From the characters to the storytelling and overall plot, Breaking Bad is a work of art. It’s so well-written and expertly developed that it stands out among other shows as one of the best, and arguably, of all time. It was a massive success during its time on air, garnering millions of viewers tuning in for each episode. And now, with the accessibility of streaming services, new audiences are constantly discovering the show, allowing it to maintain its popularity even 10+ years after it ended.
Breaking Bad also led to a successful spin-off series, Better Call Saul, and a sequel movie titled El Camino, picking up right where Breaking Bad ended. Creator Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad universe is massive and thrilling, full of iconic characters, lines and scenes that live on in fans’ minds to this day.
As the hit spin-off series Better Call Saul is coming to an end, now is a great time to recap the show that made the spin-off possible. Several of Breaking Bad’s episodes rank highly among critics and review sites. Truth be told, there isn’t really a “bad” episode of the show. They’re all great, but here are seven of the best.
7 S4/E11 - Crawl Space
AMC
Many Breaking Bad fans remember key episodes by their striking visuals — like the iconic pizza on the roof scene — and "Crawl Space," from season four, is no different. In this episode, a lot of Walt's (Bryan Cranston) secrets and actions are starting to catch up with him. Jesse (Aaron Paul) and Walter are at odds. Hank (Dean Norris) is starting to close in on Gus's (Giancarlo Esposito) drug operation — which means he's getting closer to Walt. And following Hank's investigation, Walt finds himself on Gus's bad side, which is a dangerous place to be. In order to save himself and his family, Walt calls Saul (Bob Odenkirk) and asks for the number of the vacuum guy who makes people disappear. He then rushes home, and frantically searches the crawl space under the house, where he's been stashing money, but a large chunk of it is gone because Skyler (Anna Gunn) gave it away.
Here, we get the iconic shot of Walt laying on his back in the crawl space, covered in dirt and cobwebs, laughing, screaming, and crying hysterically until he freezes, and the camera slowly pans out. The entire episode is full of suspense and breathtaking developments, but it's the ending — literally the last five minutes of the episode — that really brings the tension to a head. The crawl space scene hauntingly captures the death of Walter White and, in a way, represents the beginning of the end of Heisenberg.
6 S5/E7 - Say My Name
From the fifth season, "Say My Name" is another pinnacle episode from Breaking Bad. In this episode, Mike (Jonathan Banks) and Jesse make their way out of the business, leaving Walt to handle matters on his own. After killing Gus, Walt's ego is unchecked and out of control. He wants the names of the nine people in prison who used to be a part of Gus's crew, that Mike has been secretly paying to keep quiet. Walt will stop at nothing to get what he wants and assume total control, which eventually ends in him shooting Mike.
"Say My Name" is another example of the evil that Walt, or rather Heisenberg, is capable of. Walt realizes the weight of what he's done immediately after pulling the trigger, but by then it's too late. This leads into another memorable scene from the series. Mike is sitting on a rock, holding his wound and watching the sunset over a river when Walt joins him. Apologizing and talking in circles, Mike eventually tells Walt to "shut up, so I can die in peace" and slumps over as Walt continues watching the sunset.
5 S5/E13 - To'hajiilee
In the thirteenth episode of the fifth season, Hank and Jesse form an unlikely pairing to take Walt down. They find out where Walt has hidden his barrels of drug money and Jesse cons him into believing he's about to burn it all, which sends Walt into a frenzy, rushing out to the To'hajiilee desert to talk with Jesse. In the meantime though, Walt put a hit out on Jesse, hoping to take him out of the picture and eliminate any risk associated with him. Little does he know though, that he's walking right into a trap.
This episode is intense and gripping from start to finish. Cornered by Hank and totally out of options, it feels like the jig is finally up for Walt in an unbelievable turn of events. However, right at the height of all the action, the episode ends on a major cliffhanger. Luckily with streaming services, you don't have to wait a week to see what happens, but when the episode originally aired, fans were wrecked with suspense for a week, waiting to see how the story would continue.
4 S5/E8 - Gliding Over All
As the series progressed, it became more and more unlikely that Walt would be able to skate by and never get caught by his DEA brother-in-law, Hank. In "Gliding Over All," the eighth episode of the final season, the cat is finally out of the bag. Walt is working hard to expand his drug empire, but he first wants to take care of Gus's former crew mates in prison. He employs the help of his new protégé, Todd's (Jesse Plemmons) white supremacist uncle, leading to the memorable prison murder sequence. This episode also sees the iconic scene of Walt and Skyler in the storage unit, staring at a mountain of cash that Skyler has successfully laundered, as she begs Walt to give up the drug business and move on, to which he surprisingly agrees.
But, then Hank finds a copy of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass on the back of Walt's toilet. In a stress-inducing flashback, Hank realizes Walt is Heisenberg and marks the start of the fall of his carefully crafted empire. The episode ends on a cliffhanger, featuring a flashback scene that foreshadows the rest of the season, with Walt simply saying, "You Got Me."
3 S4/E13 - Face Off
This appropriately-named episode features the explosive — literally — death of Gus Fring. It's the season four finale, but its expert writing could have made it the series finale if there wasn't a greenlit fifth season. "Face Off" manages to emphasize all the elements of what makes an episode of Breaking Bad so fantastic. There's a bit of humor, incredible cinematography, suspense, twists, and perfectly placed foreshadowing.
"Face Off" truly stands out as one of the best episodes of the show and may even be one of the best hours in TV history. It brings the fourth season to a very tense and foreboding close, but is the perfect lead in to the final season as Walt manages — albeit, poorly — a new sense of power.
2 S5/E16 - Felina
"Felina" is Breaking Bad's grand finale. In it, Walt returns for one last rendezvous around town, tying up loose ends and working to secure his family's future before heading to the neo-Nazi's compound for one last hurrah. In terms of series finales for coveted dramas like Lost, The Sopranos, and even Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad's is one of the best. One of the most devastating and memorable moments from the episode is Walt's last interaction with Skyler. He delivers his final confession in which he turns the tables on her completely. Instead of sticking to his previous story about entering the drug ring "for his family," he's finally come to terms with the truth: "I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And I was really...I was alive." The scene shows a glimpse of what is left of Walt and serves as one last goodbye to his character.
"Felina" leaves no stone unturned, except for the end of Jesse's story, which is wrapped up in the 2019 movie El Camino.
1 S5/E14 - Ozymandias
"Ozymandias" picks up where "To'hajiilee" left off, and sees Walt and Jesse surviving the shoot-out in the desert; however, Hank does not. From here, other nerve-wracking plot points ensue. Walt tells Jesse he let his girlfriend Jane die. Marie makes Skyler tell Walt Jr. about his father's secret life. And when he returns home to gather his family and leave town for good, Walt realizes it's all over, and kidnaps his infant daughter. One of Cranston's greatest acting moments in the show occurs here, when he calls Skyler and, knowing she has police with her listening to the call, delivers both a final dose of venom alongside a sort of alibi, allowing her to claim victim to everything he did as the cops listen in. It's both heartbreaking and shocking, but Cranston's delivery is what really sells the scene. It shows the final, irreversible collapse of Heisenberg's empire. "Ozymandias" is the best of the show's storytelling, and there's truly no way back for Walt from there.
This episode went on to become widely known as the show's best. Not only is it well-loved by fans, but it also saw great praise during award season. Moira Walley-Beckett, a writer on the show who wrote "Ozymandias," won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series, and Cranston and Anna Gunn received Emmys for Best Lead Actor and Supporting Actress. While there were still two episodes left after this to conclude the series, "Ozymandias" is the indisputable peak of the show, and Gilligan's thrilling story about a mild-mannered chemistry teacher gone bad.