Professor Man or Lady writes:

Today I had a meeting with a student. When he sat down across from me and smiled, I suddenly realized he was cute. Really cute. I hadn’t noticed it before because he doesn’t sit in my direct line of vision, but wow. Green eyes, chin stubble and a great smile. He’s also smart. However, he’s like 18. And my student. Is this wrong, or is it only wrong if I act on it? Or would that be OK too…

I’m really happy you asked this, Prof. because it gives me a chance to talk about Walt and Jesse some more. Coincidentally, Jesse was Walt’s high school student, back in the day. Then, one day, Walt sees Jesse drop out of some skank lady’s window, pantsless, and decides he is the guy to partner up with.

The next thing we know, Walt gets Jesse in a secluded space (RV out in the middle of the desert) and immediately drops trou:

OK, so supposedly this is to protect his “good clothes” but come one, have you looked at those clothes? Kohl’s all the way.

The next thing we know, Walt and Skylar’s love life suddenly picks up. HARD CORE. Walt just can not get enough. Someone might argue that it’s the whole power-libido connection, like when people say the Greeks weren’t actually gay when they were fucking much younger men, it was just the power trip! I’m going to propose a different theory, however: Walt has the hots for Jesse. AND doesn’t realize it. Because, you know, Walt is somewhat self-delusional. Once you start to think about it, the pieces all add up:

  • The constant nudity thing.
  • After a brief upsurge in the sex, Walt loses interest in Skylar (some projections just don’t have staying power).
  • Walt kills Jane, and WHILE she’s in bed with Jesse! Come on, could it be more obvious? He’s basically saying: “That should be ME spooning Jesse. Bitch!”

  • Still not convinced? How about when Walt poisons Brock? If that’s not Walt lashing out in anger over Jesse and Andrea’s relationship,  I don’t know what it is. He’s all, “Jesus, I JUST finished killing one bitch and now there’s another?!?! Already?!?!”

Clearly Walt has the hots for Jesse. Like you have the hots for your student. The difference is that you’re self-aware and Walt is not, which hopefully means you won’t murder/poison quite so many people.

There’s another issue to consider, however, which is how your student feels about you. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it: consensuality is important. Especially in a relationship formed by a constitutive power imbalance, as in the teacher-student relationship.

Does Jesse have the hots for Walt, too? I don’t know, it’s sooo hard to admit when you like someone! Like, like-like them!

Honestly, it’s hard to say. Most signs would point to “NO” particularly given Jesse’s tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve (wouldn’t he have said something by now?) and the parade of girlfriends. But, as we all know, desire does not always make sense or match up with what seems to be people’s sexual orientation. And desire makes people act funny.

Remember when Jesse “accidentally” left the keys in the RV, and he and Walt were “trapped” out in the desert together and had to just laze around on those cots pulled up RIGHT NEXT TO each other all the time?

And Jesse sure does get angry with Walt a lot, especially towards the end of Season 4. Lot of emotion there. And physical contact. He kicks his ass, figuratively. He kicks Walt in the butt, literally (cough, cough).

The fact that Jesse feels so strongly about Walt, for the most part in an angry/betrayed way, makes me think Jesse has a thing for Walt, too. He’s not so obvious about it as Walt is, but something’s going on there. At the end of the Season 4 finale, when they were up on the roof, I felt some major sexual tension. It was electric! Can you imagine the currents going through this hand shake?

Pretty hot.

So, Lesson from Breaking Bad on desiring after/hooking up with your student: Be self-aware: don’t just start flinging your clothes off and killing their other suitors indiscriminately. And for god’s sake, make sure it’s consensual! If it’s not completely obvious, look for signs as in the person makes excuses to touch you, such as shaking hands or riding you while punching your face.