<P> Series creator Vince Gilligan originally intended for Jesse Pinkman's character to be killed at the end of Breaking Bad's first season . Gilligan wanted Jesse to die in a botched drug deal, as a plot device to plague Walt with guilt . However, Gilligan said by the second episode of the season, he was so impressed with Jesse's character and Aaron Paul's performance that "it became pretty clear early on that it would be a huge, colossal mistake to kill off Jesse". Gilligan also liked the chemistry between Paul and Bryan Cranston . The character has been said to become the "flawed moral center" to Walter White in later seasons . Paul has said that he initially saw the character as "black - and - white", but that over time it had become evident that Jesse "has a huge heart; it just got messed up". </P> <P> Paul felt that he had a "lock" onto who the character was when making the episode "Cancer Man," in which Jesse's family is introduced . Paul also noted how after Jesse's parents disown him, the character looks for a father figure in Walt and Mike . </P> <P> The writers wrestled with the question of how long Jesse's innocence would survive Walt's influence . Gilligan has said that Jesse's naïvete makes him a better man than Walt . </P> <P> Paul found it difficult to play Jesse sober in the third season . Paul says it "really threw me for a loop . It was hard to nail him . I had no idea where they were going with this character . He's so numb and cut off from everything ." Paul prepared by spending time at a rehabilitation clinic, observing its patients and interviewing its director . </P>

How long was jesse a prisoner breaking bad