All loose ends have officially been tied. El Camino shows us what happens to Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) in the aftermath of “Felina,” Breaking Bad’s finale. We watch as Jesse escapes from the clutches of Todd (Jesse Plemons) and Walter (Bryan Cranston), and now he is finally set free to do what he wants. He is finally able to be his own man, make his own choices, and be who he wants to be. Jesse Pinkman is finally free.
El Camino starts off as “Felina” ends with Jesse driving away from Jack and his crew’s hideout and freaking out. In my “Review of Breaking Bad Season 5” I explained my thoughts about how this is the moment where Jesse finally becomes free. It is like an addict going through withdrawal, the amount of emotions he is feeling is unbearable and this is the first time he truly feels free. To actually grasp that freedom, however, Jesse has to get some stuff done first and that’s what this movie is about. We watch as he says his goodbyes to Skinny Pete (Charles Baker), Badger (Matt Jones), and finally his parents. But the true things he has to say goodbye to is Todd and the welders, the law, and finally Walt. While stealing Todd’s money, Jesse is confronted by the same welders who made the pulley that he was attached to. This goodbye is solved the same way as his goodbye with Todd, death. Jesse couldn’t leave anyone alive who trapped him, otherwise he would never truly be free, so he kills the two guys at Kandy Welding. With the law, his plan to escape is to go up to Alaska. A perfect destination, not because of it being more desolate, but because it was recommended by Mike (Jonathan Banks), the only person who really ever cared for Jesse. The first scene we see is Mike and Jesse talking about getting out of the meth business, and Mike tells Jesse not to let anyone control him anymore. Mike is truthful with Jesse and that is something Jesse has been lacking in any relationship. The only other person who Jesse had a completely honest relationship with was Jane (Kristen Ritter), so for Jesse to finally have someone ask Jesse what he wants, what he thinks he should do, and give him advice that isn’t directly beneficial to the other person means so much to Jesse that of course he is going to follow it. Finally, Walter White, Jesse Pinkman’s biggest manipulator. In a flashback we see Walt and Jesse talking and Walt tells Jesse he should go to college and get a degree in business marketing, but as touching of a sentiment as it was, it was all lost because Walt then tells Jesse he will have to get his GED first, but Jesse proclaims that he has his high school diploma and that Walt was right there as Jesse accepted it. This is the proof that Jesse needed to fully realize that Walt never cared for him, at least not to the extent that Jesse needed. I think Jesse saw Walt as a mentor or even father figure at points, but for Walt to not remember that Jesse has his diploma goes to show how little Walt thought of Jesse.
There are probably about a handful of actors and actresses where I see they’re in a movie and I immediately get interested, Aaron Paul might have to be added to that handful. Jesse Pinkman is my favorite character in the Breaking Bad universe, while keeping in mind I haven’t watched Better Call Saul yet. Aaron Paul was a perfect casting and this movie really showed his range. Looking back at early Breaking Bad, Jesse is just an addict who acts like a brat, but in El Camino we get to see serious Jesse on full display. We got sprinkles of that seriousness towards the end of Breaking Bad, but now after being kidnapped and tortured we see a deeply broken and frankly masterful Jesse. Jesse may not have gotten many positives from his relationship with Walt, but you can’t say he didn’t learn anything. Throughout the movie we see Jesse act as this masterful planner and this very solemn presence that is just straight intimidating at times, very reminiscent of Walter. I was a bit wary of watching this movie because I really enjoyed the ending that Breaking Bad had for Jesse and love how his future was let up to interpretation and people’s own head canons, but with the combination of Vince Gilligan’s direction and Aaron Paul’s portrayal this movie stays true to Jesse’s character, while giving a satisfying ending.
A show is only as good as its villain. In this movie, the villain is Jesse’s past. Throughout this movie we see a countless amount of flashbacks showing us how stuck in the past Jesse was and that the biggest hurdle he would have to conquer is moving on from the past and starting new. I think having the people who literally kept him stuck hanging by a rope and pulley being a physical manifestation of Jesse’s past and stuckness was fantastic storytelling by Gilligan, so that when Jesse killed them we really felt that Jesse was finally free. After that final confrontation with that part of his past there were no more flashbacks for Jesse. We never saw him think back to Todd again. The only flashbacks that happened were of Walt, which was Jesse finally letting him go, and to Jane, who is the only person Jesse is going to bring with him into his new life. Jane was the only person who got to be in the car with Jesse. She was the only person that Jesse truly loved and truly loved Jesse. Yes, I don’t think Jesse truly loved Andrea, at least not how he loved Jane. I think Jesse loved the idea of being Brock’s dad more so than he loved Andrea. He got scared when he thought about what moving forward with Andrea and being completely honest with her meant, and I don’t think he would feel that way with Jane. Jesse will spend the rest of his life loving Jane, and not to say he didn’t love Andrea, but Brock was the most important person in that relationship to him.
I read something that this is basically a two-hour epilogue for Jesse Pinkman’s character and I can’t think of a more deserving character. As a stand alone movie this would suck, but it wasn’t made for that. I like to think of it more so as we were basically given roughly three extra episodes of Jesse to find out what happened to him after the events of Breaking Bad and I have to say that Gilligan, Paul, and the rest of the cast and crew completely nailed it. There’s a big difference between making a movie and a TV show, but clearly Gilligan can do it all. The biggest credit I can give this movie is that it gave us a satisfying ending to an iconic character. I can’t say that it made me feel an overwhelming amount of emotions, but I think that’s what gives it that satisfactoriness. As we watch Jesse drive away in Alaska there are so many conflicting emotions, but mainly a combination of happiness and sadness, and I think it’s that 50/50 split of those emotions that makes the ending just feel complete and well done.
8.4/10☆
7.7/10😁
As an ending to Jesse’s character I love this movie. As a stand alone movie, this would probably be a steaming pile of trash, but that’s not what it is meant to be, so it doesn’t knock the enjoyability score down too much. Just make sure if you watch this movie you have already seen the first five seasons of Breaking Bad, but having to watch 62 hours of TV to watch this movie does kind of lower the enjoyability even though Breaking Bad is a fantastic show. Overall however, after watching this movie I felt satisfied with the story I got and enjoyed the movie, so it gets a pretty decent score in my book.
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