NO SPOLIERS SECTION: Watch Breaking Bad. It's arguably the greatest TV series ever made.
S1: This is an absolutly outstanding start to a show. It successfully intrigues the audience with it's main plotline, but still leaves room for other ones to develop. I was so happy in feeling that nothing was rushed OR dragged out, and Breaking Bad's writing and acting are both so good that slower parts never feel slow. All the characters are complex and make meaningful contributions to the stories it's telling. I really don't have anything negative to say about season 1, it's just enthralling. DONT START THIS SHOW ON A SCHOOL/WORK NIGHT! 9/10
S2: This season is a masterpiece. It successfully continues the themes set in motion from S1 while standing on it's own, the main theme being the chain reaction of events that comes back around. Walter treats Jessie very impersonally and outright badly much of the time, which makes him feel more alone and like more of a failure, which pushes him to try heroin, which he got the idea from his new girlfriend, which causes her to relapse and go back on heroin, which ends in her dying, causing her father so much pain and stress that he makes a fatal mistake at work, resulting in two planes colliding...right over Walt's house. This all made the mysterious intro appearing in several episodes with the pink plush toy floating in the pool a very successful subversion of expectations. It's very easy to think that some explosive disaster occured because Walter started cooking in his home, but when it turns out to be something that is much worse, it really hits home and was worth all the buildup. It's probably the best overall season, but still isn't the height of the series. 10/10
S3: The begining of this season is quite frankly, made up almost entirely of falling action resulting from the end of season 2. That's totally okay because they do introduce an interesting new side plot which is yet another completely plausible consequence of Walt and Jessie's actions. When the cartel hitman eventually go after Hank, it once again hammers home the show's main theme of ones actions effecting people you care about. Gus also develops in interesting ways as a character that I never would have expected after S2. The thing that brings this season down a little is the all too frequent scenes of marriage troubles, finance troubles, and people feeling sad in the hospital. Not as intriguing as the rest of the show. I also love the Fly episode, but it's still totally unnecessary. Still a great continuation of the show. 8/10
S4: With the ending of the third season being a major cliff hanger, it was'nt surprising that S4 also starts off a bit slow. However, it really ramps up to be as brilliant as the show has ever been before this in the second half. Walter and Jessie's relationship takes several more twists and turns and eventually appears irreparable before they finally realize how badly Gus has manipulated and outsmarted them. But just as hope is dying off, Walter makes yet another sacrifice that is both true to his character and interesting to watch. He really is smarter than everyone else. He can always find a way to win, but at what cost? The final shot of this season is so simple, yet so powerful and shocking. It leaves the door open for one final phase. 9/10.
S5: This season kind of feels like 2 mini seasons welded togather, the first being Walt's transformation into an independent businessman trying to manage the last of his loose ends, and the second being the unraveling of every single thing he's done, and the mid point being when he kills the last person who has the wisdom to know when enough is enough. It's almost just as dense with action as S1 despite being over twice the length. S5 suffers none of the common pacing issues in many other TV series' finales. It quickly collects itself in the first episode, and Walt's character arc is acctualy pretty much complete at the beginning of this season. This season's big focus is on how his actions change/ruin the lifes of other characters, and it does a great job bringing all of their arcs to natural conclusions, with Skyler being a highlight. Her mind has been melted by the stress he's caused her and she no longer even tries to oppose Walt, as she is now guilty of many crimes herself, and I would even argue that at no point did she acctually have a good way to remove herself from this situation. Walter White becomes a classic villan in this season. He only pretends to care about those around him, does terrible things supposedly to protect them, and casts out anyone who calls him out on his terrible actions, no matter how close they are. He makes a BS confession tape that claims that Hank is a part of the meth business, tries to have Jessie killed for confessing to Hank, then sells him into slavery for a gang of Neo Nazis, gets Hank killed by those same people, and then shakes hands with their leader. It's amazing to look back and see how far he has come since the pilot episode. The final two episodes of the show are remarkable. There are a ton of things to think about here, but it perfectly ties up all the loose ends without feeling rushed or contrived. He finally realizes that the the ends don't justify the means. It's not exactly satisfying, but it completely does justice to the series overarching themes. Outstanding work. 10/10.
S1: This is an absolutly outstanding start to a show. It successfully intrigues the audience with it's main plotline, but still leaves room for other ones to develop. I was so happy in feeling that nothing was rushed OR dragged out, and Breaking Bad's writing and acting are both so good that slower parts never feel slow. All the characters are complex and make meaningful contributions to the stories it's telling. I really don't have anything negative to say about season 1, it's just enthralling. DONT START THIS SHOW ON A SCHOOL/WORK NIGHT! 9/10
S2: This season is a masterpiece. It successfully continues the themes set in motion from S1 while standing on it's own, the main theme being the chain reaction of events that comes back around. Walter treats Jessie very impersonally and outright badly much of the time, which makes him feel more alone and like more of a failure, which pushes him to try heroin, which he got the idea from his new girlfriend, which causes her to relapse and go back on heroin, which ends in her dying, causing her father so much pain and stress that he makes a fatal mistake at work, resulting in two planes colliding...right over Walt's house. This all made the mysterious intro appearing in several episodes with the pink plush toy floating in the pool a very successful subversion of expectations. It's very easy to think that some explosive disaster occured because Walter started cooking in his home, but when it turns out to be something that is much worse, it really hits home and was worth all the buildup. It's probably the best overall season, but still isn't the height of the series. 10/10
S3: The begining of this season is quite frankly, made up almost entirely of falling action resulting from the end of season 2. That's totally okay because they do introduce an interesting new side plot which is yet another completely plausible consequence of Walt and Jessie's actions. When the cartel hitman eventually go after Hank, it once again hammers home the show's main theme of ones actions effecting people you care about. Gus also develops in interesting ways as a character that I never would have expected after S2. The thing that brings this season down a little is the all too frequent scenes of marriage troubles, finance troubles, and people feeling sad in the hospital. Not as intriguing as the rest of the show. I also love the Fly episode, but it's still totally unnecessary. Still a great continuation of the show. 8/10
S4: With the ending of the third season being a major cliff hanger, it was'nt surprising that S4 also starts off a bit slow. However, it really ramps up to be as brilliant as the show has ever been before this in the second half. Walter and Jessie's relationship takes several more twists and turns and eventually appears irreparable before they finally realize how badly Gus has manipulated and outsmarted them. But just as hope is dying off, Walter makes yet another sacrifice that is both true to his character and interesting to watch. He really is smarter than everyone else. He can always find a way to win, but at what cost? The final shot of this season is so simple, yet so powerful and shocking. It leaves the door open for one final phase. 9/10.
S5: This season kind of feels like 2 mini seasons welded togather, the first being Walt's transformation into an independent businessman trying to manage the last of his loose ends, and the second being the unraveling of every single thing he's done, and the mid point being when he kills the last person who has the wisdom to know when enough is enough. It's almost just as dense with action as S1 despite being over twice the length. S5 suffers none of the common pacing issues in many other TV series' finales. It quickly collects itself in the first episode, and Walt's character arc is acctualy pretty much complete at the beginning of this season. This season's big focus is on how his actions change/ruin the lifes of other characters, and it does a great job bringing all of their arcs to natural conclusions, with Skyler being a highlight. Her mind has been melted by the stress he's caused her and she no longer even tries to oppose Walt, as she is now guilty of many crimes herself, and I would even argue that at no point did she acctually have a good way to remove herself from this situation. Walter White becomes a classic villan in this season. He only pretends to care about those around him, does terrible things supposedly to protect them, and casts out anyone who calls him out on his terrible actions, no matter how close they are. He makes a BS confession tape that claims that Hank is a part of the meth business, tries to have Jessie killed for confessing to Hank, then sells him into slavery for a gang of Neo Nazis, gets Hank killed by those same people, and then shakes hands with their leader. It's amazing to look back and see how far he has come since the pilot episode. The final two episodes of the show are remarkable. There are a ton of things to think about here, but it perfectly ties up all the loose ends without feeling rushed or contrived. He finally realizes that the the ends don't justify the means. It's not exactly satisfying, but it completely does justice to the series overarching themes. Outstanding work. 10/10.