15

In season 3 of Breaking Bad, towards the end of the season, Jesse learns that Combo was killed by two guys that are working for Gus. He tries to convince Walt to give/make the ricin so that he would put it in the hamburgers that Wendy would then deliver to their car.

But Walt never agrees to such plot, and refuses to cooperate. Then Jesse says:

I will do it with, or without you.

And then we see Walt and Saul trying to figure out a way to keep Jessie from committing his plan. While at the same time, Jesse is confirming the plan with Wendy. The next day, we see Jesse and Wendy waiting for the two guys to show up. They have hambrugers with them. It is inferred that these hamburgers will lead to the death of the two guys.

Where did Jesse obtain the poison from? Did he make it himself? Is it a different kind of poison? (highly doubted since he confirms to Wendy that it is untraceable, thus it must be risen) Did Walt give it to him (even reluctantly)? but then, why give him the poison and then plan to have him arrested?

It does not make sense...

2 Answers 2

15

Jesse got the poison online. He says so to Wendy himself in Half Measures:

I found this stuff on the internet. Takes days to kick in. Just keep quiet and this won't ever come back to you.

Since he has no reason to lie to her, really, and the type of poison is not elaborated on, we can surmise that this is a slow-acting poison that might be untraceable. We don't really know if he bought ricin or not, or even if the poison would've worked, since the plan didn't come through.

While it seems dangerous to buy ricin online (for fear of sting operations), there are recipes available on the web, so Jesse might've meant he found those there and made it himself. Jesse has already been in the meth business, and around Walt, long enough to know a thing or two about chemistry (and again, even if he botched it, we'll never know anyway, but the risk of it working was enough that he had to be stopped).

4

According to the wiki, Walt prepares the Ricin twice.

This answer explains that the Ricin wasn't used by Jesse as it's still in play.

There is speculation that the ricin was bought on the internet - or that it wasn't Ricin at all. Brock later gets poisoned by Lily of the Valley which the hospital cannot detect.

Conclusion is that Jesse didn't use Ricin to poison the hamburgers, but Lily of the Valley, which is found in Walt's house. (Which is shown in the ending scene of Face Off) - or he used an unknown poison.

At the very end of the episode, the camera zooms in on a Lily of the Valley in Walt's back yard, beside his pool

Edit

As pointed out in the comments, it wasn't suggested that Jesse knew anything about Lily of the Valley in Walts garden, but as this article states (Breaking Bad is filmed in Albuquerque);

So it wouldn't be shocking to find it in a garden outside of its native range. Like, say, Albuquerque.

7
  • 2
    "Conclusion is that Jesse didn't use Ricin... but Lily of the Valley" Wait, what? I'm completely confused now. That happened at the end of season 4. The question is about season 3.
    – Walt
    May 15, 2015 at 8:11
  • I realise it's about season 3. I was referencing to another poisonous plant that is used in Breaking Bad. We know that the hamburgers aren't poisoned with Ricin because of this answer, so the only logical explanation would be the other plant that is used (later in the story). - That or a different substance altogether that isn't referenced in the Breaking Bad story line at all.
    – hd.
    May 15, 2015 at 8:14
  • 1
    But IIRC Jessie knew nothing about the lily poison or how to extract it.
    – Walt
    May 15, 2015 at 8:15
  • 3
    Yes, but Jesse's reaction to the doctors' assessment in Face Off suggests it's the first time he ever heard of this plant. And Walt was kind of counting on that. So I agree that it could've been old ricin, ricin that Jesse made (perhaps badly) or not ricin at all. But the lily theory sounds farfetched and isn't really related to this season.
    – Walt
    May 15, 2015 at 8:25
  • 2
    I'm not talking about the availability of the plant. I'm talking about the sense this makes within the show. Jesse, and we the viewers, first hear of this plant at the end of season 4. There's nothing that ties it to the burgers in season 3, making this theory a bizarre retcon where Jesse somehow did know about the lily back in season 3 and used it, even though there's no mention or indication that this was the case in the entire series. But again, I agree with everything up to the lily.
    – Walt
    May 15, 2015 at 9:09

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .