Anna Daniels
When people wonder why Breaking Bad killed off Jane, they’re really asking why Walt let her die. Gilligan says he hopes everyone has their own theory, because the fun of putting a show into the world is that viewers interpret it in unique ways (Luckily for those who hate ambiguity, we finally understand the ending of Breaking Bad). He’s also, however, shared his personal reasoning.
Firstly, Jane was a threat to Walt. Jesse’s heroin addiction, which Walt blamed on Jane, had almost cost the meth-making pair a lucrative deal with Gus (Giancarlo Esposito). On an even more personal level, Jane had blackmailed Walt into paying Jesse his share of their money by threatening to reveal his double life. “I think it’s self-preservation … she threatened to expose him,” Gilligan said.
Gilligan felt that was just a small fraction, however, of Walt’s reasoning behind letting Jane die. “I think it was three-quarters saving Jesse,” he said. He clarified this theory further in a Variety interview, crediting his girlfriend, Holly Rice, for the insight. “She said, ‘Well he had to do it … he loves Jesse, he doesn’t love Jane … Jesse is going to die from heroin sooner or later if something big doesn’t change here.'”
Cranston also felt that Walt’s reasoning came from concern for Jesse. He summarized Walt’s mindset as, “She’s a junkie, she’s got Jesse on heroin, she’ll kill him … it’s better if I don’t do anything [to help].”
Written by: Looper
