A noticeably older Aaron Paul starred as Jessie Pinkman in “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie,” where Bryan Cranston also popped up in a bald cap as Walter White again for one well-lit diner scene. Part of what made the characters blend in better this time around is that “Better Call Saul” was a show that made under-lit scenes an actual plot point, with Chuck McGill (Michael McKean) believing that he suffered from electromagnetic hypersensitivity in the early seasons, such that his house was always draped in darkness. Even after Chuck exited “Better Call Saul,” his brother and the show’s protagonist, Jimmy McGill, a.k.a. Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), often still inhabited dark rooms, as if to establish the mood of his descent into criminality.
When Jessie shares a cigarette with Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) outside Saul’s law office in the penultimate episode of “Better Call Saul,” he’s also cloaked in night shadows, as seen in the unedited image above. It turns out just donning Jessie’s loose-fitting clothes again was enough to get Paul back in character, though. He told THR:
“It was truly putting on a costume because I would never wear his clothes in my day to day, especially the first few seasons. In seasons four, five and six — or season 5B, they’re calling it — they kind of trimmed his clothing a little bit. In the first season, he looked absolutely ridiculous in a very good way, so it’s impossible not to move that way when I put on that skin again. I’m just so comfortable with it.”
The final season of “Better Call Saul” — and with it, the end of the “Breaking Bad” universe as we know it — is now streaming in its entirety on AMC+.
