Huell Babineaux (Lavell Crawford), the best pickpocket in Albuquerque, was a fan-favorite character on “Breaking Bad” and its prequel spin-off, “Better Call Saul.” A henchman and bodyguard for Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), Huell could always be counted on to tamper with evidence or intimidate a key witness. Even when Saul still went by his real name, James McGill, Huell was instrumental in running his various schemes. But his story in “Breaking Bad” ended without resolution, and many fans still wonder what became of him.
Fans will recall that the last we see of Huell on the “Breaking Bad” timeline, he’s sitting in a DEA safe house while agents Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) and Steven Gomez (Steven Michael Quezada) try to intercept Walter White. But their mission is a failure, and the two are killed by Jack Welker (Michael Bowen) and his gang. So what happens to Huell after that?
For years, it was a running joke among “Breaking Bad” fans that Huell might still be patiently waiting in that safe house to this day. But in the final season of “Better Call Saul,” we finally learn of his true fate. In a black-and-white flash-forward to the aftermath of “Breaking Bad,” Saul makes a risky call to his former secretary, Francesca Liddy (Tina Parker). When he asks her about Huell, she assures him Huell was released by the DEA and is back in his home city of New Orleans.
Huell isn’t still sitting in that safe house
It was never “Breaking Bad” showrunner Vince Gilligan’s intention to leave Huell stuck in the DEA safe house he’s last seen in on the show. In “Breaking Bad: The Official Book,” Gilligan joked about Huell waiting there, but clarified, “It’s likely that [DEA] Agent Van Oster keeps in touch with DEA headquarters. So, when he learns Hank and Gomez have gone missing, he would in short order tell his superiors what they were up to. Within a matter of hours … Huell will be taken back to HQ. They’ll question him, find out what he knows—which isn’t much—and he’ll be let out on the street” (via Reddit).
In fact, we see the moment when Huell leaves the safe house behind. In a series of promotional clips for Netflix’s “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie,” Huell can be seen passing time while waiting for Hank and Steve to return. But in the final clip, he mutters, “Screw this,” collects his jacket, and walks out the front door (via Breaking Bad on Facebook).
According to Gilligan, Huell is living it up back in Louisiana. “Right now, he’s doing what Huell does best, whatever that is,” the showrunner said. “He’s out and about as a free man.”
