| “ | I've gone where the universe takes me my whole life. It's better to make those decisions for yourself.
|
„ |
| ― Jane Margolis talking to Jesse Pinkman |
Jane Margolis is a tattoo artist and Jesse Pinkman's neighbor, landlord, and girlfriend. She is also a recovering drug addict and the daughter of Donald Margolis, an air-traffic controller.
Jane rents Jesse the duplex apartment next to hers after he tells her his parents kicked him out of his house, and the two fall in love quickly. When Jesse offers Jane a joint, she refuses, revealing that she's in recovery. But she later joins him as he smokes crystal to ease his guilt after his dealer and friend Combo is killed by rival dealers. From there, Jane turns Jesse on to meth and heroin speedballs, causing him to miss Walter White's meth deal with Gustavo Fring. She then blackmails Walt for Jesse's share of the profits.
History[]
Background information[]
Jane Margolis was born on April 4, 1982 in Phoenix, Arizona, and was the daughter of Donald Margolis, an air traffic controller. She became addicted to drugs at some point during her life, but was sent to rehab meetings by Donald, who also went with Jane to her recovery meetings. Jane got a job as a tattoo artist as well as a landlord, renting a duplex apartment unit. By early 2009, Jane had been clean for 18 months.
Breaking Bad[]
Season 2[]
Jane with her boyfriend, Jesse Pinkman.
Jane rents Jesse Pinkman a duplex apartment next to hers after he tells her his parents kicked him out of his house. She warns Jesse to not be an asshole. The two fall in love quickly, despite Jane angering Jesse by brushing him off as just a tenant in front of her father. She later shows contrition by slipping a superheroine drawing titled "Apology Girl" under his door.
When Jesse offers Jane a joint, she refuses, revealing that she's in recovery and has been clean for over a year. But she later joins him as he smokes crystal meth to ease his guilt after Christian "Combo" Ortega is killed by the Rival Dealers. From there, Jane turns Jesse on to meth and heroin speedballs, causing Walter White to nearly miss a major meth deal with Gustavo Fring. Jesse lets her in on his situation with Walt, who refuses to give Jesse his cut from the deal until he gets clean, until Jane blackmails Walter into giving them the money by threatening to expose him, forcing him to eventually reluctantly do so. After getting Jesse's share, Jane tells Jesse that they'll get clean and run away together after finishing what heroin they have left. Jane wants to use the money to escape her father, who found out she relapsed.
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Jesse and Jane before using heroin.
Following a coincidental bar conversation about family with Jane's father - with Walt unaware of the man's relation to Jane - Walt returns to Jesse's home, hoping to reconcile. While attempting to shake Jesse awake, Jane flips onto her back. Shortly afterwards, Jane begins asphyxiating on her own vomit due to an overdose. He runs over in an initial attempt to help her, but suddenly stops in his place and instead watches. As Walt either wouldn't do anything to save Jane, he decided not to wake Jesse up, knowing that her death would help him gain control over Jesse as a result, and possibly saving Jesse from the same fate and to protect his own criminal secrets. He breaks down into tears after Jane finally dies, realizing what he had just done, but quickly calms down.
Walt watching Jane die.
The next morning, Jesse sees Jane's lifeless body lying next to him. After a frenzied and unsuccessful attempt at revival, Jesse breaks down and calls Walt in a panic. Walt tells Jesse to calm down and eventually contacts Saul Goodman. Shortly afterward, Mike Ehrmantraut arrives, cleaning the scene and helping Jesse prepare for the arrival of the police. Jane's body is taken away in the presence of a devastated Jesse and a quiet, shocked Donald. Her apartment is shown when Donald picks a dress for her to wear during the funeral. Her voicemail is frequently heard when Jesse repeatedly calls it to hear her voice, but eventually it is deactivated.
Jane's death ultimately leads to the Wayfarer 515 disaster after her father, an air traffic controller, sends wrong directions and accidentally fails to stop two aircraft from crashing into each other right over Albuquerque due to his distraction and grief over her death. The crash kills a total of 167 people.
Season 3[]
Jane's death continued to have significant repercussions, including Jesse's downward spiral over his role in her death. Jane's father Donald was all over the news following the Wayfarer 515 disaster, leading to him attempting suicide. ("Green Light") Walt also expresses guilt over his inaction towards Jane to Jesse, and questions the statistical improbability of both meeting her and talking to her father on the same night, despite never having met either beforehand ("Fly").
Jane appears in a flashback ("Abiquiú"), having a discussion with Jesse about art at a Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit mentioned in the second season. The two end up kissing in Jesse's Toyota, where Jane leaves a lipstick-coated cigarette butt that Jesse later finds in his ashtray.
Season 5[]
Walt reveals his role in Jane's death to Jesse shortly before he was taken prisoner by Jack Welker's Gang, as a final blow after he ordered Jack to kill him, deeming him responsible for the deaths of Hank Schrader and Steven Gomez and the loss of his fortune. He spitefully tells Jesse that he watched her overdose and choke to death, and that he could've saved her but didn't. ("Ozymandias").
El Camino[]
Jane in Jesse's flashback.
As Jesse drives away to a new life in Alaska, following his escape from Jack Welker's Compound and being saved by Walt after the gang massacre, Jesse remembers a conversation he had with Jane where Jesse tells Jane that he was thinking about what she had said about going where the universe takes you which he now thinks is a cool philosophy. Jane comments that she was being metaphorical and it is a terrible philosophy, and she also tells him that it's better to make decisions for yourself. ("El Camino")
Personality and traits[]
Jane Margolis near the front of her apartment.
- "You know what? I take that back. This is blackmail. Because what l know about you, high-school teacher...turned drug dealer, with a brother-in-law in the DEA...that would make one hell of a story. National news, I'll bet. Do right by Jesse tonight, or l will burn you to the ground."
- ―Jane's threat to Walter White
Jane is shown to be a highly intelligent, caring and loyal young woman who is a skilled, creative artist and is overall a good person at heart. Jane, like her eventual boyfriend Jesse Pinkman, has not had an easy life due to strong parental interference which was a result of drug use. She was able to overcome her addiction however and appeared at first to want to maintain her sobriety strongly. While Jane loves her strict, yet caring father Donald she is shown to fear him to an extent or simply be annoyed by him as seen when Jesse introduces himself to him and Jane pretends not to know Jesse at all to avoid questions and criticisms because she knew that Donald would not approve her dating a drug addict. She later tried to lie to her father at all costs to prevent him from discovering her drug relapse. Jane is shown to be somewhat egotistical as well and openly reveals that she hates being judged all the time, mainly by her father and can also be somewhat ignorant as she at first believed she did nothing wrong when she pretended not to be dating Jesse even though his feelings were crushed though she later apologized, showing that she is capable of realizing her mistakes.
Jane has some street smarts as she tells Jesse she knows he is a drug dealer from him paying his rent in cash and using a fake name for the tenancy agreement.
Jane was shown to love Jesse very much as she saw many similarities of herself in him, taking enough pity on him to live next door to her and allow him to stay even after it was revealed that he lied to her about his real name. The two were almost inseparable however dating Jesse tragically resulted in Jane relapsing into drug use again and even caused furthering Jesse's own addiction by introducing him to heroin. After Jesse was denied a large cut of money for selling methamphetamine by Walter White, Jane demonstrated a darker and more ruthless side as seen by blackmailing Walt into giving Jesse his money under threat of revealing his criminality to his DEA brother-in-law. She even spitefully told him that he could never be sure that she would remain quiet about him after he delivered Jesse's money to him. With Jesse's money in hand Jane hoped to use it to flee the United States with Jesse and start a new life free of their problems and her father though she still insisted on being clean of drugs first, showing her strong desire to lead a normal life. However in the end Jane's relapse into drugs and actions towards Walter White would eventually cost her her life.
Deaths[]
Deaths connected to Jane[]
- 167 People aboard the Wayfarer 515: After Jane's death, Donald was grief-stricken and consequently unfocused, which made Wayfarer Flight 515 collide with another plane. ("ABQ")
Quotes[]
Quotes by Jane[]
- "Don't be an asshole."
- ―Jane talking to Jesse Pinkman
- Donald: "You're going back to rehab. Today. Now."
- Jane: "Look, as it so happens, we were just, we were just talking about that and I was gonna tell you, okay? If you would just let me."
- Donald: "You have been clean for 18 months, Jane. Why? Why do you do it?"
- Jane: "I backslid, okay? Like, what? What, you think I'm proud of this? Like, I do it on purpose?"
- Donald: "Lying to me, shacking up and using with this scumbag, this loser!"
- Jesse: "It takes one to know one!"
- Jane: "His name is Jesse, and you don't know the first thing about him. We talk about rehab every night. It's his idea."
- Donald: "You talk about rehab? Well, gee, isn't that wonderful?"
- Jane: "Thank you for not being judgmental. 'Cause that's exactly what I need, to be judged all the time!"
- Donald: "You know what you need? I'll tell you exactly."
- Jane: "What are you doing? What are you doing?"
- Donald: "I am calling the police. (...) I have tried ten years of love and understanding. Maybe what it takes is you drying out in a jail cell."
- Jane: "Fine, we'll go to rehab."
- Donald: "I could care less about him going to rehab. I want you in rehab."
- Jane: "Okay. I'll go first thing tomorrow."
- Donald: "Not tomorrow. Today."
- Jane: "I have to call into work. I have to stock the newspaper. The last time I went to rehab, all my houseplants died because you didn't water them, so. Please? I'll go. Tomorrow."
- ―Donald telling Jane to go back to rehab.[src]
- Walt: "So, what is this? What, some kind of blackmail or something?"
- Jane: "This is me telling you to do right by Jesse. Bring him what you owe him. I don't call that blackmail. I call that you getting off your ass, and being a decent human being."
- Walt: "Well, I call it blackmail. Dialling my number. Talking to my wife. And what's your end of this? How much heroin does a half a million dollars buy? For your information, I am holding Jesse's money for him and he will receive every last dollar of it. He will, not you at a time when I see fit. But I will not contribute to his overdose. Now you tell him, if he gets clean-- -lf you both get clean-- -"
- Jane: "You know what? I take that back. This is blackmail. Because what I know about you, high-school teacher turned drug dealer, with a brother-in-law in the DEA that would make one hell of a story. National news, I'll bet. Do right by Jesse tonight or I will burn you to the ground."
- ―Jane threatening Walt.[src]
- Jane: "You don't want your half a million dollars? You wanna renounce your earthly possessions and become a monk?"
- Jesse: "No, it's just, I'm not the kind of dude who rolls. And by extension, you know, neither are you. I mean, he's my partner."
- Jane: "I'm your partner."
- ―Jane and Jesse over blackmailing Walt.[src]
- Walter: "How do I know she'll keep quiet?"
- Jane: "I guess you don't."
- Jesse: "You'll never hear from either of us again."
- ―Walter, Jesse, and Jane about Jane's silence over Walter's criminal activities.[src]
- Jesse: "Right? Like, you can paint, like, the local castles and shit. And I can be a bush pilot."
- Jane: "Yeah. New Zealand. I can get behind that. But I guess I'm good anywhere as long as it's the two of us. But first, we gotta get clean. And not because anybody is telling us to."
- ―Jesse and Jane about running away together after Walt gives him his money.[src]
- Jane: "It was the same subject, but different every time. The light was different, her mood was different. She saw something new every time she painted it."
- Jesse: "And that's not psycho to you?"
- Jane: "Well, then why should we do anything more than once? Should I just smoke this one cigarette? Maybe we should only have sex once, if it's the same thing."
- ―Jane and Jesse talking about Georgia O'Keeffe's painting in a flashback.[src]
- Jesse: "I was thinking about that thing you said about the universe. Going where the universe takes you? Right on. I think it's a cool philosophy."
- Jane: "I was being metaphorical. It's a terrible philosophy. I've gone where the universe takes me my whole life. It's better to make those decisions for yourself."
- ―Jane during Jesse's last flashback.[src]
Quotes about Jane[]
- Mike: "Any other drugs in the house? Think hard. Your freedom depends on it. [Jesse shakes his head] What about guns? You got any guns in the house? [Jesse shakes his head] Here's your story: You woke up. You found her. That's all you know. Say it. Say it, please. "I woke up. I found her. That's all I know." [Jesse begins to cry. Mike slaps him] Say it. "I woke up. I found her. That's all I know.""
- Jesse: "I woke up. I found her. That's all I know."
- Mike: "Again."
- Jesse: "I woke up. I found her. That's all I know."
- Mike: "Again. Again."
- Jesse: "I woke up. I found her. That's all I know. I woke up. I found her. That's all I know."
- Mike: "Once you call it in, the people who show up will be with the Office of Medical Investigations. That's primarily who you'll talk to. Police officers may arrive, they may not. Depends on how busy a morning they're having. Typically OD's are not a high priority call. There's nothing here to incriminate you so I'd be amazed if you got placed under arrest. However, if you do, you say nothing. You tell them you just want your lawyer and you call Saul Goodman. And do I need to state the obvious? I was not here. You put on a long sleeve shirt and cover those track marks on your arm. [hands Jesse a phone] Count down from twenty and then you dial. Hang tough. You're in the home stretch."
- ―Mike dealing the Jane situation.[src]
- Jesse: "I killed her."
- Walt: "What?"
- Jesse: "I killed her. It was me. I killed her, man. I killed her."
- Walt: "No. Jesse, look at me. Look at me. You didn't kill anybody."
- Jesse: "I loved her. I loved her more than anything."
- ―Jesse and Walt about Jane.[src]
- "I know the moment. It was the night Jane died. Yeah, I I was at home and we needed diapers and so I said I'd go, but it was just an excuse. Actually, that was the night I brought you your money, remember? (...) But afterward, I stopped at a bar. It was odd. I never do that, go to a bar alone. I just walked in, sat down. I never told you. (...) I sit down and this man, this stranger he engages me in conversation. He's a complete stranger. But he turns out to be Jane's father, Donald Margolis. (...) Of course, I didn't know it at the time. I mean, he was just some guy in a bar. I didn't put it together until after the crash when he was all over the news. Jane's dad. I mean, think of the odds. Once I tried to calculate them, but they're astronomical. I mean, think of the odds of me going in, sitting down that night in that bar next to that man. (...) I told him that I had a daughter and he told me he had one too. Then he said: "Never give up on family. " And I didn't. I took his advice. The universe is random. It's not inevitable. It's simple chaos. It's subatomic particles in endless aimless collision. That's what science teaches us. But what is this saying? What is it telling us when, on the very night that this man's daughter dies it's me who's having a drink with him? I mean, how can that be random?"
- ―Walter to Jesse about meeting Jane's father.
- "I watched Jane die. I was there. And I watched her die. I watched her overdose and choke to death. I could've saved her... but I didn't."
- ―Walt spitefully tells Jesse he watched Jane die, moments before he is taken prisoner by Jack Welker and his men.
Appearances[]
Breaking Bad[]
| Episodes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
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| Season 2 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||
| Season 3 | ✔ | ||||||||||||
| Season 4 | |||||||||||||
| Season 5A | |||||||||||||
| Season 5B |
Trivia[]
Portrait of Elizabeth Bishop in Jane's Apartment.
Jane's wall.
- The vomit expelled from Jane's mouth was a combination of the over the counter heartburn drug Mylanta and oatmeal.[1]
- Earlier versions of the script made Walt directly responsible for Jane's death. In the original story Walt injects Jane with another hit of heroin while she's unconscious, murdering her. This was toned down to a version where he intentionally turns her on her back so she chokes to death on vomit. In the filmed version, Jane accidentally turns on her back while Walt was attempting to awake Jesse. Walt chose not to roll her on her side and instead watched while she began suffocating.[2]
- Jane has the last line in El Camino: "I've gone where the universe takes me my whole life. It's better to make those decisions for yourself".
- Despite being a tattoo artist she had no tattoos of her own, explaining that she couldn't commit to one.
- Jane was featured in the minisode Team S.C.I.E.N.C.E., under the alias "Apology Girl".
- In Jane's apartment a black-and-white picture of a woman can be seen hanging on the wall. Viewers might assume it’s a photo of Jane’s mother, but it’s subject is the American poet and painter Elizabeth Bishop. The fact that Jane has a famous artist’s portrait hanging on her wall, but none of her own family, seems to suggest her strained, tempestuous, relationship with them. The choice of Bishop is certainly also helped by the fact that she’s Vince Gilligan’s favorite poet.
- As mentioned by Donald Margolis, "Bishop" is Jane's mother's maiden name. This is also probably a reference to Elizabeth Bishop.
- There is a mural that was presumably painted by Jane that includes a pink teddy bear, this is call back to the stuffed pink teddy bear that was floating in the White's pool as a result of the plane crash of Wayfarer 515 and the charter flight JM2.
- Jane's phone number was 505-149-4985. ("I.F.T.")
- While never seen driving it, Jane has a 2005 Subaru Outback. It is seen in the driveway of the apartment and mentioned by Donald. ("Over")