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Analysis / El Camino

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"Static on the Radio"

The end credits song's chorus starts "And I know (it's a sin to put words in the mouths of the dead)". This is exactly what the film is doing, however, by flashing back to new moments with characters who died in the original series, giving them moments of sympathy for Jesse that weren't present in the text. The next line goes "And I know (it's a crime to weave your wishes into what they said)". The film does this too, with Todd being the biggest case, as his "life is what you make of it" rings utterly hollow in light of his actions. Its impossible, too, to know how serious Mike was being about Alaska—Jesse has to push him into telling him where to go. Whether Walt really wanted Jesse to make something of himself or was simply manipulating him will vary depending on whether you think his arc is that of a good man becoming bad or a bad man becoming far worse. But in all cases besides Jane, the flashbacks serve mainly to reinforce the central idea that Jesse needs to make his own choices in life, regardless of whether that's what the person in said flashbacks wanted.

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