That's the only real negative thing about the movie for me. Both the main guy and his friend were lame as hell. Just deeply uninteresting. They came off as nothing more than simple thugs, and felt forced in. And its honestly fine that they were just thugs, but give the main one at least some personality. Tuco was insane. The cousins were like terminators. Gus was ruthless and a genius. Todd was creepy as hell. They all had personalities. This guy had nothing.
shareI wouldn't really put that guy in the same category as a villain like Tuco, he wasn't like the big villain of the movie, he was more or less just a small obstacle Jesse had to get around near the end of the movie, and as you said he was just a thug nothing more.
They wasn't going for some big time villain like a Tuco or The Twins, he was just a small time thug Jesse needed to get some money from in one part of the movie.
I'm not saying he was, or should have been, as big a villain as Tuco or the others. Just that I wish he was a little more interesting. I felt like I was supposed to care about his role in Jesse's captivity and their duel, but I didn't. Maybe it'd have been better if he didn't have a role in Jesse's captivity, since I think that built him up a little from just random thug to main antagonist of the movie.
shareI LOL'd when he did his partner like Tuco did to No-doze in Better Call Saul.
shareBingo
shareI think the movie was weak in many ways, but I agree that's one major one for me too.
This guy was as threatening and as cool as Gabe, his rat looking sidekick even lamer.
I cannot believe that Jesse, after all he's been through and being at this point a total badass, having just choked his tormentor todd, would even let them open their mouth.
I think the idea was: look, Jesse is completely a broken man if he gets pushed around by these two bits losers.
But I also think, this idea doesn't work at this point: the show has been escalating violence and brutalities for 6 years, you cannot backpedal like this and think the audience will be engaged.
It didn't need some huge villain, that wasn't the point.
shareThat's my feeling, too. El Camino isn't meant to be a story of a hero overcoming a villain. Jesse was in bad shape after Walt rescued him, and this is the story of how he came to terms with the pain of his past, and found hope for his future. He had to overcome obstacles and adversaries along the way, but the focus needed to be on him taking baby steps towards that future, not facing off against some incredibly skilled and nuanced villain.
shareI didn't say he had to be huge. I said it was okay he was just a thug, but just make him a little more interesting. They were pretty lazy with shoehorning him into being part of Jesse's confinement. They should have not had him have that history with Jesse, and just had him be a simple thug.
shareI don't think it's shoehorned - it all fits. It would make sense that someone who knew Todd/his family would try to break into his house after he died, and run into Jesse who is also searching for the same thing. It wasn't arbitrary, it was logical. Having him confront some random thug wouldn't have the same personal or emotional impact as someone who had even a small part in his confinement, which this movie was all about him overcoming.
shareYeah, I didn’t see the need for a “Big Bad” in this story.
shareThey already killed off the main villains in the series. Nobody left but these henchmen