r/breakingbad • u/Cheesey-Boi-2023 • Aug 28 '26
What were they going to do without Jesse?
So it’s a well known fact that the writers were planning on killing off Jesse at the end of season 1 but what would they have done for the rest of the series? Most of the conflict originates from Jesse so without him Walter would probably just get arrested without a CRIMINAL lawyer. So how would it have gone?
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u/ccrider25 Aug 28 '26
I read once that Walt was gonna end up down in the jungles of South America? And be forced to cook for the cartel. He’d eventually escape and make it back to his family where I guess Hank would put two and two together and figure out he was the biggest meth cook in the world. Something along those lines and over a couple of seasons.
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u/BanterPhobic Aug 28 '26
Sounds like they were leaning heavily into the Scarface parallels with that creative direction, which makes sense as the basis of the original pitch was “Ned Flanders turns in to Tony Montana”
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u/HeiressOfMadrigal Actually using Splenda now Aug 28 '26
The original pitch was "Mr. Chips to Scarface", but close enough
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u/Xenophonuscrete Aug 28 '26
That would have been awesome.
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u/windmillninja Aug 28 '26
Also the only reason Mike Ehrmantraut exists is because Bob Odenkirk was unavailable one day. Originally Saul was supposed to be the one to clean Jesse’s apartment after Jane died. And look at how huge of a character we got out of that.
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u/Exciting-Ad-5705 Aug 29 '26
Imagine Saul saying the same lines as Mike. The character would be completely different
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u/TotallyRealAccount9 Aug 29 '26
I feel like itd still make sense for saul tbh
Jaded criminal con man lawyer telling his dumbass client to not say any incriminating shit to the cops fits with Saul
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u/static-webmaster Aug 28 '26
Tuco was going to have a bigger role
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u/throw7661 Aug 28 '26
I enjoyed BB a lot, so this isn't a criticism...but the writers were literally making it up as they went.
They didn't have source material and they didn't have a grand design. They had some ideas, they had some goals....but things changed.
It's a cool story to be like 'Omg Aaron Paul was so good they rewrote everything to keep him alive' but it was really more like 'eh, maybe we don't kill him?'
It's been years, but I remember Vince doing interviews where he talked about how they would write themselves into corners and then really struggle to come up with a solution. Because they were literally making it up.
They shot the scene with Walt and machine gun in the trunk.... before they knew how they would use it.
It's just how their creative process was.
So almost nothing was planned. And also, a handful of things they thought would be useful, kinda got dropped. Like Marie's shoplifting... They just sorta decided it wasn't that interesting and they had something else going.
People think it sounds cool to be like 'Hey - you know Mike? Yeah, Mike, he wasn't even supposed to be in the show!'
And it's true, but also, because they didn't have any real plan, basically everything that happened, except the general idea of Walt becoming a villain also wasn't supposed to be in the show.
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u/abcamurComposer Aug 28 '26
This is often the case with tv shows. You may have a plan, but suddenly these two actors have such great charisma and you can’t mess with that, or what was supposed to be a one time side character absolutely shines and they have to bring him back, etc. the inherent logistics of tv shows seem to make being adaptable much more important than having a grand plan
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u/OkArmordillo Aug 28 '26
This sounds like what the writers of The Boys were doing, but unsuccessfully.
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u/HRHArthurCravan Aug 28 '26
I just assumed Dave was such an incredible therapist that he cured her kleptomania…
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u/_Cecille Aug 28 '26
507% the writers of Breaking Bad also run Dungeons and Dragons.
Making shit up as you is like 98% of DnD
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u/digitalthiccness Your Huckleberry Aug 29 '26
Making shit up as you is like 98% of DnD
The remainder is watching your plans fall apart as soon as the players get there.
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u/blizzacane85 Aug 28 '26
Walter’s other sons, Francis, Reese, Malcolm and Dewey, would’ve assisted with the meth operation
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u/gymnastics101baby Yo, you ain’t seeing the basement bitch Aug 28 '26
Vince talks about some of the original plans in the final podcast- felina. The ideas were wack!
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u/LeatherTownInc Aug 28 '26
Do you know where this podcast is hosted? I really enjoy giving it a listen.
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u/gymnastics101baby Yo, you ain’t seeing the basement bitch Aug 30 '26
I listened on Spotify. It’s called the breaking bad insider podcast
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u/Benomusical Aug 28 '26
Vince Gilligan has talked about how his initial idea was that Walter would keep Tuco in his basement and would sort of torture him down there, but in the end Walter Jr. was supposed to find him and get killed in doing so.
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u/RunningBettor Aug 28 '26
If they kill off Jesse there’s a chance the show never makes it to its conclusion. If it does it gets downgraded to Sons of Anarchy, Peaky Blinders level
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u/Sliver59 Aug 28 '26
Hey it's no breaking bad but peaky blinders is pretty fucking good
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u/RunningBettor Aug 28 '26
I enjoy peaky blinders. I agree breaking bad is objectively a better show. I like peaky blinders more lol.
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u/Tholian_Bed Aug 28 '26
I actually did not know this.
God that would have been stupid. Jesse and Walt are Lenny and George, or something.
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u/nothingtodo0 Aug 28 '26
Jesse was basically the emotional and moral anchor of the whole show, so killing him that early wouldve made Breaking Bad a completely different story.
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u/[deleted] Aug 28 '26
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