Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul are once again stepping into the dark underbelly of the Albuquerque drug trade. As announced at Paleyfest, Walter White and Jesse Pinkman will appear in Better Call Saul. With so many Breaking Bad actors reprising their roles on the Bob Odenkirk prequel spinoff, it seemed an inevitability that Cranston and Paul would return (even if the fandom has some mixed feelings about it). And now that it's confirmed, the main question is how Walt and Jesse will appear.
Outside of the main crossover characters, Better Call Saul has expertly featured characters from the original show many times before, like Hank Schrader, Tuco Salamanca, and Gale Boetticher, for brief roles. And in Season 4's "Quite a Ride," the show already jumped to the Breaking Bad timeline with Saul and Francesca shredding documents in 2010 after "Ozymandius." So with the final season of Jimmy McGill's descent into his Saul Goodman persona, you better believe that Jesse and Walt needed to join the ride.
Cranston and Paul are being called "guest stars" by Variety, rather than their appearances being labeled as "cameos." So could Better Call Saul Season 6 have something from later in the Breaking Bad timeline from Sauls's perspective? Or, perhaps, Walt and Jesse's early days in the cartel (since Saul wasn't introduced until Season 2)? Here's six theories on how these two shows could become even more tangled.
Walt & Jesse Come To Saul
When Saul was introduced in the eighth episode of Season 2, Jesse and Walt kidnapped him in the desert where the lawyer went on to mention Nacho and Lalo. If the show added some scenes to this moment, it could be an opportunity to show where Nacho and Lalo are in the Breaking Bad timeline since it's up for debate if they are alive or not.
Walt & Jesse Interact With Someone Else Involved In The Cartel
Just because they'll be on Better Call Saul doesn't mean that Walt and Jesse will actually call on Saul in their Season 6 appearance. Rather, they could be featured in a scene involving any number of people in the cartel, including Krazy-8, Tuco, Gus, or Mike, during the Breaking Bad timeline that Saul isn't directly a part of but hears about.
Saul Representing Emilio
In the "Better Call Saul" episode of Breaking Bad, Jesse convinces Walt that Saul should represent Badger by saying, "Look, you remember Emilio? This dude got Emilio off, like, twice." Emilio died in the pilot episode, but he worked with his cousin Krazy-8 and knew Jesse from elementary school. Jesse hadn't hired Saul before Season 2, but there's a chance they could cross paths while Saul's representing Emilio. And it would fit into the Better Call Saul storyline since Domingo, a.k.a. Krazy-8, has been a character since Season 2. The only issue with this scenario is that it wouldn't explain how Walt appears. But it's very possible that Cranston and Paul will appear in different scenes, rather than together, in Better Call Saul.
Brock's Poisoning
A fan theory on Reddit is that Better Call Saul will show Brock's poisoning from Saul's perspective. In Season 4, Andrea's son was poisoned and Jesse feared it was from the ricin cigarette. But he later learns that Saul and Huell had stolen the laced cigarette from him at Walt's behest and that Walt had poisoned the child. A scene involving this particular moment might be difficult to cram into the many Better Call Saul timelines, but it's probably one of the worst things Jimmy McGill ever did, and seeing either more of the lead-up or fallout could highlight how far Saul Goodman is from the Jimmy McGill viewers met in Better Call Saul Season 1.
Saul Becoming Gene
With each season starting and ending with Saul late in his days as his latest persona Gene Takavic, the final season could show viewers some never-before-scenes leading up to Saul's trip to Best Quality Vacuum to get a new identity. (Unfortunately, Ed Galbraith won't appear since Robert Forster died in 2019 on the day El Camino was released.) Since there might be people who watch Better Call Saul without having seen Breaking Bad (I don't know who you are, but I'm sure you're out there), showing how Saul became Gene because of Walt and Jesse is a natural crossover of stories.
Jesse & Walt Interacting With Kim
This may be my fan fever-dream, but what if Jesse and Walt somehow interacted with Kim Wexler in the Breaking Bad timeline? It's a long shot and perhaps the most fan-servicey of these theories. But if there's a show I trust to make a meaningful Kim meet up with Walt and/or Jesse, it's Better Call Saul.
Images: AMC