Breaking Badis often regarded as one of the most critically-acclaimed TV shows of all time. The show ran for six years, with a total of five seasons, but AMC wasn’t ready to let go of their crown jewel just yet. As a result, a prequel series calledBetter Call Saulbegan airing in 2015, starring Bob Odenkirk as the titular con artist/lawyer.
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Better Call Saulis preparing to air its sixth and final season in 2022. As the show has progressed, it has gotten closer to the events ofBreaking Bad, introducing some of its predecessor’s most iconic characters along the way. These tenBreaking Badcharacters have yet to appear inBetter Call Saul, but may yet show up before the curtain finally falls.
10Tortuga
Tortuga is mainly memorable amongBreaking Badfans as being portrayed by legendary action movie star Danny Trejo. He first appeared in Season 2 ofBreaking Bad, in the episode “Negro y Azul.” While he first comes across as a badass Mexican cartel member, he’s soon revealed to be an informant for the DEA’s Hank Schrader.
Unfortunately,Tortuga’s time inBreaking Badis cut shortby the end of his debut episode. For being a DEA informant, Tortuga is killed by the Salamanca twins, and Hank later discovers his severed head hitching a ride on a tortoise. Given thatBetter Call Saulis a prequel, it’s possible for Tortuga to make an ill-fated guest appearance.
9Max Arciniega
Gus Fring’s business partner only makes one appearance inBreaking Bad, in the Season 4 episode “Hermanos.” However, the character is vital to the story of Gus Fring, being the co-founder of Gus’s Los Pollos Hermanos company. Sadly, the character was killed by Hector Salamanca in a power move against a young Gus.
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It would be interesting to see more of Gus and Max’s partnership on-screen in the final season ofBetter Call Saul. Furthermore, fan speculation about the romantic nature of their relationship has been acknowledged by series creator Vince Gilligan. A new flashback starring Max could be an opportunity for this kind of inclusion.
8Emilio Koyama
Emilio playsan important role in the pilot ofBreaking Bad. He is Jesse Pinkman’s partner in the meth business before the entrance of Walter White. However, Emilio ends up killed by Walter at the end of the episode, with Jesse forced to dispose of his body in a bathtub, a plan that goes… quite poorly.
While Emilio is the first character to die on-screen inBreaking Bad, his appearance inBetter Call Saulmay hold a lot of weight. In Saul Goodman’s debut episode ofBreaking Bad, Jesse mentions that Emilio had hired the lawyer to get him out of trouble. Perhaps viewers will finally get to see that happen in the prequel series.
7Todd Alquist
Fans have a love/hate relationship with Jesse Plemons' character. Todd debuted in Season 5 ofBreaking Bad, quickly becoming one of the show’s most detestable villains, despite his polite demeanor. He was righteously killed by Jesse inBreaking Bad’s final moments andmade flashback appearances in the sequel filmEl Camino.
Todd could possibly appear inBetter Call Sauldue to his connections with Mike Ehrmantraut. In Season 5 ofBreaking Bad, Todd is initially hired by Mike as part of a pest control crew to help cover up Walt and Jesse’s meth organization. Perhaps Mike meets Todd years earlier duringBetter Call Saul, while still working for Gus Fring.
6Uncle Jack
Speaking of Todd, the character was instrumental inintroducing one ofBreaking Bad’s most ruthless villains: Jack Welker. Jack is the leader of a neo-Nazi criminal group hired by Walt to assassinate prison inmates who could testify against him. Eventually, he kills Walt’s brother-in-law Hank and keeps Jesse as a prisoner.
It may be unlikely that Jack will appear inBetter Call Saul, especially since he and Goodman never interacted inBreaking Bad. However, the appearance of such an evil character could certainly raise the stakes of the prequel series. It would be hard to imagine a more fearsome combo than Uncle Jack and Lalo Salamanca.
5Marie Schrader
Marie is the wife of Hank Schrader and the sister-in-law of Walter White. She mainly had a supporting role inBreaking Bad, though she became very involved in conflict after Hank discovered that Walt was Heisenberg. Surprisingly, she almost made a cameo inBetter Call Saulas one of the radiology technicians in the Season 2 finale.
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Given that Hank has appeared inBetter Call Saulalready, it’s possible that he and Marie could have another scene together. This may also tug at the heartstrings of fans who haven’t seen the characters interact since their last phone call in “To’hajiilee.” Also, it’d be worth it just to see Betsy Brandt don her iconic purple outfits once again.
4Patrick Kuby
The comedian Bill Burr became a fan-favorite characterinBreaking Badas Patrick Kuby, one of Saul’s primary henchmen. Alongside Huell, Kuby is part of Saul’s “A-Team,” so it’s surprising that the character hasn’t appeared in the prequel series yet. However, Burr had a shot of reappearing inSaul’s fifth season that didn’t pan out.
Due to scheduling conflicts, Burr wasn’t able to reprise his role in the Season 5 episode “Dedicado A Max.” Instead, Kuby was replaced with the return of Steven Ogg’s Sobchak, who appeared in the first season ofBetter Call Saul. Hopefully, Burr isn’t too busy fighting The Mandalorian to make a return to theBreaking Badworld.
3Badger & Skinny Pete
These iconicBreaking Badcharacters were mainstays of the show throughout all five of its seasons. They mainly served as comic relief, like the show’s own Rosencrantz & Guildenstern. Still,they made a very emotional return in theBreaking Badsequel movieEl Camino, following Jesse’s story after the show’s finale.
Badger is even a client of Saul Goodman in the lawyer’s debut episode ofBreaking Bad. While it’s unlikely that the characters have crossed paths with the lawyer before, their return would certainly be a welcomed surprise. At the very least, fans would love to hear them banter aboutStar Trekone last time.
2Walter White
SinceBetter Call Saulbegan, series creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould have stressed that the show would change how viewers watchBreaking Bad. At some point, the prequel series has to connect to its parent show. What better way to do that than to re-introduce audiences to Bryan Cranton’s Emmy-winning character?
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The only thing potentially stopping Walter White’s return would be the difficulty of keeping his return a secret. However, Gilligan proved it could be done with White’s cameo inEl Caminobeing successfully pulled off. It seems necessary for Walter to return to the show in some way, as a final send-off to theBreaking Badfranchise.
1Jesse Pinkman
Of course, even more so than Walter White, it would be nice for fans to getone more opportunity to see Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman. This is probably more unlikely than Walt, given that Jesse got a proper send-off withEl Camino. It may be that Jesse was meant to be seen for the last time driving to Alaska to start his new life.
However, ifBetter Call Saulis meant to intersect with the events ofBreaking Bad, then the re-appearance of Walt basically means a re-appearance of Jesse. It’d be interesting to see Jesse and Saul interact outside what viewers know fromBreaking Bad. Perhaps Jesse even has a run-in with Kim Wexler or Nacho.
Better Call Saul’s final season is set to premiere July 15, 2025, on AMC.
