Is Jesse About to Make a Fatal Mistake?

In the final scenes of Sunday's episode of Breaking Bad , Jesse, waiting by the side of the road, searches for his weed, discovers that Saul's bodyguard Huell stole it, and then realizes that Huell — at Walt's command — was the one who pick-pocketed the ricin cigarette off of him back in Season 4. As Jesse figures out that even though Brock was poisoned by Lily of the Valley, not ricin, Walt must've been behind the attempted murder, his expression grows angrier and angrier. The next thing we know, he's bursting into Saul's office and breaking the lawyer's nose. Saul confirms Jesse's suspicions, and before long, an out-of-his-mind-with-fury Jesse is spreading gasoline all over the White's house. The episode ends before we can see if a match is lit.

In earlier flash-forwards this season, we saw that the White house was in shambles, but not burned to the ground, and so we can assume that Jesse doesn't destroy the entire house. Still, it's possible that he did light the match and that a fire was started, but that it was stopped before it engulfed the entire property. If that's true, then it begs the question: Was anyone in the house during the fire?

We know neither Walt nor Skyler was there, as they were both at the car wash — Skyler manning the cash register, Walt grabbing a gun out of the vending machine. There's no information, though, on the whereabout of the White children, Walt Jr. and Holly. Seeing as we briefly saw Walt Jr. in the previews for next week's episode, it's unlikely that the elder White child was endangered by the fire. Holly, however, could easily have been asleep in her crib when Jesse spread the gasoline. If Jesse inadvertently injured or killed a child, he'd never forgive himself. He's already suffered tremendously due to the idea that he had even minor involvement in Brock's poisoning and Drew Sharp's murder, and he'd never be able to deal with the death of a child directly due to his actions. It'd be the worst possible consequence of all of Jesse's mistakes over the course of the show.

That's all getting ahead of ourselves, though. At this point, we have no idea if Jesse even actually began the fire, let alone if he killed Holly. It's not plausible that the baby was in the house all alone without anyone watching her, unless her caretaker was somewhere in the backyard or pool area. Maybe Walt Jr. was babysitting, and he decided to get some sun while his little sister slept inside, or he was in the house with her, but managed to get out just in the time. Or maybe and very possibly, neither child was in the house when Jesse spread the gasoline. Jesse might've not even lit the match at all — maybe Walt got to him before he had the chance.

Still, we can't help but fear for baby Holly's life. As loyal Breaking Bad viewers know, a burned, one-eyed pink teddy bear appeared several times in previous seasons. Most memorably, in season two, it fell into the White's pool as part of the debris from the plane crash Walt indirectly caused.

According to show creator Vince Gilligan, it was meant to symbolize "all the terrible grief that Walt has wrought upon his loved ones" and "the judgment of God." The bear's one eye was frequently compared to Gus Fring's half-destroyed face in the Season 4 finale, as well as to the show's general obsession with surveillance. It seems too easy, though, for the teddy bear, which was so striking an image, to have meanings as obvious as those. Remember how charred the bear was when it landed in Walt's pool? Perhaps that wasn't just meant to show its damage from the plane crash. Could it have been meant to foreshadow Holly's death by fire? Breaking Bad has always given enormous value to the colors each character wears, and Holly's been seen dressed in pink. Pink baby, pink bear... that doesn't portend good things for Holly's future. God, the baby even looks like a bear here:

Of course, the death of a child would almost as tough to take for audiences as for Jesse. But Holly's death would be the final blow to Jesse and Walt's relationship, and would cause both of them to pay dearly for their crimes (possibly with the long-theorized suicide for Jesse?). It'd be a sad but fitting climax to the two characters' development over these past few seasons. So if that one-eyed teddy bear does indeed come back into play... Holly, it was nice knowing you, but it's more important that Walt and Jesse finally deal with the consequences of their actions.

Images: AMC