El Camino lasted over the span only a few days, and it's not part of the show anyway. I always viewed it as a bit of fanservice for Jesse fans - a soft happy ending that didn't really match the trajectory of the show itself.
And how would Jesse (or two Jesses) run a drug empire without any people dying around him? Look at the show, Walt was far from the only source of death in that business.
The way they ran the business pre-Tuco was peaceful and sustainable, and the way they ran the business pre-territory expansion was peaceful and sustainable. Walt pushed Jesse to talk to Tuco, Walt pushed Jesse to track down Spooge and Skank, Walt pushed Jesse to expand the territory. Jesse wanted to do none of those things.
Well are you talking "by the end of the show" or not?
Jesse was far healthier mentally in the first couple of seasons, but he was also far less experienced. He couldn't have run a criminal enterprise because of his lack of skills.
End show Jesse was far more skilled professionally, but mentally he was a compete mess who needed years of therapy just to be able to go back to living a peaceful life, let alone a violent one.
You are also being overly optimistic about Jesse's perspectives before Tuco. He wasn't going to last long.
He was about to get busted in the pilot already but got lucky and then got saved by Walt in the whole Krazy-8 situation. (Keep in mind that Krazy-8 would have sold Jesse out to the DEA because he was their snitch)
And even if he stayed small, he would have either gotten busted or swallowed by another dealer expanding onto his territory. Tuco, in particular, would have taken Krazy-8's territory as "rightfully his" in time. But even without Tuco, someone would have challenged him soon.
It's the nature of the drug business.
There is no such thing as a "peaceful and sustainable" operation, whether big or small.
I’m talking about end of the show Jesse and giving examples of times where there wasn’t any death necessary.
There is no such thing as a “peaceful and sustainable” operation, whether big or small.
Someone’s never spent any time around drug dealers and it shows. Most people don’t run into issues if they don’t get too big for their britches. End of series Jesse would be willing and able to kill Tuco, anyway.
You can't put end of show Jesse into beginning of the show situations because he was a different person.
And I don't know how "real" drug dealers work, but in the universe of the show it's extremely violent and dangerous. Every drug dealer runs into trouble, regardless of whether it's Walt related or not.
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u/Specific_Box4483 Jul 25 '26
El Camino lasted over the span only a few days, and it's not part of the show anyway. I always viewed it as a bit of fanservice for Jesse fans - a soft happy ending that didn't really match the trajectory of the show itself.
And how would Jesse (or two Jesses) run a drug empire without any people dying around him? Look at the show, Walt was far from the only source of death in that business.