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Jesse Bruce Pinkman is a fictional character of the American television drama series Breaking Bad on AMC. He is portrayed by Aaron Paul and was created by series creator Vince Gilligan. For his portrayal, Paul won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2010.

Character biography

Background

Jesse Bruce Pinkman was born in September 1984 into an upper middle-class family in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At the time the series starts, he has long been estranged from his parents due to his drug abuse and lifestyle. After being forced to leave his parents' residence, Jesse moved in with his Aunt Jenny, whom he cared for until her death from cancer; afterwards, he was allowed to stay in her home, whose ownership fell to Jesse's parents.

Jesse was a poor student in high school, largely due to his inattention and apathy. Walter White, who Jesse almost always calls "Mr. White," was his chemistry teacher, and flunked him in his class. Walt himself later tells Jesse that he "never thought much" of him, although his mother recalled that Walt "must have seen some potential in Jesse, he really tried to motivate him. He was one of the few teachers who cared." Pinkman would later deliver on that potential, producing a product on his own which Walt begrudgingly concedes is as good as what Walt himself produced and superior to that which was produced by Gale Boetticher who held an advanced degree in chemistry. In "Say My Name," Walter refers to himself and Pinkman as "the two best meth cooks in America."

Season one

When Walt accompanies his brother-in-law, Hank Schrader, as a ride-a-long during a DEA drug bust, he spots Jesse running away from the scene; he subsequently realizes that Jesse is "Cap'n Cook", a methamphetamine dealer Hank is investigating. Walt uses the high school's student records to track down Jesse, blackmailing his former pupil into letting him enter the distribution side of the illegal drug trade. Walt plans to use his knowledge of chemistry to cook potent crystal meth that Jesse will distribute, giving him $7,000 to purchase an RV which will be used as a rolling meth lab. It is revealed in Season 3 that Jesse wasted most of the money while partying at a strip club, but one of his friends, Christian "Combo" Ortega, let Jesse purchase his family's RV for $1,400.

Jesse is impressed with Walt's product and approaches Domingo "Krazy-8" Molina, an Albuquerque meth distributor, over the prospect of doing business with him. Unbeknownst to Jesse, Krazy-8 is a DEA informant who is suspicious of the proposal. When Krazy-8 drives to the desert to meet the duo, his partner, Emilio Koyama, recognizes Walt from the previous DEA bust. When they attempt to kill him, Walt produces a phosphine gas that kills Emilio and incapacitates Krazy-8, allowing him and an unconscious Jesse to flee. Walt has Jesse shop for a plastic container in which he plans to dissolve Emilio's body with hydroflouric acid. Jesse—too ignorant and headstrong to realize that hydroflouric acid does not eat through plastic—dissolves the body in an upstairs bathtub, letting the acid burn a hole in the bathroom floor and drop Emilio's remains into a downstairs hallway.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page). After cleaning up the scene and disposing of Krazy-8, the duo are forced to sell their meth on their own.

Walt and Jesse move their lab from the RV to Jesse's basement. Their product becomes a big enough presence in Albuquerque's drug scene that it becomes the focus of an investigation by Hank. Unsatisfied with the miniscule amount of money Jesse is collecting, Walt convinces him to find a high-end distributor for their meth. "Skinny Pete", one of Jesse's friends, puts him in contact with Tuco Salamanca, a powerful Mexican drug kingpin operating in Albuquerque. However, at their first meeting, the psychopathic Tuco brutally beats Jesse and lands him in the hospital. After Walter strong-arms Tuco into a lucrative, albeit unstable, partnership, he and Jesse expand their operations by stealing a large drum of methylamine. This enables them to produce meth in larger quantities.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page). The first season ends with Walt and Jesse delivering a fresh batch to Tuco, who senselessly assaults one of his henchmen, "No Doze", as the stunned duo watch helplessly.

Season two

After the DEA conducts a raid on his Albuquerque operations, the increasingly paranoid Tuco believes that Walt and Jesse are set to betray him. Tuco kidnaps the pair and takes them to a remote house in the desert, where he cares for his infirm uncle, Hector Salamanca. There, Walt and Jesse are held against their will for several days, with Tuco stating his intention of taking them to a "superlab" in Mexico. However, the two escape after a struggle with Tuco. Walt and Jesse flee the scene, and watch as Hank—who has been guided to the house by chance while searching for the missing Walt—confronts and fatally shoots Tuco. Walt and Jesse wander through the desert before hitching a ride back to civilization. Unfortunately, Jesse's car and money are both seized by the DEA.

Realizing that the authorities will track him down, Jesse seeks help from his friend, Badger. They move the lab from Jesse's house back to the RV. The RV is subsequently towed away by Badger's cousin, Clovis, and stored on his lot for a $1,000 storage fee, which Jesse can only pay half of upfront. The next day, Jesse awakens to find his mother evicting him from his home, since his parents legally own the house and have discovered that he was cooking crystal meth in the basement. Unable to find a friend to stay with, he gets his remaining few belongings and his bike stolen as well, so he breaks into Clovis' lot and passes out in the RV ("Down").

Jesse eventually resolves to put himself back together. He buys an inconspicuous Toyota Tercel and finds a new apartment. The landlord, Jane, is a part-time tattoo-artist and also, as Jesse later finds out, a recovering addict. Living right next to Jesse in the same two-family building, it's not long before she and Jesse become romantically involved. Jane, however, tries to hide this relationship from her father, Donald, who is the property owner of their building.

Jesse spirals into a drug-fueled depression when Combo is murdered by rival drug dealers. He is introduced to heroin by Jane, who relapses back into addiction. Jesse becomes perpetually high and lethargic, nearly costing Walt a $1.2 million drug transaction with the powerful meth distributor Gus Fring; this leads Walt to withhold Jesse's half of the money until he enters rehab, causing a falling out between the two. When Jane learns about the money, she blackmails Walt into giving Jesse his share, hoping to use the money to escape to New Zealand. However, Jane overdoses and suffocates on her own vomit shortly afterward; Walt is present at the time of her death, but does not intervene and watches her die. Jesse blames himself for Jane's death and becomes self-destructively despondent. Walt rescues Jesse from a crack house and checks him in to a rehabilitation clinic.

Season three

While in rehab, Jesse is told by a counselor to accept himself for who he is. At this point, he has learned that Jane's father, Donald, an air traffic controller, was so distraught over her death that he inadvertently caused a deadly mid-air collision. Jesse tells Walter that he has taken the counselor's advice and accepted himself as the "bad guy" because of his perceived role in these two incidents, unaware of Walter's culpability in both of them. Jesse leaves rehab clean and sober, and sets out to settle unfinished business. First, with help from Saul, Jesse dupes his parents into selling him his aunt's house at a drastically reduced price.

Hank correctly deduces that Jesse's RV is the rolling meth lab used by Heisenberg, and tracks it down to a local junkyard. Only quick thinking by Walter and Saul lead Hank away from the RV, allowing them to destroy the vehicle in a compactor. An enraged Hank severely beats Jesse, leading to his suspension from the DEA. While Jesse is hospitalized, Walter—who has been hired by Gus as a meth cook—persuades him to renew their partnership. Despite his dislike for Jesse, Gus is convinced to have them work together. Jesse and Walt cook larger amounts of meth in Gus' underground "superlab", earning considerably more money.

Jesse becomes romantically involved with Andrea Cantillo, a single mother and recovering meth addict from his Narcotics Anonymous meetings. He eventually discovers that her eleven-year-old brother, Tomas, had killed Combo on behalf of two competing dealers. Pinkman concocts a plan to kill them with ricin, but is forced to abort after learning that the dealers are protected employees of Gus. However, after Tomas is found murdered, Jesse sets out to kill them. Walter saves Jesse at the last moment, running over the two dealers, killing one and fatally shooting the other in the head.

After Jesse goes into hiding, Gus replaces him with Gale Boetticher, Walter's previous assistant in the superlab. Walter realizes Gus is plotting to have Gale master the "blue sky" formula as part of a larger plan to be rid of him. To prevent this, Walter plans to pre-emptively kill Gale. Jesse unsuccessfully advises Walter to go to the police instead. When Walter is cornered by Mike and Victor at the superlab, Jesse is forced to kill Gale himself, confronting him at his apartment. Despite Gale's pleas and his own reservations, a tearful Jesse shoots and kills him.

Season four

Immediately after Gale's murder, Walter and Jesse are brought back to the superlab, where Gus slices Victor's throat with a box cutter in a gruesome show of force. Jesse ignores Walter's fears that Gus is planning to kill them, preferring to escape his guilt by setting up a perpetual rave at his house. He also places a large of amount of drug money in Andrea's mailbox, urging her to leave Albuquerque with her young son, Brock. Jesse becomes increasingly indifferent to his own welfare, stealing meth from the superlab to fuel his drug-laden parties.

Mike informs Gus of Jesse's recklessness, but instead of ordering his execution, Gus has Mike take Jesse on an errand to collect drop money. On the last pickup, Jesse sees a man approaching the car with a shotgun and attempts to run over the man and ultimately rams the mans car and drives away. It is revealed that the man with the shotgun was working for Mike and this was all just a test for Jesse, a test which he passed prompting Mike to call him a hero. A relieved Walt finds Jesse in the lab where Jesse tells him that he will be doing more work with Mike. When Walt informs Jesse of his suspicion that the alley incident was a setup, Jesse reacts with hostility, while Walt declares his belief that Gus is trying to wedge their partnership. During Jesse's next assignment with Mike involving the retrieval of a stolen bag of product, Jesse shows some craftiness by getting one meth addict fixate on digging a hole in the yard and disarms another wielding a shotgun, which at a later evening rendezvous draws praise from Gus. Shortly after this point, Jesse has resumed a relationship with Andrea and her son Brock, whom Jesse treats as a son.

Walt tasks Jesse with killing Gus by the use of a vial of ricin, which Jesse hides in a cigarette. Later on, when Gus is having a meeting with members of the cartel, Jesse considers spiking his coffee with the ricin, but refrains from doing so upon realizing that he could poison the third parties present. At one of his NA meetings, Jesse breaks down and reveals that he is only attending to sell everybody meth. Walt pushes Jesse to try to set up a meeting when he learns that Hank is investigating Gus, but backs off when he sees a text message implying that Jesse has been lying about not meeting Gus since the diner. Walt uses a bug to track Jesse's vehicle, learning that he had dinner at Gus's house the night before. Walt confronts Jesse about his betrayal, causing a fight, which Jesse wins. The pair have a violent falling out as a result.

Gus and Mike take Jesse on a trip to Mexico in order to have him teach Walt's formula to the cartel's chemists. Impressed with Jesse's skill, Gus seemingly arranges to leave Jesse behind with the cartel. However, during a party, Gus uses a poisoned bottle of tequila to kill off the cartel's leadership, including Don Eladio. Afterwards, Gus offers to hire Jesse as his full-time cook. Jesse accepts on the condition that Gus spare Walt's life. When Walt's wife Skyler seeks protection from the DEA, Gus uses this information to portray Walt as an informant in an attempt to further the gap between him and Jesse. Walt goes to Jesse's house to pleading for help, but Jesse throws him off his property.

Shortly afterwards, Brock falls mysteriously ill. Jesse seems to correctly guess that Brock has been poisoned by ricin, arousing Andrea's suspicions. Jesse immediately assumes Walt is behind the poisoning, showing up at his house to confront him at gunpoint. However, Walt convinces Jesse that it was Gus who poisoned Brock, reminding him of his propensity for killing children. Jesse eventually tells Walt about Gus' visits to Hector's retirement home, leading Walt to visit Hector himself and talk him into luring Gus to the location. Gus is subsequently killed when Hector activates a pipe bomb beneath the elderly drug lord's wheelchair. After learning of Gus' death, Walt storms the superlab and rescues Jesse.

After they destroy the superlab, Jesse reveals that Brock was not poisoned by ricin, but by poisonous Lily of the Valley berries. Jesse realizes that Gus couldn't have poisoned Brock, but Walt assures him that killing Gus was the only acceptable course of action. The final scene of the fourth season shows a potted Lily of the Valley in Walt's backyard, suggesting that Walt had poisoned Brock all along.

Development

Series creator Vince Gilligan originally intended for Jesse Pinkman's character to be killed at the end of Breaking Bad's first season. Originally, Gilligan wanted Jesse to die in a botched drug deal as a plot device to plague the main protagonist Walter White with guilt. However, Gilligan said by the second episode of the season, he was so impressed with Jesse's character and Aaron Paul's performance that "it became pretty clear early on that would be a huge, colossal mistake to kill off Jesse".

References

1. Breaking Bad pilot, Episode 1x1
2. Bowman, Donna. "AV Club "Pilot"". AV Club Episode Reviews. AV Club. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
3. Bowman, Donna (March 8, 2008). "Breaking Bad: "A No Rough Stuff Type Deal"". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
4. Amitin, Seth (March 10, 2008). "Breaking Bad: "A No-Rough-Stuff Type of Deal" Review". IGN. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
5. Bowman, Donna. "Seven Thirty-Seven". AV Club Episode Reviews. AV Club. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
6. Bowman, Donna. "Grilled". AV Club Episode Reviews. AV Club. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
7. Bowman, Donna. "Bit By A Dead Bee". AV Club Episode Reviews. AV Club. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
8. Bowman, Donna. "Down". AV Club Episode Reviews. AV Club. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
9. Centre, Paley. "Breaking Bad – Aaron Paul Almost Got Killed Off (Paley Interview)". (Paley Interview). Paley Centre. Retrieved August 2, 2011.

External links

• Jesse Pinkman at AMC.com
• Template:IMDb character

Further reading

• Itzkoff, Dave (March 18, 2010). "[[Aaron Paul]] of '[[Breaking Bad]]' - Character and Career, Both Alive". nytimes.com. Retrieved July 13, 2012. {{cite web}}: More than one of |work= and |website= specified (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help)

• Breaking Bad characters
• Fictional characters from New Mexico
• Fictional characters introduced in 2008
• Fictional drug addicts
• Fictional drug dealers
• Fictional gangsters
• Fictional murderers