Breaking Bad: 10 Saddest Things About Jesse
Few characters in Breaking Bad had as rough a time as Jesse Pinkman did with tragedy always striking his life. Here are the saddest things about him.
What would Breaking Bad be without Jesse Pinkman? According to series creator Vince Gilligan, the iconic character was meant to be killed off in the first season. Thanks to Aaron Paul’s amazing performance, Gilligan decided to keep Jesse on the show. The planned character death was instead projected to No-D0ze.
Despite making way more money than the average American, Jesse’s life was never an easy one. He constantly had to deal with manipulation and loss. But unlike most of his associates, he was lucky enough to still be standing when the series ended. Here are some of the saddest things about him.
The Death Of Jane
Jesse seemed to have found the one when he began dating his landlady Jane Margolis. She liked the same things he did and stood up for him during his feuds with Walt. Sadly, they both couldn’t stay clean and a tragedy ended up happening when they both overdosed.
When Walt came to talk to Jesse and found both of them passed out from an overdose. Jane asphyxiating from her own vomit but he opted not to save her. He figured things would better if she was dead. According to him, she was a bad influence on Jesse, and with her out of the way, their working relationship would become solid. But his decision would lead to more harm than good.
Non-Existent Relationship With His Parents
Jesse’s parents hated him because of his addiction to drugs and his criminal ways. At a young age, he was kicked out of the house and forced to live with his aunt until she died of cancer. His aunt’s wife was taken away from him too after it was revealed that he was cooking meth in it.
When he briefly tried to reconcile with them, weed was found in the house and he got kicked out again. This time the weed wasn’t his but his little brother’s. He took the blame anyway. Jesse’s relationship with his parents never improved. In El Camino he even tricked them into getting out of the house so that he could get the guns that were inside.
Walt Manipulated Him Into Killing Gale
As soon as Walt realized that Gus wanted Gale to master the “Blue Sky” formula, he began fearing for his job. He convinced Jesse that Gale needed to go to ensure both of them stayed alive, despite the fact that Gus was more likely to kill him than Jesse.
Jesse reluctantly pulled the trigger but the murder changed him forever. Deep down, he knew that Gale was a good person who didn’t deserve to die. Jesse became mentally damaged and in order to keep himself sane, he began hosting 24/7 parties at his home where he would invite numerous strangers.
He Watched Another Lover Die
Jesse was hit with more grief later in the series when his girlfriend Andrea was murdered by Todd. This happened after Jesse used a paperclip from a photo of Andrea and Brock to pick his handcuffs before attempting to escape. Sadly, Jack and his gang saw him through the security cameras and captured him.
As punishment, they drove with Jesse to Andrea’s house where Todd walked in and shot her. Jesse cried in anguish as remorseless Jack told him they’d kill Brock too if he tried to escape again
His Struggle To Overcome His Drug Addiction
The biggest thing that held Jesse back throughout the series was his drug addiction. He just couldn’t say no to drugs and as a result, it brought him plenty of grief. He even made Walt miss his daughter’s birthday because he had passed out from an overdose. The fact that he preferred romantic partners who were addicts too didn’t help too.
Whenever he tried to rehabilitate himself, Jesse would relapse. At some point, he even attended Narcotics Anonymous meetings but the advice offered wasn’t of any benefit to him.
Poor Money Management Skills
Jesse never became a top drug lord because he didn’t know how to handle money. Before Walt came into his life, he was making a decent amount as Cap’n Cook. And when Walt showed how to make better meth, his earnings increased. But by the end of the series, he had nothing to show for all his hard work.
His poor management skills were first evident in Season 1 when Walt gave him his life savings worth $7,000 and instructed him to purchase an RV. Jesse blew most of it in one night on strippers and drugs. And in the final season, he foolishly threw most of his money away. A bad move as he almost failed to raise enough money to pay Ed for a new life in El Camino.
Assault And Torture
Jesse was a victim of violence and brutality a couple of times in the series. In Season 1, Jesse was brutally assaulted by Tuco during their first meeting, ending up in the hospital. He faced the same kind of violence at the hands of Hank in Season 3 as the DEA agent believed he had made a fake phone call to his wife.
Jesse was also forced to live in a cage while handcuffed for a long time in Season 5. Jack Welker’s gang would coerce him to cook meth before putting him back in the cage. Luckily, he got his revenge on them
His Friend Combo Got Murdered
Combo had been working with Jesse for a long time. Sadly, he made the mistake of trying to sell some of the meth that Jesse and Walt were making on a street that belonged to a rival gang.
Consequently, a kid hired by the rival gang shot him dead. Combo’s death, like all other tragedies he has faced in his life, affected him deeply. He felt that it was all his fault and no one could convince him otherwise. It is after Combos’ death that he decided to indulge in heroin again with Jane.
The Fall-Out With Walt
Towards the end of the series, Jesse fell out with Walt to the point that he was willing to rat on him to the authorities. His words while being interrogated by Hank and Gomez described how strained their relationship had become: “Mr. White is the devil.”
Jesse even doused Walt’s house with gasoline, ready to burn it, before he changed his mind. Jesse’s fall-out with Walt was sad to watch because the two had always worked so well together. It’s their feud that led to the death of Hank as well as Jesse’s capture by Jack Welker’s white supremacist gang.
No One Believed In Him When He Was Young
It was revealed that at J. P. Wynne High School, Jesse was a poor student. His grades were always poor but he eventually managed to graduate anyway. Most of the teachers despised him but according to Jesse’s mother (while meeting Hank), Mr. White was the only teacher who tried to help him.
This is evident from the fact that Walt would constantly write “Apply Yourself” on Jesse’s graded exam papers. However, Walt later told Jesse that he never really thought much of him. Due to the tough life at school, Jesse decided to get into the drug trade.
