Top 15 Breaking Bad Episodes

breaking-bad-season-5-gets-premiere-date-600x300 This writer was late to the game when it came to getting into Breaking Bad- an obnoxious cinema advert to advertise Season 2€™s DVD release initially put me off. But when a friend recommended it a few months back, I thought I€™d give it a chance. Wow. To me, it is the greatest television show of our age- people seem to be divided between Breaking Bad, The Wire and The Sopranos. But this is the kind of unconventional show that could only work with a genius at the helm, both behind and in front of the camera. Vince Gilligan, the show€™s creator, is the genius behind the camera. And in front of the camera is€ well, it€™s Heisenberg, AKA Walter White, the show€™s main protagonist and antihero, as portrayed by Bryan Cranston. Yes, him off of Malcolm In The Middle. But give it about 30 minutes and you€™ll only ever see him as Walter White. If you€™re reading this and haven€™t seen Breaking Bad- which is a little odd, but who am I to judge?- the basic premise is this: Walter White, a high-school Chemistry teacher who never lived up to his full potential as a chemical genius, is diagnosed with lung cancer. Already in financial straits and terrified that he will leave nothing behind for his family- his 40-something wife Skyler, who is pregnant with a baby they never expected, and his son Walter Jr., afflicted with Cerebral Palsy- Walter teams up with a no-good, meth-head ex-student Jesse Pinkman to cook the most chemically pure Crystal Meth in America. This isn€™t helped by the fact that he has to not only conceal this from his wife and son, but also his brother-in-law Hank, who is a DEA Agent. If you watch the show, you could€™ve skipped that entire paragraph. But I know you€™ll agree with me that this blackly comic show is one of television€™s greatest-ever character studies. Walter evolves from being Mr. Chips to Scarface in a terrifying transformation. Every episode, layers are peeled back to reveal a deeply sinister and ambitious mastermind who clearly loves his family, but seems to lose sight of why he started in the first place and just can€™t stop. With the second half of Breaking Bad€™s fifth and final season poised to return within weeks, now seemed as good a time as any to revisit some of the series€™ best episodes. Not that there is such a thing as a weak episode of Breaking Bad, but for sheer directorial flair or shocking revelations some stand out amongst the rest. Not everyone will agree with the following choices or rankings, I€™m sure, and actually ranking these episodes, let alone picking them out from the rest, was no easy task- I really wanted to include the episode where Walt and Jesse get stuck out in the Desert cooking up a batch, for example, but it just missed out. MAJOR SPOILER ALERT! This article deals with key characters and plot points up to the season 5, part 1 finale. Only read on if you are totally up to date, or you are weird and want to spoil everything for yourself€ €œYEAH! COUNTDOWN, B***H!€
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Aspiring Director, Screenwriter and Actor. Film is my passion, but I indulge in TV, Theatre and Literature as well! Any comments or suggestions, please tweet me @IAmOscarHarding