Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul were created by Vince Gilligan, with both shows set in Albuquerque. Pluribus, the 2025 sci-fi TV show created by Vince Gilligan, also takes place in Albuquerque and stars Rhea Seehorn in the leading role, who played Kim Wexler in Saul. While Pluribus has nothing to do with Gilligan’s first two shows, there are already a couple of cool references and Easter eggs to spot. So without further ado, here are all of the Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul references I’ve spotted in Pluribus so far.
The Wayfarer Airline (Season 1, Episode 2)
Wayfarer is a fictional airline created for Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad universe, and it played a pivotal role in the story in Season 2. This is the airline that Donald Margolis worked at as an air traffic controller, and made a fatal mistake resulting in two planes crashing over Albuquerque.
The Wayfarer airline company makes an appearance in episode 2 of Pluribus Season 1, when Carol requests for a meetup with the other English-speaking survivors. In the plane scenes, you can see the Wayfarer logo on the seats. A small and subtle callback that Breaking Bad fans are sure to notice.
Howard Hamlin (Season 1, Episode 5)
Howard Hamlin started off as the de facto character everyone loved to hate in Better Call Saul, but he quickly became a fan-favorite as we approached the end of the series. He’s known for speaking in a smarmy, businesslike lawyer voice, and BCS fans will definitely recognize that same voice in Pluribus.
When the hive leaves Albuquerque and abandons Carol entirely, they leave a voice recording telling her that they just need some space. That voice belongs to none other than Patrick Fabian, who played Howard in Better Call Saul. My headcanon is that Howard got plurbed in this universe, and the hive chose him to record the message thanks to his beautiful business-y voice.
Georgia O’Keeffe (Season 1, Episode 7)
Georgia O’Keeffe is an artist who gets referenced a fair bit in both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. She’s the artist that Jane suggested seeing with Jesse, and even Jimmy himself makes an off-handed joke about her in Better Call Saul.
In Pluribus, we see that Carol is a big fan of one of her paintings. She visits the museum in Albuquerque and takes an authentic O’Keeffe painting off the wall. She goes home with it, removes a print of the same painting she had on the wall in her own home, and replaces it with the real thing. It’s a rather poignant moment that symbolizes Carol beginning to enjoy the little luxuries that this post-apocalyptic world affords her, and also marks a huge turning point in her character arc.
Lalo Salamanca (Season 1, Episode 9)
The voice cameos continue! Patrick Fabian wasn’t the only BCS alum to make an appearance; the Season 1 finale saw the return of Tony Dalton, who played Lalo Salamanca in Better Call Saul. When Manousos finally arrives in Albuquerque, the plurbed individual he talks to on the phone is none other than Dalton himself, speaking in Spanish.
This is an easy one to miss, as Lalo largely speaks in English in Better Call Saul, but the calm, menacing tone of his voice is unmistakable.
And those are all of the Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul references we’ve spotted in Pluribus so far. Did I miss anything? Let me know.
