what is the end game here? he is stuck in a year's lease in a city he has no particular reason to be in.
how long can his parents afford to pay his bills before they go completely bankrupt?
Give the landlord notice that you are leaving, and the landlord will be constrained to try to re-rent the place to mitigate damages. Presumably it would not be difficult to re-rent the pad at the same, or close to the same, rent rate. Just why Jeff chose to sign a year lease (if that is in fact what happened, and I have learned from experience not to assume the accuracy of just about anything that is posted with respect to the facts regarding Jeff's activities), rather than a month to month lease, given the short half lives of his relocations, escapes me, but that will not be the first time I am left confused by Jeff's choices in life.