Patrick Ryan

USA TODAY

Is Jimmy McGill about to break bad?

All signs are pointing that way as AMC's slow-burning Better Call Saul (Mondays, 10 ET/PT) embarks on its third season, which promises more clues about how fast-talking, small-time lawyer Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) became the slimy Saul Goodman beloved by fans in Breaking Bad.

Favorite 'Breaking Bad' guy Gus Fring comes knocking on 'Better Call Saul'

Jimmy has spent two seasons living in his ailing brother Chuck's (Michael McKean) shadow, but is due to erupt after Chuck tricked him into confessing on tape that he falsified legal documents. Fraternal fracas and a stint behind bars appear to be in store for Jimmy, who until now has tried to fashion a (mostly) honest career for himself.

Chuck's betrayal could also signal personal setbacks for Jimmy and whip-smart girlfriend Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), whose legal prowess far outshines his own as they aspire to start their own law firm together.

Meanwhile, Jimmy's occasional partner in crime Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) is entrenched in dubious dealings with Nacho (Michael Mando) and a plan to kill Mexican drug cartel member Hector "Tio" Salamanca (Mark Margolis). But the plot is foiled moments before he pulls the trigger by (we assume) Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), a Bad favorite returning in Season 3.

The reintroduction of the meth kingpin (and fried-chicken magnate) opens the door for more Bad characters to appear "as these two worlds begin to overlap," teases co-creator Vince Gilligan. Gus' Bad nemesis Walter White (Bryan Cranston) may not be one of them, though — at least not this season.

When Cranston "found out I was coming back, he said, 'What about me?!' " Esposito laughs. "There’s a possibility that Walter will show up at some point. I imagine it’d be toward the end of this particular prequel story, but there's always a shot."

As for Jimmy, "you’re going to see his manipulation of people that you’d never think a man would manipulate," Esposito says. By the end of Season 3, his shift to Saul "will be more clear, as opposed to a guy who's still trying to figure out whether he’s good or evil."