Better Call Saul fans joke about seeing a 42-year-old Aaron Paul playing a younger Jesse Pinkman again in season 6, episode 11, "Breaking Bad." Before Better Call Saul season 6 premiered this April, showrunner Peter Gould announced that Bryan Cranston's Walter White and Aaron Paul's Jesse Pinkman would appear at some point during the final season of the Breaking Bad prequel. However, several months would go by without seeing the meth cooking duo as audiences eagerly anticipated their return.
Last week, it became clear that Better Call Saul season 6, episode 11, was titled "Breaking Bad," as confirmed by its writer/director Thomas Schnauz. The title strongly indicated that the episode would feature Walt and Jesse's return, though some worried the title might be a fakeout. During the unveiling of Walt and Jesse's statues in Albuquerque, creator Vince Gilligan seemingly confirmed their return in the next episode. Now that Better Call Saul season 6, episode 11 has aired, audiences have finally gotten to experience the return of the beloved Breaking Bad protagonists in all their glory.
Shortly after watching the episode, fans took to Twitter to discuss the return of Walt and Jesse in Better Call Saul. However, viewers seemed to be struck by one thing in particular – that a 42-year-old Aaron Paul is playing a twenty-something Jesse Pinkman fresh out of high school circa Breaking Bad season 2. Several tweets poked fun at the situation's absurdity with a popular Steve Buscemi meme and references to Parks and Recreation, The Irishman, and The Simpsons. Check out a few of the reactions below:
From the moment they climbed aboard the Winnebago RV in Better Call Saul, it was a tad unusual to see Cranston and Paul reprising their roles from an episode filmed 13 years ago. While Cranston appears to have not aged a day, the same can't be said for Paul, even with the help of makeup and low lighting. For this reason, many viewers have called for the prequel show to use digital de-aging not only for Paul but also for Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, and Giancarlo Esposito. They have all aged noticeably since their time on Breaking Bad. Schnauz recently defended Better Call Saul's decision not to use full-on Irishman-style de-aging, claiming the show functions well without it.
After the uncanniness of an older Paul playing Jesse wore off, audiences could sit back and enjoy the excellent chemistry between the two Emmy winners for what could be the final time. Cranston revealed that Walt and Jesse only share one scene in season 6, leaving one solo scene for each still to come during the last two episodes of Better Call Saul. It will be interesting to see if Paul appears again as a twenty-something Jesse or if the show avoids these issues by having him return during a more age-appropriate era, such as the Gene timeline.
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