1. Walt Storms Tuco's Den Breaking Bad
It's difficult to gauge exactly when Walter White was no longer the mild-mannered, way out of his depth, chemistry teacher character, but the stormy drug overlord who can strike fear into the heart of God with just a flicker of his eyes. Just a few episodes into Breaking Bad though back when he trembled over hearing a siren Walt delivered the first of many astoundingly cool, badass moments that the show would become known for. And the genius thing about this one, is that it was totally unexpected. Jesse went to Tuco to sell him meth, only to be hospitalised for his troubles. Walt, who at this point still leant on Jesse to handle the business side of things, went to see Tuco himself, asking for compensation. Walt walks into Tuco's lair, offers him more meth, and then asks for $50,000: $35,000 for the product, and $15,000 for "my partner's pain and suffering." Tuco stubs a cigarette out on his tongue before laughing, and confirming the plan: Walt is here with more meth, asking for money, from a man who beat up his mate. It really does look like the most hopeful scheme in the history of the drugs trade. "You've got one part of that wrong," Walt answers, picking up a crystal. "This... is not meth." He throws the crystal, blowing up the building, before picking up the bag: it's fulminated mercury. He's in control now. This scene was when Heisenberg was born; on from here, Walt's dark side would just escalate. But the truly badass thing about about this moment, is that Walt conquers all fear of Tuco; the only moment that Bryan Cranston flinches is when Tuco hits the table, and that's because he's scared of the whole bag of mercury exploding, not the drug baron. It's tiny details like that, that make the character so good, and that make a badass so bad.