Bryan Cranston thinks ‘Breaking Bad’ fans should “let it go”
It has been over a decade since the final episode of Vince Gilligan’s hit AMC series Breaking Bad arrived on our screens. Since then, the successful prequel series Better Call Saul has come and gone along with the concluding Breaking Bad movie, El Camino.
Bryan Cranston, the star behind chemistry teacher Walter White, has now told fans to “let it go”. The series ran between 2008 and 2013 across five immaculate seasons. It has since been declared by many as one of the greatest and most consistent television dramas of all time. For this reason, Cranston is keen to let sleeping dogs lie.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Cranston discussed the 2022 conclusion of Better Call Saul. He suggested it’s now time to call a definite end to the franchise.
“Everything should come to an end,” he noted. “Everything’s cyclical. Our lives are cyclical. The seasons, trees, everything. And, so, it’s okay to have a beginning, middle, and end, and then let it go. I’m proud of what we did.”
Cranston appeared in a cameo role in the final season of Better Call Saul as the story arc caught up with that of Breaking Bad. He also appeared briefly in the Jesse Pinkman-centric El Camino in 2019.
In 2023, Gilligan discussed the possibility of a new spin-off that centres on Walter White’s son, Walt Jr. “When Breaking Bad ends, it’s not a very happy ending for those characters at all, but it is presented that their lives go on,” he told Variety.
“I’d like to believe things get better for them. I’d hate the thought of Walt Jr. following in Walt’s footsteps in the crime business. That’s probably the kind of thing somebody will pitch 10 or 15 years from now — Walter Jr as an Albuquerque crime lord succeeding where his father failed,” he continued.
“I could pretty much guarantee right now that I have no interest in seeing that happen. That’d be a sad tribute to the show. It’s fun thinking about what would happen to the characters, but it doesn’t rise to the level of, ‘Gee, I’d like to tell more about the story.’ But who knows, in a few years, maybe.”
Gilligan conceded that he was “doubtful as hell” that it would happen, adding, “The only attractive thing about that idea is working with RJ Mitte again because he’s a wonderful actor and sweet guy. But that would be depressing as hell. That would be the wrong lesson from the show if there are any lessons at all to be gleaned from it.”
Watch the trailer for El Camino below.
