Albuquerque is about to break even more bad.
Following the success of Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul, last night creator Vince Gilligan confirmed that he was working on a sequel to the series in the form of a movie. Currently expected to be a TV movie in line with his deal with Sony TV, THR enigmatically confirmed that it would, “follow the escape of a kidnapped man and his quest for freedom.”
It didn’t take much beyond that for fans to immediately speculate that the escaped kidnapped man in question would be Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), whose ending on Breaking Bad was left wide open for exploration. SlashFilm confirmed that speculation today by announcing that Paul will in fact reprise his role as the tragedy prone Jesse in the as yet untitled sequel.
The Jesse question is one that has fans have puzzled over endlessly since Breaking Bad’s finale five years ago. Ostensibly a good ending—any escape from Nazis is inherently a happy one—the fact remains that he was still a suspect in a massive manhunt and had no money, no friends, and no where left to go. The darkness he drove into was eerily symbolic, suggesting unknown journeys and outcomes for the moral center of the series.
Filming on the movie is expected to begin soon in Albuquerque, the city that has hosted the series and its spinoff since 2008. The question now is whether or not this is one too many times to the barrel for Gilligan. This will be his third outing into the world of Breaking Bad, and there will no doubt be a lot of pressure to make sure he makes this one lives up to his predecessor.
It’s worth noting, however, that there were a lot of similar feelings surrounding Better Call Saul prior to its premiere and now, after four seasons, it’s become one of the best shows currently on television. There’s plenty of room for hope that Jesse’s return will be both memorable and rewarding for fans.
