Jesse Pinkman's story will continue in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, with one of the big question marks over whether the film will kill him off or not. Written and directed by series creator Vince Gilligan, the Breaking Bad movie has been shrouded in secrecy ahead of its Netflix debut on October 11, 2019, with the trailers giving very little away so far.
What we do know is that El Camino picks up shortly after the Breaking Bad finale, in which Jesse was seen speeding away in the movie's titular car, having been finally freed from his captivity. Aaron Paul is back in the role that made him famous, while a number of other Breaking Bad characters are set to return as well, including Jesse's two old friends, Skinny Pete & Badger (Charles Baker and Matt L. Jones, respectively).
Since this is taking place moments after "Felina", we're not going to see Jesse in a good way. He's going to be physically and psychologically scarred from what he suffered at the hands of Jack and his gang, and on top of that is a wanted man as the only survivor from a crime scene where multiple people were killed. It's going to be tough going for Jesse in the Breaking Bad movie, but does that mean he's in for a very unhappy, final ending? Anything is possible with Vince Gilligan, but the evidence suggests that Jesse won't die in El Camino.
Vince Gilligan Rejected Killing Jesse In Breaking Bad - Twice
Bryan Cranston's Walter White was the main character of the show, but Paul's Jesse Pinkman became just as important over the course of Breaking Bad's epic five-season run. He may not have had the same towering downfall as his (literal) partner in crime, but he nonetheless had a complex arc and, where Walt become increasingly difficult to root for, Jesse always remained someone audiences wanted to see succeed and get out of the drug game. However, it wasn't always supposed to be that way, as the original plan was for Jesse to die in Breaking Bad's very first season.
The initial idea was that Jesse was going to die, in quite horrible fashion, in a botched drug deal at the end of season 1. The thinking behind it was that it'd plague Walt with guilt and make him feel terrible over the loss of Jesse, making him question what he was doing. However, Paul was so good in the role, and in particular his chemistry (no pun intended) with Cranston so strong, that it quickly became evident killing him off would be a mistake. Jesse instead survived beyond the end of Breaking Bad's debut run, and the rest became TV history, with Paul winning three Emmy awards in the process.
Still, Jesse could have died at the end. Heading into the Breaking Bad series finale, his fate, like Walt's, was very much uncertain to fans, and it wouldn't have been unfeasible for him to have been killed off then. Obviously, he wasn't, and the thinking behind that provides some interesting context as we approach El Camino. Speaking to EW after the finale, Gilligan said: "In every which way, he’s just been paying the piper, and we just figured it felt right for him to get away. It would have been such a bummer for us, as the first fans of the show, for Jesse to have to pay with his life ultimately." If that was the case then, has anything changed in the past six years to make Gilligan plot a different ending for Jesse? Perhaps, but it sounds unlikely.
Gilligan's Post-Breaking Bad Comments Suggest Jesse Lives
Although Vince Gilligan kept the Breaking Bad movie a secret for as long as possible, he has previously spoken openly about Jesse's fate and what might have awaited him at the end of the road. That hasn't always been good news, because Gilligan has previously suggested that Jesse would soon be captured after the events of the Breaking Bad finale. Based on what we've seen from El Camino so far, that is very much a possibility, but there's a difference between being captured and being killed.
While the idea of Jesse being collared for what happened is something Gilligan has mooted, he's also expressed a desire for a much happier ending for the character. The script for Breaking Bad's finale has this to say about that last shot of Jesse and where he may be headed: "From here on, it’s up to us to say where he’s headed. I like to call it ‘something better' and leave it at that."
Speaking with EW, Gilligan said: "I prefer to believe that he got away..." He echoed those same sentiments in a Reddit AMA, where he responded to a question about whether Jesse ends up happy by saying: "I really believe so. In my mind, yes. Don't take that as gospel, just take that as what I personally want to believe." Gilligan may say not to take that as gospel but, when it comes to Breaking Bad, that's really what his word is. He created and ended the series, and is the one who has decided to continue Jesse's story now. If he not only didn't want Jesse to die, but also believed that it wasn't the right ending for him, then the odds are he's not going back on that now.
The El Camino Betting Odds Favor Jesse's Survival
Speaking of odds, when it comes to betting, they're very much in Jesse's favor. A number of prop bets were made available by BetOnline for the Breaking Bad movie, and the odds suggest Jesse will survive El Camino. For the question "Will Jesse Pinkman Die?" it was 2/3 for no, and 11/10 for yes. That's relatively close and far from conclusive, but it is nonetheless a good indicator for Jesse's survival as we head into El Camino.
While there isn't any evidence that these odds come from any sort of insider knowledge, it's worth remembering that bookmakers often get things right. Long before Game of Thrones season 8 aired, for example, Bran Stark was the favorite to be the King by the end. That could have come from the leaks or some other area, but that point remains that it's worth listening to what they're saying because the house doesn't lose. If they're saying Jesse lives, then there might well be something in it. Of course, we won't know Jesse's fate until the Breaking Bad movie releases, but based on the odds, previous comments, and the fact that it makes more sense to bring Jesse back to give him a true happy ending than it does kill him off, the signs point to him living, thankfully.