This writer was late to the game when it came to getting into Breaking Bad- an obnoxious cinema advert to advertise Season 2s DVD release initially put me off. But when a friend recommended it a few months back, I thought Id 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 shows creator, is the genius behind the camera. And in front of the camera is well, its Heisenberg, AKA Walter White, the shows main protagonist and antihero, as portrayed by Bryan Cranston. Yes, him off of Malcolm In The Middle. But give it about 30 minutes and youll only ever see him as Walter White. If youre reading this and havent 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 isnt 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 couldve skipped that entire paragraph. But I know youll agree with me that this blackly comic show is one of televisions 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 cant stop. With the second half of Breaking Bads 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, Im 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 YEAH! COUNTDOWN, B***H!