Better Call Saulis widely regarded as the best sequel toBreaking Bad, butEl Camino: A Breaking Bad Movieis a severely underrated part of the story.Better Call Saulcertainly earned that distinction, too. Vince Gilligan and the rest of the show’s creators took Bob Odenkirk’s whacky side character fromBreaking Badand turned his spinoff show into a beautiful and massively acclaimed story of corruption and the worst parts of human nature.Better Call Saulis a masterpiece, I just believe thatEl Caminodeserves to be a bigger part of the conversation aboutBreaking Bad’s legacy.
On paper,El Caminoseems like it makes more sense as a follow-up toBreaking BadthanBetter Call Sauldid.El Caminofollowed Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), one of thebest characters in theBreaking Baduniverse, and gave longtime fans some closure to his story. It also worked quite well -El Caminohas a 92% score onRotten Tomatoes, and it’s one of thebest thrillers on Netflix. However, it has been overshadowed by the discussion surroundingBreaking BadandBetter Call Saul, wrongly so, in my opinion.
El Caminois largely overshadowed byBreaking BadandBetter Call Saul, partly because they’re two of thebest TV shows ever made. ButEl Caminois a great movie, even putting aside its connection toBreaking Bad.El Caminois a tremendously well-made film with some beautiful shots, it’s a mature and harrowing look at the reality of post-traumatic stress disorder, and Aaron Paul delivers some of the best - possibly even Oscar-worthy - acting in his entire career.El Caminohas it all, yet it doesn’t get the same recognitionBreaking BadandBetter Call Sauldo.
Jesse Pinkman’s First And Final Appearances In The Breaking Bad Universe Happened In The Same Scene
Aaron Paul’s final time playing Jesse Pinkman in the Breaking Bad universe took place before he ever got involved with Walter White’s meth empire.
Another reasonEl Caminowas overshadowed byBetter Call Saulis simple timing.El Caminoworks best as a sendoff to Jesse Pinkman andBreaking Badas a whole, butBetter Call Saullasted longer than it, both in the real world and in the story’s timeline.El Caminocame out in 2019, while the finale ofBetter Call Saulwas in 2022.Better Call Saul’s black and white scenes also provided a more up-to-date look at what happened to the characters fans loved. If it had come out afterBetter Call Saul, I feel confident sayingEl Caminowould be considered an equally good sequel.
Jesse’s final scene inBreaking Badsaw him finally freed from the neo-Nazi camp and driving away in an El Camino, laughing and crying at the same time.That open-ended farewell to Jesse Pinkman was great, and it provided a much-needed bit of light in an endlessly dark finale, but I still wanted more out of Jesse’s story. I wanted to know that he got out safely, that he wasn’t just going to be scooped up by the police as soon as he parked the car. Jesse, and his fans, deserved more closure than that, andEl Caminoperfectly delivered.
El Caminodidn’t just reveal that Jesse had, in fact, evaded the police, it gave him a chance to put Walter and all ofBreaking Badbehind him.Through flashbacks and conversations with characters like Walt, Mike, and more, Jesse literally left his past behind as he fled to Alaska. We even got a good look at Jesse’s mental state after being in the neo-Nazis captivity, his thoughts about his relationship with Walt, and Mike’s warning that he could never set things right. By theend ofEl Camino, viewers got to see exactly why Jesse deserved more closure thanBreaking Badafforded him.
Another reasonEl Caminois such a valuable part of theBreaking Badstory is because it’s the only happy ending anyone gets.At the end ofBreaking Bad, Hank died, Walt died, Skyler was a single mother and the wife of the most notorious criminal in the country, Maria was a widow, Saul was on the run, andJesse had endured half a year of torture and enslavement.
Jesse was probably the only character who deserved a happy ending, and El Camino finally gave it to him.
Likewise, theending ofBetter Call Saulwas bittersweet at best - Jimmy did find some small morsel of redemption, but only after destroying his and Kim’s lives and going to prison. In comparison, the ending ofEl Caminois downright joyous. Jesse finally got out of the life he never asked for, he finally got a chance to deal with and work through all the abuse Walter subjected him to, and he finally got a second chance.
Jesse had to carry the baggage ofBreaking Badwith him, but he finally got a chance to do it on his own terms. He even saw Jane again and found some semblance of happiness in the wreckage of his old life. Jesse was probably the only character who deserved a happy ending, andEl Caminofinally gave it to him.
