Better Call Saul season 5: Did El Camino tease anything at all?

Before we had a chance to watch El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie this weekend, our general thought was that it would be a chance to lay out Easter eggs aplenty — and not just about Breaking Bad. Think about it: The time period that this movie takes place in is one that we’ve never seen before within this franchise. Presumably, the Gene flash-forwards in Better Call Saul are a good stretch of time after he begins his new life in Nebraska. He’s already settled into his job and is completely miserable while doing it.

What El Camino would’ve provided was an opportunity to get some more information on some Better Call Saul characters like Howard Hamlin or Kim Wexler, who were MIA through much of Breaking Bad and could’ve been a part of this, even if it was a small cameo. When we saw Rhea Seehorn in a promotional video for El Camino, we wanted to take that as a sign that she would be part of it.

Yet, the Seehorn appearance in the featurette may have just been a red herring — there was no Kim in El Camino, just as there was also no appearance from Saul Goodman, even in flashback form. As a matter of fact, Mike Ehrmantraut was the only Better Call Saul character prominently featured, as he showed up in the early part of the movie in a scene with Jesse.

Was it a mistake on Vince Gilligan’s part to deprive El Camino of so much of what some diehard Better Call Saul fans wanted? It’s easy to say that it was when there were SO many storytelling possibilities that could have been explored. None of them needed to be major, but it could’ve helped to satiate some during what is an enormous hiatus from the end of one season to the start of season 5 … whenever that is going to be in early 2020.

Our takeaway from El Camino overall is that this is Jesse Pinkman’s story. While we would’ve wanted something more from Walt’s family, Saul, Kim, or someone else, there was no tangible way to include any of them that felt like something more than fan service … and there was already some of that within the movie itself. It’s clear that Gilligan at this point wants Better Call Saul to be its own thing, even if its ties to Heisenberg and the Breaking Bad timeline are clear and well-established.

Do you wish that El Camino did more to feature Better Call Saul stories in some way?

Be sure to share right now in the comments, and remember to stick around for some other news leading up to the start of next season. (Photo: AMC.)