Remembering Jane, Breaking Bad's Most Tragic Character

Breaking BadViewers meet Jane Margolis (Krysten Ritter) in Season 2, episode "Breakage." Jane, 26, is beautiful and works as a landlord in her father's duplex. She rents her vacant next-door unit to Jesse (Aaron Paul), whose parents just kicked him out.

The day after Jesse and Jane hook up, Jesse asks about pot. Jane jumps out of bed. She tells Jesse she has been clean for over 18 months on her way to recovery. Jane works as a tattoo artist and focuses on rebuilding her life.

Jesse needs a place to live after his parents evicted him. He asks Jane about the vacant apartment, needing proof of work and an old address. Jane appears strong and independent, yet she feels for Jesse's trouble. Jane leases him the unit after charging $100 a month.

Jane:"And in addition to first and last, I want two more months. D.B.A.A. fee, non-refundable."

Jesse:"Yeah, of course. Non-refundable. D.B.A.A. Obviously. Yeah. Alright... so, uh... what's D.B.A.A?"

Jane:"Don't Be An A**hole."

Jane shows toughness and directness, but deep sadness shows. She built walls, keeping few close friends. Her father warned her about renting to people like Jesse. Still, having someone her age nearby made her defy her better judgment. This simple choice led to her tragic end.

Jane's grieving father, Donald Margolis (John de Lancie), chose a dress to bury his daughter in. In the Season 2 finale, "ABQ," after Donald selects a dress,the camera stays ona black-and-white portrait of American painter and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Elizabeth Bishop. Why Bishop? The artist is also Breaking Badcreator Vince Gilligan's favorite poet.

The portrait shows who Jane truly was. Jane has no family or friend pictures in her apartment. Bishop, like Jane, she was an outsiderJane had a rough start. Her father died when she was eight months old. Her mother was mentally ill and needed institutionalization when Bishop was five. Jane's relationship with her father, a concerned dad trying to keep his daughter alive, broke down long ago.

Claudia Roth Pierpont wrote inThe New Yorkerthat Bishop's work shows remarkable honesty and courage. The artist clearly held importance in Jane's life. Bishop rarely wrote about her private life. She stayed guarded and discreet in her writing. Instead, she focused on social isolation, life's fleeting nature, and the human condition.

Jane wanted to be an artist. She loved Georgia O'Keefe and earned money as a tattoo artist. Her dreams failed, though. Her creative goals could not overcome her dependency problems.

Jane Margolis used the "Jane Margolis" Twitter account.@JaneMargolisABQ, she tweeted on October 2, 2014 (years after Jane's death): "Elizabeth Bishop is my favorite #NationalPoetryDay #BreakingBad"

Jane built walls around her heart. That does not mean she cannot love. She sees Jesse is involved in some shady activity. Still, she tells him she does not care, as long as he keeps his "business" away from the premises.

In Season 2 episode "Negro y Azul," Jesse faces major turmoil in his business with Walter White. After watching an ATM kill a man during a horrible day in a drug den, the worst part—Jesse feels forced to protect the neglected, malnourished toddler—leaves him unable to leave his apartment.

Jesse and Jane smoke outside. Jesse invites her in to see his new television. These broken people sit on lawn chairs in a barren living room; the TV has no signal, yet they watch. Jesse feels uneasy until Jane gently takes his hand. They begin an intimate relationship, and they fall in love quickly. Jane falls hard.

In Season 2 episode "Over," Jesse and Jane have a stable relationship. At the start, Jesse cooks huevos rancheros, and the loving couple sleeps in bed. Jane flips through Jesse's superhero drawings, all resembling him, when she hears a knock at her door.

She jumps from the bed, sneaks out the back, and quietly returns to her apartment. The knock comes from her father/landlord, Donald, who constantly worries about his daughter's past dependency issues. Jesse leaving his place to meet Jane's dad creates an awkward moment. She panics and hurts Jesse by calling him just "the new tenant" instead of her new boyfriend.

Jesse later tells Jane he is angry about the introduction. Jane does not back down. She says she tried to protect him and cannot tell her worried father she is hooking up with someone like Jesse.

Jesse drowns in crystal. A note appears under his door. Jane sketches a female superhero named "Apology Girl." This gesture makes Jesse happy and shows Jane recognizes and fixes her mistakes.

In Season 2, Episode 11, "Mandala," the event finally occurs. Jesse grieves friend Combo's (Rodney Rush) death. Jesse feels guilt because Combo sold Jesse and Walt's product in a new area before rival dealers took him out. Jesse carries the guilt, though Walt is to blame for the new spot.

Jesse feels down and won't let Jane help. Jesse escapes with crystal. He tells Jane to leave; he does not want to be responsible for her relapse. Jane decides to stay and smoke with Jesse. She tries to make her boyfriend feel better. This moment shifts their relationship toward disaster.

Toward the end of "Mandala," the game shifts for Jane and Jesse. Jane finds her taste for heroin again, leaving sobriety behind.

Jesse remains down about Combo's death. Jane shows Jesse hypodermic needles. She mixes crystal and heroin into a speedball. Jesse injects it—his first time with H—and the high hits fast and hard. He floats up, away, the drug taking over his body.

At this point, there is no going back.

Reddit user u/KittyMuffinsnotedReddit user u/KittyMuffins noted in r/TVDetails that Jane shoots her foot (perhaps near her ankle). Jane does this to hide needle marks from people watching, especially her father. Jane's secrecy shows past actions and an attempt to hide this relapse from her father; she knows it is wrong, but she cannot stop herself.

After they get high together, Jesse and Jane are involved. Jesse is so high one night he does not hear Walt banging at his door. Walt needs the hidden crystal in Jesse's apartment for a deal with kingpin Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). Walt breaks in seeking it. When Jesse wakes up, he thinks an intruder took the stuff. Because Jesse cannot wake up, Walt misses the birth of his daughter.

In the season's 12th episode, "Phoenix," Walt alone delivers his million dollars' worth of product to Gus. The proud dad then goes to meet his new baby girl, Holly.

Jesse still wants his share of the money, which is $480,000. Walt refuses to give it to him—Jesse nearly ruined the deal to begin with. Walt rightly worries that his partner in crime, with that much cash, will face total ruin.

The next day, Jane's dad saw the junk in Jesse's apartment. Donald had tried hard to keep his daughter clean for over ten years. He threatened to call the police. Jane promised him, pleaded, she would start treatment the next day. That was a lie. Jane called Walt for Jesse's money. Walt refused. Jane used new tactics. She told Walt she knew everything about his life: his job as a high school chemistry teacher, his family, his business details. She said, "This is blackmail, do right by Jesse. Tonight. Or I will burn you to the ground."

Jane now controls Jesse. Jesse did not want to force Walt. Still, Walt gave Jesse's money to Jane that day. She even threatened Walt more, warning him she could tell the police any time.

Jane's plan shows her dark, manipulative side. This is also her when she is off drugs. Walt sees Jane as a lasting problem who knows too much.

With nearly half a million dollars, Jesse and Jane dream of escaping. They do not have to be drug users in Albuquerque anymore. They can be anyone and go anywhere they want.

Jesse:"Right? Like, you can paint the local castles and stuff. And I can be a bush pilot."

Jane:"Yeah. New Zealand. I can get behind that. But I guess I'm good anywhere as long as it's the two of us. But first, we gotta get clean. And not because anybody is telling us to."

Jane had this fantasy before. She wants to leave her controlling dad and escape his constant judgment. Jane's dreams are sad. She wants to be something other than a junkie. She believes the money lets them both get clean and find a perfect life.

Utopia does not exist. Her dreams are the desperate thoughts of a young woman trapped by addiction.

In Season 2's second-to-last episode, "Phoenix," Walt goes to a bar. He talks to a man who is actually Jane's dad, Donald. Walt tells this stranger about his "nephew" who is in trouble. Donald tells Walt he cannot give up on family. This thought brings Walt back to Jesse's apartment, making him think he can help Jesse with his habit.

Walt enters Jesse's apartment. He finds Walt and Jane passed out on the bed. Paraphernalia lies scattered around them. Walt tries to wake Jesse. Jane falls onto her back. She starts throwing up and begins to choke, still unconscious.

Walt first thought he could help Jane. Then, he changed his mind. Walt saw how Jane leaving let him bring Jesse back into his growing business. He could also use Jane's death to clean up Jesse. Walt understood Jane knew too much about his business. She was a threat.

As Jane struggled to breathe, Walt chose to do nothing. He let herWalt choked on his own vomit.and die. This moment officially changed Walter White. He went from a mild-mannered chemistry teacher cooking crystal to Kingpin Heisenberg. The Mr. Chips-to-Scarface shift started.

Walt had a million optionsBreaking Bad.Writers could have removed Jane. Vince Gilligan accepted the horror and the need for that scene.He explained.:

The scene was the worst evil moment. This young girl did not deserve that awful end. Walter standing by and letting it happen feels more monstrous. It feels more monstrous, whether it shocks or not.

The scene was soBryan Cranston's performance was emotional.that he cried:

I still get choked up about it. As a parent, that scares me most. That is the risk—my daughter choking to death scared me. After they called cut, everyone said, "That's great." I was a mess. Luckily, my family was there, and Anna Gunn held me.

Jane's death took place on Valentine's Day, adding sorrow to her passing.This happened on Valentine's Day..

In the Season 2 finale, "ABQ," the audience learned why the one-eyed pink teddy bear floated in Walt's pool: It was a scorched piece from a midair plane crash.

How could two planes crash midair? Here is how: Weeks after Jane died, her upset father Donald, an air traffic controller, returned to work. Still sad, he made the fatal error of calling a plane JM21 "Jane Mike Two One" instead of "Juliet Mike Two One." He saw his mistake and tried to fix it, but it was too late.

The 737 commercial airliner Wayfarer 515 hit another plane over Walt's Albuquerque house. Donald's mistake—caused by Walt—resulted in 167 deaths.

These two events pushed Jesse back into his drug habit. His intense grief for Jane grew because he felt responsible for her death. Walt found Jesse in a drug den. Jesse sobbed to Walt, "I killed her. I loved her more than anything."

In the Season 3 finale, "Full Measure," Walt used his manipulation to tell Jesse Gus Fring's chemist Gale (David Costabile) needed to go. Jesse might have dealt and used drugs, but he never used violence. Walt became Jesse's only connection then; he acted like a father.

Jesse walked into Gale's apartment with a loaded gun. Jesse stared at the chemist. Jesse's hands shook; heavy tears filled his eyes. Then, he pulled the trigger and shot Gale in the face. This moment changed Jesse Pinkman's life.

The long-awaitedBreaking BadmovieEl CaminoNetflix released the movie in 2019. At the film's end, Jane appears in a flashback scene from the Season 3 episode, "Aliquiu," where Jane and Jesse visited a Georgia O'Keefe museum. The young couple had a good time then, before drug use took over and ruined their lives.

The scene extends inEl Camino. Aaron Paulspoke aboutwhy Jane needed to appear in the movie:

She was his one true love; she gave him the best advice he ever got, and he still holds onto that. Reading that shocked and pleasantly surprised him; it moved him.

In theEl Caminoextended scene, Jane talks from beyond death about the universe:

Jesse:"I thought about that thing you said about the universe. Going where the universe takes you? Right. I think it's a cool idea."

Jane:"I was being metaphorical. It's a bad philosophy. I went where the universe took me my whole life. Make those choices for yourself."

El CaminoJesse survives and escapes to Alaska. He now has a clean start, far from Walter White's empire. Jesse and Jane once wanted to get clean andrun away together. Jane's death stopped them from reaching that goal. Still, Jesse finally gets a chance at happiness.