As of now, what little we know about Vince Gilligan’s planned “Breaking Bad” movie suggests it will focus on Walter White’s reluctant partner-in-crime, Jesse Pinkman. And Aaron Paul certainly sounds up for revisiting the role.
In November 2013, Gilligan surmised in an interview with GQ that Jesse’s troubles may not have ended with the show’s finale. The “Breaking Bad” creator said that while he personally hopes that Jesse found peace after the show, he believed the “most likely outcome” for Jesse won’t be good.
Why do we think the “Breaking Bad” movie will focus on Jesse? In part because of the Albuquerque Journal‘s summary of the plot when it broke news of the film Tuesday. It said the “Breaking Bad” movie will “track the escape of a kidnapped man and his quest for freedom.” (The project is presently known as “Greenbrier,” but that may be a code name.)
If you haven’t seen the “Breaking Bad” finale, go watch it (and the show’s 61 other episodes) before reading the paragraphs below.
First things first: Walter White is dead, as Bryan Cranston confirmed (yet again) on Tuesday. For the show to bring Walt back to life after leaving us with the impression in the finale that he was dead would be a cheat — and one reason “Breaking Bad” is so celebrated for its writing is that it never cheated.
And so we turn to Jesse Pinkman. The “Breaking Bad” finale also included Jesse escaping, with Walt’s help, from the compound where neo-Nazis forced Jesse to cook meth. We last saw Pinkman driving into the night, delirious with relief to be alive and free.
But what if he isn’t really free? That’s the dark prospect Gillian raised with GQ, and it may hint at a movie plot to come:
My personal feeling is that he got away. But the most likely thing, as negative as this sounds, is that they’re going to find this kid’s fingerprints all over this lab and they’re going to find him within a day or a week or a month. And he’s still going to be on the hook for the murder of two federal agents. But yeah, even though that’s the most likely outcome, the way I see it is that he got away and got to Alaska, changed his name, and had a new life. You want that for the kid. He deserves it.
The two federal agents Jesse may be “on the hook” for killing are Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) and Steven Gomez (Steven Michael Quezada), even though Jesse didn’t kill them — his neo-Nazi captors did.
Of course, Gilligan may have just been tossing around ideas. But it’s notable that after five seasons of the “Breaking Bad” spinoff “Better Call Saul,” Jesse’s ultimate fate still remains a mystery. And he is the only major “Breaking Bad” character who spent time in captivity on the show.
The wording that the “Breaking Bad” film will “track” the protagonist’s escape suggests that the film could overlap with the timeline of “Breaking Bad,” including the period of Jesse’s imprisonment.
The overlap would be no big deal for the “Breaking Bad” universe — both the original show and its spinoff, “Better Call Saul,” used flashbacks and flashforwards fairly often.
And if the film chooses to show Jesse’s captivity, it has a lot of time to explore.
The neo-Nazis held him for the entire time that Walter White was hiding out in New Hampshire. Walt was in New Hampshire for several months, as “Better Call Saul” show runner Peter Gould told the “Shoot This Now” podcast in August. You can on Apple or right here:
So how did Jesse spend all that time that he was trapped?
We know a bit about Jesse’s captivity, but certainly not everything. We saw that Todd Alquist (Jesse Plemons) kept Jesse locked up like a pet, albeit a pet who is really good at making meth.
We’re confident Gilligan could find ways to make the captivity portion of a “Breaking Bad” movie compelling, because he’s Vince Gilligan.
Paul told “Shoot This Now” (which is not a “Breaking Bad” podcast, despite all these “Breaking Bad”-related interviews) that he hoped any return as Pinkman would be seamless. We spoke to him before news broke of the “Breaking Bad” movie, so he was only talking hypothetically about playing Jesse again, perhaps on “Better Call Saul.”
“I’d like to think it may be kind of easy and seamless to jump back into that guy because we live and breathe all of our characters that we play, and I played this guy for seven years,” Paul said. “I really know him. It’d be fun to put back on those shoes.”
Paul said people still come up to him on the street and call him Jesse — or Jesse’s favorite word, “Bitch.”
Paul said he often has to tell them: “My name is Aaron, really nice to meet you. It’s not Jesse. No, you can’t call me a bitch.”
He added: “They still do. But it’s fine.”
We don’t expect that situation to improve much if Paul ends up starring in a “Breaking Bad” movie.
You can listen to Paul discuss the prospect of playing Jesse Pinkman again on Apple or right here:
Of course, Gilligan, Peter Gould and their writers have proven themselves very adept on “Better Call Saul” at making us care about the backstories of characters whose final fates we know from “Breaking Bad.”
But we don’t think the “Breaking Bad” movie will focus on an old story from the life of Walter White, because, again, “Breaking Bad” doesn’t cheat.
“Breaking Bad” was the story of Walter White, with almost every moment based around his journey. It seems unlikely that he found time between meth and teaching and the car wash and his family to go live out an interesting B, C, or D story we’ve never heard of before.
Gilligan also noted in his GQ interview from five years that Walt died, in part, to save Jesse. So now the onus is on Jesse to lead a movie good enough for both of them.
"Better Call Saul" inhabits the same sad Albuquerque underground as "Breaking Bad," so it's natural that characters in the AMC shows would overlap. Ready to see how? (Spoiler warning: This gallery contains lots of details about both shows.)
Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) He's the main character in the new series, so of course we need to include Slippin' Jimmy. Goodman appeared in 43 of 62 "Breaking Bad" episodes as Walt and Jesse's criminal lawyer, with an emphasis on "criminal." This season, Jimmy finally starts to practice law as Saul Goodman, complete with an upgraded wardrobe.
In flash-forwards, we see that Jimmy/Saul lives long enough to become a paranoid, balding Cinnabon worker. Free icing? Could be worse.
Don Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis) He walks! Hector -- the uncle of Tuco Salamanca -- had a wheelchair in "Breaking Bad." But the old man who was constantly ringing his bell to communicate was a real crimelord in his younger, more virile days, which "Better Call Saul" shows.
In "Breaking Bad," Hector takes out Gustavo Fring (pictured) with a crazy suicide bomb, avenging the deaths of his OTHER nephews. We'll get to those guys soon.
Ken (Kyle Bornheimer) Here's one of those deep pulls that we alluded to earlier. In "Breaking Bad," obnoxious Ken inadvertently helped Walter White break bad, and his mode of transportation suffered the consequences.
First, Ken stole Walt's parking space at a bank, while bragging on his bluetooth. Later, the loudmouth continued his boastful, irritating behavior. So Walt blew up his car, as chemists do.
In Season 2 of "Saul," Jimmy and Kim trick Ken into buying them a ton of expensive tequila shots at a swanky bar. The stock broker with "KEN WINS" on his BMW license plates tends to lose a lot in this universe.
Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) After being teased at the end of Season 2, The Chicken Man and “Breaking Bad’s” biggest adversary shows up in the second episode of season 3. After a humorous scene where he’s cleaning up right next Jimmy eating at Los Pollos Hermanos (Saul and Gus never actually met each other in “Breaking Bad”), we see Fring is not yet the drug kingpin he is in “Breaking Bad.” But throughout the first four seasons, we see how Mike will eventually become Gus’ fixer and get a lot more on the rivalry between Fring and the Salamancas (as fans of both shows know, it doesn’t end well for either).
We also see Fring lay his eyes for the first time on the industrial laundromat that will be known to “Breaking Bad” fans as the Super Lab where Walt and Jesse cook for him.
Tuco Salamanca (Raymond Cruz) Tuco's surprise appearance in Season 1 of "Better Call Saul" set the tone for even more exciting, unspoiled villainous returns. And then legs got broken, badly, because Tuco is a complete madmen.
Currently, Tuco is doing prison time, thanks to Mike. But he'll be out soon enough ...
In "Breaking Bad," the ruthless Tuco had worked his way all the way up to drug kingpin level. He, Walt and Jesse had some rough and tumble meetings before Tuco himself met his demise with a Hank Shrader bullet through the brain.
Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) OK, OK, we know -- another obvious one. But you can't make this an all-encompassing list sans Mike.
Mike and Jimmy/Saul work together in both series, though their relationship remains rocky at best. Early on in "Better Call Saul," the two meet at a local courthouse, where Jimmy is a public defender and Mike works the parking lot.
Leonel Salamanca (Daniel Moncada) One of the killer "cousins," who are really twin brothers. (They're cousins of Tuco's, and nephews of Hector's.)
The boys are dangerous, bloody, all-business hitman for the Juarez drug cartel. They're sharp dressers and have ever sharper axes. Both brothers get snuffed out as a result of a classic Hank firefight during "Breaking Bad," though this one lives long enough for one last-gasp badass hospital moment.
Domingo "Krazy-8" Molina (Max Arciniega) A more grown-up Krazy-8 was actually the first person Walter killed in "Breaking Bad," though he hemmed and hawed over it for a while, almost freeing his violent prisoner.
In "Saul," Molina comes across quite convincingly as a younger, more innocent version of himself, still new to the drug game and working at his dad's store. In a half-decade or so, he'll be choked to death with a bicycle lock in Jesse's aunt's basement. He's also Jimmy/Saul's first step into becoming the criminal underworld's go-to attorney.
Lawson (Jim Beaver) Everyone's favorite weapons dealer sells Walt the gun he uses to mow down a whole lotta neo-Nazis. He also turned up on "Better Call Saul" to offer several rifles to Mike... though, to Lawson's surprise, Mike took a pass.
Lydia Rodarte-Quayle (Laura Fraser) We all know how she takes her tea by now, which would ultimately be Lydia's demise.
During the "Breaking Bad" days, Lydia tried to get Mike to kill a laundry list of Gus Fring's associates. When he refuses, she tries to have Mike killed. Bad move.
Lydia and Mike first meet in "Better Call Saul," when Gus sets him up with a paycheck at her Madrigal Electromotive. They don't get off to a great start.
Huell Babineaux (Lavell Crawford) A very svelte-looking Huell (Crawford lost 130 pounds since the end of “Breaking Bad”) pops up in the fifth episode of season 3, “Chicanery,” inadvertently bumping into Chuck during a recess during Jimmy’s bar hearing. In a gut-punching reveal, we find out that Jimmy hired Huell to plant a fully-charged battery on Chuck, which reveals his illness to be in his head and helps Jimmy avoid getting barred forever for practicing law.
Hey wait a minute, didn’t we see Huell do that move before…?
Don Eladio Vuente (Steven Bauer) "The Winking Greek" was the boss of the Juarez Cartel -- that is, until he took a shot of Gus Fring's Zafiro Añejo tequila during the "Breaking Bad" days.
Back during the "Better Call Saul" timeline, Eladio was a total jerk to Hector, who years later was used as a prop to take out Fring.
Francesca Liddy (Tina Parker) Before she was Saul Goodman’s personal secretary, Francesca served as the receptionist for Wexler McGill. She unfortunately gets laid off when Jimmy and Kim decide to sublet the office during Jimmy’s enforced year-long sabbatical from legal work. Jimmy promises to hire her back when he can practice law again, and we all know how that turns out.
Gale Boetticher (David Costabile) In the third episode of Season 4, Gus pays a visit to Gale at his chemistry lab on the University of New Mexico campus (with the scene evoking memories of another chemistry teacher), which ends with Gale urging for Gus to allow him to produce higher-grade meth in his lab. Gus declines, saying Gale is meant for “better things.”
We’ll find out in “Breaking Bad” that those “better things” aren’t really all that better.
Ed Galbraith (Robert Forester) A voice cameo for Ed, better known as the Vacuum Cleaner store operator that helped Saul disappear into his post-"Breaking Bad" life as Gene Takovic.
After Gene gets made, he phones in Ed to help him disappear again (at double the price), before deciding to take matters into his own hands.
Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) As Jimmy/Saul gets further into bed with the criminal underworld, we figure it was only a matter of time he crossed paths with Albuquerque's most famous DEA agent.
Norris is certainly the most prominent "Breaking Bad" alum to re-appear on the AMC prequel, having starred in 60 of the show's 62 episodes.
Steve Gomez (Steven Michael Quezada) What, you thought Hank would show up without his trusted partner?
Peter Schuler (Norbert Weisser) Schuler only appeared in one scene in "Breaking Bad" but it was a pretty memorable one.
The executive for Madrigal Electromotive GmbH, the parent company of Fring’s Los Pollos Hermanos (and financial benefactor for his meth operation), kills himself with a portable defibrillator after police arrive to question him about his longstanding ties to the Chicken Man.
In “Better Call Saul” we find out he was never that calm and collected.
Honestly? We're most worried about people who turn up on "Better Call Saul" but not "Breaking Bad." Does that mean they went straight and avoided grim "Breaking Bad" fates? Or that they didn't survive "Better Call Saul"? Kim Wexler, let us know you're okay.
A few ”Better Call Saul“ faces are familiar, but others are very deep pulls
"Better Call Saul" inhabits the same sad Albuquerque underground as "Breaking Bad," so it's natural that characters in the AMC shows would overlap. Ready to see how? (Spoiler warning: This gallery contains lots of details about both shows.)
AMC
