El Camino, just released on Netflix, is a two-hour film follow-up to the highly popular AMC series Breaking Bad. Following the events after the series finale, as Jesse drives off from captivity in a now-dead Todd’s El Camino, it brings back memories of the fantastic series that ended six years ago.
Along with some recurring characters, flashbacks, and references to what happened in Breaking Bad, there are also some clever Easter Eggs and callbacks littered throughout the series.
Some are more obvious than others, and some you might have totally missed if you weren’t looking really closely. Here are 10 of the most compelling ones.
The Flashback With Mike
Near the beginning of the movie, Jesse is seen standing on a riverbank with Mike, talking about their plans after they depart the drug world. Jesse asks Mike where he would go if he were in his shoes and Mike calmly and absolutely says he would go to Alaska, as though he’s thought this plan through already.
You might recognize the setting where they have their little emotional heart-to-heart: it’s the same place where Walter White executes Mike in season 5 of the multi-Emmy winning series. Sadly, Mike never got to Alaska.
Vince Gilligan’s Girlfriend
OK, so this isn’t an Easter Egg from Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul, but it is a small one relating to Vince Gilligan, who created both series as well as the movie. As Jesse heads to Todd’s creepy apartment with him to dispose of a dead body, you see that the apartment is located at Holly Ave. and Arroz Rd. They seem like perfectly normal names for streets.
But there’s some clever meaning behind them. Arroz actually translates to rice in Spanish. Gilligan’s long-time girlfriend’s name is Holly Rice. And there you have it.
Items in Todd’s Apartment
Some of the items you can see in Todd’s apartment are clear callbacks to Breaking Bad. In fact, Todd himself even hints at such when he comments about the pastel paint on the walls and tells Jesse that he was “thinking of Easter eggs.” One is a shirt with the words Vamonos Pest, which is the pest control company where Todd used to work and the company once used as a front for Walt’s drug empire.
The second most prominent one is the tarantula Jesse seems fixated on. The creepy pet was once owned by Drew Sharp who Todd savagely shot and killed when the young boy happened upon the drug empire’s dirty dealings, and Todd felt they couldn’t risk letting him go.
Los Pollos Hermanos & Saul Goodman’s Old Office
If you look quickly near the beginning of the movie, you’ll catch a glimpse of some buildings that once had significance. One is a Los Pollos Hermanos location that is now a restaurant called Twisters. (Fun fact: that’s a real burger joint that was used for filming in Breaking Bad.) The other is Saul Goodman’s old office.
The strip mall where it was located is still there. But there’s no Saul Goodman. He’s now, as we know from the end of Breaking Bad and the flash-forwards in Better Call Saul, in hiding, managing a mall Cinnabon.
Lydia’s Fate & Snow Globe
In Better Call Saul, we see the origins of how Mike came to work for Lydia Rodarte-Quayle and Gus Fring. In Breaking Bad, we know how integral she was to the meth empire. So this little Easter Egg is a shout-out to both series.
Todd showed great affection for Lydia, though she never reciprocated. They would often meet in a café to discuss business dealings, prior to Walt’s disappearance. Todd obviously decided to bottle up his love for her via this snow globe in his apartment, which features him standing with a little mug and Lydia sitting atop a giant cup of tea.
Meanwhile, we learn from a report on the radio that Lydia likely did not survive her ricin poisoning by Walt. A newscaster notes that a Houston woman believed to be connected to the drug empire was poisoned and remains in critical condition in hospital, unlikely to survive.
Not Real Plans
In season 2 of Breaking Bad, when Jesse tells Walter that he can’t help him shop for meth cooking supplies because he has plans, Walt grimly replies to him that “smoking marijuana, eating Cheetos, and masturbating do not constitute plans in my book.”
When Jesse finds Skinny Pete and Badger in El Camino, what are they doing? Sitting in their side-by-side chairs at home, playing video games, eating Cheetos, and probably high as kites. While we don’t actually see them eating the cheesy snacks, Skinny Pete comments that his controller isn’t working well because of all of the Cheeto dust in it.
The Crawl Space
While Jesse frantically searches Todd’s apartment for the hidden money using first a lighter, then a flashlight to illuminate his way around the darkened place, one of the first spots he looks is in the crawl space between the walls.
Keen-eyed viewers might recall a scene from Breaking Bad that could suggest why Jesse opted to look there. Walt once hid his secret stash of money in the very same place in his own home. So it must be a great hiding spot for criminals, and Jesse probably remembered that when he decided to look there.
Jesse And The Gun
When the supposed FBI agents (actually criminals from Kandy Welding Co.) enter Todd’s apartment, Jesse quickly runs and hides. One of them comes upon him hiding, crouched in a small space. In the intense scene, Jesse holds out a gun and directs it right at the guy’s face stating that he isn’t a cop killer, but just wants to be able to leave safely with what he came for.
The scene perfectly mirrors another critical moment for Jesse in Breaking Bad when he is forced to hold a gun to Gale’s head and shoot him, at the instruction of Walter White. While Jesse is visibly more hardened now than he was then, it’s obvious that he still doesn’t want to have to kill anyone.
The Red Minivan
This Easter Egg was actually not so hidden, as even Jesse picked up on it. In Breaking Bad, the van is seen several times, and Jesse finally learns about Ed, the man who can help just about anyone disappear safely with a new identity… for a price, of course.
When Jesse finds the minivan, he knows he’s in the right spot and locates Ed at Best Quality Vacuum to ask for his help, even though he refused it once before. Ed, it should be noted, was played by Robert Forster, who sadly passed away this month.
Clarence The Pimp
In one scene in El Camino, when Jesse shows up at Kandy Welding Co. to try and get a larger part of his share of Todd’s found cash, he hides when he hears a van pull up. Inside is a rather large man named Clarence who takes money from the drunken and drugged workers in exchange for his bevy of women who enter the building to party with them.
Recognize Clarence? He actually also appeared in Better Call Saul in one scene as “Man Mountain,” who meets with Mike in an underground parking garage and flees terrified when he realizes not to underestimate the former cop’s skills.
