The story of Jesse Bruce Pinkman from the Breaking Bad franchise.
Biography[]
Background[]
Jesse Bruce Pinkman was born September 24, 1984 to a middle-class family in Albuquerque. He had a younger brother Jake and an aunt Ginny. In school, Jesse befriended Emilio, Combo, Badger, and Skinny Pete. He was in a band called "TwaüghtHammër." When Combo got in trouble for stealing a nativity scene figure, attorney Kim Wexler helped him. Jesse eventually got involved with methamphetamine.
Jesse attended J.P. Wynne High School where Walter White was his chemistry teacher. Despite being a poor student, Jesse graduated with Mr. White present. On his website, Jesse claimed he also attended DeVry University. After being kicked out of his parents' home, Jesse moved in with his aunt Ginny. He cared for her until she died of lung cancer, after which he stayed in her house, which his parents owned. Jesse remained estranged from his parents due to his drug use, though he maintained a good relationship with his brother Jake. Jesse became active in the drug scene, making and selling his own signature meth that contained chili powder to make it stand out.
In 2004, Jesse met Kim Wexler (Saul Goodman's ex-wife) outside Saul's office after she signed divorce papers. Jesse recognized her as the lawyer who had helped Combo. Jesse asked if Saul was legitimate, as he needed help for his friend Emilio. Kim said Saul was legitimate when she knew him as Jimmy McGill. Based on his conversation with Kim and Saul's success helping Emilio avoid prison twice, Jesse trusted Saul as a lawyer.
Breaking Bad Era[]
Season 1[]
Walt joins his DEA brother-in-law Hank and partner Gomez on a drug bust. He stays in the car while they raid a meth lab run by "Cap'n Cook." Walt spots Jesse, a former student, escaping through a window and recognizes his car's vanity plate "THE CAPN." Using school records, Walt tracks down Jesse and proposes they partner up: Walt will cook meth using his chemistry knowledge while Jesse handles distribution. Walt gives Jesse $7,000 to buy an RV as their mobile lab, though Jesse spends most of it partying before buying Combo's family RV for $1,400.
Jesse is impressed with Walt's pure product and approaches a distributor named Krazy-8. Unknown to Jesse, Krazy-8 is a DEA informant who arrives with his partner Emilio. When Emilio recognizes Walt from the DEA bust, they threaten to kill him after forcing him to reveal his formula. Walt creates phosphine gas that kills Emilio and knocks out Krazy-8, allowing them to escape.
Walt instructs Jesse to get a plastic container to dissolve Emilio's body with hydrofluoric acid. Jesse ignores this and uses his bathtub instead, causing the acid to burn through the tub and floor, dropping the bloody remains into the hallway below. After cleaning up and eventually killing the captive Krazy-8, they move their lab to Jesse's basement. Initially agreeing to end their partnership, they reunite when Jesse fails to make quality meth on his own and Walt needs money. Jesse discovers Walt has lung cancer after noticing a radiation mark on his chest and shares advice from his experience with his aunt who had the same disease.
Their meth gains attention in Albuquerque, even becoming the focus of Hank's investigation. Wanting more profit, Walt pushes Jesse to find a high-end distributor. Through Skinny Pete, Jesse meets with drug kingpin Tuco Salamanca, who brutally beats Jesse, steals his meth and puts him in the hospital. Walt later confronts Tuco and forces him into a partnership.
To meet Tuco's demand for two pounds of meth, Walt and Jesse steal methylamine, allowing them to produce larger quantities. Their product now has a distinctive blue color but maintains its high quality. During their meeting with Tuco, they watch in horror as he viciously beats one of his own men, No-Doze, unconscious, making them realize how dangerous their situation has become.
Season 2[]
At the junkyard, Tuco returns and tries to make Walt revive the unconscious No-Doze, who dies from the beating. Tuco orders Gonzo to hide the body under some cars. Walt and Jesse leave cautiously, with Tuco giving them a threatening stare. Later, Jesse and Walt prepare ricin to poison Tuco. Hank calls Walt from a crime scene, sending him photos of No-Doze and Gonzo, who was crushed while trying to move his friend's body. After the DEA raids his operations, Tuco kidnaps Walt and Jesse.
Tuco takes them to a remote house where his disabled uncle Hector lives. Walt attempts to poison Tuco with ricin but fails when Jesse mentions their "meth" has chili powder, which Tuco hates, and later when Hector warns Tuco. They escape after a fight and near-death experience, and Hank (who tracked Jesse's car) arrives and kills Tuco in a shootout. Walt and Jesse make their way back through the desert. Jesse gets his friend Badger to help move the lab to the RV, which is towed to Badger's cousin Clovis's lot. Jesse's mother evicts him from his house after discovering he cooked meth there. After losing his possessions, he eventually buys a Toyota Tercel and finds a new apartment. His landlord, Jane Margolis, is a tattoo artist and recovering addict. They start dating, though she hides it from her father Donald, who owns the building.
Jesse is ordered by Walt to antagonize two junkies, Spooge and his lady, after they steal their meth. Jesse rescues their neglected child from a murder scene after Spooge's head is crushed by an ATM by his lady. Jesse's reputation in the underworld improves after people think he killed Spooge. Walt decides it's time to expand their territory. When their dealer Badger is arrested, they hire the corrupt lawyer Saul Goodman. Walt and Jesse kidnap Saul, threatening him, but Saul agrees to work for them. Saul realizes they make "the blue stuff" and that Walt is the drug lord "Heisenberg."
Saul arranges for an ex-convict named James to take the fall as Heisenberg for $80,000 and a pound of meth. The plan works when James is arrested instead of Badger. After learning of Walt's true identity and cancer diagnosis, Saul visits Walt at his school and offers to be his advisor in the drug business.
Jesse plans a trip with Jane to Santa Fe, but Walt insists they need to cook non-stop. They go to the desert, where their continuous cooking yields 42 pounds of meth. However, the RV battery dies when Jesse accidentally leaves the keys in the ignition. After failed attempts to restart it, Walt builds a makeshift battery from their lab supplies, and they finally get the RV working. Jesse makes breakfast for Jane, who rushes next door when her father Donald visits. She introduces Jesse as just a tenant, upsetting him. Later, Jane slips an apology drawing under Jesse's door and they reconcile.
After their dealer Combo is murdered, Walt and Jesse meet with Saul, who offers to connect them with a cautious businessman to buy their meth in bulk. Walt meets with this businessman at Los Pollos Hermanos, eventually realizing it's the restaurant manager, Gus Fring. Though initially rejected, Walt convinces Gus to reconsider their partnership.
Jesse and Jane start using heroin together. Walt breaks into Jesse's apartment to retrieve the meth and heads to meet Gus for a drug deal, missing the birth of his daughter. Jesse confronts Walt about taking the meth and demands his $480,000 share, but Walt refuses, believing Jesse will spend it on drugs and spiteful after he almost botched their deal with Gus. Jane blackmails Walt into giving Jesse his money. Walt delivers it reluctantly. Jane and Jesse plan to use the money to start a new life in New Zealand after getting clean, but decide to take one last hit. Later that night, Walt returns and watches as Jane chokes on her vomit and intentionally leaves her to die.
Jesse wakes to find Jane dead and calls Walt in panic. Mike Ehrmantraut arrives on behalf of Saul to clean up the evidence and coach Jesse on what to say to investigators. Donald silently watches as paramedics take his daughter away. Walt later finds Jesse breaking down in a drug house and takes him to an upscale rehab center. By the pool, a despairing Jesse tells Walt, "What you said in the desert. I get it now… what you meant. I deserve whatever happens."
Season 3[]
Jesse is in rehab following Jane's death. During therapy, he learns about self-acceptance and transformation. He asks the group leader, "Have you ever really hurt anybody?" The leader reveals he accidentally killed his own daughter while intoxicated, arguing that guilt only stands in the way of true change. After rehab, Jesse tells Walt, "I'm the bad guy," accepting responsibility that Walt cannot.
Hank tracks Jesse's RV, convinced it's a meth lab. Walt outsmarts Hank by having Saul make a fake call about his wife Marie being rushed to the hospital. This distracts Hank long enough for them to destroy the RV and all evidence. Furious, Hank later beats up Jesse in retaliation while believing he was responsible for the trick. While Jesse recovers in the hospital, Walt convinces Gus to replace Gale Boetticher with Jesse in the lab. Jesse drops the charges against Hank. Jesse and Walt resume cooking together, making more money, with Jesse as Walt's only ally.
Jesse meets Andrea Cantillo through Narcotics Anonymous. He discovers her younger brother killed Combo on orders from two gang members selling Walt and Jesse's product. Jesse plans to poison them with ricin, but Walt betrays this plan to Gus. Gus orders the dealers to stop using children, but they kill Andrea's brother anyway. Enraged, Jesse confronts the dealers at night and tries to murder them to avenge the death of Tomás (Andrea's brother). He raises his gun but Walt saves him last second by running the dealers over with his car and shooting one in the head, telling Jesse to "run," as he is now a target.
After meeting with a furious Gus, Walt returns to work, claiming Jesse is gone. With Gale back as his partner, Walt realizes Gus plans to have Gale learn the "Blue Sky" formula so Walt becomes expendable. Walt and Jesse, who's hiding at Saul's laser tag facility, agree Gale must die. Jesse finds Gale's address, but Walt is captured by enforcer Victor and brought to Mike at the lab for execution. Walt offers up Jesse in exchange for his life but secretly instructs Jesse to kill Gale immediately. Jesse arrives at Gale's apartment and, with tears in his eyes, shoots and kills him.
Season 4[]
After Gale's murder, Walt and Jesse return to the lab where Gus kills Victor with a box cutter to send a message. Walt fears Gus plans to kill them, but Jesse ignores this, hosting parties at his house to escape his guilt. He gives Andrea money to leave town with her son Brock, then breaks down emotionally when alone. Jesse starts stealing meth from the lab for his parties.
Mike warns Gus about Jesse's reckless behavior, but instead of having him killed, Gus has Mike take Jesse on collection runs. During one pickup, Jesse rams a man he thinks is a threat, which turns out to be a test organized by Mike, which Jesse passes. Jesse tells Walt he'll be working more with Mike. Walt believes Gus is trying to drive him and Jesse apart. During another job with Mike, Jesse cleverly handles two meth addicts, impressing Gus. Jesse resumes his relationship with Andrea and Brock.
Walt wants Jesse to kill Gus with ricin hidden in a cigarette. At a meeting with cartel members, Jesse considers poisoning Gus's coffee but doesn't. Jesse later breaks down at an NA meeting due to remorse for killing Gale and leaves the group. Walt discovers Jesse had dinner at Gus's house and confronts him about lying and his failure to enact the plan, leading to a fight that Jesse wins. They have a falling out. Gus takes Jesse to Mexico to teach the cartel Walt's formula. At a party, Gus poisons the cartel leadership, including Don Eladio. Jesse kills Joaquin Salamanca who shot Mike, then drives Gus and Mike away. Gus offers Jesse a full-time position, which Jesse accepts if Walt is spared. When Walt's wife seeks DEA protection, Gus uses this to further divide Walt and Jesse. Walt pleads for Jesse's help, but Jesse kicks him out.
Brock falls mysteriously ill. Jesse suspects that Walt poisoned him with and confronts Walt at gunpoint, but Walt convinces him Gus poisoned Brock to get him on his side. Jesse is questioned by police about his conspicuous knowledge of ricin. Saul visits Jesse, who mentions Hector Salamanca and Gus's visits to taunt him. Walt enlists Hector's help, resulting in Gus's death by pipe bomb. Walt rescues Jesse from the lab where he is locked up, and they destroy it. Jesse learns Brock was poisoned by Lily of the Valley berries, not ricin, but Jesse concludes Gus needed to die anyway. Unknown to Jesse, Walt has a Lily of the Valley plant in his yard and in fact poisoned Brock himself.
Season 5[]
In the New Mexico desert, Jesse stops an argument between Mike and Walt after Gus's murder where Mike almost kills Walt. He helps convince Mike to destroy security footage from the superlab instead of leaving town. Using Jesse's idea, the three men use a giant magnet to destroy evidence at the police station and escape.
Jesse worries about his missing ricin cigarette until Walt claims he found it in Jesse's vacuum. Jesse helps convince Mike to partner with them despite Mike warning that Walt is dangerous. When they can't find methylamine, Walt tells Jesse to keep looking. They team up with Vamonos Pest to use as a business front. After some issues with their methylamine supplier, Lydia, Walt, Mike, Jesse and new recruit Todd Alquist later rob a train for methylamine but are seen by a child, Drew Sharp. Todd waves to the boy then shoots him without hesitation. The murder deeply affects Jesse, who now hates Todd and says he can't handle more bloodshed. He leaves without taking any money.
After Mike disappears, Jesse asks Walt if Mike escaped. Walt says "He's gone" and tells Jesse his input isn't needed anymore. Later, Walt gives Jesse $5 million in cash. Jesse collapses anxiously, putting away a gun he was hiding. Jesse becomes withdrawn and tries giving the money to Saul, instructing him to give half to Drew Sharp's parents and half to Kaylee Ehrmantraut. Walt returns the money, saying Jesse earned it, but Jesse sees it as blood money and suspects that Walt killed Mike, which is true. Later, Jesse drives around town throwing cash away. Police find Jesse mindlessly spinning on playground equipment with money in his car. At the station, Hank tells Jesse he knows Walt is Heisenberg. Saul arrives and warns Jesse things have gone "nuclear" since Hank's discovery. Walt later meets Jesse and suggests he leave town. When Jesse argues that Walt merely wants him gone for his own sake and insists he would kill him like Mike otherwise, Walt hugs him.
Saul arranges for Jesse to get a new identity with Ed Galbraith's help, but while leaving, Huell bumps into him. Later, while planning to leave town, Jesse rubs his pockets and deduces Huell must have stolen his ricin cigarette before Brock was poisoned. Jesse attacks Saul, who admits Walt made him do it but claims he didn't know about poisoning Brock. Jesse rushes to Walt's house and pours gasoline inside, planning to burn it down. Hank barges in and stops Jesse from burning the house just in time, and convinces him to help take down Walt legally. Hank records Jesse's confession and plays him a voicemail from Walt asking to meet. Jesse suspects a trap but Hank convinces him to wear a wire to the meeting. At the plaza, Jesse spots Walt but notices a suspicious man nearby. Believing he's a hitman on behalf of Walt, Jesse leaves and calls Walt from a payphone. However, the man was innocent.
Jesse suggests they need to find Walt's money as evidence. They trick Huell into revealing Walt used a rental van to bury money barrels in the desert. Jesse calls Walt, pretending he found the money and threatens to burn it. Walt rushes to the location, confessing his crimes along the way. When Walt arrives, Hank arrests him as Jesse watches. Walt calls Jesse a "coward" and Jesse spits in his face. On Walt's first orders, Jack Welker's gang arrives and starts shooting. Walt reveals Jesse is hiding under his car and approves of Jack killing him. Todd (Jack's nephew) suggests they interrogate Jesse first. Before they take Jesse away, Walt spitefully tells him he watched Jane die without helping her.
Captivity and Escape[]
Jesse wakes up beaten in a cellar at Jack's compound. Todd forces him to cook meth, showing him a photo of Andrea and Brock as a threat. Jack wants to kill Jesse after finding his confession video to the DEA, but Todd saves him to keep cooking. Jesse steals a paperclip from the photo and escapes his cage, but is caught trying to climb the fence. When Jesse refuses to cook more meth, they take him to Andrea's house. Todd tricks Andrea to the door and shoots her in the head while Jesse watches helplessly from the car. Jack reminds Jesse they can still hurt Brock as a warning. Jesse breaks down completely.
Todd and Kenny supervise Neil as they build Jesse a new cage after his escape attempt. They torment Jesse, though Todd worries Jesse might break his leg and be unable to cook meth for them. Later, Todd takes Jesse to his apartment to help add a canopy to Todd's El Camino. After sending away a nosy neighbor, Todd shows Jesse the body of his cleaning lady Sonia who he killed for finding his drug money hidden in an encyclopedia. Todd explains he needs help disposing of her body and discusses finding a new hiding place for his money. Todd and Jesse bury Sonia's body in the desert. Jesse finds Todd's gun in the glove compartment and considers killing him, but he cannot for Brock's sake, giving Todd the gun back as the latter talks him down and offers pizza. Jesse starts crying and Todd awkwardly tries to comfort him.
Later, Jesse dreams about finishing a wooden box in his high school woodworking class. He enjoys the smell of it before being jolted awake; he's still a prisoner of Jack's gang, cooking meth in their warehouse. Jesse stays in captivity for around six months.
When Walt visits the gang's compound for revenge, Jack has Todd bring out Jesse in handcuffs to prove they aren't partners like he suspected. Walt, seeing Jesse's brutal condition, forgoes his initial plan to kill him out of guilt. He pretends to attack him but secretly activates a remote-controlled machine gun hidden in his car trunk. The gun fires through the walls, killing most of the gang. Todd survives the initial gunfire, but Jesse strangles him to death with his handcuff chain, taking revenge for Todd's murder of Andrea and Drew. After Walt kills Jack, Jesse unlocks his chains and faces Walt, who hands him a gun and asks Jesse to kill him. Jesse refuses to shoot Walt and give him what he wants, and he sees he's already wounded anyway. As they share one final look of bittersweet acknowledgement, Jesse escapes in Todd's El Camino, breaking through the compound gates to freedom, both laughing and crying at his new chance to start over.
After Breaking Bad (El Camino)[]
After escaping the compound, Jesse gets help from Skinny Pete and Badger to hide Todd's El Camino. When Old Joe discovers the car has LoJack tracking, Skinny Pete offers his place to hide it while Jesse takes Badger's car. Jesse goes to Todd's apartment searching for money he knows is hidden there. After searching the apartment, Jesse finds the money inside the refrigerator door. Before he can retrieve it all, two men posing as police officers arrive. Jesse realizes they're just thugs also looking for the money. Neil, one of the men, reluctantly agrees to give Jesse a third of the money. Jesse recognizes Neil as the welder who built his prison harness at the compound.
Jesse meets with Ed Galbraith, the "disappearer," to get a new identity, but he's $1,800 short of the $250,000 needed for his services. After tricking his parents out of their home to collect his father's guns, Jesse confronts Neil at Kandy Welding Co. for the remaining money. Neil challenges Jesse to a duel, but Jesse outdraws and kills him. He also kills Neil's partner Casey in a shootout, takes their money, and blows up the shop to cover his tracks. Jesse pays Ed, who takes him to Alaska to start a new life. During the journey, Jesse remembers Walt encouraging him to pursue college. Ed quizzes Jesse on his new identity as Mr. Driscoll before leaving. Jesse writes a farewell letter to Brock and drives off, recalling Jane's advice about making his own life decisions.
Post-El Camino[]
On November 12, 2010, Francesca tells Saul that only he and Jesse remain of Walt's organization for the DEA to pursue. She mentions that Jesse's car was found near the Mexican border, planted there by Badger as part of their plan, allowing Jesse to escape to Alaska. After Saul's eventual arrest, he initially claims he fled in fear of Jesse and Walt, but later confesses his role in helping build Walt's drug empire. With Saul sentenced to 86 years in prison, Jesse remains the only former member of Walt's organization still at large.