This is only a middling movie so skipping it would be no big deal. But we just got done with finishing the excellent Better Call Saul so I thought we might as well close out the entire Breaking Bad universe. This one of course completes the story of Jesse Pinkman picking up from where we last saw him at the finale of the original series that started it all. I thought this would be something of a road trip film as Jesse escapes to head north to Alaska but it’s very much not so. Instead he spends the entire time still in New Mexico gathering what he needs to escape. The plot feels stilted as a result but it’s not a bad way to close out all the loose ends and show more of what Jesse went through in captivity.

After Walter White’s massacre at the Neo-Nazi gang’s compound, Jesse flees in an El Camino vehicle. He takes shelter at the house of his old friends Skinny Pete and Badger. The next day while trying to dispose of the car, they realize that its tracking device has been activated. Pete offers Jesse his own car and arranges for it to appear that Jesse has fled south. Jesse himself goes to an apartment. A flashback scene of his captivity shows that it belonged to Todd of the white supremacist gang. Todd had let Jesse out of his cell for a day to help him dispose of the corpse of a cleaning lady he had killed for discovering his stash of money. Jesse hopes to recover the cash in order to fund his escape to Alaska, an idea he got from a conversation with Mike Ehrmantraut. While thrashing the apartment in his search, he is interrupted by the arrival of two men who appear to be police officers.

Due to the immense success and cultural impact of Breaking Bad, the release of this film ten years later was highly anticipated. It was ultimately underwhelming as the result is average at best. While it is somewhat satisfying to finally know Jesse’s fate, there are no major surprises and no clever twists. It also brings back the character of Todd who enjoys a lot of screen time here in order to further establish just how much of a sociopath he is, which seems like overkill given what we’ve already seen of him in the series. It also has Jesse enact vengeance against a minor character most people wouldn’t even be able to remember. Mostly it feels like Jesse pointlessly spinning his wheels yet staying in place as he prepare to flee while not actually doing so. It’s silly that Ed Galbraith the disappearer is only possible way for him to get away clean when he surely has plenty of options once he gets together some cash.

There’s some value in this being the completion of Jesse’s personal growth. We see that he could have escaped from the white supremacists and he is held back only due to the consequences to Brock. His moral core has actually solidified over time as he is reluctant to resort to violence but he is also hardcore enough of a criminal to kill when needed. Flashback scenes and even an imagined conversation with Jane cover some of his regrets and the lessons he will carry forwards into the future. The problem is that Jesse was never going to be a very interesting protagonist. He’s a follower, not a leader, and it’s to Vince Gilligan’s credit that he lets him stay in character by not suddenly become hypercompetent like the other major players in the Breaking Bad universe. But that also means his plans aren’t particularly clever as he just fumbles his way through things and so isn’t that entertaining.

It doesn’t help that at this point the other main characters are dead or fled so the only ones left for Jesse to interact with are the minor ones. It feels too small stakes to stand alone as a film in its own right and as an extended version of an episode in one of the shows probably wouldn’t even count as among the better ones. It’s a nice bonus for fans of what Gilligan has created, and at this point I certainly am one, but it’s far from necessary watching.