Better Call Saul’s Walt & Jesse Cameos Are Even Better After New Breaking Bad Reveal
Better Call Saul featured acclaimed cameos from Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul as Walt and Jesse, but a new reveal makes their returns even sweeter.
SUMMARY
- Walt and Jesse’s cameos in Better Call Saul were seamlessly integrated into the narrative, providing valuable insights that improved both shows.
- The fact that their scenes were filmed before the writing process was finished is even more impressive.
- Excluding Walt and Jesse from the ending of Better Call Saul would have felt incomplete and distracting, as they are central to the Breaking Bad universe and their inclusion enhanced the conclusion of the entire saga.
Walter White and Jesse Pinkman’s cameo roles in Better Call Saul seem even more perfect after a behind-the-scenes reveal from the spinoff’s final season. While Better Call Saul never exactly shied away from reintroducing Breaking Bad characters, it resisted the urge to bring back the big guns – Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul – until its dying episodes. Walt and Jesse made multiple cameos throughout Better Call Saul season 6, but this posed several challenges. Not only was Better Call Saul risking its main stars being overshadowed by two beloved returning heroes, Cranston and Paul needed to look like their younger selves from Breaking Bad.
Watching an early-40s Aaron Paul talk like Jesse Pinkman might have been a little jarring, but Better Call Saul season 6’s Walt and Jesse cameos added nuance to the story without detracting from the spinoff’s main narratives, while also tying neatly into the Breaking Bad era. According to executive producer Melissa Bernstein, organizing Better Call Saul‘s Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul’s cameos was a logistical challenge. Bernstein confirms that whereas Better Call Saul typically finishes the writing process before filming, the availability of their Breaking Bad actors meant, for example, Aaron Paul’s conversation with Kim Wexler was shot before the episode had been fully written.
Walt & Jesse’s Cameos Being From Unfinished Episodes Is Shocking – Because They’re Perfect
Better Call Saul‘s Walt and Jesse cameos proved so effective because they slotted seamlessly into season 6’s narrative. Rather than coming across like stunt guest spots designed for a cheap audience pop, every appearance by Bryan Cranston or Aaron Paul in Better Call Saul season 6 connected to the main narrative with Jimmy, and provided a valuable insight that simultaneously improved both Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad. Jesse’s conversation with Kim outside Saul’s office, for instance, firstly suggested that Kim unknowingly set up Jimmy’s role in Breaking Bad, but also demonstrated Kim’s realization that Jimmy had been almost entirely swallowed by his “Saul Goodman” persona.
These scenes don’t just feel like they were carefully and deliberately slotted into the Better Call Saul season 6 tapestry to align perfectly with the story’s flow, they feel like they were part of Better Call Saul‘s masterplan from episode 1. That they were actually filmed before the episode’s writing process had been finalized makes Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul’s Better Call Saul cameos even more impressive. Very few shows could get away with making preemptively-shot cameo scenes feel like they were supposed to be there all along.
Why Better Call Saul Couldn’t End Without Walt & Jesse Cameos
By the time Better Call Saul season 6 rolled around, the spinoff had already escaped the shadow of Breaking Bad. As such, appearances from Walt and Jesse were not strictly necessary for the story’s conclusion. Regardless, a Better Call Saul ending without Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul would have felt incomplete. Walt and Jesse are, of course, central to the Breaking Bad universe, and as Better Call Saul season 6 encroached upon Breaking Bad‘s timeline, excluding the franchise’s original two stars would have risked an elephant-in-the-room situation. Walt and Jesse being omitted from Better Call Saul‘s ending would have been a bigger distraction than including them.
More importantly, Better Call Saul season 6 marked the end of the entire Breaking Bad saga. Far more than just a prequel, Better Call Saul finished as a sequel, with Marie Schrader finally getting justice for Hank’s death, and Jimmy McGill’s trial bringing the curtain down upon Walt’s meth empire. Reintroducing Bryan Cranston’s Walter White and Aaron Paul’s Jesse Pinkman enhanced the feeling that Better Call Saul was wrapping up the whole thrilling tale. Doing so with such aplomb – despite being forced to shoot scenes earlier than planned – proves the two game-changing cameos were more than justified.
