The Mandalorian Season 3 Had An Unexpected Breaking Bad Reunion
The very nature of being a working actor in the film and television industry means that you're bound to work with some of the same folks more often than not. As a result, reunions both expected and unexpected tend to occur. For an example of the former, check out the episode of "Psych" entitled "Dual Spires," which reunited several cast members from "Twin Peaks" long before "The Return" happened. For an example of the latter, take Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who appeared in 2014's "Godzilla" as husband and wife and then followed that up by appearing in 2015's "Avengers: Age of Ultron" as brother and sister.
In the latest season of the Star Wars series "The Mandalorian," which just wrapped up recently on Disney+, a reunion of former co-stars occurred that was wholly unplanned: Giancarlo Esposito and Charles Baker, both veterans of the groundbreaking AMC crime saga "Breaking Bad." While this may simply be a quirk of casting, their dual appearance carries a bit of irony: In both "Breaking Bad" and "The Mandalorian," Esposito and Baker's characters never meet each other.
From different sides of the street to different sides of the galaxy
To anyone mildly familiar with "Breaking Bad" or its prequel series "Better Call Saul," Giancarlo Esposito's character, Gus Fring, looms large. After all, not only is he one of the biggest meth distributors (and, eventually, manufacturers) in the American West, he's also the public figurehead of a surprisingly successful fried chicken chain, "Los Pollos Hermanos." Thanks to Esposito's riveting and intense performance, Gus has become known as one of the greatest TV villains of all time.
Despite Gus' reach, both literal and figurative, Baker's character of Skinny Pete never crossed paths with the "chicken man." In "Breaking Bad," Skinny Pete was a buddy of Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), and was a lovable if slow-witted dude who could be counted on to step up to help Jesse out along with fellow pal Badger (Matt Jones), just as much as he and Badger could be counted on to goof things up. Despite Pete's shortcomings, he miraculously managed to not get whacked during the course of the series.
Ironically, in "The Mandalorian," Esposito and Baker's characters find themselves just as separated as they were on "Breaking Bad." Esposito's power-mad Moff Gideon is far too focused on reclaiming the Darksaber from Bo Katan (Katee Sackhoff) and defeating thorn-in-his-side Djn Djarin (Pedro Pascal) to battle a few Mandalorians who've stuck it out on the decimated planet of Mandalore, including Baker's "Survivor Scout." While the season 3 finale did not see these men cross paths, the possibility still exists for a proper "Breaking Bad" reunion in season 4.
Could even more Breaking Bad alumni turn up in The Mandalorian?
Perhaps Moff Gideon and Survivor Scout meeting up shouldn't be the true endgame for us "Breaking Bad" fans, however — maybe we should be hoping for even more alums of the show to turn up in a galaxy far, far away. How fitting would it be to see Bryan Cranston in an Imperial (or maybe even proto-First Order) uniform? Wouldn't Aaron Paul look good with a blaster in his hand? Perhaps the Mandalorians need the services of a gruff ex-pirate who looks like Jonathan Banks? Don't they have lawyers on Coruscant, and couldn't they use the services of one Bob Odenkirk? After all, Bill Burr, who played Kuby on "Breaking Bad," has already popped up in "The Mandalorian" as Migs Mayfield, so there's precedent for more "Breaking Bad" connections.
Whatever ends up happening, the galaxy seems to be the limit for "The Mandalorian." The third season finale was satisfying enough that the show could've easily ended there, yet we know there's a fourth season on its way. What shape that season could take is anyone's guess, especially when this past season included such tangents as a mini-conspiracy thriller that called back to George Lucas's first film. So, I'm not saying Djn and the Mandos will suddenly decide to raise funds to help Mandalore by cooking meth out of a space van, but I'm not not saying that, either.