A Breaking Bad movie is coming to Netflix in one month. Here’s how they can get it right.
*** Contains Spoilers for Breaking Bad, a TV show that finished in 2013***
We are now just one month out from the release of El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.
We have every faith in Vince Gilligan to make another incredible product for fans to consume, but there are some things, in this writer’s opinion at least, that he simply must do to ensure the movie is as good as it should be.
Gilligan has created a universe that now spans across two excellent TV shows, but a full-length feature film is a different beast. Everything has to be wrapped up in a far shorter amount of time, while still creating a provocative story.
Here’s what he has to do to get it right.
Leave Walt dead
He’s dead, alright lads? A man with terminal cancer was shot in the stomach, and left to bleed out for a number of minutes. He’s definitely dead.
But somewhat understandably, people want him to make a return. Imagine the movie opens with Jesse Pinkman answering his phone. There is a five second pause, before we hear that iconic voice. “Jesse, wanna cook?”.
Chills, right?
But it wouldn’t be good. It wouldn’t be worth it. Walt had to die for his story to end, and it needs to stay like that.
Seeing Walter White alive would completely take away from the scene of his death in the show, which was one of the better endings to a long-running TV series.
But at the same time…
Bryan Cranston can feature
Just because Walter White is dead, it doesn’t mean Bryan Cranston can’t make an appearance.
After putting in one of the finest performances in cinematic history, it would seem unwise to leave such an iconic character out entirely.
Heisenberg can make an appearance in the form of a flashback, or maybe even a Hannah Baker-esque mirage, a la 13 Reasons Why Season 2.
Jesse might well blame Walter for everything that has gone wrong in his life (he definitely should anyway), so it could be interesting to see if his ghost still haunts him to this day.
No more Nazis
We don’t want to see any crazy Nazis chasing after Jesse because they blame him for the death of their family.
It made for an interesting storyline in the final season of the show, but there’s no real need to pursue it any further.
Vince Gilligan has always been able to create interesting and complex villains that you’re not sure whether or not to root for. Gus Fring, Jimmy McGill, Walter White.
Nazis on the other hand, are not complex. Let’s give them a miss.
Show us the White family
Let us see how Skyler, Walt Junior and Holly are getting on. And Marie too. She has probably lost the plot altogether.
Have any of them recovered in any way since the most traumatising few years that anyone could possibly imagine?
Are they perhaps better off without Walter absolutely terrorising their lives? Has Walt Junior turned to the blue stuff that his dad created with such perfection?
Either way, we need an update of some sort.
Plenty of Skinny Pete and Badger
We just need to see more of “two of the best hitman west of the Mississippi”, in any capacity at all.
They could be helping Jesse escape from law enforcement, or just along for the ride when he tries to set up a new life.
However they appear, we reckon they’ll steal every scene that they’re in.
If the trailer is anything to go by, this one shouldn’t be an issue:
Clip via Netflix
Keep Saul away
This might be somewhat controversial, but there’s really no need for Saul Goodman to appear at any stage in the movie.
Breaking Bad fans who miss the show have had five seasons of Better Call Saul to enjoy since the ending of the series, so they really don’t need anymore Saul in their lives.
Throwing him into the mix would only make it feel like another episode of Better Call Saul, and we’ve seen enough of them.
Let’s leave him out, and focus on the many other brilliant characters from this universe.
Give Jesse a happy ending
For God’s sake, the man deserves it.
Just think about what he’s been through in the show.
He has fallen in love twice, and both of those women were killed. On top of that, he probably feels as though he is partly responsible for their deaths.
Knowing Jesse, he probably also feels someway responsible for the deaths of all 167 people on board the flight Wayferer 515.
He has lost his entire family, and if you’ll recall, his beloved mentor has recently dropped the bomb on him that he let the woman of his dreams die.
Let him ride off into the sunset. Maybe with a partner, maybe on his own. Maybe to New Zealand. Just let the guy be happy.
Clip via Classic MacGruber
And if all of this still hasn’t got you excited, then the new trailer should do the trick:
Clip via Netflix
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie comes to Netflix on 11 October, 2019.
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