For four seasons straight, creator Vince Gilligan has overseen a near-perfect narrative of suspense and drama in “Breaking Bad,” and it has all been in service of showing Walter White through his inevitable path to darkness. As the series enters its fifth season next month, viewers are ready to finally see that bleak conclusion, but a few choice words from Bryan Cranston recently regarding his character have entertained other potential avenues to come.
Although initial decisions were to maintain the series' narrative as airtight as possible, Cranston revealed to the LA Times that Gilligan might have underestimated the sprawl of his characters' journey. “Vince feels that now we have too much story,” Cranston said. “We could actually go beyond those 16 episodes.” Naturally, as with other shows like “24” and “Deadwood,” the logical extension would be a feature film finale of sorts, and the actor isn't completely against that idea. “It's not far-fetched,” he commented, “I wouldn't mind visiting that possibility. And this is coming from a guy who doesn't know anything of how the show's going to end.”
That last bit of Cranston's comment makes for the most hesitation, because with the actor in the dark about his character's endgame, Gilligan could be (and most likely is) reading these comments and chuckling devilishly. Still, even with the tragic arc of the series thus far, Cranston still seems somewhat optimistic, as he posits the film could “revisit Walter White a year down the road and see where his life has gone. If he's still alive, that is.”
One aspect gone unmentioned by Cranston is the possibility of Walter White becoming simply the most odious person to base a film around. Speaking on the upcoming season, Gilligan added, “[Walter's] going to be a harder guy to root for, I promise you that. The experiment of the show has been to take a good guy and have him transform himself into a bad guy. And we're committed to seeing that through to the very end.”
Whatever that end is, we'll have to wait and see, but considering Gilligan's track record thus far, a bit of blind faith could certainly be spared for “Breaking Bad,” the new season of which starts July 15th. And in the meantime, check out some teaser photos (via Collider) hinting at possible character dynamics and story arcs below.
