Breaking Bad: How “Bad” Guys Come of Age

 CAUTION !!!!!!!!!!!! SPOILERS

How do we define a successful coming of age as opposed to an unsuccessful one, and can it be defined solely by measures such as morality, growth, and independence? The troubled life of Jesse Pinkman, one of the hit show Breaking Bad’s two main protagonists, brings many of these questions to the table. Breaking Bad tells the story of how Jesse and Walter White rise to the top of the meth business. At the beginning, Jesse is portrayed as an immoral, drug addict and dealer whereas Walter is a smart, moral man who wants to cook meth to pay for his bills and family’s future in light of his lung cancer diagnosis. 

Throughout the five seasons, Jesse and Walter seem to switch roles, becoming the hero and antihero respectively. Walter becomes corrupted by the drug business while Jesse persistently tries to uphold morality. Jesse and Walter’s partnership changes both of their lives drastically. Jesse’s journey is a sad one: we see him grow out of his carefree, child-at-heart nature as he battles with drug addiction which leads him to face even more extremely harsh realities of the adult world, including further estrangement from his family and the loss of loved ones.

Drug addiction is the most integral part to Jesse’s story. With Walter, Jesse learns to create even purer, and thus more addictive meth, than ever before. He struggles with addiction on and off throughout the show. Jesse’s estrangement from his parents is one of the integral ways his struggle affects him. When Jesse’s parents catch him cooking meth in his late aunt’s basement where he lives, they kick him out. Later on, they cut off full contact after Jesse takes the fall for his 14 year old brother, whose joint their parents found. Jesse’s family situation presents to viewers a very sad irony in that his struggle with drugs, one of the worst vices of the adult world, is what causes his independence to be so absolute and difficult. In a sense, he’s been dragged further into “adulthood” as he’s forced to confront his struggles alone, without the support of his parents. 

Jesse also loses several people close to him as a result of his addiction and involvement in the meth business. His close friend Combo is shot while selling meth on a corner outside of their territory, which throws Jesse into a deep depression. Jesse’s depression leads him and his then girlfriend, Jane, to use meth and even heroin. Jane was someone who reignited Jesse’s real passion in life, art, which was somewhat stolen from his long battle with addiction. Unfortunately, Jane overdoses and dies in the night. Her death is a breaking point for him and he ends up in rehab. When he gets out, he gives Walter a piece of advice, saying, “You either run from things or you face them, Mr. White.” When asked what it means, Jesse says, “I learned it in rehab. It's all about accepting who you really are. I accept who I am” and explains that he’s “the bad guy” (“No Más”). In effect, he’s accepted the harsh realities of the world and the fact that his actions make him the bad guy at the end of the day. Despite the fact he’s now the self-proclaimed “bad guy”, Jesse still tries his hardest to be moral in the small ways he can. Throughout the show, Jesse tries the best he can to protect the innocent, specifically children.

At the end of his story, Jesse is no longer the carefree part-time drug dealer and user he once was: he’s a hardened, yet moral criminal. Jesse is an example of how “bad guys” come of age. His bad behavior slowly culminates into outright immorality, which is detrimental to his inherent sense of morality. Through his journey, he humanizes the struggle many have with the American brand of adulthood, especially that of addiction and the fight to overcome hardship on one’s own. All in all, Jesse teaches us that even a “bad guy” can be good.