Posted in: AMC, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: amc, better call saul, bleeding cool, bob odenkirk, breaking bad, cable, kim wexler, paul gould, Saul Goodman, Season 6, streaming, television, tv, vince gilligan

Better Call Saul Will Have Us Seeing Breaking Bad in Different Light

With filming underway on the sixth and final season of AMC's Better Call Saul, viewers are looking for answers to three important questions. How will the Breaking Bad prequel/pseudo-sequel handle the narrative hand-off to the Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul-starring series? What will be the fate of Rhea Seehorn's Kim Wexler? Will "Gene Takovic's" cover being blown lead to a return of Jimmy- or Saul (all Bob Odenkirk)? While those questions won't have definitive answers until the series returns in 2022, Odenkirk is offering a bit more insight into what fans can expect.

Speaking with THR to promote his new film Nobody, the topic turned to the Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould-created series. Asked if he will rewatch Breaking Bad one day having a better understanding of what leads into it, Odenkirk offered an interesting response that might end up making a rewatch a requirement for anyone who's a fan of the "Breaking Bad" universe. "Yes, absolutely [re rewatch]. In fact, I've been told by Peter Gould that when Better Call Saul wraps up, everyone will see Breaking Bad in a different light. I don't know what that means. I don't have any specifics beyond that, except that he knows what happens throughout this whole season of Saul and I don't," Odenkirk responded. "But I think there are more amazing things to come that will comment on or inform the actual incidents of Breaking Bad in a surprising way."

As for the practice that some Breaking Bad fans have undertaken where they assume that any Better Call Saul characters that didn't appear in the original series must be dead, Odenkirk says not so fast. Just because they're out of sight doesn't mean they're out of mind- or that they shuffled off the show's mortal coil. "In fact, there's some version of life where Kim and Jimmy stay married and live a Mary Matalin and James Carville-type situation. [Laughs]," Odenkirk explained. "Kim would be a superpowered lawyer with the white-shoe law firm, and he would be the complete scumbag ambulance chaser across town. And at night, they go home, take off their disguises and be kind to each other. I don't think that's where we're going to go, but in real life, those weird and seemingly conflicting relationships can be very real. They can happen. It's probably easy to think that Kim dies, or that anyone who's not visible passes away. But there's still a lot of people who die on these shows; the stakes are high. But I'm with you in that anything could be the case."

Earlier this month, AMC Networks revealed a line-up of original digital series content set for production through its in-house branded integration agency The Content Room (via AMCN Digital Originals) which will definitely catch the eye of fans of Better Call Saul. In Better Call Saul Employee Training, viewers are treated to a new season of the Emmy-winning series that features all-new characters from the show's universe. In the animated Slippin' Jimmy, the spotlight shines on the adventures of young Jimmy and Chuck McGill and friends back home in Cicero, IL. Created in the retro style of Fat Albert, each episode contains nods to everything from spaghetti Westerns to Buster Keaton to After Hours.

During an interview at the end of February, Odenkirk confirmed that he was heading out to start filming. He also confirmed that he's seen the first two scripts, but that he only knows how things are going "script-by-script" and that the show's creators haven't told him how it's all going to end. The actor also says that he's heard the rumor of Bryan Cranston coming in to direct an episode but he didn't know if that was going to happen. As for the season itself, Odenkirk says that the "wheels come off" and it "explodes in a million directions" but couldn't confirm if that meant an ultra-violent final season or if that was more thematic. As for Jimmy's final fate, Odenkirk said he's interested to see if he could become the anti-Walter White (Cranston)- is it possible for Jimmy to be in " a better place in end in than he started in." The actor also credited Breaking Bad for preparing the audience to appreciate details- a skill that will be important as its spinoff series nears its end: "everything will pay off and matter."

Until recently, most of the talk about what's to come has focused on Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman (Odenkirk) and Kim Wexler (Seehorn)- and understandably so. But what about our favorite flash-forward character, "Gene Takovic" (Jimmy's new persona)? After having his cover blown at the beginning of the fifth season by a cabbie who would then make the mistake of making Jimmy feel like a performing monkey after tracking him to the Cinnabon he manages. Probably not a good move since this time, Jimmy's going to take matters into his own hands and "fix it myself."

"I'd like to think he learned something about how to manage yourself and your inspirations, your drives, in the course of all these adventures, including 'Breaking Bad,'" Odenkirk explained during a recent interview with The Wrap. "We'll see what Gene, how he behaves as a more experienced person having lost everything — at least one time. I wonder what Gene will do to protect himself, or to strike back at the world." Revealing that Jimmy will be in a "real delicate place" when the series returns, Odenkirk says that Jimmy isn't quite sure he's prepared to set up shop in a much darker and deadlier underworld. 'He's really got himself in serious, life-threatening danger. And he's kind of shaken by his incident in the desert. He's actually a little reticent, and more unsure of himself than he's ever been," the actor reveals. "Jimmy just sort of thought he can play with these scary guys. He's discovering that there are very serious and consequential consequences on what they do."

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