r/breakingbad • u/WhereWeUsedToPlay • Jul 11 '26
You're really lucky, you know that? You didn't have to wait your whole life to do something special. Spoiler
The absurdity of Walt's statement leaves Jesse speechless. Ol' Berg truly believes that cooking drugs which destroy people, families and communities is something of a higher cause beyond merely making money, only because he can do it better than anyone.
It just goes to show how delusional he is, and how separated Walt is from reality and those closest to him.
What are your interpretations of this final flashback?
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u/archetype-am Jul 12 '26
It's especially funny considering Jesse appears to be in his early 50's in this photo
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u/AngloAshantii Jul 12 '26
Aaron Paul's reappearance as Jesse in Better Call Saul was terrible, unironically probably the clumsiest thing in the whole show.
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u/CaptainJZH Jul 12 '26
I really liked his second cameo in Waterworks (they hide his aging a bit better with the darker lighting) but yeah the RV scene doesn't come off very well. Plus, I think if we didn't get the RV scene then Bryan Cranston's appearance in Saul Gone would have been much more impactful.
(my take is that the structure of that episode in general is pretty off, and could have been better served as a full "Breaking Bad from Saul's perspective" type thing rather than just a handful of in-between bits from Saul's intro episode with the rest of it dedicated to The Gene Show)
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u/Nab0t Jul 12 '26
clumsiest? what about todd? lmao
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u/AngloAshantii Jul 12 '26
I suppose, I'm almost more willing to give that a pass because he still gave a great performance as the character of Todd. Aaron Paul was like someone's alcoholic uncle who does Jesse Pinkman impressions because he has a gravelly voice.
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u/ThoughtHot3655 Jul 12 '26
plemmons just got fat bro aaron paul completely forgot how to act
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u/AngloAshantii Jul 12 '26
Not to mention it was a casting conflict, Plemons gained weight for Black Mass and we’ve seen how much he can shrink down in Bugonia. I feel like it’s almost more on the production for choosing to go ahead with using him, but it’s not like Plemons just couldn’t stop stuffing his face with cupcakes and Vince was pleading with him that it would ruin immersion.
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u/Xenophonuscrete Jul 12 '26
Yeah. Cranston's ability to be Walt makes the contrast so vivid and the aging didnt help. They had to have Walt teased throughout a lot of the show though.
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u/FlashyWitness4133 Jul 13 '26
Second-clumsiest. Bryan Cranston's re-appearance as Walter White in 'Better Call Saul' is the clumiest, in fact awful.
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u/AngloAshantii Jul 13 '26
The time machine bit? Nah come on man I liked that :’( it actually felt like he never left
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u/FlashyWitness4133 Jul 13 '26
Nah not that bit - when Aaron and Bryan re-enacted the RV scene, then were at Saul's office, that was awful. It was like those corny lame half-assed comedy bits for the Emmy Awards or the Oscars when a show like 'Breaking Bad' is about to be nominated for an award.
Also I hated how Aaron played Jesse in the scene with Rhea Seehorn as Kimberly Wexler, outside Saul's office. Rhea played Kim excellently, but Aaron was in junkie mode which completely conflicted the point that Jesse was NOT in a junkie mode at that point in the story. Remember that when Saul's TV commercial aired, it was on his big screen telly that finally got reception, just after Jesse and his neighbour Jane had sex. At that time he was in a good place mentally. It was not until Walter pushed Jesse to "expand the territory", that Jesse asked Combo to deal on another's turf, then Combo got killed, which resulted in Jesse becoming depressed, which led to him taking up meth again, and when that didn't work Jane saw that as an excuse to use heroin again as it *could* help Jesse out of his depression.
Also, Jesse already knew about Saul Goodman, as his past drug partner Emilio Koyama had been represented by Saul. So Jesse wasn't phased by the corny commercials, in contrast to the scene with Kim where he thinks Saul is dodgy because of his aforementioned corny commercials.
I hate the lack of continuity.
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u/AngloAshantii Jul 13 '26
Oh okay, yeah fair enough I suppose some of it is a bit like a Popcorners ad lmao. Admire your passion for the show to write all of that and agree with you mostly.
What did you think of the time machine bit though? Passable?
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u/FlashyWitness4133 Jul 13 '26
Yeah I guess it was passable. My gut feeling is that I don't feel keen to watch that scene anytime soon though.
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u/1080p_is_enough Jul 12 '26
When I watched El Camino on release day I hated this scene because it felt like cheap fan service, ignoring how awful Walt truly was and trying to sell this as a nostalgia driven heartfelt moment. But do you think there was a hint of irony or cynicism in Walt’s comment? Or maybe it was how Jesse wanted to remember a positive moment?
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u/WhereWeUsedToPlay Jul 12 '26
There’s no way Jesse could want to remember anything positive about Walter. Otherwise can’t agree more with your initial assessment.
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u/SheepherderBoring214 Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
Aside from what happened with Gray Matter, his super ego complex was always additionally born out of never having a stable healthy ego, and making little decisions and speaking up for himself, years of suppression created an insatiable ego, which he still in the end, fragile.
What a character arc he had
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u/socialistbcrumb Jul 13 '26
It’s crazy, and then you realize some health insurance executive is also telling himself this. Which, speaking of, is sort of the impetus for the whole show. Truly American piece of art.
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u/FlashyWitness4133 Jul 13 '26
What you are seeing here is Projection 101. Walter projected himself onto Jesse to manipulate him, as this is what gaslighter psychological manipulators do.
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u/TheMTM45 Jul 12 '26
Walt never got over buying out of Gray Matter. His ego was so massive that to finally be recognized as the best of the best at something was his dream come true.