Redemption not guaranteed: El Camino is a fitting coda to Jesse Pinkmans story

The series finale of Breaking Bad has been touted as one of the best series finales of all time by critics, as former high school chemistry teacher-turned-meth manufacturer Walter White faced the inevitable reckoning for his many crimes and misdeeds. But it left other narrative threads unresolved, most notably the fate of Walter's former student and partner in the meth business, Jesse Pinkman. Series creator Vince Gilligan had long wanted to finish Jesse's story, and the result is El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, which debuted on Netflix last week, six years after the series concluded.

(Major spoilers for the Breaking Bad TV series below. Mild spoilers for El Camino.)

Breaking Bad starred Bryan Cranston as Walter, who is diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer. Assuming his death is imminent, he frets about providing for his wife and kids. So he decides to put his chemistry expertise to use making methamphetamine, with the help of former pupil Jesse (Aaron Paul). This naturally draws the attention of Albuquerque's criminal underworld. Further complicating matters is Walter's brother-in-law, Hank (Dean Norris), an officer with the Drug Enforcement Administration intent on tracking down this mysterious new player nicknamed "Heisenberg." Over the course of five seasons, viewers witnessed Walter's gradual transformation from an uptight science teacher cooking meth in his tighty-whities to a manipulative, cold-blooded killer.

Walter's relationship with Jesse was always a central component of the series, but as their relationship fractured in later seasons—a casualty of their shared life of crime and the poor decisions each of them makes—Jesse's story became less prominent. In the final season, Jesse turns on his former mentor to become an informant for Hank and the DEA. In retaliation, Walter asks a white supremacist gang called the Brotherhood to take Jesse out, but the hit goes horribly wrong. The Brotherhood kills Hank instead and takes Jesse prisoner, torturing him and forcing him to cook meth for them. A repentant Walter puts some affairs in order and sets out to rescue Jesse, rigging an M60 machine gun to open fire automatically. In the ensuing shootout, pretty much everyone is killed. Mortally wounded, Walter begs Jesse to finish the job, but Jesse refuses and takes off in a Chevrolet El Camino as sirens approach. The police arrive right after Walter dies from his gunshot wounds.

El Camino takes place in the immediate aftermath of the Breaking Bad finale, with Jesse driving off and laughing manically as squad cars rush to the burning carnage of what was once the Brotherhood's meth lab. Jesse is still a wanted man, however, and seeks refuge with his old friends Skinny Pete (Charles Baker) and Badger (Matt Jones). They barely recognize him at first but help divert the police from his trail, as friends do. The rest of the film is Jesse figuring out how to escape and build a new life elsewhere despite all the obstacles he encounters along the way. Flashbacks are interspersed throughout as he works through all his psychological trauma.