Did Breaking Bad's Walter White truly care for Jesse Pinkman? Explained

The Breaking Bad universe officially came to an end with the finale of Better Call Saul, which aired on August 15, 2022. Until and unless Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould have a change of heart, there is no chance fans are going to witness a new show or another spinoff of the iconic franchise. Even though Breaking Bad's last episode aired a decade ago, there are some lingering questions that remain unanswered. One of them is: did Walter White, aka Heisenberg, truly care for his partner in crime, Jesse Pinkman?

However, the answer is both, yes and no.

Breaking Bad starred Bryan Cranston as Walter White, Anna Gunn as Skyler White, Dean Norris as Hank Schrader, Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman, Betsy Brandt as Marie Schrader, RJ Mitte as Walter White Jr., Giancarlo Esposito as Gustavo "Gus" Fring, Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman, Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut, and several others.

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Breaking Bad on AMC: Walter White cared for Jesse Pinkman, but he cared about himself more

The dynamics between Walter White and Jesse Pinkman's relationship were truly unique. They stumbled into each other in unconventional circumstances and bonded over something that is illegal all over the globe: the production of methamphetamine (a dangerous drug). Jesse was in fact Walter's former student, and together, they ended up creating a well-oiled business and earning millions and millions of dollars.

However, people often believe that White didn't really care about Jesse. They think that the latter was a greedy and selfish individual who carefully manipulated the latter according to his own will. Even though this popular belief is hard to argue with, there were instances when the chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin truly showed affection for his partner.

After Jane OD'd, Jesse was abusing drugs. He was living with a couple of junkies, and that's when and where Walter found him in a terrible condition. Jesse got emotional and cried in the arms of his former chemistry teacher. Furthermore, Walter even affectionately called him "son". Fans even noticed that the duo formed a bond when they were at work, almost replicating a father-son relationship.

It can also be said that Walter White Jr. was Walter White's son, but Heisenberg's son was Jesse Pinkman. Fans often forget that the meth cooks often shared some wholesome moments together because things got very ugly between them in the later seasons.

At the end of the day, while he did care for Jesse in a weird and twisted way, he always put himself and his family ahead of his partner.

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Breaking Bad synopsis

According to Rotten Tomatoes, the synopsis of Breaking Bad reads,

"Mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher Walter White thinks his life can't get much worse. His salary barely makes ends meet, a situation not likely to improve once his pregnant wife gives birth, and their teenage son is battling cerebral palsy. But Walter is dumbstruck when he learns he has terminal cancer."

It further reads,

"Realizing that his illness probably will ruin his family financially, Walter makes a desperate bid to earn as much money as he can in the time he has left by turning an old RV into a meth lab on wheels."

Breaking Bad had five seasons and 62 episodes in total. It aired from January 20, 2008, to September 29, 2013. All seasons are currently streaming on Netflix worldwide.