So unless you've been living under a rock (or held against your will in a meth lab by a group of Neo Nazi's) you'll know that Breaking Bad came to an end a few weeks ago. The whole week leading up to the finale I spent trying to catch up. Like with all shows I fall head over heels in love with, I had stopped in the middle because I didn't want it to end too quickly. Except that after hearing so many Season Five Part 2 spoilers already, I had made a promise to myself to catch up in time to watch the last Breaking Bad episode with the rest of the world. No spoilers were going to ruin this episode. So I set myself a mission: three seasons in one week. Or 41 episodes lasting 45 minutes each in 7 days. I'll admit there were times I didn't think I was going to make it. The day of the finale I woke up at 7am because I still had three episodes to go and a uni class to get to. By the time I had finished and it came down to watching the last episode you could say that I was pretty exhausted. I had also become extremely emotionally invested in the character's by this point as their lives had become my life for a whole week.
As much as I had been really excited to get to the conclusion and see how everything would be wrapped up, the week after I hardly watched any television. I was at a loss to find something worthy enough to replace it. I still feel at a loss. I miss yelling at Walter, I miss crying at every Jesse scene because he was just so god damn precious. I miss laughing at Saul, getting angry along with Skyler, I miss Marie and Hank. I just really miss the whole thing. So in a way to stop myself missing it so much, I've decided to compile a list of my top ten favourite Breaking Bad episodes of all time. This list is inspired by Entertainment Weekly's 'Breaking Bad: We Countdown Every Episode' which is great reading. I have to say I agreed with a lot of this list, but some of places needed changing a little.
Warning: there is a little bit of swearing due to me quoting some of the characters!
10. Crawl Space (Season 4, Episode 11)
I love this episode if only for the last scene. Walter's in the crawl space and is desperate for the money to try and save his life and screams "WHERE IS THE MONEY!" at Skyler. His reaction to "I gave it to Ted" is one of the most amazing, scary and hilarious things I have seen in my life. Bryan Cranston is pure perfection. The beating drum and the phone ringing in the background where you can hear Marie sobbing on the answering machine only adds to the perfection. After I watched it I had to go back and watch it again just to relive its glory. I might even watch it again now . . .
9. Pilot (Season 1, Episode 1)
I know not a lot of people would have the pilot in their top ten, but I feel like it's at home here in the #9 position. This episode set up everything so perfectly I thought, from the "Fuck you Bogdon. I said fuck you . . . and your eyebrows" to the moment you meet Jesse, falling down the roof while trying to put his pants on, which will forever be the best character introduction in the world.
8. Buyout (Season 5, Episode 6)
There are a few reasons this episode but the main reason has to be the dinner that Skyler, Walter and Jesse have together. Jesse using his glass of water as a security blanket while Skyler and Walter trade blows was just so perfect I still can't fathom it. I also loved the way Walter opened up to Jesse about his past at Grey Matter. I feel like it explained a lot of Walter's motive and desperation. It kind of had me feeling sorry for him . . . for a minute or two.
7. Peekaboo (Season 2, Episode 6)
This is seriously the cutest Jesse episode. If you don't love him after this then I can tell you right now, you never will. He is just too adorable with kids. This is also the episode with one of the most hilarious Jesse lines, where he stands outside a house practicing what he's going to say: "Where's my money . . . bitch? Where's my money . . . where's my . . where's my money, bitch, huh? Bitch. Where's my money, bitch? Oh, that's good. Where's my money? Where's my money, bitch. Bitch, where's my money? WHERE'S MY MONEY BITCH?" I will never tire of hearing this.
6. Ozymandias (Season 5, Episode 14)
This is the episode where you can just see how Anna Gunn won her Emmy. What an amazing performance from her. The episode is absolutely gripping the whole way through from the flashback at the beginning to the amazing finale and I found myself crying from start to finish. I'm glad they didn't have too much Marie in it because I don't think I could have handled any more of it, I was a sobbing mess. I don't want to talk about it to much but this definitely has to be the highlight episode of the final season.
5. Better Call Saul (Season 2, Episode 8)
Well this is the episode where Saul Goodman, possibly the show's most loved character was introduced. Personally, this episode shows him at his best, as I found him to get a little dull during the last two seasons. But in this episode he's on fire:
Badger: You're going to get me off though, right?
Saul: What, do I look like your high-school girlfriend? Five fingers, no waiting?
Classic Saul. Watching this episode agains got me so excited for the spin-off.
4. And the Bag's in the River (Season 1, Episode 3)
This is where you start to see the show's true potential. This is also where you begin to see the motivations behind Walter, with the flashbacks he has to his college days with Gretchen while he's scrubbing down the human remains off Jesse's floor. The whole dilemma of the episode though, is that Walter needs to kill, and he's not sure he can do it. So much so that he writes a list. If you're not hooked by this episode, I'm not sure you ever will be.
3. Face Off (Season 4, Episode 13)
The season finale of Season Four is an absolute stunner. The fact that it starts with "you brought a bomb to the airport" from Jesse is just the beginning. It's this one where you really get a sense of just how far Walter will go to get what he wants. Everything that Walter does in this episode is so he can survive and he puts everyone before him, including his little old neighbour. This episode also sees the demise of one of the most brilliant characters to ever grace our television screens: Gus Fring. His perfect downfall (although terribly unbelievable) is worthy only of this perfect character.
2. Fly (Season Three, Episode 10)
This might be a controversial one, but I just had to do it. My number two episode goes to one that a lot of people probably wouldn't have even put on their top ten list. It's one of the only bottle episodes that has ever seemed to work out. Walter and Jesse are at their best here, with humour and truths revealed. Yes, the camera work might be a little pretentious but it does work and there is so much more than that in this episode that you can forgive it.
1. 4 Days Out (Season 2, Episode 9)
The number one spot definitely belongs to this absolute gem of an episode. It just has everything: a fantastic meth-making montage, beautiful scenery shots and hilarious scenes with classic lines. Jesse's speech to Walter to try and motivate him to save them is so precious: "Come on man, you're smart: you made poison out of beans, yo." Jesse's absolute conviction that it wasn't his fault the RV had broken down: "I wanted to leave them on the counter, bitch!". Walter's disgust when Jesse picks him up in the RV: "You bought a meth lab to the airport?" Walter trying to teach Jesse some science: "What one particular element comes to mind? Hmm?" with Jesse trying so hard to be right: "Ahhhh, wire" and Walter's perfect reaction to his failure. All these, and so many more, make this my number one episode of television's number one show.
So now you've seen my list, tell me yours! Let me know in the comments!
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