Breaking Bad: 10 Unpopular Opinions About Jesse Pinkman, According To Reddit

The majority of Breaking Bad fans are content with the decisions that characters made and how things turned out for them. However, from time to time, unpopular opinions pop up about a variety of issues. There are those who feel that Walt should have taken Elliot’s job offer or that Gus should have never agreed to work with Walt.

One of the most commonly discussed characters on Reddit is Jesse Pinkman. To a few fans, the meth cook and distributor needed a tweak or two to be perfect. To others, he was completely unimpressive. While some of the opinions are compelling, they are unlikely to be generally accepted by the majority of the show’s followers.

Jesse Didn’t Need Skinny Pete And Badger

Skinny Pete and Badger had one of the greatest bromances on the show. Jesse could count on them for anything but user Glosparty998 argues that they held him back and prevented him from evolving beyond his “street mentality.”

Skinny Pete and Badger could be described as “too street” but they had important contributions. The two were responsible for the baby steps in Walt and Jesse’s growing drug empire hence it would have been unfair to discard them. If it wasn’t for Skinny Pete’s prison connections, Walt and Jesse would have never met Tuco, marking their first major drug deal. And if it wasn’t for Badger, the cooking duo would have never met Saul, and eventually Gus.

Jesse Was Better Off With Jane Than With Andrea

There are many reasons why Jesse was better off with Andrea than Jane. However, Reddit user karlamaye suggests that Jane would have been the better long-term partner for Jesse because she was more like him. The user argues that Jesse wouldn’t have been happy with Andrea because his trade wouldn’t have allowed him to be a proper family man.

It’s highly unlikely that Jane would have been a better long-term partner for Jesse since the two were quickly spiraling out of control. They were both sinking deeper and deeper into drug use and Gus could have been forced to take action to protect his own interests. Andrea’s personality meant she could never have tolerated regressive habits and this would have forced Jesse to change.

Jesse’s Parents Treated Him Unfairly

Jesse’s parents saw him as nothing but a disappointment. After learning that he was using the basement of his house to cook meth, they kicked him out and rarely communicated with him either. But according to 1openeye, Jesse’s parents were too mean.

It’s true that Jesse’s parents were quite cold but it wasn’t unreasonable for them to act the way they did. Jesse had never stopped creating problems for them ever since he was little. Any attempts to make him change also failed. They figured kicking him out of the house would make him more responsible but he still worsened the relationship by tricking them into handing it over back to him.

Jesse Should Have Rejected Walter White’s First Offer

According to PiperBlue8765, Jesse made a mistake by even listening to Walt the first time around. He should have totally refused to work for him and continued being the low-level dealer known as Cap’n Cook.

While it’s true that Jesse’s life became a lot more complicated when he teamed up with Walt, choosing to remain Cap’n Cook wouldn’t have been great for him either. The DEA was already tracking him down, which meant it would only be a matter of time before he was behind bars. He would also have continued making an inferior product all his life, hence never amounting to much.

A Different Actor Should Have Played Jesse

Aaron Paul will forever be known as the actor who played Jesse Pinkman. As good as he was, not everyone was a fan of his performance, including paulbonerville, who thinks someone else would have done a better job.

Paul is the only actor to win the Emmy for “Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series” three different times. This is proof that he was the best person for the role. Most viewers wouldn’t imagine someone else playing Jesse Pinkman as Paul brought out the character’s emotions and recklessness too well.

Jesse Was A Hero

Reddit user OuchKeys makes a not-so-convincing case for Jesse being the hero of the show. He was willing to help Hank arrest Walt and also gave away his hard-earned drug money. He also suffered a lot as many heroes do. Proof of how unpopular the user’s comment is can be seen on the thread that follows. Fellow users clarify that Jesse is a tragic character, not a hero.

In fact, Breaking Bad hardly had any heroes. The only character that came close to being a hero was Hank as a law enforcement officer who almost managed to take down America’s greatest meth cook. As for Jesse, he distributed meth for years, watched people get killed without saying a thing, and committed plenty of felonies, so he was hardly a hero.

Jesse Should Have Been The Lead Character

Breaking Bad was literally the “Walter White Show” but a section of fans never found him appealing as the lead character. LPJocker8373 is one of the fans who feel Jesse should have had all the spotlight.

If that was the case, the show would have needed a different name since it’s Walt that broke bad, morphing from a chemistry teacher to a drug lord. Jesse remained troublesome for most of his life. Plenty of other things made Walter White perfect as the lead character like his intelligence, his ambition, and his ailment. Jesse lacked all of these. Moreso, Jesse got to be the lead in El Camino so it’s a win-win.

Jesse Should Have Been Killed Off In Season 1

Vince Gilligan once revealed that one of the show’s early pitches included Jesse’s death in Season 1. According to user PrestonPohl23, this was an idea that should have been executed. The user honestly states that they were wishing for Jesse to die.

An alternative world where Jesse wasn’t around to deal with the likes of Gus Fring, Saul, and Mike could have been good too. Someone else might have filled the void but it’s hard to tell. Most of the show’s fans wouldn’t be on board with the suggestion of Breaking Bad existing without a character that was embedded into most of its storylines.

Jesse Should Have Had An Affair With Skyler

Quite a bold suggestion by Juanea, who feels that Jesse and Skyler would have made for an interesting “affair” tale. Paylo34 adds that this could have been more interesting than Skyler’s affair with Ted Beneke.

Skyler and Jesse hardly liked each other and barely interacted, hence an affair might have meant sacrificing other key stories. Skyler had also made it clear how much she detested Jesse. No matter how much she sought to punish Walt, Jesse was unlikely to be the man she’d turn to. Jesse didn’t seem to be the kind of Lothario that would effortlessly seduce and sleep with Walt’s wife.

Jesse Should Have Killed Walt

Jesse killing Walt would have been a great ending for the show. That’s the opinion of user Nastromo246 who figures the junior meth cook had plenty of justification for killing his mentor, especially when he poisoned Brock.

This would never have been an easy decision given the history the two shared. Even though Walt and Jesse disagreed frequently, they truly loved each other. Jesse wasn’t the type to murder someone without batting an eyelid either considering how Gale’s death deeply affected him yet he wasn’t even close to the man. It was highly unlikely that he’d all himself to feel the same way again.