Warning: Contains spoilers for Better Call Saul's series finale!Walter White (Bryan Cranston) returned in the Better Call Saul series finale, and his final appearance had a hidden link to Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). Cranston and Paul made their highly-anticipated return to the universe created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, appearing in several flashbacks set in Breaking Bad's timeline. Walt's final on-screen scene with Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), however, proved significant in Walt's past with Jesse.
Between the two actors, Cranston and Paul reprised their roles for a total of three Better Call Saul episodes. First, Walt and Jesse appeared in Better Call Saul season 6, episode 11, appearing in a flashback when Walt and Jesse kidnapped Saul Goodman, aka Jimmy, and took him to the desert. The initial encounter would eventually lead to the trio working together as part of Walt's meth empire, but Jesse had another encounter linked to Jimmy. Better Call Saul's penultimate episode featured Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) meeting Jesse outside of Saul's office. Kim was there to finalize their divorce while Jesse was accompanying his friend, Emilio Koyama (John Koyama), who was in legal trouble. Jesse notably asked if Saul was a good lawyer, to which Kim replied: "When I knew him, he was."
The Better Call Saul series finale, "Saul Gone," featured several Breaking Bad cameos, including the last scene of Cranston's Walter White, which teases his guilt surrounding Jesse's fate. Following Jimmy's plea negotiations and subsequent extradition, Better Call Saul flipped to a flashback set a few months earlier. Jimmy, who was still Saul at the time, was with Walter in Ed Galbraith's (Robert Forster) hideout as they awaited for "The Disappearer" to set up their new identities. Jimmy brought up the notion of a time machine before inquiring if Walt ever had any regrets. Just before Walt shared the story of Gray Matter Technologies, he looked down at his watch. The Tag Heuer Monaco wristwatch was given to him by Jesse as a 51st birthday present, implying that Walt had regrets about how he treated Jesse during their time as business partners. The hidden meaning of the watch specifically implied that Walt continued carrying around a reminder of his biggest regret for months. Walt's final scene in Better Call Saul also effectively set up the conclusion of Breaking Bad.
How Walt's Better Call Saul Finale Scene Sets Up Breaking Bad's Ending
Around six months after Ed used his extricating expertise to help Walt, the wanted man left his New Hampshire hideout and returned to Albuquerque to get his affairs in order. The time span from 2010, when the Better Call Saul flashback took place, occurred toward the end of Breaking Bad. Details regarding Walt's extrication and eventual return were featured in Breaking Bad's final two episodes. Fittingly, Walt's return involved visiting Elliot (Adam Godley) and Gretchen Schwartz (Jessica Schwartz) and freeing Jesse while taking out Jack Welker's (Michael Bowen) gang. Both planned actions fell in line with Walt's two regrets teased in Better Call Saul's flashback.
In the Breaking Bad series finale, "Felina," Walt followed through with his plan to coerce the Schwartz couple to use Gray Matter Technologies' status as a way to funnel his own meth empire money to his family on Walt Jr.'s (RJ Mitte) 18th birthday. To do so, he needed the Schwartz address, which he obtained by posing as a reporter. During his ploy, Walt left his Tag Huer watch on top of the payphone as a way to cut ties with his past while knowing full well that his time was running out. Shortly after successfully giving his money to Elliot and Gretchen to set up the White family financially, Walt obliterated the neo-Nazi compound, freeing Jesse in the process. The watch was gone, but Walt finally had a sense of closure with two of his biggest regrets, hinting that Cranston's character may have been planning his endgame since his final scene with Jimmy in Better Call Saul.