Walter White And Jesse Pinkman Will Not Appear In ‘Better Call Saul’ Season 4 [Comic-Con 2018]
After three seasons,Better Call Saulhas managed to cement itself as a show that’s somehowbetterthan its predecessor,Breaking Bad. The cast and creator of the AMC series gathered at Comic-Con to discuss the upcoming season, which takes Jimmy McGill further down the path to becoming Saul Goodman. During the course of the panel, creatorVince Gilliganconfirmed that neither Walter WhitenorJesse Pinkman will pop-up in the upcoming season. More on theBetter Call Saulseason 4 Comic-Con 2018 panel below.
The Better Call Saul Season 4 Comic-Con Panel
Breaking Badwas one of the most influential shows of the 21st century. The type of show immediately associated with “peak TV.” But its spin-off,Better Call Saul, has become something different, and better. The show chronicles the rise and fall of Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), the man who would one day become Saul Goodman. Odenkrik,Giancarlo Esposito,Rhea Seehorn,Michael Mando,Patrick Fabian,Vince Gilliganand co-creatorPeter Gouldall converged on Hall H to discuss the upcoming season.Host Bill Burr (who appeared onBetter Call Saul’s predecessorBreaking Bad) lead Gilligan and Gould, and the cast members, through a series of mostly light-hearted (and frequently laugh-out-loud funny) questions regarding the show’s approaching season.“Did anyone not see the ending [of season 3] before I say this?” Burr asked, before talking about the season 3 death of Jimmy’s brother Chuck. “Block your ears; stick a couple of lightsabers in there.”
After unleashing the latest, intense trailer upon a very receptive Hall H crowd, the cast and crew proceeded to spend the bulk of the panel effusively praising the fans who keep the show going, while also praising the show as a whole. The entire main cast of the series was present – save Jonathan Banks, who plays cop-turned-criminal Mike Ehrmantraut on the show. Banks was scheduled to appear, but is undergoing knee surgery. (“If he gets new knees, will he be less crabby?” cracked Odenkirk).
Gilligan told the crowd he has “stepped away” since the series' creation, leaving most of it in the hands of Gould and the writers. Because of his distance from the series now, Gilligan revealed he’s able to watchSaulnot just as a creator, but as a fan. And he promised that"season 4 is the best season yet" – the funny moments are funnier, the darker moments are darker, and the show continues down it’s dangerous path.
Ever sinceBetter Call Saul’s beginning, fans have wondered whichBreaking Badcharacters might make an appearance, and the upcoming season in particular appears to be leaning heavily into this question. Gilligan said that virtually everyBadcharacter has a chance at showing up on the prequel series, and star Odenkirk coyly added:“There’s one scene [this season] that could’ve been onBreaking Bad,because…you want to finish that sentence some clever way?” While the cast and creators did their best to avoid spoiling whichBadcharacters might show up in season 4, Gilligan was nice enough to confirm who wewon’tsee: Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. The two mainBreaking Badcharacters will definitely not be showing up for the new season, but Gilligan and Gould didn’t rule out a future in which the events ofSaulare running concurrently to those ofBreaking Bad,Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Deadstyle.
Still: you can definitely expect a lot moreBadcrossover this season. “You’re going to see some stuff that’ll look very familiar in a delightful way,” said Peter Gould.“I can’t wait to tell everybody whats happening, but I’m not allowed to,” Odenkirk said, adding:“If you loveBreaking Bad, you’re going to get to see that world expand a bit…you’re going to meet people who were referenced inBreaking Bad,but you’ve never met.” One such character: Lalo, someone Jimmy McGill’s alter ego Saul Goodman referenced inBreaking Bad. The character will be played by Tony Dalton inBetter Call Saulseason 4.We all know whereBetter Call Saulis going: Jimmy McGill will fully transform into Saul Goodman, shady criminal lawyer. For Odenkirk, the journey is bitter sweet, simply because he loves playing the much-nicer Jimmy to Saul. As the actor tells it,you want Jimmy to make nicer, more upbeat choices, but Saul Goodman is a “bad guy”. “It hurts my heart a bit to see Jimmy turning to Saul,” the actor said, later quipping that he’s asked if they could just change the name of the show so he would never have to turn into Saul.
While we know the fate of Jimmy/Saul, and several otherSaulcharacters – Mike, Giancarlo Esposito’s drug lord Gus Fring – there are still some whose fate remains a mystery. Most particularly, Rhea Seehorn, playing Jimmy’s girlfriend Kim Wexler. According to Seehorn, she loves the various fan theories about what happened to her character betweenSaulandBad. Kim could be “in prison, dead, [or] in a basement but still alive.” Odenkirk went on to add a theory of his own – when we saw Saul onBreaking Bad, we never saw him outside of work; we never saw his home life. Which means that maybe, just maybe, “Saul” and Kim could still be together inBreaking Bad.
Do I believe this theory will turn out to be true? No, I don’t. But I want it to be, because I love Kim Wexler, and would hate to find out her character has been killed off in-between shows. As for why Kim stays with Jimmy after he makes so many terrible choices, the cast and creators hinted that this season will delve into that question more. And there’s a good chance the results won’t be pleasant.
Unpleasantness is par for the course forBetter Call Saul, and yet the show remains one of the most entertaining TV series on the air right now.
