How ‘Better Caul Saul’ Brought Back [SPOILERS] and Why the Director Didn’t De-Age Them

variety.com:

Jordan Moreau SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched the 11th episode of “Better Call Saul” Season 6, titled “Breaking Bad.”After their “Better Call Saul” cameos were teased by the show’s co-creator Peter Gould before the start of the sixth and final season, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul were finally back as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman Monday night.The two Emmy winners reprised their roles for the first time on the “Breaking Bad” prequel, just a few years after they shared the screen briefly in “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.” After fans theorized about when Walt and Jesse would show up, they were introduced during a flashback to “Breaking Bad” Season 2 Episode 8, an episode titled “Better Call Saul,” which introduced Bob Odenkirk’s character.

That 2009 episode of “Breaking Bad” was also the first time we heard the names of the characters Lalo and Ignacio, but at the time they were just throwaway lines from Saul and never addressed again.

Now, these lines have new meaning, as “Better Call Saul” has unraveled the lawyer’s messy involvement in the lives of Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) and Ignacio “Nacho” Varga (Michael Mando) throughout six seasons.Thomas Schnauz, the writer and director of Monday night’s episode, revealed to Variety that there was never a concrete plan for Cranston and Paul to appear in “Better Call Saul,” but their schedules aligned during production for Season 6.

He also explains why he didn’t have Jesse say “bitch,” teases a new persona for Saul in the final two episodes and defends why they didn’t do much de-aging on Walt and Jesse, who are reprising a “Breaking Bad” episode shot 13 years ago.