4. Dead Freight (Season 5, Episode 5)
Season 5 so far has gone off in an interesting direction, one of which has been taking the show into heist territory. Like a drug-addled Oceans Eleven without a full head of hair in sight, the season opener has Walter, Jesse and Mike make an uneasy alliance to wipe any traces of them from Gus laptop by activating a super-strength magnet outside a police evidence storage facility. As if that werent nuts enough, this episode has them robbing a train for Methamphetamine.
A Train. George Mastras, who wrote as well as directed this episode, gets a chance to shine in his staging of every step of the plan. From the interrogation of Lydia to the train kicking back into gear with Jesse still on the tracks, this is perhaps the most exciting episode of them all. Pretty much every episode of Breaking Bad has, say, 5 or 6 moments where you are digging your fingernails onto your seat. This episode has one of those moments every few minutes! As if the heist itself werent thrilling or engaging enough, a spanner is thrown in the works by a young witness who is then shot in the head. From this point on, without a Tuco or a Gus Fring to occupy them, Team Heisenberg has, if youll pardon the pun, gone off the rails, and theres no going back for anyone. There arent many episodes that can balance out cinematic-level thrills with gutpunch moments like Dead Freight.