Jesse Pinkman: Everyone's Favorite Bad Boy

Remember that one guy you dated back in High School that your mom always warned you about, that you eventually broke up with because his room smelled like bong water, his parties were always on the seedy side, and he wore a beanie hat in July? Aaron Paul's character on Breaking Bad really makes me regret that I ever broke up with that one guy. When I first started watching the show, firstly I was absolutely amazed, it's actually the most brilliant show on TV right now, secondly I found myself wondering 'where did this guy Aaron Paul come from? He's fantastic!' His character personifies the perils of crystal meth but ultimately desperately makes me want to try it, just kidding. But he does ignite that urge to find a bad boy that I've been suppressing for forever and the day. 

Let's face it ladies, even if you were raised in a multi-million dollar mansion a la Lisa Vanderpump (if you don't get this reference you completely suck), play polo on the weekends, and have LaCrosse trophies lining your bedroom wall, you totally have bad boy fetish. 

When I was growing up and discovering boys, none of them had long hair, tribal tattoos, and goatees. No, they all looked like Jesse Pinkman, pale face, sunken in but intense eyes, scrawny and generally unkempt appearance, but could kiss you so passionately your eyes rolled back in your head. They always hung out at the end of the hall near the gym, smelled like cigarettes, and looked at you like they could care less. And you totally swooned. 

But Jesse Pinkman is so much more than that. His character arc on the show is perhaps even more fascinating than it's protagonist, Walter White (Bryan Cranston), the frustrated high school chemistry teacher who's existential crisis following a terminal cancer diagnosis steers him into crystal meth production and distribution. 

Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman in a touching moment with his season 2 girlfriend and co-conspirator Jane (Krysten Ritter)

In a show that is so violent, dark, and gritty, Pinkman is given a really touching and sincere romantic arc that shows off Paul's versatility as an actor. In the season 4 finale that premiered this passed Sunday, Paul cemented his status as one of the best in the business right now. He as Pinkman can be ruthless and loving at the same time, scheming and gentle, harsh and yet tender. It's a beautiful thing, and that's the kind of dimensionality that truly makes a bad boy we can all yearn for. 

This is not True Blood ladies, there's no gratuitous sex, nudity, or thrusting on this show, and yet Aaron Paul shines through as a unique and prowler sex symbol. He could be the most unconventional type for that label, and perhaps that's what makes him so appealing. 

He's a skinny, short, temperamental, sarcastic, smart ass who wears oversized Death Metal tees, baggy pants, and peddles meth for a living. He never finished high school nor read a Jane Austin book. He yells a lot and has a pretty serious addictive personality, and yet he's the only thing that haunts my fantasies in bed at night. 

He's proof that the status quo for sex symbols is in the midst of a pretty serious transformation. Take a back seat Alexander Skarsgård, with your 6'4 frame, silky wavy blonde locks, and perfectly tanned skin. I'm sure there are many covers of lady's romance novels you could grace, but make room for the new decades new bad boy. He's someone we've all met at one point or another and perhaps even dated, and now he's come back to taunt us in a taught and profound series that if you don't watch you really need to.