It’s been over a year and a half since Breaking Bad bowed out in style with its fantastic series finale, and while viewers can surmise what happened to several of the surviving characters, there’s one person whose fate was left entirely in the balance: devoted henchman Huell Babineaux. Thankfully, the wait for an answer is over, and creator Vince Gilligan let the world know Huell is probably doing just fine. At least, assuming an earthquake didn’t leave him stranded him in that safe house.
Huell was last seen in the Season 5 episode ”To’hajiilee,” in which he was taken to a safe house and duped by Hank and Gomez into thinking Jesse was dead and Kuby was missing. Then we pretty much never see Huell again, but while some amusing internet videos have proposed that he’s still in that safe house waiting to be let out, an eagle-eyed Redditor pointed out that Gilligan revealed what happened to Huell in the recently released Breaking Bad: The Official Book.
Yes. Sadly, he’s waiting morosely on that sofa, looking like a lost puppy…[Laughs] No. It’s likely that Agent Vas Oster keeps in touch with DEA headquarters. So, when he learns that Gomez and Hank have gone missing, he would in short order tell his superiors what they were up to. Within a matter of hours, really not that many in story time, Huell will be taken back to HQ. They’ll question him, find out what he knows – which isn’t much – and he’ll be let out on the street. Right now, he’s doing what Huell does best, whatever that is. He’s out and about as a free man.
I just know everyone is letting loose with a big sigh of relief right now, as despite his criminal behavior, Huell is one of Breaking Bad’s more “innocent” characters, guided by the dutiful structure of the system more than anything else. Gilligan’s views are pretty optimistic, though, and he doesn’t appear to think that Huell will attach himself to another shady lawyer like Saul Goodman and continue doing dirty deeds for his paychecks.
I like to think Huell would have opened up his own business and thrived on the legal side of things, though probably not with a fried chicken restaurant or a car wash, as to separate himself from the show’s major crime bosses. Maybe he could open up a chain of motels and call them Safe Houses.
Funny or Die figured out a good way to extend his storyline, as seen in the sitcommy video below.
While his future may be mostly uncertain, we can’t wait to see if we learn more about his past through Better Call Saul. Make it happen, Gilligan!
