Sorry ‘Breaking Bad’ Fans, ‘Better Call Saul’ Won’t Feature Jesse And Walt This Season… If Ever

Breaking Bad may have had its blood-filled swan song more than a year ago, but that hasn’t left fans any less eager to have another dose of its beloved — and sometimes hated — characters Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. With spin-off show Better Call Saul debuting in just a few short weeks, legions of Breaking Bad addicts have been constantly speculating about whether or not the Breaking Bad universe will directly collide with the new series or not. But those pining for more Walt and Jesse won’t be getting them anytime soon, if ever.

At a press conference at Saturday’s Television Association tour, several of the people involved in Better Call Saul confirmed that for the first season, the Breaking Bad storyline won’t intersect much with Better Call Saul. That’s part of a strategy to make the show a separate entity from its exceedingly popular parent show, co-creator Peter Gould told the Hollywood Reporter.

“Walt and Jesse will not appear in season one… We really want [‘Better Call Saul’] to stand in it’s own [from ‘Breaking Bad’]… ‘Breaking Bad’ had a handheld camera. There always a was a little bit of motion to it. This show, the camera tends to be… more static and held down. Jimmy/Bob seems to be struggling against the corners of the frame.”

Despite taking on a new style to distance itself from its predecessor, the show’s frontmen aren’t unaware that a show directly grafted from another — especially one with a reputation like Breaking Bad — can’t ever shirk viewers’ desire to revisit characters that they fell in love with on previous seasons. Vince Gilligan says that even if Walt and Jesse never appear, other minor characters have a good chance of popping up, reported Zap2It.

“It’s a very natural question, how many characters from the ‘Breaking Bad’ world may or may not appear. A lot of the fun in setting the series as a prequel [is the ability to bring back characters who were killed on ‘Breaking Bad.’] The sky’s the limit. I agree with you. I want to see them all [on ‘Better Call Saul’] eventually.”

Even though the show’s creators themselves admit to having a fanboy yearning to see Breaking Bad’s characters make an appearance on Better Call Saul, they have also asserted that the show’s integrity won’t be compromised in order to get them there, said Gilligan.

“It’s always on our mind, but as Vince says you want it to be organic to the show. You also don’t want a detail [from ‘Breaking Bad’] in the background distract you from what’s going on in the foreground [on ‘Better Call Saul’]. You don’t want to lose focus.”

Breaking Bad’s spin-off series Better Call Saul will premiere February 8 and February 9 with a special two-part series debut.

[Image via AMC]