Ask anyone with a normal life about cooking meth and living in a cage, you’ll most likely be met by a bewildered gaze. However, there is nothing normal about Jesse Pinkman’s life as he continues his journey in El Camino.
The last time we saw Jesse, he was making his escape from Jack’s compound after getting his deserved revenge. Now, six years later, we finally see what happened after.
El Camino is the conclusion to Jesse’s side of the story in Breaking Bad; one of the most-watched series of all time. The show focused on an ailing chemistry teacher rising up to build a drug empire while El Camino deals with the aftermath of the ending.
Picking up immediately after the show, El Camino instils the same level of fear and anxiety Breaking Bad did right from the start. As a bloodied and shabby Jesse hides in his car waiting for the police to pass, you feel as if you’re right next to him; begging that they don’t find him out.
From his loud escapade from the cage towards Skinny Pete (whom you saw in the trailer) to paying a visit to the Best Quality Vacuum shop, the movie is filled with callbacks to the original series.
You’re really lucky, you know that? You didn’t have to wait your whole life to do something special.
Walter White
A lot of previously loved characters make their appearance in the form of flashbacks. We see Mike having a conversation with Jesse about starting anew and discussing the prospect of making amends. We see Mr. White coughing his lungs out as he shares lunch with a younger Jesse.
However, like anything, there are downsides to this epilogue. Somewhere along the line, you feel as if the movie starts dragging its point with the callbacks. Perhaps it was the excitement in me to find out what finally happens or Vince Gilligan’s tenacity to finish the arc.
All in all, El Camino isn’t a blood-soaked revenge tale. It’s more apt to call it a bow, one that fits around a man’s story who went from uttering ‘Bitch’ every second to a journey towards a new world and serves as a reminder to us; that you too can start anew.
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