Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Better Call Saul season 6, episodes 1 and 2.
Walter White and Jesse Pinkman will appear in Better Call Saul season 6, but when will that actually happen? Better Call Saul season 6 will end the show, and the AMC drama is looking to go out with more style than a Saul Goodman suit-and-tie combo. There’s an expanded episode count (13 instead of 10), two parts to the season instead of one, and, even just in episodes 1 and 2, and exciting build-up to and teases of the future yet to come.
Much of that revolves around Jimmy himself, with the flashforward to his house being raided at some mysterious point in time. Better Call Saul has long been defined by the shadows that loomed over it; that’s not to say it has lived in the shadow of Breaking Bad, but thrived. Questions such as what happens to Kim Wexler before Breaking Bad, will Nacho survive, is Lalo still alive, and just how, exactly, does Jimmy McGill slip so far to be fully consumed by Saul Goodman are what push the show forward and help make it so thrilling, but there’s now a bigger one to answer: when will Walt and Jesse appear?
In some ways, that’s a question that has been hovering since Better Call Saul season 1. Would the Breaking Bad spinoff include that show’s main characters? For a long time it’s resisted, but it’s been confirmed that Bryan Cranston and Aaron are returning as Walt and Jesse, but not when and how. The pre-season confirmation might’ve suggested an early appearance, but Walt and Jesse are not in Better Call Saul season 6, episodes 1 and 2. As far as the show has made clear, the timeline is still some way off their first meeting with Saul - by around four years - but there are ways for their appearances to happen, whether that’s in the “present” story of the show or in the flashforwards.
Should Walt and Jesse appear in Better Call Saul's main timeline, then there are a couple of possibilities. The most obvious is that the timeline overlaps directly with Breaking Bad season 2, showing Walt and Jesse's very first meeting with Saul Goodman, which would be the most direct way of joining up the storylines. Walt and Jesse's Better Call Saul roles could be smaller or more unexpected - for instance, Walt could appear in a more background role, while the hints of Kim working more with disaffected youth could be a way to bring Jesse into her storyline at an even younger age, although that may raise issues with de-aging the actors involved.
Having Walt and Jesse appear in Better Call Saul season 6's future timeline could be easier, at least insofar as the actors' ages are concerned, since it allows for them to look a little older (even if only a couple of years actually pass in Breaking Bad). The flashforward in Better Call Saul season 6, episode 1 may take place towards the end of Breaking Bad, so it's possible there will be some overlap at that point prior to Walt's death that allows them to appear, unless Walt's is just a cameo on a news report or similar (though revealing it in advance would suggest it's a bigger deal). Either way, while Walt and Jesse aren't in Better Call Saul season 6 episode 1 or 2, there are plenty of gaps in the timeline for them to turn up.
Better Call Saul releases new episodes Mondays on AMC.