AMC has released a veritable wealth of Better Call Saul-related information over the past couple of weeks.
It’s a bit of a strange move, given that the show won’t air for six more months. But the timing was calculated to coincide with Breaking Bad‘s swansong at the 2014 Emmy awards–where it cleaned up, winning everything except Best Director.
Noticeably absent from the mentions has been any new information on whether Bryan Cranston will be coming back as Walter White–even for an episode.
Cranston himself said “never say never” to the possibility over the summer, only to later walk the comment back and say he was just “toying” with the interviewer:
I think it was on the Ashley Banfield show on CNN, and she brought up the speculation. I was just toying with her and said, “I don’t know!” which created a whole brushfire of rumor….I don’t know in what context it would work in, because we’re in different phases. The characters didn’t meet until the second season of Breaking Bad, when Walter needed to meet him. [Better Call Saul is a prequel to Breaking Bad–ed.] I suppose they could have a serendipitous brush of each other down the street or in the market, but I don’t know what good that’ll do—it’s just a little cookie.
Creator and showrunner Vince Gilligan hasn’t closed the door on an appearance from Mr. White, though. In the man’s own words, “If it makes sense we’ll do it; if it doesn’t make sense we won’t.”
Gilligan’s statement is actually more optimistic than it might seem. If Cranston had told him he wasn’t interested in reprising the role at all, Gilligan would be able to say as much in interviews–or, at least, to shoot down the possibility of Walter White’s appearance in a prequel.
By saying “If it makes sense we’ll do it,” he leaves the door open and gives someone in the writer’s room the opportunity to walk through.
And if anyone can think of a crafty way to get Walter and Saul to cross paths, it’s a crew as notorious for twists and turns as Saul‘s; most of the people making the show also worked on Breaking Bad.
If the lack of concrete news has you despondent, though, cheer up: Bob Odenkirk will reprise his role as Saul Goodman, and Johnathan Banks is going to co-star as Mike Ehrmantraut.
Plus, Giancarlo Esposito is willing to take another turn as Gus Fring. And Aaron Paul is also happy to come back, but insists that everything comes down to the writers.
Better Call Saul premieres in February of 2015.
