Thoughts on Jesse & his aunt
x-posted from my LJ, decided to post here to see if anyone wanted to chime in :-) Maybe we'll get a flashback in S5?
There are a lot of interesting relationships in Breaking Bad. Needless to say, the central one is between Walt and Jesse, who have one of the most dysfunctional father/son dynamics the world has ever seen. However, let's cycle back to pre-canon, and look at one of Jesse's previous familial relationships, that of him with his aunt, Jenny.
What do we know about them from canon?
1. Jesse was most likely living with his aunt while he was in high school (the address in Walt's files for Jesse is his aunt's house) ("Pilot").
2. His parents likely kicked him out. Less likely but still possible, he left of his own accord and chose to move in with his aunt.
3. His aunt passed away from some sort of cancer seven months after being diagnosed; Jesse was involved with her treatment enough to recognize signs of chemo on Walt and to understand the terminology (knowing what "Stage 3A" indicates) ("Crazy Handful of Nothing").
4. His aunt left him her house, or at least residency of it, in her will ("Down"); a look at the house makes it clear that a good amount of the things in there, at least up until Jesse is kicked out of it, belonged to her as opposed to Jesse - a piano, those curtains, etc.
5. He took care of her, though he and his mom disagree about how effectively ("Down"); however, it seems as if his mother is quibbling to an extent (rather than bringing up specific instances of Jesse neglecting his responsibilities, she argues that he didn't make her lunch *every* day).
6. His aunt is presumably his mother's sister (extrapolated from the conversation in "Down").
7. She was normally level-headed, up until she began to get obsessive, particularly about a possum who used to live under the house ("Fly").
So, we don't get a *whole* lot of info on her, but we get... enough. To extrapolate a couple things:
1. Jenny was probably less of a hard-ass on Jesse than either of his parents.
2. She probably influenced some of his better traits; his loyalty, love of kids, general respect towards women, etc., not to mention his general "caretaker" attitude. (Note his behavior towards Walt in "Fly", despite the fact that some of it had ulterior motives).
3. If Walt is Jesse's surrogate dad, does that make Jenny his surrogate mom?
4. You have to wonder if her death is yet another thing that has put Jesse through the ringer. I mean, consider the fact that he's been living on his own since whenever she died (which could have been as long as seven years ago), with minimal, strained contact with his parents and brother - who exactly could Jesse have gone to in order to grieve? Nobody, really. So he's been living in her house with all of her stuff, being in a perpetual state of small-time crime up until Walt comes along.
5. Maybe Jesse's eventual money laundering scheme will be passing off his new money as an inheritance? It could at least work as a cover story to Andrea if she gets suspicious. You do have to wonder how Jesse was paying his bills, meth dealing aside, prior to his involvement with Walt. Maybe she left him some money along with the house?
6. May be stating the obvious, but I don't think Jenny would be thrilled at Jesse dissolving bodies in her bathtub. Just a guess.
7. I want a flashback, damn you.
8. Given the fact that the photo we saw of her is of Vince Gilligan's actual aunt, who has sadly passed away, if we do get a flashback... Julie Benz maybe? I could see it. And I think she needs work.
There are a lot of interesting relationships in Breaking Bad. Needless to say, the central one is between Walt and Jesse, who have one of the most dysfunctional father/son dynamics the world has ever seen. However, let's cycle back to pre-canon, and look at one of Jesse's previous familial relationships, that of him with his aunt, Jenny.
What do we know about them from canon?
1. Jesse was most likely living with his aunt while he was in high school (the address in Walt's files for Jesse is his aunt's house) ("Pilot").
2. His parents likely kicked him out. Less likely but still possible, he left of his own accord and chose to move in with his aunt.
3. His aunt passed away from some sort of cancer seven months after being diagnosed; Jesse was involved with her treatment enough to recognize signs of chemo on Walt and to understand the terminology (knowing what "Stage 3A" indicates) ("Crazy Handful of Nothing").
4. His aunt left him her house, or at least residency of it, in her will ("Down"); a look at the house makes it clear that a good amount of the things in there, at least up until Jesse is kicked out of it, belonged to her as opposed to Jesse - a piano, those curtains, etc.
5. He took care of her, though he and his mom disagree about how effectively ("Down"); however, it seems as if his mother is quibbling to an extent (rather than bringing up specific instances of Jesse neglecting his responsibilities, she argues that he didn't make her lunch *every* day).
6. His aunt is presumably his mother's sister (extrapolated from the conversation in "Down").
7. She was normally level-headed, up until she began to get obsessive, particularly about a possum who used to live under the house ("Fly").
So, we don't get a *whole* lot of info on her, but we get... enough. To extrapolate a couple things:
1. Jenny was probably less of a hard-ass on Jesse than either of his parents.
2. She probably influenced some of his better traits; his loyalty, love of kids, general respect towards women, etc., not to mention his general "caretaker" attitude. (Note his behavior towards Walt in "Fly", despite the fact that some of it had ulterior motives).
3. If Walt is Jesse's surrogate dad, does that make Jenny his surrogate mom?
4. You have to wonder if her death is yet another thing that has put Jesse through the ringer. I mean, consider the fact that he's been living on his own since whenever she died (which could have been as long as seven years ago), with minimal, strained contact with his parents and brother - who exactly could Jesse have gone to in order to grieve? Nobody, really. So he's been living in her house with all of her stuff, being in a perpetual state of small-time crime up until Walt comes along.
5. Maybe Jesse's eventual money laundering scheme will be passing off his new money as an inheritance? It could at least work as a cover story to Andrea if she gets suspicious. You do have to wonder how Jesse was paying his bills, meth dealing aside, prior to his involvement with Walt. Maybe she left him some money along with the house?
6. May be stating the obvious, but I don't think Jenny would be thrilled at Jesse dissolving bodies in her bathtub. Just a guess.
7. I want a flashback, damn you.
8. Given the fact that the photo we saw of her is of Vince Gilligan's actual aunt, who has sadly passed away, if we do get a flashback... Julie Benz maybe? I could see it. And I think she needs work.