Back in late May, Bryan Cranston set certain quadrants of the Internet on fire when he went on CNN and teased that we “never saw a bag zip up” to signify the end of Walter White, and that viewers should “never say never” to a potential return. He was pretty obviously just joshing around, but then the words got transcribed, and the twinkle in his eye didn’t show up on the page/screen, and people lost their minds a bit.
Long story short: Time for a clarification, which Cranston provided in an interview last week.
I think it was on the Ashley Banfield show on CNN, and she brought up the speculation. I was just toying with her and said, “I don’t know!” which created a whole brushfire of rumor. I don’t think that we’re going to see any kind of rebirth of that show, or that character. […]
I don’t know in what context it would work in, because we’re in different phases. The characters didn’t meet until the second season of Breaking Bad, when Walter needed to meet him. I suppose they could have a serendipitous brush of each other down the street or in the market, but I don’t know what good that’ll do — it’s just a little cookie. [Daily Beast]
So there you have it. No Walter White on Better Call Saul. I mean, probably. Maybe. Although that could just be what they want us to think. Cranston did say he plans to direct an episode, so maybe we’ll end up seeing the iconic Heisenberg hat way off in the distance poking out from a booth in a diner Saul “Jimmy McGill” is eating lunch at. Or not! The important lesson here is that no one knows anything ever.
