceptance, but costing him his share of the settlement. Chuck's EHS symptoms re-emerge and he destroys his home's interior. He then commits suicide by knocking over a gas lantern, setting a fire. ("Lantern")

Credits[]

Starring

Cast Portrays Ep. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Bob Odenkirk James McGill 10
Jonathan Banks Mike Ehrmantraut 8
Rhea Seehorn Kim Wexler 10
Patrick Fabian Howard Hamlin 8
Michael Mando Nacho Varga 6
Giancarlo Esposito Gustavo "Gus" Fring 7
Michael McKean Chuck McGill 9

Guest Starring

Episodes[]

Trivia[]

  • In Better Call Saul Insider Podcast of episode "Chicanery", it was revealed that there is no hidden code in the title of the episodes of season 3, unlike season 2.
  • In Better Call Saul Insider Podcast of episode "Lantern", Vince Gilligan said he considers that season 3 is undoubtedly the best season of the series so far.

Promotional Photos[]

Cast Photos[]

Promo Images[]

First Look[]

Awards and nominations[]

Ceremony Category Recipients Result
33rd TCA Awards Outstanding Achievement in Drama Better Call Saul Nominated
69th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Music Supervision Thomas Golubić ("Sunk Costs") Nominated
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series Skip Macdonald ("Chicanery") Nominated
Kelley Dixon and Skip Macdonald ("Witness") Nominated
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) Phillip W. Palmer, Larry Benjamin, Kevin Valentine ("Witness") Nominated
Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series Los Pollos Hermanos Employee Training Won
69th Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Drama Series Better Call Saul Nominated
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Bob Odenkirk Nominated
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Jonathan Banks Nominated
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series Vince Gilligan ("Witness") Nominated
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series Gordon Smith ("Chicanery") Nominated
2017 Gold Derby Awards Best Drama Episode of the Year "Chicanery" Nominated
Best Drama Actor Bob Odenkirk Nominated
Best Drama Supporting Actor Michael McKean Nominated
75th Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama Bob Odenkirk Nominated
8th Critics' Choice Television Awards Best Actor in a Drama Series Bob Odenkirk Nominated
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Michael McKean Nominated
Producers Guild of America Awards 2017 Outstanding Short-Form Program Los Pollos Hermanos Employee Training Nominated
24th Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Bob Odenkirk Nominated
68th American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards Best Edited Drama Series for Commercial Television Skip Macdonald ("Chicanery") Nominated
Kelley Dixon and Skip Macdonald ("Witness") Nominated
70th Writers Guild of America Awards Drama Series Better Call Saul Nominated
Episodic Drama Gordon Smith ("Chicanery") Won
Heather Marion ("Slip") Nominated
22nd Satellite Awards Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or TV Film Michael McKean Won
54th Cinema Audio Society Awards Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Series – One Hour Phillip W. Palmer, Larry B. Benjamin, Kevin Valentine, Matt Hovland and David Michael Torres ("Lantern") Nominated
44th Saturn Awards Best Action-Thriller Television Series Better Call Saul Won
Best Supporting Actor on Television Michael McKean Won
Best Supporting Actress on Television Rhea Seehorn Won
2017 Peabody Awards Area of Excellence Better Call Saul Won
2018 Guild of Music Supervisors Awards Best Music Supervision in a Television Drama Thomas Golubić Nominated

Notes[]

Better Call Saul Seasons
BCS S1 Nav BCS S2 Nav BCS S3 Nav BCS S4 Nav BCS S5 Nav BCS S6 Nav
Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6
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