As Better Call Saul season 6 shifts into Gene’s timeline, there’s still no sign of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. Can they appear in the sequel era?
Bryan Cranston’s Walter White and Aaron Paul’s Jesse Pinkman are yet to make their long-awaited cameos in Better Call Saul season 6. Could they appear in the spinoff’s black-and-white Gene timeline? By every conceivable measure, Better Call Saul has outgrown the sizable shadow of Breaking Bad. Nevertheless, the prospect of Walt and Jesse making cameos always lingered in audience minds, and confirmation of Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul’s glorious returns finally came ahead of Better Call Saul season 6’s premiere.
As of episode 10, however, there’s still no sign of Breaking Bad‘s star duo. Even more curious, Better Call Saul season 6’s “Nippy” moves into the Gene timeline after Jimmy McGill’s prequel story ended with Kim’s departure and a flashforward that introduced Saul Goodman fully-formed a little before Breaking Bad. As revealed by Cranston himself, Walt and Jesse will get a cameo each, plus one scene as a duo. Does Better Call Saul‘s timeline allow these guest appearances to happen in the Gene era?
It’s a tricky topic to untangle. Thanks to the barrage of college football references in Better Call Saul season 6, episode 10, the Gene timeline is now confirmed as taking place in October 2010. Breaking Bad‘s finale falls in September 2010, so Walter White is already dead. Walt did, however, spend April-August hiding in New Hampshire. He and Gene might’ve shared a secret conversation during that time, which Better Call Saul could show via flashback. Jesse Pinkman is still alive in October 2010, living under a new identity in Alaska. While Aaron Paul’s character could technically resurface in Better Call Saul‘s Gene timeline, reuniting with Saul would risk ruining Jesse’s note-perfect El Camino farewell. Lastly, Walt and Jesse’s shared scene definitively cannot happen during Better Call Saul‘s Gene timeline. All while Jimmy has been glazing cinnamon rolls, Jesse Pinkman has remained imprisoned by Jack’s Nazis, leaving no possibility he could’ve interacted with Walter White during the Gene timeline.
When Will Walt & Jesse’s Better Call Saul Cameos Actually Take Place?
Despite the aforementioned loopholes, recent confirmation that Better Call Saul‘s sequel era is set during October 2010 makes Walter White and Jesse Pinkman’s appearances in the Gene timeline very unlikely. A return to Breaking Bad and Saul Goodman now seems inevitable for Better Call Saul‘s final episodes, meaning all three cameo scenes would be set between Breaking Bad seasons 1-5, presented as previously-unseen moments similar to Bryan Cranston’s cameo in El Camino. The question now is whether Better Call Saul switches to Breaking Bad‘s timeline proper, or whether season 6 will remain with Gene, framing Walt and Jesse’s cameos as flashbacks.
Maybe Better Call Saul season 6, episode 11 shows Gene remembering moments from his Heisenberg partnership (bits the audience never saw the first time around) that bear some relevance to present events. Alternatively, Better Call Saul might flick to Saul Goodman’s era for an entire episode, with the lawyer, Walt and Jesse working together almost like a hidden Breaking Bad episode newly unearthed. Given how Better Call Saul‘s “Fun & Games” ends with Saul Goodman circa 2005-2007, there’s a small chance Walt and Jesse’s individual cameos could slot narrowly before Breaking Bad, when the former was teaching chemistry and the latter going by Cap’n Cook. The only obstacle here would be whether Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul can physically get away with looking younger than they did in 2008…
Better Call Saul continues Monday on AMC.
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