Six years ago, we thought we saw the end of “Breaking Bad.” For those you who have managed to miss its original run or haven’t gotten around to binging it yet, it’s the story of a mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher Walter White. After he is diagnosed with cancer, he gets into local drug trade in order to provide for his family. The series finale is a breathtaking stunner of an episode. Walter’s righthand man, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), narrowly escapes with his life in a stolen El Camino, while antihero White, aka Heisenberg (Bryan Cranston), suffers a far more tragic end. It was a final chapter to what has been has since been widely regarded as one of the best shows of the decade.
As we officially learned a few months ago, creator Vince Gilligan has a surprise epilogue up his sleeve. The team has united with streaming platform giant Netflix for the “Breaking Bad” sequel movie “El Camino,” which focuses on Jesse’s life after the dark finale. Although he flat-out addressed it after the series finale aired in 2013 (and again in a 2017 Reddit AMA), Gilligan is once again being peppered with questions about Walter White’s fate. Despite the fact that the final shot of Walter was an aerial view of his near-lifeless body bleeding out on the floor, some fans have not been able to let their favorite baddie go.
When Gilligan stopped by “The Rich Eisen Show” to promote the upcoming movie, Eisen decided the third time’s the charm and pressed Gilligan about White’s fate.
Gilligan answered, “Yeah, I’m gonna give you that one, Rich, because I love you so much. Yes, Walter White is dead. Yes.”
In an age of ambiguous TV finales, it’s apparently been hard to accept one that is blatantly straight forward.
But there is still one mystery left unsolved: Will Cranston appear in “El Camino?”
That is a point that has yet to be addressed. The full cast list on IMDb is suspiciously short, clocking in at only five actors. That includes the return of Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut, who died in the middle of “Breaking Bad’s” five-season run. If a confirmed-dead character like Mike can return from the dead in some sense to appear in this movie, who’s to say Walter White can’t too? Some fans have been speculating that a low voice at the end of the El Camino trailer might even be Heisenberg himself.
Viewers will have to wait until its premiere date on October 11 to find out if Walter White makes any sort of appearance in “El Camino.” But one thing is for certain. Walter White is really, really, truly dead.