u/Alkaser

I love Aaron Paul, and what happens to Jesse by the end of the show is horrific. But doing a rewatch in my late 40s... it is wild how much the fanbase infantilizes this guy.

People act like Walt kidnapped an innocent boy scout. Bro, Jesse was already cooking crystal meth, hanging out with cartel guys (Krazy-8), and he literally went to a rehab meeting to sell meth to recovering addicts. That is objectively evil behavior.

Yes, Walt is a manipulative monster, but Jesse was a grown adult making terrible, selfish choices of his own free will for years. He wasn't just some innocent victim until way later in the show he was a willing criminal who just happened to have a slightly better moral compass than a literal psychopath.

Why do we constantly strip Jesse of his own agency just because he cries and feels bad afterward?

Mike is easily one of my favorite characters. But on my latest rewatch, it’s actually wild how much the fanbase puts him on a moral pedestal.

He constantly looks down on Walt and acts like he has this honorable code. But bro, you are the chief enforcer for a child murdering meth kingpin. He preaches about doing everything for his guys or for his family, but ultimately he just ruins his family's life and leaves his granddaughter with nothing but trauma in a park.

Obviously Walt is a monster, but Mike’s whole righteous criminal act is completely fake. He’s just a dirty cop who found a cleaner boss. Why does the fandom let him off the hook so easily?