Better Call Saul Ties up Breaking Bad Loose Ends (2024)

Warning: this story contains spoilers for Breaking Bad and Monday's "Breaking Bad" episode of Better Call Saul.WhenBreaking Badended with "Felina" in 2013, the series finale left few loose ends. Walter White (Bryan Cranston), the high school chemistry teacher and amateur meth manufacturer turned drug kingpin Heisenberg, was dead. His student turned criminal accomplice, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), raced away into the night a wanted — but free — man. Uncle Jack (Michael Bown) and his neo-Nazi gang were wiped out, Lydia (Laura Fraser) was poisoned by ricin, and criminal lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) was in the wind, fleeing Albuquerque for Omaha, Nebraska, under an assumed identity.

Still, "Felina" left a few pressing questions unanswered. Was Jesse able to get away? Did Skyler White (Anna Gunn) get her deal with the DEA? What happened to Huell (Lavell Crawford), who was left waiting for DEA Agents Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) and Steve Gomez (Steven Michael Quezada) in a safehouse when sh*t hit the fan?

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Moviewould confirm Walt and Lydia's deaths on the news before revealing Jesse's fate — he scrapes together enough cash to call on the services of Ed the Disappearer (Robert Forster) for a fresh start in Alaska — whileBetter Call Saulwould catch up with Saul, in hiding as Omaha Cinnabon manager Gene Takovic in the post-Breaking Bad timeline of late 2010.

OnBetter Call Saul's "Breaking Bad" episode, a call with Saul's former assistant, Francesca (Tina Parker), ties together some more loose ends. Weeks after the police discover Walt dead on the floor of a meth lab, Saul secretly makes untraceable contact with Francesca from a pay phone to get the lowdown about justhow muchsh*t hit the fan back in Albuquerque.

He asks about Patrick Kuby (Bill Burr), but Francesca has "no idea" what becomes of the henchman after he's hired to track down "rabid dog" Jesse in a Season 5 episode ofBreaking Bad. As for Pinkman, Francesca reports, "I heard they found his car down by the border, so,adios, dopehead." InEl Camino, Badger (Matt Jones) throws the police off Jesse's trail by ditching his car close to the Mexico border.

What about Huell? InBreaking Bad's "To'hajiilee," Hank convinces Saul's fixer that "Heisenberg" is out to kill him, maneuvering Huell into giving up the location of Walt's money. But Hank and Gomez would never return: they're killed in a desert shootout with Jack's gang.

Huell is "back home in New Orleans," Francesca tells Saul. "DEA held him under false pretenses or something, so last I heard, he walked."

He asks about Danny Wormald (Mark Proksch) — previously seen onBetter Call Saulbut only mentioned onBreaking Badas the owner of Lazer Base laser tag — and Vamonos Pest owner Ira (Franc Ross), but Francesca only has a biting response: "They have Internet where you are?"

Last we saw her onBreaking Bad, Walt gave his estranged wife her "get out of jail free" card: GPS coordinates that would lead the DEA to Hank and Gomez's bodies, buried out where Walt hid his money in the desert. Walt told Skyler in "Felina": "You trade that for a deal with the prosecutor. You get yourself out of this."

During the phone call, Francesca confirms "Skyler White got her deal," telling Saul: "The only ones left to go after are you and Pinkman."

Walt died. Jesse disappeared. The only one left to go after is Saul Goodman.

Better Call Saul airs its penultimate episode, "Waterworks," on August 8; the series finale, "Saul Gone," premieres August 15 on AMC.