What Happens To Jesse In Breaking Bad?
While Jesse didn't exactly have a good ending, his fate was still better than every other Breaking Bad character.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Breaking Bad’s success can be attributed to its top-notch writing, realistic portrayal of consequences, and compelling characters like Walter White and Jesse Pinkman.
- The ending of Breaking Bad leaves Jesse’s fate uncertain, but it strongly suggests that he is on the path to a normal, crime-free life.
- The 2019 Netflix movie, El Camino, serves as a direct sequel to Breaking Bad and follows Jesse’s story after the events of the TV show, revealing his final stretch to break free from his criminal past.
Despite the show ending over a decade ago, Breaking Bad is still the talk of the internet. It is safe to assume that Breaking Bad has earned its place as one of the most successful TV shows in history. The reasons behind are many including top-notch writing, a touch of reality and karma, and most importantly the characters. While Bryan Cranston as Walter White was the mastermind chemistry teacher who led one of the biggest drug cartels, he couldn’t reach that position without his former student Jesse Pinkman played by Aaron Paul.
Breaking Bad ends on a lower note with each of the main characters catching Karma for their actions. Saul Goodman ends in prison facing time for his actions and Walter White’s fate is death due to his actions led by greed and selfishness. However, what happened to Jesse, on the other hand, was a bit complicated. Jesse was still alive at the end but his fate wasn’t exactly clear. However, El Camino was the conclusion to Jesse’s story and expanded upon his fate beyond the Breaking Bad series.
How Does Jesse’s Story End On Breaking Bad
Jesse and Walter’s relationship had its share of highs and lows, but it was down for the most part. Their acquaintance was driven by mutual financial problems and while their early days were rough, they eventually developed a father-son dynamic, especially in the second season. However, things only went downhill from there since Walter’s ego got the better of him after he started manipulating everyone around him to come out on top. Delving more into the drug cartel business, eliminating rivals, driven by greed and ego, Walter had it all coming to him but also dragged Jesse into the mess with him.
Despite Jesse’s efforts to escape the criminal life, Walter repeatedly pulled him back in, further straining their relationship. In the fifth season, Jesse gets captured by a gang of Neo-Nazis led by Jack Welker, who forces him into cooking meth against his will in brutal conditions. Jesse spends 6 months cooking meth in chains and sleeping on a concrete floor before getting rescued by Walter which was the last thing he expected. Driven by his desire to make amends, especially since his cancer had returned, Walt tried to fix things before he died after realizing how much damage his actions caused.
Getting freed, the first thing Jesse does is point a gun at Walter, contemplating whether to kill him but ultimately can’t go through with it. They part ways, with Jesse driving away in Todd’s Chevrolet El Camino, while Walter succumbs to a gunshot wound, marking the end of his journey. The ending of Breaking Bad leaves Jesse’s future uncertain, but it strongly implies that he is on the path to living a normal life, free from the crime-filled existence of his past.
El Camino: The Real Ending To Jesse’s Breaking Bad Story
The 2019 Netflix movie, El Camino, is a direct sequel to Breaking Bad and focuses on Jesse Pinkman’s story after the events of the TV show. El Camino is named after the vehicle that Jesse is shown driving after killing its owner, Todd, at the end of Breaking Bad Season 5’s finale. The film opens with a flashback between Jesse and Mike talking about leaving the drug business. Mike tells Jesse he will go to Atlanta after leaving, whereas Jesse says that he will try to make amends for his past actions, to which Mike responds that doing such a thing would be impossible.
El Camino takes place hours after Walter’s death as Jessie escapes law enforcement and seeks refuge with his old friends Badger and Skinny Pete. The film includes several flashback sequences and memories of characters in the past including Mr. White and his late girlfriend, Jane Margolis, all while Jesse’s final stretch to break free from the criminal life. This final stretch also included getting money that would get him a new identity to start anew, which he found at Todd’s apartment. Jesse does manage to obtain the money (though not without having to engage in some dangerous confrontations) in the end and gives it to the infamous vacuum salesman, who gets him a new identity and allows him to run away to Alaska.
If there’s anyone in the whole Breaking Bad universe who deserved a new and fresh start, it had to be Jesse Pinkman. But even as he tried to start anew, his farewell scene didn’t exactly imply a good ending for the Cap’n Cook since he was still shown holding the weights of his past, something that wasn’t easy to let go of.
Jesse’s future was technically answered long before El Camino even came out. In the final season of Better Caul Saul which includes scenes that take place at the end of the Breaking Bad universe, Jesse was already hinted to be living away in Alaska freed from the criminal life.
