No, despite the rumors, the writers’ strike didn’t change creator Vince Gilligan’s mind about killing off Jesse Pinkman. (Gilligan changed his mind before that, when he saw how great Aaron Paul was in the role.)

But the strike, which trimmed the first season from nine episodes to seven, did save another key character: Walter White’s DEA brother-in-law Hank Schrader, who Gilligan considered killing off in Season 1’s ninth episode.

Hank, of course, lived on until the show’s final episodes — and went out in a fitting blaze of glory.

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