The Pitch: How
can we do more with Breaking Bad without fucking up all the goodwill
people have for how it ended?
How shows end has changed a lot over the years. It's still crazy to me to think that the final episode of I Love Lucy, one of the defining TV shows of any era, is just a random episode. A little more recently than that, a finale meant a special two part episode that tacked on closure (think, Cheers, Friends,Seinfeld). Lately, thanks to binging and the cable TV model, shows get arched out for a finale well in advanced much more often and thoroughly. How I Met Your Mother virtually changed format for its final season. Parks and Rec jumped ahead three years and had what I dubbed a "victory lap season". And there's the trend of shows getting brought back from the dead (Will & Grace, Roseanne). The whole idea of what a series is has changed. Buffy the Vampire Slayer existed in comics. Downton Abbey just got a movie with a theatrical release. Gilmore Girls got a chance to attempt to fix its ending*.
*Note: None of this is wholly unique. Star Trek alone matches nearly all of these scenarios. It's far more common now though.
So, as great as Breaking Bad's finale was, it didn't bother me at all to hear about El Camino: a movie that continues the story. Part of my ease had to do with the fact Better Call Saul, the prequel series to Breaking Bad, has already been awesome without damaging the original. Mostly though, it's the fact that I didn't expect El Camino to function as a new finale to Breaking Bad. Instead, it's just a chance to hang out in the universe a little longer and put a few more bows on things.
El Camino functions as two Jesse-centric Breaking Bad episodes. It's methodical and tense, just like the series; more similar to something like the episode when Jesse is trapped in the meth-heads' house. Aaron Paul has already proven several times over that he can carry an episode of Breaking Bad, so the lack of Walter White in the lead role is hardly felt. There's no further mythology-building. It's just Jesse trying to find a way out of his situation.
It's not an essential text to Breaking Bad.
It's more like footnote or story in the appendix. It answers a question that
didn't need an answer - what happened to Jesse? - in a way that doesn't step on
its predecessor's toes while still being wholly satisfying.
Back in the days before streaming or DVDs, when syndication was the only way to catch up on a show, there used to be this wonderful thing where you could discover an episode of your favorite show that you never knew existed. I loved when that would happen. It's like discovering a secret track on your favorite album. Well, El Camino is kind of like that. It's like I just found two episodes of Breaking Bad that I didn't know existed. Not my favorite episodes. Not episodes that dramatically change the series. But still, an opportunity to hang out in that world for a couple more hours.
Verdict: Strongly Recommend
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