One of the most wholly gratifying dramas on TV, despite what the Emmys say, Better Call Saul is a fabulous slow burner of a series whose outcome has already been made public to anyone who watched Breaking Bad. Callbacks and references to that flagship series are part of what makes Better Call Saul so much fun, and after making a recent trip to the set, actor Bryan Cranston is hinting at an upcoming connection he was privy to.
[There will be] another new character coming on the show that you will recognize.
There's no denying that Bryan Cranston would win a gold medal in being vague for that reveal. Plus, it's not all that valuable by itself, considering it's widely known that Giancarlo Esposito's Breaking Bad villain Gus Fring is on the periphery of appearing in Jimmy and Mike's lives. But guess what? While Cranston didn't say who this mystery character is, he did say who it isn't.
Bryan Cranston was giving an audience Q&A in a Texas town near Austin, according to Uproxx, while promoting his new autobiography A Life in Parts. When those audience members starting hollering out guesses for who the appearance might come from, the actor hastily followed up by saying he was not talking about either Gus Fring or Aaron Paul's Jesse Pinkman. That second one will come as a disappointment to the legion of fans waiting to see how co-creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould figure out how to work Jesse into this mostly prequel narrative. But still, it's not the end of the world.
There are plenty of excellent Breaking Bad characters that can make the time jump to Better Call Saul, since we've really only seen a small handful of characters in notable ways. Vince Gilligan wanted to add actress Betsy Brandt to the Season 2 finale, and though he was talked out of it at the time, it's still on the table for Marie Schrader to potentially appear. And what about Hank Schrader and Gomie, or the other law enforcement characters? I know fans are hoping for David Costabile to return as chemist Gale Boetticher, too, and Gus Fring has a stable of baddies that could appear when he does.
Of course, Bryan Cranston also talked about possibly showing up in Better Call Saul himself as Walter White, saying that visiting the set made him nostalgic after seeing so many of the crew members he worked with on Breaking Bad. And though the scheduling and planning of such a cameo is complicated, Cranston told Gilligan he'd "be there in a second" if the opportunity arises. And you know it will. Just maybe not yet.
No release date has been set for the beginning of Better Call Saul Season 3, but it's presumably coming in February 2017 to match the previous two seasons. For everything kicking off before then, check out our fall TV schedule.
