| “ | That is awesome, Jesse! I feel like somebody took my brain out and boiled it in, like, boiling hot, like...like, Anthrax.
|
„ |
| ― Badger after trying Blue Sky |
Brandon Mayhew, commonly referred to as Badger, is one of Jesse Pinkman's longtime friends. Despite his probation, Badger continues to use drugs recreationally.
History
Breaking Bad
Season 1
Badger, as a condition of his probation stipulating that he find and maintain employment, is working as a walking billboard, wearing a full-body dollar bill costume for a realty company. When he runs into Jesse, the two teamed up briefly to cook meth by using the money from Badger's job to buy pseudophedrine. However, Jesse disposed of inferior batches several times, angering Badger. This escalated to a scuffle which resulted in Jesse kicking Badger out of his RV. Badger shoots a crossbow bolt at the RV after the two scuffle over a batch of meth and Jesse drives off, leaving him stranded in the desert ("Gray Matter").
Season 2
Badger and Jesse have apparently reconciled, as Badger helped clear the meth lab from Jesse's garage and asked his cousin, Clovis, to hide Jesse's RV. ("Bit by a Dead Bee"). Badger later enlisted with Combo and Skinny Pete to deal "Heisenberg" and Jesse's meth but was eventually arrested ("Better Call Saul"). After striking a deal with the DEA with help from Saul Goodman, Badger fled New Mexico to lay low in Fresno, California.
Season 3
In season 3, Jesse recruited Badger and Skinny Pete to sell drugs to recovering addicts at Narcotics Anonymous meetings. Their conscience got the better of them and instead Badger seemed to be taking the program just to catch up to Skinny Pete, who was on Step 5 to Badger's Step 2 ("Abiquiú").
Season 4
In season 4, Jesse invited Badger and Skinny Pete to his home to party. Badger resumed using meth and parties for three days straight before calling it quits. Jesse insists they stay, but Badger explains that he has a cat and it hasn't eaten for days ("Thirty-Eight Snub").
Season 5
Badger and Skinny Pete purchased storage equipment from a musical supply store for Jesse and Walt's mobile meth lab. ("Hazard Pay")
Badger and Skinny Pete helped Walt trick Elliott and Gretchen Schwartz into believing he had hired hitmen to track them by using laser pointers as fake sights, making sure they give his fortune to Walt Jr.. The two reveal blue sky is still being distributed, having believed it to be Walt himself. Walt realizes its Jesse and Badger and Skinny Pete are annoyed that he's no longer hooking them up with free meth. ("Felina")
El Camino
After escaping the White Supremacist Compound, Jesse makes his way to Badger and Skinny Pete's who don't recognize him at first in his haggard appearance. The two help Jesse hide Todd Alquist's El Camino and offer Jesse a safe place to clean up and recover. The next day, Skinny Pete and Badger watch a news report on Walter White's massacre of Jack's White Supremacist Gang and nearly fall victim to Jesse, caught in a post-traumatic flashback.
With the police looking for him as a person of interest, Jesse begins planning his escape and enlists Old Joe to get rid of the El Camino. However, the authorities activate its LoJack, making Joe take off without the car. In response, Skinny Pete orders Badger to take his Ford Thunderbird close to the Mexican border, the opposite direction of where Jesse is going and abandon it while Skinny Pete takes the El Camino and Jesse takes Badger's 1986 Pontiac Fiero. Badger points out that no self-respecting outlaw would be caught dead in Badger's car, making it the perfect getaway vehicle for Jesse. Though he complains about driving the Thunderbird, Badger agrees and departs after a final goodbye to Jesse, helping to buy Jesse the time he needs to escape to Alaska. ("El Camino")
Quotes
- Jesse: "What's the point of being an outlaw when you got responsibilities?"
- Badger: "Darth Vader had responsibilities. He was responsible for the Death Star."
- Skinny Pete: "True that. Two of them bitches."
- ―Jesse, Badger, and Skinny Pete having a conversation.[src]
Appearances
| Episodes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | ✔ | ||||||||||||
| Season 2 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||
| Season 3 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||
| Season 4 | ✔ | ||||||||||||
| Season 5A | ✔ | ||||||||||||
| Season 5B | ✔ | ✔ |
Trivia
- Badger was also the lead singer of his, Jesse's & Paul's now defunct band, TwaüghtHammër.
- Badger is one of three characters (along with Steven Gomez and Skinny Pete) to appear in all five seasons, despite not being main cast members.
- He and Skinny Pete are the only two supporting cast members to appear in and survive all five seasons.
- Badger drives a 1986 Pontiac Fiero.
- It is apparent that Badger has a liking, and strong interest, for science fiction television programs and movies. After Patrick Kuby bugged Badger's mom's house looking for Jesse, Kuby stated that "All he talked about for five hours was something called Babylon 5." Badger also created a Star-Trek script that he recited to Skinny Pete at Jesse's House. He also quoted Star Wars often.
- Badger enjoys playing survival horror video games, such as Resident Evil and Left 4 Dead.