El Camino answers many burning Breaking Bad questions
The long-awaited Breaking Bad movie, El Camino, has delivered plenty of answers for fans. WARNING: Spoilers
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El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie is finally on Netflix, and it’s everything we dreamt of.
Not only is the thrilling drama a worthy successor to Breaking Bad, but it gave us some much-needed closure to everyone’s favourite former drug addict, Jessie Pinkman (Aaron Paul). And yes, it’s packed with all sorts of Breaking Bad references.
WARNING: Spoilers ahead for El Camino.
Written and directed by Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul creator Vince Gilligan, El Camino takes place right after the events of “Felina.” That masterful final episode saw Walter White (Bryan Cranston) break his longtime partner Jesse out from a prison run by neo-Nazis. Walt may have bled out during the episode’s final moments, but Jesse drove on to live another day.
But what kind of life is waiting for Jesse now that the police are after him and he has too many enemies to count? That’s the question El Camino answers.
The gorgeously-directed film follows Jesse as he navigates around his memories and his former allies, and tries to carve a new life for himself.
Of course El Camino is connected to Breaking Bad; it’s right there in the title. But aside from telling the next chapter in Jesse’s story there are tons of sneaky extra connections. Wondering if Lydia actually died from Walt’s ricin? Curious about what became of Saul Goodman’s law office? It’s right there in El Camino if you pay close enough attention. And if that’s not enough for you, check out Decider’s list of all of the returning Breaking Bad characters in El Camino as well as our roundup of the film’s glowing reviews.
Who knew watching people make meth would be so addictive?
WE FINALLY KNOW WHY JESSE WANTED TO GO TO ALASKA
It wasn’t unusual for Jesse to baffle his friends and business partners, but he really threw his lawyer for a loop in season five’s “Confessions.”
While Saul Goodman was trying to sell Jesse on the idea of getting a new identity, he asked the younger man where he wanted to go. After a beat Jesse responded Alaska, which made the palm tree-loving Saul shrug.
In the first moments of El Camino we finally learned why Jesse wanted to embrace the icy tundra. During his last conversation with Mike (Jonathan Banks), Mike said he would start over in that state if he could. Shortly after their conversation, Walt shot Mike.
THE POLICE CONNECTED LYDIA’S DEATH TO WALT
While Jesse was listening to the radio, a broadcaster announced that the poisoning of a woman in Houston was connected to Walter White. That woman was almost certainly Lydia Rodarte-Quayle (Laura Fraser).
The last time we saw Lydia she was trying to get in touch with her meth-making neo-Nazi connections. Little did she know they had already been murdered by Walt. Heisenberg answered her call only to inform Lydia that he has laced her “Stevia crap” with deadly ricin. Given that the company Lydia worked for, Madrigal Electromotive, was based in Houston it makes since that she would die in a hospital there.
SAUL GOODMAN’S OFFICE IS NOW A SPORTS BAR
While Jesse is on the run, El Camino features several news reports explaining what happened after Walt and Jesse’s epic shootout. During one of those montages the strip mall where Saul Goodman’s law office used to be is shown. It’s now been converted into a restaurant called Duke City Sports Bar.
LOS POLLOS HERMANOS HAS BEEN REPLACED BY ITS REAL WORLD COUNTERPART
Similarly, El Camino shows what Gus Fring’s cover-up operation Los Pollos Hermanos has become. But this new building ownership has a real-world connection. In Breaking Bad world, the burrito and burger place Twisters is now in the home of the infamous chicken chain. In the real world, that particular Los Pollos Hermanos location has long been a Twisters. Back in 2013 Today reported that fans of the series would often flock to the restaurant to ask for Gus.
TODD KEPT THE TARANTULA FROM THE KID HE MURDERED
There’s a reason why El Camino kept focusing on Todd’s (Jesse Plemons) pet tarantula. That spider once belonged to the child he heartlessly murdered.
“Dead Freight” saw Jesse at his most brilliant and daring. With the help of Walt, Todd, and Mike, Jesse devised a way to steal a thousand gallons of methylamine from a moving train. Everything was going according to plan, and no one saw the robbery. No one, that is, except for a young boy by the name of Drew Sharp. After waving at him, Todd shot the kid. That death was the breaking point for Jesse and what ultimately led to him trying to get out of the meth business.
THERE’S MEANING BEHIND THAT BEETLE
Bugs are always important in Breaking Bad. That extends from that cockroach Jesse decided to let walk away in “Felina,” to the episode “Kafkaesque,” which is a reference to Franz Kafka’s novella about a man who awakens as a giant insect.
Jesse choosing to hold a beetle in El Camino rather than killing it is further proof that he’s not really a killer. And like The Metamorphosis, it also likely represents his own involuntary evolution into something that seems monstrous, but is ultimately harmless — unless provoked.
JESSE’S MOST ICONIC LINE GOT A SHOUTOUT
Who could forget when Jesse excitedly screamed “Magnets, b***h” in “Live Free or Die”? Certainly not Old Joe (Larry Hankin). While surveying Jesse’s stolen El Camino, the junkyard owner made a reference to Jesse’s brilliant plan to wipe the surveillance footage from Gus’ incriminating computer using a giant magnet. Magnets indeed.
HUELL MADE IT OUT OF THE SAFE HOUSE
OK, this one technically didn’t happen in El Camino, but it is connected to the movie. The last time we saw Saul Goodman’s silent and intimidating guard Huell (Lavell Crawford), the DEA had stuck him in a safe room. We now know that he’s not still watching cable in that room.
The official Breaking Bad Instagram account posted a countdown clock before the launch of El Camino. And what do you know, that countdown ended with Huell putting on his jacket and leaving the room. Run buddy, run.
JESSE DELIVERED A FINAL LETTER TO BROCK CANTILLO
After arriving in Alaska, Jesse gave a letter to Ed (Robert Forster) addressed to the last person he wanted to say goodbye to, Brock Cantillo (Ian Posada). During seasons four and five, Jesse dated Brock’s mother Andrea (Emily Rios). He eventually broke things off with her, fearing that his life of crime was too dangerous for the pair. But that didn’t stop the White Supremacists and even Walt from threatening their safety.
After Jesse attempted to escape Uncle Jack’s gang, Todd (Jesse Plemons) murdered Andrea as punishment. Jesse later avenged her death, killing Todd. We don’t know what’s in Jesse’s note to Brock but it’s definitely sad.
THERE WAS A SNEAKY REFERENCE TO JANE’S TRAGIC DEATH
At the end of El Camino we see Jane (Krysten Ritter) one final time, but there’s a reference to her overdose well before the credits roll. At the beginning of the movie Jesse and his car hide from the cops. As Jesse is speeding away, he crashes into a mailbox with the numbers 212. Season two, episode 12’s “Phoenix” is when Jane overdosed in her sleep while Walt chose not to save her.
This article originally appeared in Decider and is reproduced here with permission
Originally published as El Camino answers many burning Breaking Bad questions