WARNING: This article contains MAJOR spoilers!
In his Top 20 of 2011 published in Entertainment Weekly, author Stephen King stated that, “Breaking Bad is an American classic,” listing the show at #1. In all honesty, who is going to dispute him? Breaking Bad has succeeded time and time again in delivering high quality and immeasurable talent in every single technical and aesthetic department of a television program. Breaking Bad has pushed the boundaries of cable television to the point where questioning why it is on AMC and not on a premium subscription network like HBO or Showtime is completely acceptable. Crafted by a staff of gifted writers and impeccably directed by a handful of directors including acclaimed film directors like John Dahl, David Slade, and Rian Johnson and even star Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad is the most consistently intense, unpredictable, and visually interesting show on TV currently. And speaking of Cranston, having followed up his beloved role from Malcolm in the Middle with the character of Walter White, an overqualified chemistry teacher who cooks and sells meth to pay for his cancer treatment (and one of the greatest television characters of all time), will probably be the best career decision the actor will ever make. Cranston’s portrayal of Walter will be immortal and definitely documented as one of the best lead performances on television, ever. Working with a talented ensemble including the amazing Aaron Paul, the hilarious Bob Odenkirk, and the villainous Giancarlo Esposito, among many others, has bettered his acting chops and led to three consecutive Emmy wins and a blossoming film career. Series creator Vince Gilligan has excelled more than anyone could have originally predicted with this outstanding series. So, now, as Gilligan, Cranston, Paul, and everyone else (who is still alive) heads into the final 16-episode season of Breaking Bad, this seems like the perfect time to look back at some of the show’s finest episodes. To choose ten great episodes was impossible, to choose fifteen was nearly as difficult, but I managed to list my fifteen favorite episodes of Breaking Bad below (well, technically, 10 best and 5 honorable mentions. What did I miss and what shouldn’t be there? Feel free to comment, and enjoy.
15. Pilot (S.1, E.1)
14. Cornered (S.4, E.6)
13. Pheonix (S.2, E.12)
12. Salud (S.4, E. 10)
11. Grilled (S.2, E.2)
10. Mandala (S.2, E.11)
Upon the initial viewing of “Mandala,” it seems like a rather forgettable episode. However, in retrospect, “Mandala” is probably one of the most important episodes within the Breaking Bad chronology. Not only does “Mandala” brilliantly instigate the harrowing events that are to follow in Season 2’s final episodes (“Pheonix” and “ABQ”), but the episode also plants the seeds for some of the most important character arcs and plot points that take precedence in the following two seasons. Regarding the timeline of only Season 2, “Mandala” is when Jesse inadvertently turns his girlfriend, Jane, back to crystal meth addiction and, as a result, she introduces him to heroin, which he begins to abuse. This moment is what creates the series of events that concludes with the horrific plane crash that closes the season. Usually Jesse is cautious about his meth usage, but he is dealing with the trauma related to Combo’s murder, which we viewed in the pre-credits sequence to this episode; he was murdered by a young boy name Tómas, who’s story is revisited in the later episodes of Season 3. This episode also shows the first signs that Skylar is looking to cheat on Walter and begin having an affair with new boss, Ted Banneke, when she sings him the Marilyn Monroe version of ‘Happy Birthday.’ Finally, and most importantly, this episode marks the first appearance of the calm, cool, and menacing Gustavo ‘Gus’ Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) who is present as the series’ main villain for the next 28 episodes. It’s also because of Gus’ first agreement to work with Walter that Walter is forced to miss the birth of his daughter, Holly. While many viewers find other episodes to trump the underappreciated “Mandala,” within the context of the insanely wild story of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, I find it to be quite unforgettable.
Walter’s first interaction with Gus
9. Box Cutter (S.4, E.1)
While the finale to Season 3 (“Full Measure”) left many viewers speechless, this Season 4 premiere was nothing short of just that, managing to set a major precedent for the rest of the series’ most recent season. After throwing a wrench into Gus’ multi-million-dollar drug manufacturing business, Walt and Jesse are held hostage in the meth lab by Mike waiting for Gus to arrive and make what may potentially be a mortal judgment call. Victor continues to cook right in front of them, having learned the procedure by simply watching the duo at work. This bottle episode, brilliantly written by creator Vince Gilligan and directed by Adam Bernstein (one of the better series regular directors) reaches a level of heart-stopping intensity when Gus finally walks into the lab. Walt tries hopelessly to reason with Gus while Gus dresses himself in a lab suit. He picks up a box cutter off a nearby table and, without warning, slices Victor’s throat. Victor’s life literally pours out of him while Gus, emotionless, stares directly into Walt and Jesse’s eyes. He doesn’t say a word to either of them or to Mike, who is equally as stunned, but Gus’ intended message is heard loud and clear. It is here that we realize just how scary Gus is, and just how incredible Esposito is at portraying this character. Also, the flashback pre-credits sequence shows that it was actually Gail who requested that Gus search out Walt, commenting that he cannot compete with Walt’s blue meth that is currently owning the streets. Therefore, it was Gail who signed his own death sentence without even realizing it, how’s that for irony?
Gus wields a box cutter
8. Peekaboo (S.2, E.6)
This mid-Season 2 episode is relatively standalone, but it’s one of the more emotionally affecting episodes for both Jesse and Walt. “Peekaboo” finds Jesse and Walt completely separated, both of them forced to remedy a different problem that has confronted them. Led by another excellent script co-written by series creator Gilligan, this episode captures some of the best acting from both Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul (Cranston would go on to win his second consecutive Emmy for this season while Aaron Paul would receive his first nomination). We find Walter confronted with a dilemma in the form of Gretchen Schwartz whom Skylar believes is paying for Walt’s medical treatments, but she is actually completely uninvolved. When Walter and Gretchen discuss why Walter would lie to Skylar, emotional memories from their shared past emerge and the interaction ends on a horribly bad note (“I feel so sorry for you, Walt,” says Gretchen. “F*** you,” replies Walt, angrily). Meanwhile, Jesse is engaged with two conniving junkies, Spooge and his woman, who recently ripped him off. Jesse demands that they pay him back, but they’re money is stored in an ATM machine that they stole. The machine fails to open after Spooge’s multiple attempts, until his woman decides to tip it over onto her husband after he calls her a skank. With a startling crunch, Spooge’s head is squashed and his wife sinks into her couch, uncontrollably lit on crystal meth. In a moment of fear and horror, Jesse collects the money, calls the police, and picks up the couple’s young, ginger-haired child and brings him to the front doorstep and leaves him there. (“You have a good rest of your life, kid,” valedicts Jesse). Shocking and unpredictable, “Peekaboo” remains to be one of the most brilliantly twisted and affecting episodes of my Breaking Bad viewing career.
The major moment occurs at 43:20
7. Crazy Handful of Nothin’ (S.1, E.6)
Though undoubtedly well written and interestingly conceived, Breaking Bad really began to define itself within the pantheon of high quality television with this penultimate Season 1 episode. Besides being the first of many times that Jesse would end up in the hospital and introducing the unbelievably crazy, though short-lived, character of Tuco Salamanca and his bell-ringing relative, Tio, “Crazy Handful of Nothin’” is where Walter White became the infamous Heisenberg, and irreversibly broke bad. Having decided to completely commit to his sickness, the cancerous Walt shaves his head, thus establishing, in this episode, a character trait and image that will remain constant throughout the rest of the series. The climax of this episode showcases this new Walt in full explosive badass-ery (literally), when he confidently confronts Tuco and destroys his hideout with a piece of mercury fulminate which he passes off as crystal meth (as Jesse would say, “Yea, Mr. White! Yea, science!”). This action, in addition to his new physical appearance, provides the first demonstration of the heartlessly violent and unsympathetic person Walter White is going to become. This moment has just as much power in and of itself when juxtaposed with the episode’s pre-credits sequence (which I firmly believe is the best of the entire series) where Walt promises Jesse that their partnership will contain “no more violence, no more bloodshed.” Unfortunately, Walt is much better at lying than he is at making promises.
Best pre-credits scene of Breaking Bad
6. Face Off (S.4, E.13)
The Season 4 finale ranks among the majority of viewers’ favorite episodes, but probably not for the same reason that it resides here on mine. Concluding a series of consistently tense and action packed episodes, this one’s title, “Face Off,” means just as much contextually as it does literally. Walt’s rivalry with former employer, Gus, has reached a head and Vince Gilligan, who wrote and directed this episode, uses these last forty-seven minutes of the fourth season to bring everything to a nice, fitting end…actually, it’s not that nice. Having almost killed Walt, believing he had use the Ricin they were intending to use for Gus to instead poison Brock, the son of Jesse’s current girlfriend, Andrea (who is the older sister of Combo’s murderer, Tómas), Walt is forced to address the Gus problem alone. Jesse has been arrested by the feds, they believe he poisoned the child himself since he was the one that suggested the rare powder may be the substance that is making Brock ill. With the assistance of long term baddie, Tio (a daunting figure from Gus’ own past that Gus hates just as much as Walt), Walt cleverly catches Gus off guard. Using Tio as a compliant human explosive, Walt creates a sustained explosion within the elderly care-home and blows half of Gus’ face off, allowing Gus just enough time to walk out into the hallway and adjust his tie before collapsing to the floor, dead. While all the previous Breaking Bad seasons ended with a major cliffhanger, Season 4 ties up all loose knots (“I won,” states Walt to Skylar over the phone). The reason I value this episode so much is because it leaves the door wide open for possibilities that will transpire in the fifth, and final season instead of leaving us with something that will be evaluated or revisited. What will Walt face in the series’ last sixteen episodes? Will Hank catch Walt? Will Jesse and Walt’s relationship meet a violent conclusion? Maybe the final shot of Season 4 possesses a small hint of how this outstanding series will finally end.
Gus' demise
5. Crawl Space (S.4, E.11)
Arguably the most chilling and unsettling episode of the entire series, “Crawl Space” shows Walter at his most desperate and nervous, beginning with a still-recovering Hank forcing Walter to chauffer him around New Mexico so they can stake out potential drug hot spots. One of them is the Gus’ processing center, but another one is the laundromat where Walt and Jesse work. Walt decides to risk life and limb so that Hank gets nothing out of the Laundromat, so he purposefully gets into a car accident that breaks his own nose and puts Hank in a neck brace. Having failed to deal with Hank to Gus’ expectations, Gus tells Walter that he will deal with Hank on his own and if Walt intervenes then Walt’s family will be murdered. Up until this point, “Crawl Space” manages to be another great Breaking Bad episode, but the last ten to fifteen minutes elevate this episode to being one of the finest. Feeling more threatened than ever, Walt demands Saul to help make Walt and his family disappear, when he returns home to the crawl space underneath his house to retrieve the money to pay for a new life, Skylar admits to having given a significant amount of it to Ted so he can manage his cooked books and IRS troubles (unfortunately, in a small moment of disturbing dark humor, Ted has broken his neck). Realizing that he has hit an immoveable road block in his plan, Walt begins to cry and then cackle maniacally just as Marie telephones the White residence leaving a voicemail about the cartel placing a hit on Hank’s head in an attempt to finish what they started in Season 3. In the final, Lynchian shot, the camera pulls back as the laughing Walter seems to pass out in the crawl space. During these final minutes of “Crawl Space,” director Scott Winant decided to instill a deep sense of fear into the viewer, rather than conjure the traditional and expectant level of intensity and I legitimately felt frightened. It’s one of the moments where I realized that this show has made me care for the anti-hero and episode writers George Mastras and Sam Catlin have furthered the twisting of my morals, a la Nabokov, so that I want the violent meth cooker to make it out of everything alive.
The ending scene of “Crawl Space”
4. Hermanos (S.4, E.8)
“Hermanos” is without a doubt centered, and therefore controlled, by Giancarlo Esposito. The focus of this episode has switched from Walt and Jesse to Gus, who Hank firmly believes is the mastermind behind the entire drug problem that is plaguing Albuquerque. The body of the episode includes a number of fine moments involving Gus like his confidant and persuasive interrogation with the DEA and APD homicide investigators, and when Walt comes to him at Los Pollos Hermanos with a tracking device that Hank is forcing him to attach to Gus’ car and Gus simply says, “Do it.” Yet, it’s the pre-credits scene and climax that make this episode outstanding. A flashback to Season 3 opens the episode where we see Mike kill the surviving twin that attacked Hank in “One Minute.” In an elderly care home, we find Tio watching the news and Gus comes to visit him. Though this is not the first time we have realized that Tio and Gus know each other, it is the first that we realize the state of their relationship. Tio is surviving on Gus’ dollar and Gus is using the convenience of Tio’s caretaking to mentally torture the old, dying man. But for what? The climax to this episode explains this when we flashback many years to Mexico to a time when Gus was nervous and Tio could walk and talk. We observe a meeting between Gus, Gus’ brother, and a Mexican cartel boss, Don Eladio (guest star Steven Bauer). Tio is present (though he responds to the name Hector) as part of the Don’s muscle. The scene ends brutally as Tio puts a bullet through Gus’ brother’s head and young Gus watches his brother’s blood ooze into the nearby pool with unspeakable horror. Gus screams and cries, two actions we thought Gus was unable of emoting. This pseudo-origin story for Gus has some of the best cinematography in the series, as the Mexico scenes are glazed with this faded gold tint reminiscent of Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic. Despite occurring in the later half of the season, “Hermanos” provides a great deal of insight into the current events of Season 4, but it thrives on providing Giancarlo Esposito with more screen-time than he’s ever had in a single episode. Gus regularly appears from the shadows and has very carefully written lines and stoic facial expressions, but this episode shows that Gus can feel threatened, specifically when he reflects on his past and when someone like Hank Schrader comes closer to catching him than anyone else ever has.
“Do it”
3. Fly (S.3, E.10)
The viewing response to “Fly” is usually very polarized, mainly because it’s the definition of a bottle episode. Each Breaking Bad season has it’s own bottle episode and they are always brilliantly handled technically (“…And the Bag’s in the River” from Season 1 and “4 Days Out” from Season 2 just barely missed making this list), but “Fly” is on a whole other level of technical excellence. Sam Catlin and Moira Walley-Beckett script a captivating episode situated entirely in the meth lab with an impatient Jesse and an insomnia-stricken Walter struggling to kill a single fly that is buzzing about. Walter claims that the fly is a contamination and they must get rid of it before they can continue cooking. As the day goes on, the fly reigns supreme and Walter continues to loose mental stability. In a moment of overtired confusion, Walter reflects on the recent events since his cancer diagnosis and claims that he can pinpoint the exact moment in which he would have liked to die: Just before coincidentally having a drink in a bar with Jane’s father the night of Jane’s death. Walter is dangerously close to admitting that he watched Jane die right in front of him and did nothing to stop it (Walter is prone to letting secret information leak out when he is drowsy), but he does not. Jesse eventually catches the fly, but Walter has fallen asleep. Like “4 Days Out,” “Fly” focuses on the Walter-Jesse relationship as it stands currently and it waxes philosophical on why the universe has made the Breaking Bad timeline as unexpected as it is. The show is constantly moving and always creating new conflicts, some which affect characters immediately and others that become more impacting many episodes, if not full seasons, down the road. “Fly” is one of the few episodes where everything slows down, and even then it manages to be just as engaging due to it’s visual edge. Film director Rian Johnson (Brick, the upcoming Looper) helmed this episode with such creativity that it’s easily one of the best directed episodes of television I have ever seen. Regarding “Fly,” I lie on the side of the viewers that find it to be one of Breaking Bad’s very best.
Walter notices the fly
2. One Minute (S.3, E.7)
It doesn’t take much, if any, convincing to why “One Minute” is close to being the best Breaking Bad episode yet. Many will claim that it already is the best, but for me it’s just on the cusp. First, the acting from the two leads in this episode is at a benchmark high, but for the first time ever it’s easily Aaron Paul that controls this episode. After taking a significant beating from Hank at the episode’s start, Jesse is back in the hospital covered in bandages with his face looking like a tenderized piece of meat. When Walt comes to visit, Jesse spits a monologue so horrifying that Walt is just as frightened by his cooking partner as we are. Jesse states that he is going to find Hank and not only take every dime he has but kill him, happily, and if need be he will turn over the great ‘Heisenberg’ to the DEA. He also denies Walt’s later request to become partners again claiming that Walter thought of Jesse as nothing and that Walter has completely destroyed Jesse’s life. I believe that it was at this point in Season 3 that Aaron Paul had his Best Supporting Actor Emmy in the bag. “One Minute” also succeeds from Dean Norris’ newly developing arc as Hank. He has become frightened and less hardheaded and overly confident than he once was. He’s afraid to return to El Paso (following the events of “Negra y Azul”) and he’s “no longer sure of who he is.” But, of course, this episode’s climax is what makes it so memorable. Hank’s encounter with the twins is violent, intense, and surprising as Hank’s life truly hangs in the balance. Though he comes out on top, his wounds are dangerously serious and it was at this point that it seemed very likely that a major character was going to be off the show for good. Director Michelle MacLaren displays her knack for handling action with this episode’s final five minutes and has definitively created one of the most commonly discussed and beloved episodes of this series. Her expertise has assisted her in the episodes she has directed since, including the great Season 4 episode, “Salud.”
Hank beats up Jesse
1. Half Measures (S.3, E.12)
This is sure to cause a great deal of discussion, but yes, “Half Measures” is the best episode of Breaking Bad thus far. It’s a heavy episode in all respects, and features the most breathtaking work from the writing, directing, and acting departments all at once. Another masterful stab at dark humor opens the penultimate episode of Season 3 with a vignette of Wendy the prostitute engaging in her weekly routine, which consists of very little clean activity. It is here that Jesse witnesses the relationship between Wendy and the two drug dealers that have employed Tómas, Andrea’s little brother and Combo’s murderer. Jesse intends on killing the two dealers with Ricin, which is where Walt becomes necessary. Walter refuses to help, but Jesse is set on murdering the two men whether Walter helps or not. The episode begins to pick up when Mike decides to pay Walter a visit. The story he shares with Walter about his days as a police officer is lengthy, but powerful and concludes with the fact that “You never go half measure.” Walt asks Gus to intervene with Jesse’s plans and sets up a meeting with Jesse and the two dealers where they agree to end the dispute and the dealers agree to employ no more children. Later that night, Andrea gets a phone call and learns that Tómas has been murdered and Jesse realizes that while the dealers may agree to employ no more children, they have decided to rid themselves of their one liability. An infuriated Jesse goes back to using meth and takes it upon himself to messily kill the two dealers on their own corner, but before he can do so, Walter intervenes by going ‘full measure.’ He splatters the two drug dealers with his Pontiac Aztek literally annihilating the two of them. One survives, but not for long. Walter exits his car, picks up the dealers gun, and shoots him in the head. The frightened Jesse looks at Walt who says only one word, “Run.” Like Jesse’s monologue in “One Minute,” Mike’s monologue in “Half Measures” is one of the finest moments of writing in the series. Jonathan Banks’ concise delivery and concrete message is beautifully displayed through the writing and Banks’ acting. It’s a tense scene that seems to be never ending, but pays off immensely. Yet, like “One Minute,” it’s the episode’s climax that stays with the viewer. When Walter speeds his car into the two dealers I shot up from my seat and screamed, completely taken off guard by the spontaneous and explicit action. Walter’s lack of care for human life has taken a major turn and he has done exactly what he told Jesse he wouldn’t do: Be involved with the murder of the two dealers. “Half Measures” revisits and expands on plot points from Season 2, exhibits top notch writing, inspired directing (Mr. Adam Bernstein, yet again), and quality acting making this the essential, and most nearly perfect, episode of Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad. Here’s to hoping that Season 5 can consistently deliver on par with or even, dare I say, greater than “Half Measures.”
Mike’s ‘Half Measure’ Speech
“Half Measures” climax
Breaking Bad returns to AMC on Sunday, July 15 at 10pm.
Approximately one month before the return of “the one who knocks.”