El Camino , the follow up feature length finale to Breaking Bad is just out. It's a fabulous thing, fully fitting to the legacy of all that went before. It's full of great moments but the one that really got me is a great music one. Todd, one of the truly standout characters of the series, even though he only appeared in the final season, is driving out to the desert to bury the body of his cleaning lady who he has killed, for no better reason than that she came upon a stash of his money accidentally while tidying up in his flat. As he drives, this song comes on the radio.
It's a wonderfully rendered moment. Todd sings along to the song with all his bankrupt soul. His head rocks from side to side, his hand sways outside the window along to the melody, he finds time to mime the 'parp parp' Casey Jones whistle to a passing truck driver. Meanwhile Jesse is in the back of the car rolling back and forth with the dead body of Todd's cleaner, wrapped in a roll of carpet.
Todd in many cases is the embodiment of banal evil. The bad guy who doesn't actually realise how bad he is, instead reasoning to himself that he's decent. He's a brilliant creation. and the song is made for him/ Dr. Hook the flagbearers in the late Seventies for all American corn as cynical in their way as Todd is in his. All in all, the scene, forty seconds at most is a model lesson for aspiring screenplay writers. This is how it's done. Strangely, it all makes the song sound good enough to post here too.
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