The stars of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul have reunited at the Walter White and Jesse Pinkman statue unveiling in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For five seasons on AMC, chemistry teacher Walt cooked blue meth and created a small drug empire after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis, aided by his troubled former student turned protégé Jesse. Breaking Bad was a hit amongst critics and viewers alike, sweeping up Emmys and getting labeled as one of the best television shows of all time. With Better Call Saul about to merge timelines with Breaking Bad, the equally acclaimed prequel series following morally flexible lawyer Jimmy McGill is about to reach its own conclusion.
The statues were donated to the city of Albuquerque, the setting for both shows, by Sony Pictures Television, which produced them. They were created at the behest of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul creator Vince Gilligan after seeing a wax statue of Walt made by sculptor Trevor Grove. He commissioned Grove to make a 500-pound bronze statue of Walt, head shaved with his iconic porkpie Heisenberg hat in hand, standing beside Jesse. Since the city has more or less acted as the home for the production and their teams since 2008, Gilligan gifted the Breaking Bad statues to Albuquerque for their continued hospitality.
The statues were recently unveiled at the Albuquerque Convention Center, and the event turned into a reunion of sorts. Seen in a video posted to Twitter by Dean Norris, who played beloved ATF agent Hank Schrader on Breaking Bad, the stars and creatives from both shows can be seen posing and talking to the press. In attendance were Walt and Jesse themselves, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, alongside Gilligan, Better Call Saul co-creator Peter Gould, and cast members Rhea Seehorn, Michael Mando, and Patrick Fabian. Check out the video and a picture from the event below:
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Sadly, it wasn't a complete reunion. Notably absent from the unveiling was Slippin' Jimmy himself, Bob Odenkirk, as well as Skyler White (Anna Gunn), Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), and Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks). But the video does give viewers an endearing moment between Norris and Paul, whose real-life relationship seems much friendlier than their fictional counterparts, whose final episode together, season 5's "Ozymandias," remains one of the tensest episodes of TV ever produced.
Some people might question whether sending a statue of two drug-dealing criminals, one of whom is responsible for numerous deaths, to a city as a gift might be questionable. But regardless of their deeds, they're two incredibly compelling characters brought vividly to life by two great performers, and their popularity and success has reached global levels. As Gilligan has pointed out in interviews, they're not idols being immortalized, but two cautionary tales. Also, the popularity of the shows has led to an increase in tourism to Albuquerque, which certainly can't hurt either. Seeing the stars of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul reunite in their homebase feels like a beautiful moment of bringing their stories full circle-- at least until the next Breaking Bad spinoff comes to fruition.
Source: Dean Norris