The Saul Goodman And Jesse Moment That Puzzles Breaking Bad Fans

AMC's Breaking Bad was nothing short of groundbreaking. What started as Walter White's (Bryan Cranston) cancer-motivated first steps into the drug business quickly escalated into a gripping tale of the shady underbelly of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the many local and international players with interest in the city's booming drug trade. Ultimately, the show gave every character an appropriate ending and drove off into the horizon in an incredibly stylish way ... one that, nevertheless, enabled Vince Gilligan to revisit his universe with the equally delightful Better Call Saul, and the Jesse-centric El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.  

Still, even a tight, well-made show like Breaking Bad can feature the occasional event where people seem to act bafflingly out of character. One such incident happens between the show's resident sleazy lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) and the conflicted Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). The two aren't the most frequent dance partners in the show, but one of their rare one-on-one interactions has caused fans to raise their eyebrows.   

Let's take a look at the Saul Goodman and Jesse Pinkman moment that puzzles Breaking Bad fans. 

By season 3 of Breaking Bad, Saul has been aiding Walt and Jesse for some time, and when their cash flow becomes too vast to easily conceal, he recommends that they acquire legitimate businesses to launder their fortunes. Jesse is less than pleased with the concept, as well as the business he's offered — a beauty salon called Zen Nail Spa.

As one Reddit thread points out, putting Mr. Pinkman in charge of a nail salon seems a bit strange, considering that he later gives Walt the opportunity to buy a laser tag business called Lazer Base on the assumption that Walt, as a scientist, must love lasers. But why not offer that business to the younger and more fitting Jesse?  As Reddit user jsingleton8 wrote, "If Saul had the Laser Tag option available all along (as it sure seems like he had) why on earth would he have even considered suggesting the nail salon to Jesse? He says that Jesse got the first shot since Walt wasn't getting back to him, but still, it still made no sense that he wouldn't have thought of the Laser Tag for Jesse first."

Considering Jesse's young age, combined with an affinity for loud things and video games, it's easy to think that he would be the perfect owner for a laser tag business. 

Later in the thread, jsingleton86 elaborated on the uncharacteristic flaws the nail salon plan shows in Saul's thinking, as well as the fact that Jesse is already known to the authorities — Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) in particular. "Not to mention the inconsistency of Saul, who is a smart 'criminal' lawyer thinking that the IRS would buy the story that Jesse Pinkman would legitimately buy a nail salon," they wrote. "Jesse buying that nail salon would put the cops on his tail harder than if he bought nothing and couldn't explain his money, simply because the sale would be public and Pinkman was already on Hank's radar."

Then again, as user ProfGilligan pointed out, Saul might've known that the laser tag business was shadier than the nail salon, and merely pointed Jesse toward what he considered a safer direction. "[...]  I think the real answer is Saul initially offered Jesse the better of the two options he had readily available. From BCS it's clear Saul has had a longstanding relationship with the nail salon and probably knew the ins-and-outs of their operation in more detail. He knew it was a great option for a money-laundering front."

Regardless of the lawyer's possible reasons for keeping the laser tag business from Jesse, some Redditors feel that they were robbed of some potentially sweet scenes with Jesse, Badger (Matt L. Jones), and Skinny Pete (Charles Baker). As one Breaking Bad fan, EnoughItem, put it: "This makes me really wanna see a laser tag battle between Jesse, Badger and Skinny."