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Those characters weren't in the show, you're not supposed to remember them. You're fine, keep watching.
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El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie |OT| This is my own private domicile and I will not be harassed... bitch
- Thread starter Aurc
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Marie would have told the cops about Jesse / Walt.. so Jesse would have been a person of interest from the point Hank disappeared.
I do agree it is still a bit unexplained how quickly they seemed to "know everything" including the fact Jesse was in captivity and all that, but Jesse had definitely been connected to Walt already to the cops so his name would probably have immediately been thrown around as being involved.
I haven't seen the final seasons of Breaking Bad since they aired (and I need to correct this), but I remember thinking at the time that the open-ended/ambiguous conclusion to Jesse's narrative was OK, but somewhat unfulfilling, especially since Jesse's story had taken a backseat to Walt in the final run of episodes. At the time, I really felt that the Jesse + Nazi portion of the narrative was a bit lacking/wished we could have had more insight into it, and El Camino delivered here.
And now that I've thought about it more, I think El Camino was more than worthwhile, because it gives Jesse a real sense of closure, in both his character arc as well as closure to his story and cohorts in the world of Albuquerque.
El Camino reinforces that Breaking Bad is a modern American Western in that in its finality, there's an actual, by-god face-to-face gun duel (which I don't think a literal duel happens in the show, and its fitting that Jesse Pinkman is the one who "earns" it) and it ends on the quest to become a new man within the 'last frontier'. That, plus it more explicitly shows Jesse stopping other people and external factors from governing his life, which is good and should be the natural conclusion of his arc from the show.
And now that I've thought about it more, I think El Camino was more than worthwhile, because it gives Jesse a real sense of closure, in both his character arc as well as closure to his story and cohorts in the world of Albuquerque.
El Camino reinforces that Breaking Bad is a modern American Western in that in its finality, there's an actual, by-god face-to-face gun duel (which I don't think a literal duel happens in the show, and its fitting that Jesse Pinkman is the one who "earns" it) and it ends on the quest to become a new man within the 'last frontier'. That, plus it more explicitly shows Jesse stopping other people and external factors from governing his life, which is good and should be the natural conclusion of his arc from the show.
People are visual, but also, they are very superficial, so vanity traits like "Jesse Plemmons seems too fat" and "The bald cap on Bryan Cranston looked fake" are common, because people notice those things before anything else.
Ah I think I guessed it
They built Jesse's cage. That's also how they knew about Todd and his money. I was also wondering how they knew he had cash and had his key
Just watched it and I really liked it the way it is.
Nothing felt forced to me and the writing, the visuals, and the performances were all on point.
I especially want to mention Charles Baker who plays Skinny Pete though, as I think he really shines in all his scenes. He should get more work in the future.
What actors in the "Breaking Bad universe" can express without saying a word is I think really, really special.
Nothing felt forced to me and the writing, the visuals, and the performances were all on point.
I especially want to mention Charles Baker who plays Skinny Pete though, as I think he really shines in all his scenes. He should get more work in the future.
The scene where he hands over his hat and then sits in the El Camino felt very genuine to me.
One of my favorite things about Breaking Bad and BCS is the odd camera shots they do. I love them so much. This movie was full of good ones, but my favorite was when Badger is backing out of the driveway. Having the camera rigged to the side of the car like that made it kinda trippy feeling and then they did a slow zoom in with it. There's nothing narratively special about the scene, but the music combined with the camera work makes it one of the most memorable scenes for me.
I got my diploma, dick.
Just finished. Loved it. When bb ended I was hoping Jesse would get away but it was left so open ended with him crying and speeding off with cops all around.
They easily could have never did this but I'm so glad they did. It really wraps up the whole series for me. The show was so intense most weeks that I haven't gone back to watch it cause I got so attached to the characters and it's hard to see what happens to everyone. Alright, off to browse the last 19 pages to see what everyone else thought:)
Just finished. Loved it. When bb ended I was hoping Jesse would get away but it was left so open ended with him crying and speeding off with cops all around.
They easily could have never did this but I'm so glad they did. It really wraps up the whole series for me. The show was so intense most weeks that I haven't gone back to watch it cause I got so attached to the characters and it's hard to see what happens to everyone. Alright, off to browse the last 19 pages to see what everyone else thought:)
"it was unnecessary"
What a strange take so many seem to have. Unnecessary to what, exactly? I mean I guess you could go as far as saying BCS was an unnecessary prequel, though it's arguably better than BB
What a strange take so many seem to have. Unnecessary to what, exactly? I mean I guess you could go as far as saying BCS was an unnecessary prequel, though it's arguably better than BB
I think the tapes Jesse made with Hank serve as explanations to a lot of people's questions, but I think unfortunately may serve as potential plot hole openers as well.
Assuming the authorities found them, Jesse must have layed out everything on them. Wouldn't he have to mention that Skyler was complicit, his friends like Skinny and Badger were involved, etc? Unless Jesse only focused on him and Walt, which may be a possibility considering he is all Hank wanted, but unrealistic as anyone tied to the thing could help bring Walt down.
So really this is more of a BB problem instead of an El Camino one.
Those tapes he made are a big deal. They would be the only evidence tying Jesse to all this. It's the only way anyone else would know what's going on. So we have to conclude that they were found.
Actually, maybe Skyler and Marie mentioned that Jesse was Walt's partner. I never even thought of that.
This comes back to the idea of the authorities finding those tapes. It would make sense for Jack's crew to destroy them after watching them.
Either way, I think Marie, Skyler, and the tapes are enough to incriminate Jesse. Not to mention all the stuff he got caught (or almost caught) with like tossing his money away, and the whole Ricin thing.
Assuming the authorities found them, Jesse must have layed out everything on them. Wouldn't he have to mention that Skyler was complicit, his friends like Skinny and Badger were involved, etc? Unless Jesse only focused on him and Walt, which may be a possibility considering he is all Hank wanted, but unrealistic as anyone tied to the thing could help bring Walt down.
So really this is more of a BB problem instead of an El Camino one.
Those tapes he made are a big deal. They would be the only evidence tying Jesse to all this. It's the only way anyone else would know what's going on. So we have to conclude that they were found.
Actually, maybe Skyler and Marie mentioned that Jesse was Walt's partner. I never even thought of that.
This comes back to the idea of the authorities finding those tapes. It would make sense for Jack's crew to destroy them after watching them.
Either way, I think Marie, Skyler, and the tapes are enough to incriminate Jesse. Not to mention all the stuff he got caught (or almost caught) with like tossing his money away, and the whole Ricin thing.
They did? The trailer didn't communicate this at all.
And it actually has more action than I was expecting. I didn't at all expect Jesse to
kill 2 more guys.
I kinda hated that Jesse recognized them and the viewers didn't.
It made me Google the welding company and I got a spoiler for my troubles. Not the smartest idea, I know... but I don't think I'm the only one in this boat.
I assumed the welding guy was in the BB recap that I skipped, and since I rewatched all of BB this year I'd figured he must not have had a big role. So I didn't Google, but it really bothered me that I didn't recognise him.
It's a fine narrative device for a standalone film, but in an epilogue with lots of established characters popping up, it was confusing.
Finally got a chance to finish the movie. Pretty fun and well paced. Lots of fan service and it was great seeing a lot of the old faces. I guess I had a feeling I knew where this film was heading, since I felt pretty flat throughout the film and I don't think the tension was as effective as it was in BB or even BCS.
Overall, it was a fun, harmless, and a fan servicey "reunion" film, but I'm not sure it has much else to offer aside from showing that Vince Gilligan can direct pretty nice scenes. But whatever, it's like going to an old reunion with old friends and classmates. You're not entirely sure if there's still anything else in there for you, but it's still a joy to reminisce about the fun times you had.
The showdown with the Kandy guy was a little out there, but whatever, it gave a cool note for Jesse to end on.
I'm still not sure if this movie was really necessary, and I still really prefer where BB ended on. Ambiguous with a hint of a bright future. Yeah this still ended on the most loose definition of open ended possible, but it's definitely steered Jesse towards a more positive path. Great for those that needed that closure, but sometimes leaving things up for speculation is more fun for the audience.
I'm still not sure if this movie was really necessary, and I still really prefer where BB ended on. Ambiguous with a hint of a bright future. Yeah this still ended on the most loose definition of open ended possible, but it's definitely steered Jesse towards a more positive path. Great for those that needed that closure, but sometimes leaving things up for speculation is more fun for the audience.
Overall, it was a fun, harmless, and a fan servicey "reunion" film, but I'm not sure it has much else to offer aside from showing that Vince Gilligan can direct pretty nice scenes. But whatever, it's like going to an old reunion with old friends and classmates. You're not entirely sure if there's still anything else in there for you, but it's still a joy to reminisce about the fun times you had.
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Is this even a definitive end for Jesse though?
He will be a wanted man for the rest of his life.
If they wanna do a follow up, they easily could.
He will be a wanted man for the rest of his life.
If they wanna do a follow up, they easily could.
Unnecessary is when you add a prefab extension on to a building of great architectural beauty. It is difficult to extend a perfect structure unless it extended with something similarly perfect. While I completely agree that BCS is as good, if not better than BB, EC is not, therefore it is not unreasonable to consider it unnecessary.
I thought it was great. Some nice added closure to Jesse that answers whether or not he met a terrible fate similar to Walt or if he finally escaped that horrible life at the hands of Walt. Throw in a little fan service and it makes for a good love letter to Breaking Bad as a whole. I will always enjoy any moment spent with the Breaking Bad universe.
Jesse recognizing the welding company was immediately accompanied by a flashback, and given the format of the story with the flashbacks taking place at times in Jesse's captivity we've never seen, I felt it was kind of a given that these are newly introduced characters that played a part in that time in Jesse's life.
That, and I kind of remember them not being characters from Breaking Bad.
Jesse recognizing the welding company was immediately accompanied by a flashback, and given the format of the story with the flashbacks taking place at times in Jesse's captivity we've never seen, I felt it was kind of a given that these are newly introduced characters that played a part in that time in Jesse's life.
That, and I kind of remember them not being characters from Breaking Bad.
I was thoroughly disappointed.
The tension wasn't there. The risks-at-every-turn trademark of the series wasn't there. No credible threats faced by Jesse as being the most wanted man.
The very first scene of the film was the only part that pulled on my strings. The rest of the movie felt like a C-tier breaking bad episode that was exacerbated by the 120 minutes duration.
Still love Vince Gilligan but I think he should stick with TV.
The tension wasn't there. The risks-at-every-turn trademark of the series wasn't there. No credible threats faced by Jesse as being the most wanted man.
The very first scene of the film was the only part that pulled on my strings. The rest of the movie felt like a C-tier breaking bad episode that was exacerbated by the 120 minutes duration.
Still love Vince Gilligan but I think he should stick with TV.
It was hard to feel stakes in this when it was rather obvious that they wouldn't just bring back Jesse on the run to have him killed halfway through the story or something. It was fairly obvious this was gonna be a positive story for him after all the shit he got through, so any tension at the shootout or the cops scene was missing as it was too damn obvious he was, in fact, getting away.
wasn't near as suspenseful as the trailer suggested... still i found it pretty harrowing. for me at least i never discounted feds rolling in or nazi/cartel guys blasting him to a bloody pulp until the credits rolled
Yeah it's weird to me too. It's all unnecessary entertainment. I enjoyed it, therefore it was not unnecessary. If you didn't enjoy it, I guess you could come to that conclusion?
Also did not expect this threat to be full of fatphobic comments but here we are I guess!
It's missing the point of said criticism, whether you agree with it or not. The original finale of Breaking Bad heavily implied Jesse got out of the whole deal scarred and beaten up, but alive and as a free man. He may be alone, traumatized, but at least he isn't dead or in prison like so many other people in the story. This was a 120 minutes adventure where Jesse went from being a lonely free man riding in a car to... being a lonely free man riding in a car in a different state. In both cases he's a wanted man, but of course there's less chances of him being caught over there.
That's why some people say it was unnecessary. It's a 2 hour explanation of something that was heavily implied in the original run, and the story brought Jesse to a place where 99% of the fans expected him to end anyway. The added flashbacks about the torture he went through wasn't particularly revealing either: we knew Todd is a sociopath, we knew the nazis are evil fucks who enjoy fucking around with him and so on. The only potentially not so obvious element was how supportive his friends were after Jesse disappearing for so long and his shenanigans throwing them in bigger trouble. But nothing we saw in BB suggests their friendship was ever in jeopardy, so that was still a fairly safe assumption to make ultimately.
You can love or hate the movie, but it really is hard to deny the movie was a very predictable epilogue that brought Jesse down a path that most people already assumed. It was rather obvious that he would at first get his money back, then go to the only person the entire series has known for disappearing, and then indeed doing so. Easily the most predictable thing in the Breaking Bad franchise so far, except maybe for Walt's end (given his condition since episode 1 it was rather obvious he wasn't getting out alive of this series).
i liked it a lot better than the finale, that's for sure. It's a nice bit of lore for the fans and the scenes with Todd continue to be great, but I have to agree with the takes that it's unnecessary to the overall story.
There was also some real cartoony shit, but I suppose that applies to BB as well.
There was also some real cartoony shit, but I suppose that applies to BB as well.
I wouldn't say the "you're lucky" bit was particularly dignified. If anything, I thought this final appearance of Walt solidified the fact that he was always a piece of shit.
I enjoyed it a lot, it was nice to jump back into the BB universe and see what happens after the main series.
This and seeing Jessie and Walter back together was really emotional."Dude...you're my hero and shit"
It's "unnecessary" because at the end of BB you're left to think Jesse may have gotten away and gone to Alaska
at the end of El Camino you're left to think he DEFINITELY got away and is DEFINITELY in Alaskanot before murking the fuck outta two people
at the end of El Camino you're left to think he DEFINITELY got away and is DEFINITELY in Alaskanot before murking the fuck outta two people
How is showing HOW he escaped unnecessary?
Some people wanted to see how Jesse would pull such a thing off and this movie answered that.
It's an epilogue/more closure. This wasn't supposed to be BB2, even though to me personally it kinda felt like it and I fucking loved it.
To me this was better than anything in BCS so far (I finished Season 3), and that's not to take anything away from that show as it's great as well.
I sure hope no BCS fans are in here talking about EC being unnecessary or "boring" cuz that's a criticism that can be applied to BCS as well.
Some people wanted to see how Jesse would pull such a thing off and this movie answered that.
It's an epilogue/more closure. This wasn't supposed to be BB2, even though to me personally it kinda felt like it and I fucking loved it.
To me this was better than anything in BCS so far (I finished Season 3), and that's not to take anything away from that show as it's great as well.
I sure hope no BCS fans are in here talking about EC being unnecessary or "boring" cuz that's a criticism that can be applied to BCS as well.
I liked this, I want to know what happened to his friend with the el Camino but I can understand why they didn't show it
I was going to Google it since i just figured I forgot it, but then I was worried I would get spoiled which is why I asked on Era first!
Don't know about the original series, but at the time El Camino was filmed, Cranston was starring in a play in London every night, which he took a few days off of to film his flashback cameo, so he probably didn't have a choice but to bald cap it.
I believe that is implied by calling it "unnecessary". Saying it didn't live up to BB is absolutely correct but also less concise and, arguably, less descriptive.
I would argue differently; I've seen several different people explain quite differently what they meant by "unnecessary."
I've seen people describe in the same review the story as "unnecessary" and also "a fitting end to Jesse's story" lol.. I don't take issue with every use of the word but I don't think it's as descriptive as people think it is, it really doesn't contain much meaning on it's own.
We learn a whole load more about both Saul and Mike in BCS though. It's almost an entirely new world.
I enjoyed El Camino a lot and it was fun to revisit the characters but it didn't really add anything new of note, nor surprise me in any way, it was just a fun little coda to Jessie's story and in many ways I think I preferred how the main show left it. A bit of ambiguity can be powerful at times. This was very, very neat by contrast and as such fell just a little flat in that regard.
Early on I thought it was going to explore PTSD which could have been interesting and taken it to somewhere new but, no, that strand was gently dropped and instead it was 'this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened, and then he finally got away, yay'
Was great. But yeah, unnecessary.
Commenting how fat he got and making jokes about it definitely is. Not saying you did, but there are some other crappy posts in this thread doing just that.
When I commented on the same thing I just mentioned the characters aging. I didn't make jokey nicknames poking fun at the their weight.
However I do find it weird someone said Jesse looked distractingly different in the beginning scene. He doesn't look much different now than he did in Season 5. Him now back to Season 2 is another story.
In a lot of ways El Camino felt like an apology for how Jessie got sidelined in that final season.
I take your point. Words mean different things to different people. And I agree, context is always important. Personally, I found El Camino unnecessary in the sense that it didn't add anything meaningful to something which didn't need to be added to in the first place.