How 'Better Call Saul' Kept Tuco's Return a Secret

— -- Everyone is pretty much in agreement that Tuco Salamanca was one of the craziest characters in TV history after his stint on "Breaking Bad."

Well, the show's prequel series, "Better Call Saul," debuted recently and guess what: Tuco is back!

Raymond Cruz, 53, who plays the crazy drug dealer in both shows, spoke to People magazine and actually defended the man he portrays onscreen.

Read: The Biggest Revelations From the 'Better Call Saul' Premiere

"I've never seen Tuco as a bad person," Cruz said. "I see Tuco as someone who, in his very core, is fair. You have to convince him, but he's fair ... By the time we get to 'Breaking Bad,' his perception is altered by the fact that he's using this blue meth."

In "Breaking Bad," Tuco went postal on a colleague and killed him after speaking back against the kingpin. In "Better Call Saul," we see a much different reaction between the two former friends.

"Tuco's very calm when he corrects him," Cruz said of the new scene from Monday night. "But in 'Breaking Bad,' it's all-out violence."

"Better Call Saul" basically shows how Bob Odenkirk's character becomes the sleazy lawyer we saw in "Bad," and the same can be said for Tuco, only turning into a crazy man after events that take place in this series, as well as the beginning of "Breaking Bad."

Still, Cruz's appearance on the new show was a shock for loyal "Bad" fans, albeit a pleasant shock.

"They asked me to please not tell anyone, and when I went to the shoot, I was hidden under umbrellas," he said. "I was in the hotel under an assumed name ... It was like disappearing off the earth!"