In almost no time at all, Better Call Saul became one of the greatest and most popular TV spinoffs to ever exist, and Bob Odenkirk’s layered and textured performance almost had us forgetting all about our hopes and dreams for what Breaking Bad characters might appear on the show. But it’s been a while since we’ve watched it, and those hopes have come back in full force. Thankfully, co-creator Vince Gilligan has teased at least one familiar face that will pop up in Season 2.
We revisit a character we met early in Season 1 of Breaking Bad and haven’t seen since. It’s going to be a fun tip of the hat.
So already, I know some of you are damning the gods that he isn’t talking about Bryan Cranston returning to the role of Walter White (although that will still happen at some point). But anything is better than nothing, and there’s no better example of that than Raymond Cruz’s hilariously sadistic Tuco Salamanca showing up to temporarily make Jimmy’s live a living hell in Season 1.
So who might Gilligan be talking about? We have one very good idea of who it could be. Remember this guy?
That would be meth distributor and DEA informant Domingo “Krazy-8” Molina, as played by Maximino Arciniega, who had a pretty major role during his short Season 1 lifespan that lasted for three episodes. He and his cousin Emilio were working with Jesse, in a manner of speaking, and when Krazy-8 suspected Walt of working with the cops, he tried to force Walt to reveal his meth recipe, leading to Emilio’s death over phosphine inhalation. Krazy-8 survived, but was taken hostage by Walt and Jesse. Krazy-8 became the first person that Walt directly killed with his own hands, and was the first example of the lead character truly breaking bad.
So that fits Gilligan’s clues perfectly. He showed up early in Season 1, and we never saw him again. Now, it would have been more telling if Gilligan had told TV Insider it would be a nice “shard of the plate” instead of “tip of the hat,” but that would probably be a little too obvious.
How would Jimmy run into Krazy-8 on Better Call Saul? Would it be a part of his DEA deal, or something involving meth? And what if it isn’t Krazy-8 at all? What if it’s actually that custodian that got fired from Walt’s school after he was suspected of using lab’s equipment to make meth? So many questions!
We thankfully won’t have long to wait to see what kind of trouble Jimmy McGill will be getting into next, as Better Call Saul Season 2 will debut on AMC on Monday, February 15. Get your first look at the new season here, and to see what else is debuting and returning in the new year, check out our premiere schedule.
