10 Best Single TV Seasons Ever

4. Breaking Bad - Season 5

Bates Motel
AMC

After four years of delicate crafting, Breaking Bad's fifth and final season was a breathtaking, exhilarating rocket of a resolution.

The prior four seasons had all been fantastic, but the show had a slightly more nuanced, slower approach to a lot of what had been seen by that point. With Season Five, this juggernaut of a series didn't waste a single second - particularly in its second half - as Walter White does his best to wipe out any pieces of unfinished business.

There's a grandiose story at play him, with Breaking Bad's final season being one of the true great stories ever committed to a TV screen. Like any great tragedy, Heisenberg's demise is something that is inevitable but utterly fascinating to watch. And adding an extra level of emotion to proceedings, Aaron Paul's Jesse is phenomenal as his character manages to regain some semblance of sanity by getting out of the business - all while Hank learns the truth about Heisenberg, and Jack and his gang turn up the pressure.

Few shows in history had as fitting an end as Breaking Bad, and few seasons in history were as gripping as the show's fifth year.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.