Better Call Saul’s final episode only just aired and already talk of a sequel has begun. I haven’t even had time to see the finale yet, and I’m expected to buy into another slice of this masterful universe. According to recent reports, a continuation known as ‘Breaking Bad’ is in the works and it sounds much too far-fetched. Stick with me, this is going to get a bit silly.
Saul Goodman’s compelling and grounded mixture of drama and comedy stole our hearts for six entire seasons, and to see it walk into the horizon so proudly makes me want to close the book on his story altogether. But this new show wants to keep us moving onto a new chapter with characters both unknown and familiar. I’m not sold, but who knows, maybe I’m just too personally attached to what came before to accept something that dares change what it achieved. Jimmy McGill will always be my ultimate lawyer boy, so who can replace him?
Obviously not all of this is confirmed and things are subject to change as production moves forward, but apparently Breaking Bad will follow a high school chemistry teacher known as Walter White who finds himself sinking into the drug trade after a tragic cancer diagnosis. Not only that, but he is set to do this with the help of Jesse Pinkman, a rebellious kid who hangs out with all the wrong people. If those names sound familiar, it’s because of their underwhelming cameo in Better Call Saul that all of us were super confused by.
Remember that discordant scene where Jimmy is suddenly being held hostage by two elderly men wearing woolly hats in the middle of the desert? Both of them are screaming about some random nonsense before everyone gathers back in the motor home behind them for a friendly chat. There are bullet holes in the door and the whole interior looks like a meth lab, so whoever these guys are, they aren’t very good drug dealers. Jimmy could teach them a thing or two, and likely will considering his major role in the upcoming sequel series.
Instead of carrying on the trials and tribulations of Saul Goodman, showrunners Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould have decided to shine a spotlight on two characters we’ve spent only a handful of minutes with. This sounds risky to me, especially given they must build upon the world of Better Call Saul without forgetting what made it so wonderful in the first place. I bet it will jump the shark and bring back characters like Gustavo Fring and Mike Ehrmentraut because it has no idea how to create new characters worth caring about.
Worse yet, what if it kills them off and squanders their legacy for unexpected drama and shock value? The last thing we want is five seasons of a timid chemistry teacher turning into a twisted drug kingpin as we’re forced to watch him tear apart everyone and everything he has ever loved in favour of a noble goal that is corrupted into something far more sinister.
Nothing good could come of such a conceit, and until I see the first episode I’m on the fence. Even the name weirds me out. What does Breaking Bad even mean? Before we know it they’ll be giving Jesse Pinkman a vulgar catchphrase and have a character obsessed with minerals or something. It won’t live up to Better Call Saul, and that much is already clear.