Random Things About Jane From ‘Breaking Bad’ (13 items)

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  (#1) Jane Was A Recovering Addict Who Had Her Life Back Together

  Breaking Bad viewers are first introduced to Jane Margolis (Krysten Ritter) in Season 2's fifth episode, "Breakage." She is a beautiful 26-year-old who serves as the landlord in a small duplex apartment building owned by her father. She rents out her vacant next-door apartment to Jesse (Aaron Paul), whose parents have just kicked him out of the house.

  The morning after Jesse and Jane hook up for the first time, Jesse asks her about smoking pot. Jane's reaction is to leap 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 seems dedicated to rebuilding her life.
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  (#2) She Is Initially Strong And In-Command, If A Little Lonely

  Having been kicked out of his parents' house, Jesse is desperate for a place to live. He approaches Jane about the vacant apartment, but she needs proof of employment and a former address. Jane comes off as a strong, independent character, but she also sympathizes with Jesse's dire situation. Showing that she can be empathetic without being a total pushover, she leases Jesse the unit after raising the rent $100 per 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."

  Sure, Jane comes off as a tough, no-nonsense person, but there's a desperate sadness to her. She has built walls around her and does not appear to have many close friends in her life. Her father warned her against renting out the apartment to people like Jesse. But perhaps the prospect of having someone her own age around forced her to go against her better judgment. Unfortunately, this simple decision would ultimately lead to her tragic demise.
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  (#3) A Portrait Of Poet And Artist Elizabeth Bishop Hangs In Jane's Duplex

  Jane's grieving father Donald Margolis (John de Lancie) had the painful task of choosing which dress to bury his daughter in. In the Season 2 finale, "ABQ," after Donald picks out a dress, the camera lingers on a black-and-white portrait of American painter and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Elizabeth Bishop. Why Bishop? The acclaimed artist happens to be Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan's favorite poet.

  However, the portrait also helps paint a picture of who Jane really was. There are no pictures in her apartment of family or friends. Bishop, like Jane, was an outsider. She had a rough start in life; her father perished when she was just 8 months old. Her mother was mentally ill and had to be institutionalized when Bishop was just 5 years old. Meanwhile, Jane's relationship with her father - a concerned dad desperately trying to keep his daughter alive - was long fractured.

  Claudia Roth Pierpont wrote in The New Yorker that Bishop's work was "remarkably honest and courageous." The artist was clearly an important figure in Jane's life. Bishop's oeuvre rarely depicted any details about her own private life. She remained guarded and discreet throughout her work. Instead, she focused on themes of social isolation, the impermanence of life, and the human condition. 

  Jane clearly aspired to be an artist. She loved Georgia O'Keefe and made money working as a tattoo artist. Unfortunately, her dreams never got a fair shake, as her creative aspirations could not usurp her dependency issues. 

  Using the "Jane Margolis" Twitter account @JaneMargolisABQ, she tweeted on October 2, 2014 (several years after Jane's demise): "Elizabeth Bishop is my favorite #NationalPoetryDay #BreakingBad"
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  (#4) When Jesse Walks Into Her Life, She Falls In Love Fast

  Jane may have built walls around her heart, but that doesn't mean she's not capable of love. It becomes clear to her that Jesse is involved in some kind of illicit activity. However, she tells him she doesn't care, just as long as he keeps his "business" off-premises.

  In the seventh episode of Season 2, "Negro y Azul," Jesse is going through a lot of turmoil in his business with Walter White. After witnessing an ATM fatally crush a man to cap off an already horrific day in a suburban drug den - the worst part of which is the neglected, malnourished toddler Jesse feels compelled to protect - Jesse becomes so distraught that he's unable to leave his apartment.

  Jesse and Jane are outside smoking when Jesse invites her inside to see his new television. These two broken people plop down on lawn chairs in the middle of an otherwise barren living room; there's no satellite signal on the TV yet, but they sit and watch anyway. Jesse is uncomfortable until Jane tenderly reaches out and takes his hand. The pair fall into an intimate relationship, and it isn't long before they fall in love. Jane falls hard.
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  (#5) She Understandably Lies To Her Dad About Jesse, Leading To Her Apology Girl Sketch

  In the Season 2 installment "Over," Jesse and Jane have settled into a steady relationship. At the beginning of the episode, Jesse cooks up a breakfast of huevos rancheros and the loving couple lie in bed together on a lazy day. Jane is flipping through a book of Jesse's superhero drawings - all of which sort of look like him - when she hears a knock on her apartment door.

  She leaps from the bed, sneaks out the back, and stealthily works her way back to her own apartment. The knock is from her father/landlord, Donald, who's in a state of constant concern over his daughter's past dependency issues. It's an uncomfortable moment when Jesse walks out of his place to introduce himself to Jane's dad. She panics and breaks Jesse's heart when she introduces him as just "the new tenant" and not her new boyfriend.

  Jesse later tells Jane how angry he is about the introduction, but Jane doesn't back down. She claims she was trying to protect him, and that she can't tell her perpetually worried father that she's hooking up with someone like Jesse. 

  Jesse drowns his sorrows in crystal. A piece of paper works its way under his door. Jane has drawn a self-portrait sketch of a female superhero named "Apology Girl." It's a gesture that not only makes Jesse happy but also shows that Jane can recognize and atone for her mistakes.
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  (#6) Because Jesse Doesn't Get The Help He Needs, He Reintroduces Narcotics Into Jane's Life

  In Season 2, Episode 11, "Mandala," the inevitable finally happens. Jesse is grieving his friend Combo's (Rodney Rush) demise. He feels responsible because Combo was out selling Jesse and Walt's product in new territory when he was taken out by rival dealers. As usual, Jesse carries all the guilt, even though the blame for the new location falls on Walt. 

  Jesse is despondent and won't let Jane help him. His escape, not surprisingly, is crystal. He asks Jane to leave - the last thing he wants is to be responsible for her relapse. But Jane makes the decision to stay and smoke with Jesse. It's her way of trying to make her boyfriend feel better. This is the moment their relationship takes a fatal turn.
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  (#7) Jane Begins Using Again, And Introduces Heroin To Jesse

  Toward the end of "Mandala," the whole game changes for Jane and Jesse. Jane has once again found her taste for H, completely leaving her sobriety behind.

  Jesse is still despondent over Combo's passing. Jane presents a pair of hypodermic needles. She adeptly concocts a speedball, mixing crystal and heroin. Jesse injects it - his first time with H - and the high is instant and intense. He euphorically floats up, up, and away, the narcotic consuming his body.

  At this point, there's no turning back.
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  (#8) Jane Shoots Between Her Toes To Hide Her Relapse

  Reddit user u/KittyMuffins noted in the sub-reddit r/TVDetails that Jane shoots into her foot (possibly around her ankle). This is to hide the needle marks from prying eyes, particularly her father's. Jane's secrecy in this moment reveals both her past behaviors and an attempt to conceal this relapse from her father; she knows it is wrong, but she cannot help herself.
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  (#9) Because She Loves Jesse, Jane Helps Him Blackmail Walt For His Share Of The Profits

  Once they've officially gotten high together, Jesse and Jane are all in. Jesse is so strung out one night that he doesn't hear Walt banging at his front door. Walt needs the stashed crystal in Jesse's apartment for a deal with kingpin Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). Walt breaks in to try and find it. When Jesse finally wakes up, he thinks an intruder has taken the stuff. Due to Jesse's inability to wake up, Walt winds up missing the birth of his daughter.

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

  Of course, Jesse still wants his cut of the money, which comes in at a hefty $480,000. Walt refuses to give it to him - namely because Jesse nearly sabotaged the deal in the first place. And Walt is rightly concerned that his partner in crime, with access to that much cash, will wind up on the road to permanent destruction.

  The following day, Jane's dad sees the paraphernalia littering Jesse's apartment. Donald has been aggressively trying to keep his daughter clean for over a decade. He threatens to call the cops. But Jane promises him, pleads with him, that she will enter treatment the following day. It's a big lie. Jane calls Walt to get Jesse's half of the money. When Walt refuses, Jane resorts to new methods. She tells him she knows everything about his life, from his job as a high school chemistry teacher, to his family, to the details of his business: "This is blackmail, Do right by Jesse. Tonight. Or I will burn you to the ground."

  At this point, Jane is ostensibly in charge of Jesse. He didn't want to strong-arm Walt. Even still, Walt hands off Jesse's money to Jane that same day. She even goes so far as to further threaten Walt, warning him that he can never be completely sure she won't one day tell the authorities. 

  Jane's scheme shows the sinister, manipulative side of her character. However, it's also obvious that this is simply the version of her when she's off the wagon. Walt sees Jane as a permanent liability who knows too much.
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  (#10) She Naively Believes They Can Get Clean, Run Away With The Money, And Start A New Life

  With nearly half a million dollars in hand, Jesse and Jane dream of all the places to which they can escape. They don't have to be two junkies in Albuquerque anymore. They can be whomever they want, and go wherever they please.

  Jesse: "Right? Like, you can paint, like, the local castles and sh*t. 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 has had this fantasy before. She wants to escape from her controlling dad and leave behind his constant judgment. Jane's dreams are tragically sad. She's desperate to be something other than a junkie. She convinces herself that with the money, they can both get clean and find some utopian existence.

  But utopia does not exist. Her dreams are the desperate delusions of a young woman lost in a prison of addiction.
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  (#11) Walt Ultimately Lets Jane Perish After Sneaking Into Her Duplex

  In Season 2's penultimate episode, "Phoenix," Walt goes to a bar and strikes up a conversation with a man who - unbeknownst to him - is none other than Jane's dad, Donald. Walt finds himself confiding in this stranger, telling him about his "nephew" who is in trouble. Donald tells Walt he can never give up on family. It's enough of a sentiment to bring Walt back to Jesse's apartment, convinced he can help him with his habit. 

  Walt lets himself into Jesse's apartment to find that both him and Jane are passed out on the bed. Paraphernalia is scattered around them. He tries to wake Jesse up, as Jane falls onto her back. She starts to throw up and begins to choke, all while remaining unconscious.

  At first, Walt looks like he is going to help her. Then, he reconsiders. We can see the wheels turning in his head: With Jane out of the picture, Walt can get Jesse back on board with his burgeoning empire. He can also use Jane's tragedy as a way to get Jesse clean. In any case, it's clear to Walt that Jane knows too much about his business anyway. She is, unequivocally, a threat.

  As Jane struggles to breathe, Walt chooses to do nothing. He lets her choke on her own vomit and perish. It's the exact moment in which Walter White officially transforms from a mild-mannered, terminally ill chemistry teacher who only cooks crystal to leave money for his family, to Kingpin Heisenberg. The Mr. Chips-to-Scarface transformation has officially commenced.

  There were a million ways Breaking Bad's writers could have gotten rid of Jane. Vince Gilligan acknowledged both the horror and necessity of the scene. He explained: 

  Because, for my money, what takes the cake for being an evil moment was that scene. This was a young girl who did not, in my opinion, deserve that awful fate. Walter standing passively by and letting it happen feels more monstrous in a way. Whether or not it's more shocking, it feels more monstrous.

  In fact, the scene was so emotional for Bryan Cranston that it made him weep:

  Even as I say it now, I get a little choked up about it because as a parent, that's the only thing that scares me. That's the risk - there's my daughter choking to death and it scared the hell out of me...  Once they called cut, "Everyone's going, that's great." And I'm a weeping mess. Fortunately, you have your family around you, and I went to Anna Gunn and she held me.

  Adding even more sorrow to Jane's demise is that it took place on Valentine's Day.
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  (#12) Jane's Demise Leads To A Midair Collision And Jesse's Downward Spiral

  In the Season 2 finale, "ABQ," the audience finally finds out why that one-eyed pink teddy bear was floating in Walt's pool: It's a scorched remnant from a midair plane collision. 

  How could two planes possibly collide in midair? Here's how: Several weeks after Jane's passing, her distraught father Donald - an air traffic controller - returns to work. Still distracted by his grief, he makes the fatal mistake of calling a plane named JM21 "Jane Mike Two One" when he should have said, "Juliet Mike Two One." He realizes his grave error and attempts to correct himself, but it's too late. 

  The 737 commercial airliner Wayfarer 515 hits another plane in the air space above Walt's house in Albuquerque. The result of Donald's mistake - caused, indirectly yet inextricably, by Walt - is 167 casualties. 

  The dual incidents ultimately lead to Jesse's reckless delve back into his own habit. His intense grief over Jane is amplified because he feels responsible for her loss. Walt finds Jesse in a rundown drug den. He sobs to Walt, "I killed her. I loved her more than anything."

  In the Season 3 finale, "Full Measure," Walt uses his manipulative ways to convince Jesse that Gus Fring's chemist Gale (David Costabile) has to be eliminated. Jesse may have been a dealer and a user, but he was never violent. However, by that point, Walt is the only person left in Jesse's life - and he remains something of a father figure.

  Jesse walks into Gale's apartment with a loaded side arm. He looks the chemist square in the eyes. Jesse's hands shake, his eyes gush with heavy tears. Then, he pulls the trigger and shoots Gale in the face. It's a soul-crushing, life-changing moment for Jesse Pinkman.
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  (#13) She Gets The Last Word Of Positivity In A Flashback From 'El Camino'

  The long-anticipated Breaking Bad movie El Camino was released on Netflix in 2019. At the end of the film, Jane shows up in a flashback scene that harkens back to the Season 3 episode, "Aliquiu," when Jane and Jesse visited a Georgia O'Keefe museum. It was a good time for the young couple, before their dual backslide into narcotics took over and wrecked their lives.

  The scene is extended in El Camino. Aaron Paul talked about why it was so important for Jane to somehow make an appearance in the movie:

  She was his one true love that gave him probably the best advice that he's ever gotten, and he's holding onto that. When I read that I was just so shocked and pleasantly surprised, and really moved by it.

  In the El Camino extended scene, Jane talks from beyond the grave about the universe: 

  Jesse: "I was thinking about that thing you said about the universe. Going where the universe takes you? Right on. I think it's a cool philosophy."

  Jane: "I was being metaphorical. It's a terrible philosophy. I've gone where the universe takes me my whole life. It's better to make those decisions for yourself."

  El Camino ends with Jesse surviving and somehow escaping to Alaska. He now has a clean slate, away from the harsh world of Walter White's empire. Jesse and Jane once dreamed of getting clean and running away together. Jane's tragic passing prevented them from achieving that dream, but when all is said and done, Jesse finally has a chance at happiness.

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