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“ | Don't skimp on family, that's what I always say. | „ |
~ Jack Welker's view of family. |
“ | Bullet to the back of the head, something he doesn't see coming? I respect that. Too many savages out there. | „ |
~ Jack negotiating with Walter White over killing Jesse Pinkman. |
“ | You want your money, right? You want to know where it is? You pull that trigger, you'll never- | „ |
~ Jack's last words before his death when Walter White shoots him in the head, thus avenging the deaths of both Walt's brother-in-law Hank Shrader and his DEA partner Steven Gomez in the process. |
John Daniel "Jack" Welker, also referred to as Jack, is the one of the two main antagonists (alongside Hank Schrader) of the fifth and final season of Breaking Bad and one of the two overarching antagonists (alongside Todd Alquist) of its 2019 sequel film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.
He is the leader of a White Supremacist Gang, as well as the uncle of Todd Alquist and a hitman for drug distributor Walter White. After Walter drops out of the meth business, Jack attempted to replace him by stealing meth lab equipment and having his nephew cook - but to no avail, as Todd’s meth is less pure and lacks the blue tint. After Walter demands him to assassinate Jesse Pinkman, his estranged 'business partner', he would have the former working for them as their cook.
After "rescuing" Walter by killing Hank Schrader in the desert, Jack betrays Walt and steals most of Walt's remaining drug money and kidnaps Jesse, turning him into a cook slave. He spares Walt at the behest of Todd, but the latter ended up being a fugitive. For the next six months, he and Todd are successful with Lydia Rodarte-Quayle's distribution; that was until all three of them and the whole gang were murdered by Walter as revenge.
He was portrayed by Michael Bowen, who also played Buck in Kill Bill, Danny Pickett in Lost, and Matches Malone in Gotham.
Personality[]
Jack Walker is a crass and crude man who will do just about anything for money. He shows sadism and brutality towards his victims and will be shown to have little to no limits in his actions. He is deeply egotistical, being angered when Walt calls him a liar, and will feel threatened towards anyone bruising his ego. Being a Neo-Nazi and white supremacist, Jack is also evidently extremely racist and believes in Aryan supremacy.
While Jack shows some standards, all of them are proven to be hypocritical in nature. He states he hates needless brutality despite torturing Jesse for his own amusement, and also said he hates greed, but he steals almost all of Walt's money, and only gives a barrel of it because of Todd's respect for him. He also despises tattletales, as he wanted to kill Jesse when he learned he ratted Todd out for killing a child.
Despite his heinousness, Jack still loves his nephew Todd, treating like his own son and allowing Jesse to live to simply have Todd be more close to Lydia. It’s also clear he has care for his other Nazi men, as he is shown laughing and having friendship moments with Kenny and eating out with them.
Biography[]
Jack Welker first appears when his employer, Walter White, requests he arrange the murder of nine prison inmates within a 2 minute window spanning several different prisons - as all the inmates were witnesses to Walt's involvement with drug kingpin Gustavo Fring and the latter's murder. Despite Jack's original skepticism of the plans' success, he accomplishes the task.
Later on, he personally takes part in the murder of New Mexico meth kingpin Declan and his associates at the instruction of criminal fence Lydia Rodarte-Quayle; this was part of Jack's scheme to make his right-hand man and nephew, Todd Alquist, the sole meth cook and to take over Declan's territory. Henceforth Jack later decides to expand his gangland their criminal operations by usurping Walt and taking over his drug empire in an elaborate coup.
Soon enough, Walt calls Jack and his gang to have them assist him in killing Jesse Pinkman, his former partner. However, Walt calls off the hit after seeing that his DEA brother-in-law Hank Schrader and the latter's partner Steven Gomez are with Jesse, intending to arrest Walt for his crimes. However, Jack ignores the call-off and comes anyway. Once the gang arrives, Walt again begs them to not go through with it. This falls on deaf ears and Kenny opens fire, causing a shootout to ensue between the two federal agents and Jack's gang. In the end the gang prevails as Gomez is killed and Hank is crippled. Jack prepares to execute Hank when Walt intervenes by pleading for Hank's life, but Hank shuts him down by stating that Jack “made up his mind 10 minutes ago”. Hank then accepts his fate before Jack shoots him in the head, killing Hank in front of a horrified Walt. Immediately afterwards, Jack and his gang proceed to steal most of Walt's fortune and they leave him with only a fraction of what he had accumulated through his vast drug empire. Walt then allows Jack and Todd to take Jesse captive by exposing the latter's location. Subsequently Jack and Todd take Jesse as their slave and manage to ensure his cooperation by revealing the extent of their ruthlessness - such as when Todd kills Jesse's ex-girlfriend Andrea in front of him and threatens to do the same to her son Brock should he not fully comply. Jack and Todd then threaten Walt's wife Skyler and their children, Walt. Jr and Holly, should she reveal any information about them or Lydia to the police.
Walt eventually emerges from hiding after being the subject of a nationwide manhunt. He contacts Todd and sets up a meeting with Jack and his gang, seemingly to discuss business. Once Walt is cleared to drive up to their main clubhouse in their hidden compound, Jack greets him inside and reveals that he intends to kill Walt, as he is too much of a liability and of no real use to them. Walt taunts him and accuses him of "partnering" with Jesse to make meth, which angers Jack for this in effect attacking his integrity. Jack then has Todd bring Jesse into the room to show Walt what he has turned Jesse into, essentially a beaten and broken slave. However unbeknownst to Jack, Walt had smuggled in a remote controlled M60 machine gun in the trunk of his car. Walt then proceeds to tackle Jesse to the floor and activate the weapon, which kills all of Jack's gang members and ends up injuring Jack personally. Walt is hit by a stray bullet but successfully shields Jesse.
Vomiting blood, a mortally-wounded Jack watches in horror as Todd is strangled to death by Jesse moments later. He thereafter attempts to crawl away from the carnage, but Walt intercepts him before picking up a pistol from one of his fallen gang members and aims it at him. Jack begins to plead for his life by attempting to persuade Walt to let him reveal the location of the rest of his money, but Walt ignores him and ends up shooting him in the head mid-sentence, killing Jack and thus avenging Hank's death. However, as a result, the remainder of Walt’s money is lost.
Notable Victims[]
- Gustavo Fring’s former employees - Ordered; killed in prison by Jack’s Aryan Brotherhood within a two minute span on Walter White’s behest.
- Declan - Shot in the back of the head.
- Steven Gomez - Ordered or direct; killed in a shootout.
- Hank Schrader - Shot in the head.
- Andrea Cantillo - Ordered; shot in the head by Todd Alquist.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Jack Welker is the second-to-last person to die onscreen in the Breaking Bad series and the third-to-last death in the series overall (Lydia dies offscreen in the hospital after Walt as seen in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie).
- Jack dies the same way as his victim Hank Schrader, via gunshot to the head mid sentence. However, unlike Hank, who accepted his fate calmly, Jack attempted to to deceive Walt and weasel his way out of being killed.
- Ironically just like how Walt offered Jack the $80 million in exchange for Hank's life, Jack does the same here, offering it to Walt in exchange for being let go. And just like Walt, he fails.
- An early concept for El Camino had Jack Welker returning as a ghost to goad Jesse Pinkman throughout his journey during the movie, but Vince Gilligan thought that it would be "too dreary" after all the suffering Jesse had gone through.
External Links[]
- Jack Welker on the Breaking Bad Wiki.