Ranking Breaking Bad episodes

Episode 5x13

To'hajiilee is my all-time favorite Breaking Bad episode, and one of the finest hours of TV of any show, ever (there's a recent fierce competition for this, namely the Game of Thrones episode Winds of Winter - but it will never be bumped from the top spots.) Everything in this episode is pure brilliance, and it also has my favorite sequence of the whole show, a certain intense car drive.

This episode sees Hank, Jesse and Gomie planning on how to find Walt's money to use as evidence against him to make his case clear cut. They come up with an elaborate plan including some store-purchased brains and Jesse playing dead, tricking Huell to think Saul has sold him out and Walt is out to get him because he might know about his money's whereabouts, staging the location where Walt's money is hidden after having heard from Huell that the money is in barrels and that the rental van looked as if it had been driven on dirt roads, sending a photo of the fake money barrel to Walt and have Jesse engage him in an aggressive phone call where Walt confesses to many of his murders while he is racing desperately to To'Hajiilee where the moneyis buried all the while Jesse is telling him on the phone that he is burning 10k a minute until Walt arrives. This whole sequence is pure brilliance, the dialogue, the visuals (the wild wild west style desert is again used to its full magnificent potential), the emotion, the tension...

When Walt arrives at the location where his money is buried, he realizes soon that it has been a trap to lead Jesse to the money. Earlier in the episode he met with Jack and Todd to make a deal on a hit for Jesse - a scene in which he showed that he still has feelings left, something that after Hank found him out has been gradually returning. He asked the Nazis to kill Jesse, but in a way that would neither cause him pain nor fear. Cold, but at least there was some compassion left in Walt. In To'Hajiilee, however, he calls Jack and tells them to come at once, something he tries to take back and will come to regret as soon as he realizes Hank is there with Jesse. There is a moment of triumph for the DEA, Hank has read Walt his rights, Jesse is close to tears feeling victorious (even moreso when he realizes the place they are in is the very first place where Walt and Jesse cooked.) That relief and joy is short-lived though, when Jack and co arrive. The episode ends in a superb cliffhanger of bullets flying everywhere.

10/10

Episode 5x16 - the series finale

There is a depressing amount of TV shows that were great in the beginning, and then completely plummeted in quality later on. Breaking Bad is definitely not one of those shows. The pilot was great, but it was still a steady ascent throughout, with every season being more outstanding than the last. And Felina sure does deliver a finale episode worthy of the, in my opinion, best TV show and best season (5) of all-time.

Sure, there are things that may seem a bit convenient. Walt going back to Albuquerque, tying up lose ends, seeing old friends and family (including a simultaneously menacing and funny meeting with Gretchen and Elliott where Walt leaves them his money to give to his children - only Walt could use "beautiful people" as an insult), killing old enemies. During Walt's visit to Skyler's new house, we get the piece of conversation between those two that I always wanted without even knowing I did. Walt starts with "Everything I did, I did..." to which Skyler is quick to object, since she by this point is as tired as the audience is of Walt excusing his actions by claiming he did everything "for the family". But instead we get this gem: "I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it." This is such a big step for the character of Walter White, to finally admit this after 5 seasons. It feels like the last parts of Walter White were returned to him at that point, and while he can never make amends for what he did as Heisenberg, maybe this admittance is the first step.

In the last act of Felina, and thus the whole series, Walt goes to meet the Nazis at their headquarters, with a little killer robot automatic machine gun system in his car trunk. When Jack is already about to kill him, Walt accuses him of owing him Jesse's life, since Walt is under the impression Jack has partnered with Jesse. Jack denies this vehemently, and gets Todd to fetch Jesse - chained up, face scarred, dirty and ragged. Seeing his former partner, someone he used to care about before everything went so wrong, moves something within Walt. Instead of further demanding the Nazis to kill Jesse, he does his final good deed. He tackles Jesse to the ground just before activating his automatic weapon, which makes the whole room explode in a whirlwind of bullets and gunpowder. Walt covers Jesse, taking a bullet himself in the process.

When the room quiets, there are only a handful of people left. While I never wanted Jesse to have to kill anyone ever again, seeing him strangle Todd with his own chains is pretty satisfying, seeing Jesse retrieve some of the agency he has been lacking for the past 6 months. Walt shoots Jack, and turns to Jesse, giving him the gun and the permission to kill him. "You want this", Walt says to Jesse. This is reminiscent of so many conversations between these two in the course of this show, and Walt's way of manipulating Jesse into thinking he is making his own decisions and not being led into a certain direction. But Jesse is having none of it anymore, telling Walt that nothing happens, before he hears Walt say "I want this". Walt acquiesces to which Jesse replies: "Then do it yourself." They have a last look at each other on the courtyard of the compound, eerily paralleling the scene in the very first episode of the first season, where Walt asked Jesse to partner up with him. This time, the shot is framed a bit differently, with Jesse as the person whose point of view we experience the shot from. Finally, after a final nod at each other - recognizing that they both ruined each other's lives but that they were also fundamental in making them the people they are today, we watch Jesse drive off the compound - laughing and crying at the same time.

There was a very heart-breaking scene earlier in the episode, where we see Jesse do some woodworking. He is making the box he told about in his NA support group in season 3. I feel in my heart that this scene was there, as was the mention of Alaska, to guide us into thinking - wishing, at the very least - that against all odds Jesse somehow managed to escape his horrible situation. Maybe Jesse is happily running a carpentry shop in Anchorage. That is what I want to picture him doing, at the very least. Walt, on the other hand, whether you consider him to be deserving of it or not, found peace. He died in the middle of a laboratory - which represents both his biggest wasted potential and his biggest accomplishment. The last shot, with the song Baby Blue playing in the background and Walt serenely lying there, dead, is perfection purer than Heisenberg's blue.

10/10

Episode 3x12

Half Measures - named after an amazing, emotional, poignant and character-establishing signature speech Mike gives Walt about his time as a cop in Philly where he decided to threaten someone instead of flat out killing them, only to have this man murder his wife only weeks later - is an absolutely riveting hour of television. There's so much action and character development packed into this episode, and every character and performance in this is absolutely golden.

Breaking Bad is great with cold openings, and Half Measures is no different. It follows Jesse's prostitute friend Wendy during her routine day, and later Jesse going to her for help in poisoning the guys who made Tomas kill Combo. This episode goes deeper into Jesse's sense of right and wrong, and his inability to function in a business that would harm children. He is deeply frustrated by Walt's unwillingness to participate in killing these rival dealers, who Jesse has found out are working for Gus. Jesse shows great courage and heart in this episode, when he is taken by Mike to be confronted by Gus, Walt and the dealers. When Gus seems to be willing to let the whole thing go without disposing off Jesse, even Mike seems shocked when Jesse refuses Gus' offer, and instead confronts him about using children in his operation. There are not many characters on this show who have the guts to stand up to Gus, but Jesse is one of them.

At the end of the episode, after Gus has promised "no more children", Andrea receives a phone call that Tomas has been murdered. This isn't something Jesse can let slide, so he marches - alone - to these dealers' corner to kill them or die trying. At the last moment, Deus ex Pontiac in the form of Walter White drives in, and Walt kills the other dealer by crashing into him with his car, and the other by shooting him point blank in the face, and tells Jesse to run. This is the concluding shot of the episode, and shows both Jesse's willingness to give his own life for what he considers to be the right thing, and Walt's to kill for Jesse.

There are other great little scenes as well, like Skyler telling Walt she'd rather be the Bonnie to his Clyde than an idiot, and some nice Saul moments. Overall, a truly spectacular episode with pitch perfect acting from Aaron Paul, Jonathan Banks (Mike), Bryan Cranston and Giancarlo Esposito.

10/10

Episode 4x10

This is one of my favorite episodes of Breaking Bad, the Mexico dream team of Gus, Jesse and Mike is something I wish we could have seen more of. When given the chance to be THE guy instead of always being in Walt's shadow, Jesse shows he can channel some real badassery in this episode, with a rocky start but an eventual epic take down of the Cartel's chemist who belittles him. Mike looks proud and Gus impressed, this is the episode when Jesse proved his worth to Gus in a big way, going so far as saving both Gus and Mike's lives after Gus poisons the whole Cartel and they need to flee the scene. Jesse also shoots one of the Cartel guards, for once not freezing up when guns are blazing. Gus, post-poisoning, is truly a chilling man - sitting there stoically while waiting for the right moment to politely excuse himself to go rid himself of the poison, and then declaring Don Eladio and his capos dead, and giving whoever remains at the house the chance to leave peacefully. This is the ultimate revenge of Gus towards the men who killed Max all those years ago, and it's splendid.

Back in ABQ, Walt is having a harder time recuperating from his and Jesse's fight, having been badly beaten up. Walt Jr comes to check up on him, and we get Walt at his most unguarded. Like in Fly, his guilt wells up when he is drugged (on painkillers this time) and he gets very emotional, crying about how sorry he is without probably even realizing who exactly he is apologizing to - evidenced by him calling Jr Jesse. The following day he shares stories about his own father, of whom he only has one clear memory and that was from the time he was already weakened with illness, and wishes for Jr to not remember him like this. To this Jr replies what we all know but Walt is too blind to see, he would rather remember his father weak than odd and absent like he has been for the past year. This highlights the dichotomy between what Walt thinks his family needs him to be - a provider, a manly man - and what his family wants him to be - just there, as a loving father.

The IRS storyline and Skyler giving Ted money to cover her tracks isn't very interesting, but apart from that, this is an exceptionally exciting and emotional episode.

10/10

Episode 4x13

Another amazingly tense, action-packed and emotional episode of Breaking Bad, absolutely one of the classics of the show. In the confusion about Brock's poisoning and how Jesse would come to the conclusion it was ricin, he is taken into custody by the ABQ police department and Walt and Jesse find themselves in a troublesome situation, not knowing how to coordinate Gus' killing. Walt gets creative and manages to get Saul to go in and talk with Jesse (after a funny exchange with Francesca, who really should have a bigger role because she is hilarious and totally unimpressed with Walt) and finds out about Gus' animosity with Hector.

Walt and Hector make plans for Gus, the first step of which is for Hector to make it look like he talked to the DEA. We get an amazingly funny scene with him basically communicating to the DEA that they can f-ck off, antagonizing every agent in the room. It works, however, and Gus arrives at Hector's nursing home. This scene is really well done, the way Gus walks into the home - there are few characters that can make simple walking seem as threatening as Gus does (he did it well in Bug and Salud as well.) The score in this scene is fabulous as well, seeing the return of the heartbeat bass, which always gives the events unfolding a foreboding atmosphere. Hector's hatred of Gus is greater than his thirst for life, and he blows himself, Tyrus and Gus up - literally taking half his face of and transforming Gus into a gruesome two-face lookalike corpse.

Getting rid of Gus and the superlab flares Walt's ego up like nothing has ever done before, and he simply declares to Skyler that he "has won". She is obviously partly relieved but also frightened because of the extremity of his actions, and this sets up some major White family conflict for season 5. In the final shot of the episode we also find out that Walt did indeed poison Brock, albeit not with the ricin, when the camera zooms in to a White residence house plant - Lily of the Valley. I remember being shocked at this when I first saw the episode, since while Walt "broke bad" a while ago, poisoning a child just to manipulate Jesse and showing zero regret for it is certainly the most callous thing he has done.

10/10

Episode 5x14

Ozymandias is considered by many people as the best episode of any TV show ever, and it is definitely up there. Its writer Moira Walley-Beckett won an extremely deserved Emmy for her writing for this episode. In classic Breaking Bad style, the opening scene is outstanding, depicting the first ever cook of Walt and Jesse in To'Hajiilee. We see them loitering about the good old RV in the desert, and slowly and gradually, they start fading away - first Walt, then Jesse, and then finally the RV. After the opening credits we cut straight back to that exact same location, where the shootout the previous episode ended in materializes.

After spending the first half of season 5 basically a non-human ego-bot, this episode shows a refreshing return of Walter White, human being, in place of Heisenberg, the emotionless drug kingpin. Hank has survived the initial shootout, unlike Gomie, but has realized that there is no way he is leaving the desert alive. Walt tries to beg for his life, even offering the Nazis all his money (which they end up taking anyways, good thinking there Walt, leading them straight to it) in exchange for it, but Hank stays firm. "My name is ASAC Schrader, and you can go f-ck yourself." Hank was never my favorite character, but this death scene was simply outstanding, and showed Hank's courage.

After being almost catatonic with grief for a while (in a shot that closely resembles that of Gus Fring when his partner Max was killed by the Cartel) Walt gathers himself, and demands the Nazis kill Jesse, who has been hiding under a car. Todd however suggests they take Jesse with them, to find out what he has told the DEA. Walt agrees to it, throws the fact that he watched Jane die in Jesse's face, and watches them drive off. Poor Jesse goes from bad to worse, when the is taken to the Nazis' headquarters, tortured for information on where the tape he did for Hank is, and then forced to cook for them under threat of Andrea and Brock's lives.

The biggest emotional roller-coaster of the episode is what happens at the White residence when Walt goes home and tries to get his family to leave with him. Skyler and Jr have found out from Marie in an earlier scene that Hank had Walt arrested, so Skyler makes the connection to Hank being dead. This leads to a big confrontation with them involving a knife, and to a truly depressing shot of Walt standing over Skyler and Walt Jr with the knife in his hand screaming "we're family!" and baby Holly (the baby's acting was on point in this episode) screaming in the background. This is the moment Walt realizes that he has lost his family forever, the reason he ever got into the drug business in the first place. In a last desperate effort Walt kidnaps baby Holly, leaving Skyler running screaming behind them.

Later, the police are at the White house, when Walt calls Skyler. He starts by shouting angrily at him, calling her names and being vicious in every way imaginable. The viewer's first instinct is to wonder where this cruelty comes from, has Walt really started to hate his family that much. But as the phone calls progresses, it becomes clear Walt is lying the whole time. He gets Skyler to admit that it was Walt who was the mastermind behind everything, absolving Skyler of her involvement. It is an amazing scene, with Bryan Cranston going seamlessly from furious to barely being able to talk through her tears, and Anna Gunn meeting him step by step. Both of them won an Emmy for this episode, and deservedly so.

In the end, Walt leaves Holly at a local firestation, and takes of with the disappearer. It's all over for every one of the original six main characters - Walt, Jesse, Skyler, Hank, Marie and Walt Jr.

10/10

Episode 4x12

End Times is an episode that is very different on first watch and on rewatch, since it relies heavily on a reveal we get in the following episode. So this is me reviewing the episode from the PoV of someone who already knows the plot twist, although I do remember buying into the lie the first time around, and being truly and utterly shocked at Walt's callousness when the reveal came in the season finale.

In End Times we see Walt at his most desperate. He knows Gus wants to kill him, and while the rest of his family is sent into protective custody at Hank's, Walt opts to staying behind since he acknowledges he is the reason everyone is in danger. He knows that even Jesse's insistence that nothing "permanent" is to be done to him will not keep him alive for much longer and that Gus is on the verge of turning Jesse against Walt for good, so in a desperate bid to swift Jesse's alliance fully into Walt's court, he plans to make it look like Gus poisoned Brock and framed Walt for it. This would, indeed, be a good plan for Gus since it would remove the last obstacle he had in disposing of Walt, but Walt shows his major manipulation skills and utter ruthlessness by poisoning Brock himself (though on first watch we don't know this until the following episode) and making Jesse believe it was Gus. This turns Jesse's loyalties 180, and he agrees to murder Gus - though their first attempt fails miserably.

Walt lies a lot on this show, but this is one of his best lies, showing just how far he has come from his early pathetic attempts at lying. He's extremely convincing all the while Jesse is holding a gun to his head (in a sweet homage to Mr. White and Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs), and manages to play into Jesse's emotions, which have always been fragile at best and are even more in turmoil in this episode. Both Aaron Paul portraying Jesse in his grief and Bryan Cranston Walt at his very most manipulative give amazing performances in this episode.

Meanwhile, Steve Gomez is snooping around the laundromat. It's frustrating to see Hank continuously ruining his own career without knowing it, leaking information to Walt and Skyler which helps Walt in botching Hank's investigation.

10/10

Episode 5x11

The titular confession of this episode is not so much a confession, but a vicious lie and and Oscar-worthy performance by one Walter White. For a long-term plan it seems a bit wonky, but in order to buy themselves time and to disrupt Hank's investigation of Walt, Walt takes a serious step in doing what he has always vowed not to do - deliberately hurt his family. With the help of Skyler, they come up with an elaborate story about how Hank is actually the mastermind behind both Gus Fring's and Heisenberg's operation, and he blackmailed Walt to be a measly cook - and indentured servant even, as Walt claims - in the business. This is one of the more heartless things Walt and Skyler have done on the show, and it is the last vestiges of Walt's humanity leaving him.

For someone who is a big fan of Jesse Pinkman such as myself, this episode was such a riveting but emotional ride. Jesse keeps mum with Hank, but finally gets to tell Walt just what he thinks of him. Walt, Jesse and Saul take a trip to the desert, where Walt tries to manipulate Jesse into leaving town, by passing it off as being something in Jesse's best interest, and trying to make Jesse think he is only thinking about what is best for Jesse. Finally, Jesse calls Walt out on this, and on his constant attempts at manipulation. He even says that he will do it, if Walt just asks. "Ask me for a favor", tells Jesse to Walt. Unfortunately, Walt's pride is too big at this point, and he is unable to ask for help. Instead, he simply hugs him, and holds him for a while, which is enough to totally unravel Jesse who has always reacted well to someone being nice to him, or giving him physical assurance.

So, Jesse agrees to leave town. Through a bit of a leap in logic, he however realizes - at the last minute - that Walt was indeed the one who poisoned Brock. Aaron Paul amps Jesse's emotional turmoil to 11, when he totally explodes in Saul's office, beating Saul, getting a confession out of him on gunpoint, and finally stealing his car. The episode ends with Jesse, having driven to the White residence in an absolute rage (with a sufficiently aggressive soundtrack accompanying him), pouring gasoline all over the White's living room.

10/10

Episode 2x12

Another episode that gives us an amazing insight into Walt's mind, both his feelings towards his family members and his quickly inflating ego. We see Walt interact with a plethora of characters in this episode, the most telling of which are his scenes with baby Holly, Saul, Jane and Douglas Margolis - Jane's father.

In Holly, Walt finally has a family member with whom he can be totally honest about his achievements. He takes baby Holly to the basement where he keeps his money, and shows it to her (as much as you can show a baby anything.) With Saul, he agonizes over how to let Skyler know about his money, he doesn't want it to be an anonymous donation through the recently establish (by Jr) savewalterwhite.com website, since he can't bear the thought of the money coming in without his family knowing it was HIM who earned it. When he is talking on the phone with Jane, where Jane blackmails him for Jesse's part of their earnings, Walt shows clear jealousy over Jesse being able to tell his girlfriend where his money has come from, something Walt himself hasn't been able to do. And finally, in his scene at the bar with Jane's father they talk about raising daughters and the importance of family - which prompts Walt to declare Jesse to be "family" for the first time, and for him to go check on him.

When Walt goes to see Jesse, we again get one of those establishing Heisenberg moments. Walt sees Jane starting to overdose, but instead of helping her, he watches her die. Earlier in the episode he has been adamant that baby Holly sleeps on her side in case she vomits, and now he is standing by, watching a young woman lying on her back choking on her own vomit. A very powerful scene, which shows Walt clearly conflicted about what he is doing, but unwilling to save her anyways. Partly because she is a threat to his business, partly because he sees her as a threat to Jesse.

Amazing episode, with some fantastic acting from Bryan Cranston.

10/10

Episode 3x07

This is an extremely tense episode and true return to form after a slower first half of the third season. The episode belongs to Hank and Jesse, Hank who in the aftermath of being conned by Walt and Jesse gets extremely incensed and in a moment of anger goes to Jesse's house to beat him up. Until now we've seen Hank falter on occasion, but he's almost always been able to maintain his hardass alpha male exterior. In this episode it crumbles however, when Hank shows clear remorse and regret over assaulting Jesse, breaking down in tears, and shows willingness to face consequences for those actions. But as is wont with Breaking Bad, those consequences aren't exactly what they would be in most real life situations. Instead, the Cousins come for Hank who gets an anonymous warning (from Gus, I would assume) one minute before the attack. This leads to an extremely tense minute of Hank trying to spot the Cousins, and then a fight between the three of them on the parking lot which leaves Hank severely hurt, but alive (one of the Cousins wasn't so lucky.)

Meanwhile, Jesse ponders on how to proceed while recovering in the hospital - with some funny scenes with Saul and emotional ones with Walt. Jesse acknowledges out loud how partnering up with Heisenberg has messed up his life and left him with nothing. Walt however uses his tactics of emotional manipulation - playing into Jesse's pathological need to be accepted and cared for by someone - to get Jesse to work with him so that he won't press charges.

Fantastic acting by Dean Norris (Hank) and Aaron Paul.

10/10

Episode 4x11

Another absolutely fantastic episode. Crawl Space is a study in how everything shatters for Walt in the space of a days: Hank wants him to go with him on a stake-out at the laundromat so Walt drives them into traffic injuring Hank (everything "for the family"?), after worrying about Jesse he finds out he is back and cooking and wants nothing to do with Walt, after a tense meet with Jesse where for once Jesse has the upper hand in their relationship - since Gus has decided that Jesse can now take care of the lab by himself after proving his worth in Mexico - he gets kidnapped and taken to the desert by Gus who threatens to murder his whole family, after the threat he goes to Saul and asks him to make him and his family disappear, only to find out Skyler has given their money to Ted so he can't pay for the disappearer guy.

The scene where Walt finds out the money is gone is absolutely one of the finest scenes ever produced for television. Walt is lying in the dirt in the crawl space, first shouting and then manically laughing (bringing forth some masterclass acting from Cranston) while Skyler looks on in absolute terror, the phone starts ringing with a voicemail from Marie saying Hank's been threatened again, the music is this nightmare-inducing heartbeat and the camera shakes and shambles like a house of cards in wind.

10/10

Episode 3x13

Another stellar episode, and best finale by now. The chain of events that went haywire in the previous episode has made everyone realize that full measures are not a possibility in their current situation, and everyone is going at it at full force. Walt tries to defend Jesse's actions to Gus and Mike, but realizes that were they to find Jesse they have no intention of letting him live. He comes to the same conclusion on his own life when Gus brings back Gale, who we see later have a meeting with Gus wondering when he will be ready to take on the cooking by himself, without Walt.

Walt knows his days are numbered as long as Gale is in the picture, so he has Saul - who has just been threatened by Mike for Jesse's whereabouts and is beginning to understand he is way in over his head - organize a meet with Jesse to discuss how to proceed. Jesse, who is depressed and resigned shows great reluctance in killing Gale, and Walt in a surge of sympathy and understanding of Jesse's inability to kill promises to do it himself. He tells Jesse they have no other way, since if Walt is given a chance between Jesse and his own lives, and Gale's, he'll always let Gale die instead.

In the end, all the plans are rewritten when Victor and Mike kidnap Walt, and Jesse is forced to rush to kill Gale. This scene is amazing for various reasons, the best of which is the subversion of every kind of drug dealer trope with Walt and Jesse. Walt openly begs for his life with Walt, clearly afraid of dying, and when he manages to call Jesse to tell him he has to do it himself, Jesse is absolutely devastated. He holds a gun to Gale's head, both of them crying, and it's so clear this is the last thing Jesse wants to do. But to save Walt's life, as he had just saved Jesse's, he pulls the trigger.

10/10

Episode 5x12

Rabid Dog is one of the lower rated 5b episodes, but I personally love this one. Walt has been the primary protagonist of Breaking Bad since season 1, episode 1, scene 1, but I have always considered Jesse to be just as important a character, and in many ways the heart of the show. While Walt is busy breaking bad, it is Jesse's rising humanity and him carrying the guilt of all his and Walt's bad actions when Walt doesn't seem to have any remorse that makes for me the most emotional scenes of the show. I've mentioned in regards to other episodes, that often it is Jesse's loyalty and Jesse's choices that drive the story, and whoever has him on his side comes out on top. Rabid Dog isn't an exception, although this time the other party besides Walt vying for Jesse's favor is Hank.

While Jesse is trying to burn down Walt's house, Hank shows up, and after a very enraged Jesse totally comes apart - in another amazingly acted scene by Aaron Paul, and also Dean Norris - they decide to team up to "burn Walt to the ground". Jesse teaming up with the DEA is rather poetic, since in the Pilot episode Walt coerces Jesse into cooking with him by saying he will inform on Jesse to the DEA if he doesn't. So in this episode Jesse tells the DEA everything, and oh boy is it more than it would have been if Jesse had just not cared about Walt giving him into the DEA in the Pilot.

Meanwhile, we get the return of terrible liar Walt, when he tries to explain to Skyler and Junior why there is gasoline all over their living room. Even with Walt losing so much of his humanity during in the last two seasons, these kinds of scenes still make one feel sorry for the guy. It's the epitome of season 1 sadsack Walt, coming up with one unconvincing lie after another. The saddest part of the scene is watching Skyler and Walt jr's reactions, neither of whom is believing a word Walt is spouting. They have different reasons for their disbelief, but the situation is still the same, Walt has lost much of his credibility in the eyes of his family.

Walt does indeed demonstrate that he still cares for Jesse, when meeting with Saul to discuss what should be done about it - in a scene that involves some of Saul's endless collection of colorful metaphors, comparing Jesse to Old Yeller, the most loyal of dogs, in need of putting down when he got rabid. Walt is unwilling to do this, even when Skyler suggests it as well, until Jesse fails to meet him in the planned place, and makes a threatening-sounding phone call. It is then that Walt reluctantly calls Todd, and tells him he has another job for Todd's uncle - the same man who orchestrated the prison massacre.

10/10

Episode 5x15

In hindsight, the opening scenes of this episode set up the spin-off series from Breaking Bad, 'Better Call Saul'. Both Walt and Saul are leaving with the aid of the disappearer, and are waiting in an underground room in his shop. Saul dares to finally deny Walt of his aid, telling him it is over, even though Walt repeats that it isn't over until Walt says it's over. As a parting gift Saul tells him he shouldn't flee, since his family will be in problems if he disappears. Walt refuses the advice, swearing on revenge on the Nazis and getting his money back to his family before he can either die or go to prison.

It is kind of poetic justice, that after hearing for many seasons, that Jesse "is family", his situation after Walt's escape is simultaneously similar and the opposite from Skyler's. While Skyler is shown to be in serious trouble with the law, Jesse is even more in trouble with the outlaws. Skyler has been stripped from his home, her business, and all her money - Jesse has lost his freedom and his physical well-being. Jesse's already dire situation and crushing grief is piled further on in this episode, as if torture, meth slavery, and Todd being a creep on him wasn't enough. Jesse tries to escape, but gets caught, and the Nazis retaliate by killing Andrea in front of his eyes. Jesse is forced to tow the line from then on, in order to protect Brock.

Meanwhile, Walt is taken all the way to New Hampshire and we get a version of Walt who is the closest to his season 1 counterpart, but more destitute. He spends all of his time completely isolated in a little cabin in the mountains, with nothing much to do or occupy himself with. When the disappearer brings him his monthly groceries, he stoops to paying him 10k dollars just to have him play cards with him for one hour. Finally the situation becomes too depressing for Walt, and he packs 100 000 dollars in a package, goes to the little town nearby and attempts to send his package. He shares a short conversation with Walt Jr, or "Flynn", on the phone, where once again he is reminded of how the drug business - that was supposed to help his family - just lost him everything. Flynn doesn't want his money, and Walt in his usual way has trouble understanding what Flynn has been saying to him for over a year - he just wanted Walt to be "real". The call ends with Flynn telling Walt to just die, after which Walt, totally resigned, calls the APD to surrender.

However, when he sits down on the bar to wait for the cops, he sees Gretchen and Elliot on TV. They belittle Walt's involvement in the founding of Grey Matter Technologies, saying his involvement begun and ended at the company name. This flares Walt's pride and anger, and hearing on the news that Blue Meth is still on the market, he abandons the giving himself in part of the plan. Granite State ends at the police barging into the bar - accompanied by the first and only time in an episode proper the Braking Bad main theme song - only to find a half-drunk glass of whiskey, and no Walter White.

10/10

Episode 5x08

Gliding Over All is a visually stunning episode - one of the best of Breaking Bad. There are some very clever uses of montage, one being when Walt - having struck a deal with some nazi relatives of Todd - organizes all the inmates who have information on his business to be killed simultaneously in prison. It's a gruesome scene, showing just how desensitized to violence and murder Walt has become, but it's done in a brilliant way with chill music and Walt standing home with a stop-watch while it happens. Another awesome montage scene is one showing Walt and Todd cooking, and everyone else doing their part in the organization inclusing Saul, Skyler and Lydia who took over big parts of Walt's distribution network. The song in this scene - Crystal Blue Persuasion - fits the show to a tee, and even the transition from the previous scene to this one is done in a fantastic way.

In the end of this episode however, Walt makes the decision to leave the meth business, after Skyler shows him just how much money they have and Walt sees that they truly have no place to put it anymore. He even shows some humanity and goes to finally give Jesse's 5 million to him. Walt's luck is finally against him though, because while he may have left the business, there is still some evidence out there. One of them being a Walt Whitman poetry book at the White residence, with a preface by none other than Gale Boetticher, and which is found by none other than Hank. This scene includes a flashback to a scene from season 4, where Hank and Walt ponder who W.W. is. "Walter White?" asks Hank - "You got me", responds Walt.

10/10

Episode 5x07

Walt's egotrip continues, arguably reaching its height in this episode. The episode starts with the now famous titular "Say my name" moment, when Walt brags to the methylamine buyers in the desert about his meth being much better than theirs, and hence instead of buying the methylamine they should instead become his distributors. The buyers try arguing for a while, but in the end they have no choice but to recognize that Walt is indeed Heisenberg, and as such more brilliant than they are.

Walt's ego takes a hit though, when Jesse still wants out of the business. Walt tries all his manipulation tactics - from pep talk to belittling to withholding Jesse's money, but nothing works. Instead he is forced to take Todd as his lab partner. Todd, who is definitely one of the creepiest characters on this show - two episodes ago we saw him callously kill a child, and in this one he is the very epitome of politeness and class. Walt's pride is wounded even further, when Mike needs to escape town since he has been ratted to the DEA, and Walt, Jesse and Saul are on the phone with him. Mike is insisting Saul go get his escape bag from a car on the airport, but Saul considers himself too visible for such a task, and Jesse volunteers to do it. Mike, however, vehemently refuses, since he doesn't want Jesse to get into trouble. Walt is visibly irked by this, by Jesse's insistence on helping Mike when in Walt's opinion Jesse has rejected Walt for no reason and by Mike's willingness to protect Jesse.

In the end, Walt agree to go fetch the bag, to take it to Mike. In the last meeting of Walt and Mike, there is a heavy sense of dread in the air. Walt is already volatile due to his ego being bumped, and Mike - as is his way - underestimates just how ruthless Walt is. There is a big exchange of words where Mike blames Walt for every trouble they currently have, because he didn't know his place in Gus' organization, where everything was going well for him. Walt then takes off as to leave, but returns and shoots Mike. This is the first time on the show Walt actually kills someone just because he feels like it. Mike mouthed off, so Walt decided to shoot him. If Walt hadn't already broken bad by now, this would have done it. It was a pleasure kill, not to protect himself or anyone else, not to even cover his tracks.

9.5/10

Episode 5x06

Buyout is something everyone wants in this episode. The episode starts with a scene where Walt, Mike and Todd are disposing of Drew Sharpe's body. This particular killing has pushed Jesse near his breaking point, and when he and Walt are cooking one day and Jesse hears Walt whistling - as if their associate murdering a child doesn't hang heavy on Walt's conscience at all - Jesse decides he wants out of the business. Mike is leaving as well due to the DEA developing a keen interest in his comings and goings, so Mike and Jesse plan on selling their part of the methylamine to a rival manufacturer. Unfortunately, he refuses if Walt won't share his part as well, since he wants the superior blue meth off the market.

Jesse's desire to leave the business and accept the buyout leads him to go to Walt's house to talk to him. This gives us one of the best expositions into Walt's motives behind building a drug empire, and also one of the most hilarious and awkward scenes ever when Jesse - at Walt's insistence - stays to dine with Walt and Skyler. Before the dinner, Walt shares with Jesse the story of Grey Matter, and how selling out before the company became worth of billions for a very meager sum has always haunted him. Everytime he checks Grey Matter's networth he sees the value of his wasted potential, and he has never gotten over the resentment. This is why he tells Jesse he is neither in the meth business or the money business, but rather in the empire business. He wants to be the biggest kingpin in the business, not because of the meth or the money, but because he is using his success in the underworld as a substitute for the success he missed out on in his legitimate area of expertise. He is proud of being such a heavy hitter in something, even though Jesse doesn't think having a meth empire is anything to be proud of.

As Walt remains reluctant to sell his share of the methylamine, Mike tries to imprison him in their office until the deal is done. Walt, however, escapes and steals the methylamine. He has also once again succeeded in manipulating Jesse to take his side - selling a sob story on how his wife wishes him dead and he has lost his children, leaving him with nothing but the business.

9.5/10

Episode 5x05

This is one of Breaking Bad's most movie like episodes. Lydia's methylamine barrels are being tracked by the DEA, so she helps meth trio in concocting a plan on how to acquire some more. This leads to an epic train heist, where Walt, Jesse and Mike enlist Todd's help for their elaborate plan on going all Jesse James and robbing a train. This leads to a long, intense and suspenseful scene of them pulling off the robbery. Walt, in what is his season 5 Heisenberg style, leaves retreating to the last possible second, considering his word to be above anything (like a train's acceleration speed), but they nonetheless succeed in the robbery perfectly. Unless, in comes a little kid who has been seen in the episode opening scene riding on his dirt bike in the desert. Todd proves himself to be a total psychopath, waving merrily to the kid before shooting him in cold blood in order to not leave witnesses. This nicely sets up Todd as one of the major villains on season 5, especially when it concerns Jesse, who has proven time and time again that when children are being harmed he is no longer on board.

There are also some scenes with Walt and Skyler discussing their family situation, but Dead Freight is deservedly all about the heist.

9.5/10

Episode 4x01

A terrific continuation for the season 3 finale, where most important scenes take place in the lab after Gale's dead and Jesse's been brought in. The most interesting aspect of this episode is observing the characters' reactions to the events unfolding. While waiting for Gus to arrive and watching Victor cook, Walt is cocky and loud, while running a constant commentary on Victor's cooking skills. Jesse however is shell-shocked and unresponsive, spending the whole time they are in the lab silent and mostly staring at one spot. When Gus arrives, however, Walt's compartment changes entirely. He gets extremely defensive, trying to justify their actions to Gus, desperately attempting to explain to Gus why they should be left alone.

When Gus, out of nowhere, pulls a box cutter and slits Victor's throat, everyone reacts in a different way. Gus himself barely reacts at all, he's stoic throughout the whole scene of him arriving, putting on safety gear, killing Victor, cleaning himself off, and leaving - not saying a word throughout. Walt is frightened by Gus' abrupt turning on Victor, and looks even nauseous when Victor is bleeding out. Mike looks shocked, since while no stranger to death this is a more passionate killing than a cold businessman such as Gus would normally engage in. Even Jesse is awaken from his stupor, but unlike the rest, ultimately he doesn't seem scared, but rather angry. This is a stark difference to the moments before, and also the moments after where he seems almost unaffected - which prompts Walt to worry for his mental health. Jesse seems to have resigned himself to the fact that his life will be awful from here on out, so much so that he doesn't even get angry or sad about it.

Again, amazing performances by everyone in the cast, especially Giancarlo Esposito and Aaron Paul

9.5/10

Episode 5x09

The beginning of the home run of Breaking Bad, ninth episode of the fifth season, but the first of the so-called "season 5b." And what a beginning it is. Most of the episode could be titled "Calm Before The Storm", since instead of confronting Walt outright, Hank decides to investigate a bit further to confirm his suspicions. And they are confirmed, in the tensest possible scene between the brothers-in-law, who are for the rest of this show to be enemies. In the last scene of the episode Walt goes to see Hank at the Schrader residence after having found a GPS device under his car, and for a few minutes they exchange forced pleasanteries - while it is obvious the both of them know what the situation is. Finally Hank punches Walt in the face, confirms what Walt already knew - that he now is aware Walt is Heisenberg - and swears to see him behind bars for the rest of his (short, since Walt's cancer has returned) life.

This is the beginning of the end for Heisenberg. Elsewhere Jesse is unraveling as well, buried under an immense amount of guilt and grief, and wanting desperately to just do something good. He goes to Saul demanding his money be given to Kaylee and to Drew Sharpe's parents, after which Saul alerts Walt and he goes to Jesse's house to return the money, swearing Mike isn't dead and is capable of taking care of his own granddaughter. Jesse tells Walt he believes his story, but it's clear he doesn't, and has simply given up. In the end we see Jesse driving around Albuquerque, throwing his money at random people's gardens.

Everything Walt has built in the course of this series is slowly starting to go to pieces in Blood Money, and what a riveting ride it will be to the end.

9.5/10

Episode 4x07

The opening scene of Problem Dog has Jesse playing a shooting video game, where every time he kills a guy his mind flashes to Gale, showing us how deeply distressed he is still feeling about killing him, and unable to rise from his despair. Walt on the other hand shows different kind of problem behavior, not willing to take the car he bought for Jr back to the shop he opts to burning it instead, and thus needing Saul to settle things for him to avoid trouble. Walt angsts to Saul about killing Gus, to which Saul suggests Walt employ Jesse's help.

In the scene with Walt and Jesse we get another case of Walt's signature manipulation of Jesse, where he is insulting Jesse all the while trying to insinuate others are insulting him instead. All Walt's manipulation is in vain though, and for once Jesse actually calls him out on his desperate and obvious attempts, promising to kill Gus when he has the chance to, without needing any sales pitches from Walt. Jesse and Mike however are starting to be closer to one another, Mike even giving him a gun and promising to teach him how to use it.

Jesse's story in this episode concludes in one of the best-acted moments on the show's entire run, when he goes to one of his support group meetings and gives an emotional and heartfelt monologue on how self-acceptance is futile, and if one does something terrible (like shoot a "problem dog", aka Gale) one should also feel badly about it, and judge oneself. The things one does should have meaning, and they should have consequences, and bad deeds cannot be written off simply by saying "judging oneself doesn't help". It's not about it helping or not, or about how one feels about oneself, but about consequences to actions. Jesse knows killing Gale was an awful thing to do despite his motives, and he feels like he doesn't have the right to get over it, like feeling self-hatred about it is something Gale deserves. Aaron Paul is a wonderful actor.

Meanwhile, Hank makes progress with the Heisenberg case and presents the evidence against Gus to the DEA. Including Gus' fingerprints found at Gale's apartment. A very tense ending to this episode, in a thus far most interesting DEA storyline. It's also nice to see Hank - moody SOB though he might be - get success once in a while, since Walt manages to be right under his nose the whole time.

9.5/10

Episode 1x06

This episode has a great opening scene. "No more bloodshed, no more violence" says Walt to Jesse as laying down the rules for their continued partnership, while flashing forward to the infamous "this is not meth scene" which takes place when Walt confronts Tuco for stealing their meth and beating up Jesse.

This is the episode where Heisenberg is born: Walt shaves his head, uses his alias for the first time and gets involved in the distribution side of the business instead of "just cooking", like his intentions were originally.

9/10

Episode 4x09

Bug escalates the developing rift between Walt and Jesse, when Jesse continues working closely with Mike. There is a shootout between the Cartel and Gus' people at the farm, and Jesse again shows signs of his trauma with shooting people when he freezes up in the middle of Gus' men dying left and right. Mike saves his life however, and Gus has one of his BAMF moments when he walks in the middle of all the bullets, knowing the Cartel won't have the cajones to actually kill him. The incident, however, forces Gus to deliberate a contract with the Cartel, an idea he cannot stand but has no choice in the matter anymore. Gus invites Jesse to dinner at his home, asking him whether he can cook Walt's formula by himself. Jesse takes this as an immediate threat on Walt's life, but Gus reveals he simply wants Jesse to come to Mexico with him, to teach the cook for the Cartel.

Things become to blows with Walt and Jesse as well. Walt, feeling humiliated when Mike stands up to Jesse in the lab and forbids Walt from even talking to him, and incensed when he - having bugged Jesse's car - finds out Jesse has gone to see Gus without killing him as per plan. Walt is also feeling frustrated because he, like Jesse, assume that Gus is planning on getting rid of him by replacing him with Jesse.

As a sideplot, the IRS hounds Ted Beneke about his tax fraud. It's not pointless, but ultimately not very interesting either, although the scene with Skyler disguising as a total bimbo to explain the irregularities in book-keeping is quite amusing.

9/10

Episode 3x10

Fly is widely considered the most polarizing Breaking Bad episode, but this is definitely a personal favorite of mine. Nothing much happens in this episode story-wise, but as far as the development of Walt and Jesse's relationship goes this is one of the corner stone episodes. Almost all of it takes place inside the lab with just Walt and Jesse, trying to catch a fly that according to Walt is contaminating their work space. Walt develops an obsessive compulsion about this fly, which makes Jesse dose his coffee with sleeping pills to calm him down.

While doped up Walt gets emotional, and talks to Jesse in a way he so rarely in this show talks to anyone, with absolute sincerity. He talks of the perfect moment in his life when he should have died, of meeting Jane's father, of how sorry he is about Jane's death. Jesse of course doesn't understand why Walt is apologizing and offers the basic "it was not your fault" line. Walt also notices that there's meth missing, and tells Jesse he won't be able to protect him if Gus finds out, but we get the sense that he would really like to be able to. In this episode moreso than really any other show we get to see that there is some genuine caring in this dysfunctional and often manipulative (from Walt's part) relationship, and this type of multi-dimensional characterization is what makes Breaking Bad the sensation that it is.

There are also some truly hilarious moments in this, and some of the series' funniest (non-Saul) lines.

9/10

Episode 2x08

This episode introduces Saul Goodman (real name Jimmy McGill) - one of the characters who will become a staple of the whole "Breaking Bad universe", even getting his own spin-off show a few years after the main show is over. Saul is an absolutely hilarious character, so it's no surprise this episode sees plenty of humor. Saul is the character responsible for the funniest one-liners, the best comebacks and the most...fitting of analogies on the whole show. Saul is a business man through and through, and we see on several occasions in this episode how he's able to turn any situation he finds himself into an opportunity to get new clients and make more money.

The side-plot is of Hank, and while there's no significant progress, we get more insight into his character. Even when he is feeling insecure or flat out panicked, he carries himself in a very "alpha male" way, covering up his doubts by being as loud and boisterous as he can.

9/10