Top 50 Shows of the 2010s

With 2020 approaching, many websites primarily writing about movie and television are doing their end of the decade list, so I thought - why not join in?  I've certainly seen enough to make such a list.  While I glanced at a few - mostly to make sure I wasn't forgetting any shows - I have tried to make this list with as little outside information as possible.  And there are a few shows listed in most lists that I simply haven't seen or haven't seen enough of to include unfortunately - Halt and Catch Fire, Treme, Persons of Interest, The Good Wife, Legend of Korra, Fringe - those are at least the big ones.  There is a good chance that - when I would get to those shows - at least one or more would be a part of this list.  But there's always going to be blind spots for a list with one person.

I'm going to follow Alan Sepinwall's model on this one on what shows to include.  For shows that premiered before 2010, it must have over half of its episodes air in this decade and that it must not have aired over two seasons.  The big omission by this rule is Mad Men, which aired 3 seasons in the 2000s, and It's Always Sunny, which has actually had 97 of its 148 episodes this decade.  Which is a blessing frankly.  I have no idea how to judge Mad Men as a show if I'm forced to remove the first three seasons, which when included with the fourth, I think are its best.  It's certainly on this list, but where is a mystery, especially since I haven't watched the show since the finale.

That's another thing - I am not a heavy rewatcher of shows.  Its why I'm able to watch so many shows, because I watch it once and then move on to another show.  So some of this list will include shows that I haven't seen in over five years, and thus, I'm mostly trusting my memory of how I felt about the show.  Again I have one very specific example in mind that I will rewatch at some point, because I don't remember the show all that well, just that I loved it.  This is going to be a long list, so I'll just get on with it.

#50 - Drunk History

Drunk History has suffered in my annual top ten lists, just because it's basically the same thing season after season.  But for a list like this, that doesn't matter.  It's a simple concept - drunk people trying to tell history accurately - and done well.  As a person who has entertained the idea of becoming a history teacher and as a drunk person, this show is right up my alley.

#49 - Arrow

The first Arrowverse show is also its best.  Legends of Tomorrow was strongly considered and frankly I have preferred that show to Arrow for most of its run, but no Arrowverse show has matched the heights of Arrow - back half of season 1, all of season 2, season 5, and this latest season.  It would not have made the list if not for its last season and I'm worried I'm letting recency bias affect this too much, but I think it deserves a spot.

#48 Key & Peele

I watched my first episode after it went off the air - although obviously I had seem some of the individual sketches - and was at first underwhelmed.  The thing about sketch comedies shows - even highly acclaimed ones - is that not every sketch is a hit.  But this has enough classic sketches that can go face to face with any classic sketch comedy show and the pure consistency of this show to produce at least mildly funny laughs is nearly unparalleled in sketch comedy shows.

#47 New Girl

I'm not much of a binger - I try not to watch two episodes of the same show in one day believe it or not - but I was put off by the ads for this show and didn't watch it immediately, but I watched the first two seasons on Netflix in like 2 weeks.  And I was a fan for good.  This just has a very good comedic cast that could make even mediocre writing funny.  And I'm not suggesting this had mediocre writing (although later in its run, they kind of did, but that's most comedies that air as long as this one did)

#46 Marvel's Agents of Shield

Two superhero (or superhero-adjacent) shows already?  I believe this is the last one.  Whether you consider that a good thing or bad thing, well I'm just letting you know this really isn't indicative of most of my list.  Partially due to trying to time the show with a Marvel movie, this show started really slow, so much so that I stopped watching.  But I picked it back up and it got better and better.  It still has one more season to go, but the show doesn't pick up steam until the last batch of episodes in season 1. (If you're considering starting this, just start at Bill Paxton's first episode.  You may or may not be a little lost, but the first fifteen episodes are extremely skippable)

#45 Silicon Valley

Pending on how I end up finishing my 2019 top ten list - which I haven't started - this show never made my top 10 comedies of the year and yet I have it here.  Part of that is that I didn't have a list in 2014 honestly (I think it would have made it), but it was pretty consistently in the 11th-15th range if I extended my list past ten shows.  I probably gave it an honorable mention every year for instance.  Anyway good show with a very good cast.

#44 Black Mirror

I hesitate to put this on my list because it doesn't have that many episodes and it doesn't really have that many truly great episodes either.  It's not like it has a 100% success rate with its episodes, especially the Netflix seasons.  But I don't know it would feel weird to not include this show (which also never made my list and I'm not even sure its best seasons that were before I started this would either cause they were three episodes).  And even if the episode is not quite as good as I'd like, it at least is vastly different than anything else on television.

#43 The Leftovers

Holy shit Gabe this is low, right?  I liked the show more with each successive season, but there are three seasons and I liked two episodes - TWO - of the first season.  And the Guilty Remnant was a huge drag on the show in my opinion.  So yeah it's not going to rank all that highly for me - especially in comparison to other critics - and I'm definitely going to one day give it another shot, but hey I still have it at 43, so clearly I like it a lot.

#42 Catastrophe

One of the truly annoying things about making a list like this is just how different certain shows are in length.  This has four seasons with six episodes a season.  That's as much as one season of a network comedy.  How the hell do I judge these shows in comparison to one another?  Well, fair or not, what I usually do, is I give credit to the longer show if it uses the extra episodes to still make good episodes.  Which is mostly why Catastrophe is this low.  Because there just aren't that many episodes.  (I do have shows with less episodes higher, so it's not the only reason admittedly)

#41 Terriers

Ladies and gentleman, this is the show I was referring to above.  I probably haven't seen this show in 8 years - it was on Netflix whenever I watched it, but it wasn't long after it aired.  And I did love the show.  But I remember very little about why I loved it.  So admittedly, this could be higher - or lower - and I wouldn't argue with you, but I feel like 41 is a pretty good hedge bet especially since this only had 13 episodes.  I will one day rewatch this show.

#40 Master of None

The second season was unfortunately very hit or miss, which is why it isn't higher, even though the hits were among the best episodes on television.  The first season was much more consistent, but again I'm just not working with very many episodes, so I can't place it much higher than this.

#39 Succession

The timing here is fantastic for Succession to make my list.  The most recent episode I watched - and I haven't watched all of the second season yet - was my favorite of the series.  I know people wanted this to be labeled a comedy, but it wasn't until my most recent episode that it completely clicked as a comedy for me.  And I realize that's a little insane if you watch the show, but it wasn't really laugh out loud funny for me.

#38 Russian Doll

If End of the Fucking World is any indication, it's a blessing that the second season hasn't aired yet.  End of the Fucking World, clearly a one season show if there ever was one, would have made this list if they didn't have season two.  But they did.  Russian Doll is also clearly a one season show that will be making a season two - and I'm part of the problem since I'm going to watch it - but boy did I like the first season.  I hate to sound like a broken record here, but it's only eight episodes and that's why it's not higher.

#37 Bob's Burgers

Bob's Burgers does not have the lack of episodes problems - it has 181 episodes made in this decade.  And I think maybe 10 of them are weak episodes.  It probably doesn't reach the heights of most of the shows on this list, but it is startlingly consistent.  Nearly every episode is at least good and definitely entertaining.

#36 Game of Thrones

Everyone talks about how bad the final season was, but it barely came as a shock to me because it wasn't all that good the season before.  Nonetheless, it still has what I'd call the "book years."  I'm not going to overreact to the last season and not include it on this list, but I'm also not going to pretend that I included this show on my top 10 every year before its last season.  (Granted, no top ten lists before 2015, which is removing its first four seasons).  This should probably be higher, but it's also a show that was pretty heavily reliant on nailing its ending and boy did it not do that.

#35 Louie

Oh boy did I not want to include this show!  And apparently a lot of sites felt the same way.  Including this show is a minefield I'm not interesting in stepping in, but I'm also interested in, you know, presenting an accurate list so I kind of had to include this.  It would feel dishonest not to, which is why I'm not going to pretend this wasn't one of the most highly acclaimed shows of its time (including by me).  Now that I've properly pissed off half the people reading this, I'll piss off the other half: it's fine if Louis CK goes away from pop culture and is never heard from again.  (He has admittedly made this incredibly easy if his recent standup is any indication of where he plans to go from here)

#34 Mr. Robot

I hate that I'm writing this list before the conclusion of this show.  This is at 36 with the assumption that it's going to nail its ending, because it has sure nailed the final season.  This is a show that lost me with its second season and with a third that I thought was fine, but nothing special.  But I was a Mr. Robot fanboy for its first and the show grabbed me back with a gripping final season.  If Sam Esmail fucks up the ending, it's lower than this and maybe not even in the top 50.

#33 Documentary Now!

What a difficult line the writers (and directors) have to straddle to make this entertaining television.  They have to craft 21 minute effective parodies of well-known documentaries and put enough of a twist on them to still make it entertaining on its own.  And they manage it every time.  And like Drunk History, bonus points for a comedy making me interested in classic documentaries which I think is cool as shit.

#32 Lodge 49

This is not a show I would oversell to someone who is interested in watching it personally.  It is an extremely low key type of show that is pretty uninterested in plot.  That's the type of show, that if oversold, can make people wonder what the big deal is.  That would have happened to me had I not "discovered" it on my own.  But I recommend this show and be prepared for how laid back it is.  Unfortunately it was cancelled which on the bright side means a low investment in time to watch the whole thing.

#31 American Vandal

Remember above when I mentioned that Russian Doll is probably benefiting from not yet having its second season air?  Well it could pull an American Vandal, which did have a weaker second season, but not by much.  What a delightfully unusual show this one is.  It's a show that makes you sound like a crazy person when you make the case for it in person: believe me I've tried.

#30 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

I'm very glad this show exists.  While I don't exactly think this show had many weak points, the main character could be... tough to watch at times, which is why I can't place it higher than this.  But still this is a show with many, many original numbers (most of them inspired by something else) that are endlessly re-listenable.  Search for some Crazy Ex songs on Youtube, and if you enjoy them, this show might be for you.  (Here are two of my favorites: 1 and 2)

#29 You're the Worst

This show was a little too committed to the awfulness of its characters to place higher than this (sometimes it became hard to watch), but it told its story in the time it wanted and had a good final season, which is better than you could say about a lot of shows honestly.

#28 Watchmen

To be perfectly honest, this show is better than some shows above it - but it is working with a very small sample of episodes, and if it continues its momentum, will be high on the 2020 lists.  I've also only currently seen four of the episodes, but am pretty sure I'm not going to regret this ranking.  Including shows that clearly are going to go for more seasons but literally just started is weird when making an end of the decade list.

#27 GLOW

This is mostly here on the strength of its second season, probably one of the best seasons of television of this decade.  That's to take nothing away from its first - which needed to get to the wrestling part to find its groove - or its third - which is a little too scattershot, but still has its high points.  Still a pretty great show.

#26 Party Down

All shows are unrealistic, but I now know how lawyers feel about the accuracy of lawyer shows and doctors feel about doctor shows.  Cause wow.  This show is about Hollywood caterers and while I obviously live in St. Louis, this show does not seem all that realistic.  Nonetheless, this has one of the greatest comedy casts ever and takes advantage of that.

#25 Boardwalk Empire

The curse of being the show compared to The Sopranos.  I didn't see this show on many end of decade lists, so I was very surprised to find out that the entire show did in fact air this decade.  A highly underrated show, again this show had the misfortune of being directly compared to The Sopranos due to Terrance Winter, and while it is no Sopranos, it still is worth a place on this list.

#24 Broad City 

This is one of those shows were initially, the perception of this show of people whose TV tastes I trust was at odds with my perception.  Not to say I ever disliked this show, but they always seemed to grade it a little higher than I thought.  But the show seemed to only get better with each season, an opinion I'm not sure is shared by many, and didn't overstay its welcome.  In fact, I believe its last season will land on my top 10 this year, which again - aside from cancellations - doesn't happen that much.

#23 Jane the Virgin

Ah, a show with a title that is instantly off-putting - and to a certain extent the premise is too.  This sounds like a show you can write off - but you can't.  Sometimes, I warn that shows get off to slow starts and eventually find their way - that's the norm actually - but this show came out of the gate instantly great and in fact made my top 10 shows of the year every year since its inception.

#22 Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Talk about unlikely good shows - go back to the Roast of James Franco and lots of people make fun of Andy Samberg for this - which hadn't aired yet - becoming cancelled or bad soon.  And I didn't really blame them for thinking it to be honest.  Instead season seven is going to air in 2020 after a cancellation and subsequent pickup by NBC.  This has the consistency of a Bob's Burgers with better high points.

#21 Stranger Things

Part of me wonders if this should be higher, but then I remember that the solo Eleven story exists, which is easily the worst thing this show ever did.  A huge gamble and I admire the ambition, but man did that episode fall flat and halt that season's momentum.  Anyway, aside from that, the rest of the show is great.

#20 Barry

A hitman turned actor is a great premise that I can also see failing spectacularly.  But Bill Hader has long been a great actor in need of a vehicle for a starring role and Barry finally provides it.  And ronny/lilly is one of my favorite episodes of anything for a long time and completely unlike anything I've ever seen.

#19 Hannibal

I'm a little worried about recency bias for most of my list, but not this one, which I haven't seen in four years since it last aired.  But I remember loving this weird, well acted show that has been unlike anything I've ever seen.

#18 Review

It's here where I'll again knock a show for very few episodes, because this show is a masterpiece.  It's only three seasons with the third being only 3 episodes, and it's not immediately clear it's a masterpiece when you first watch it.  So I'm aware I'm probably raising expectations too high.  But hilarious and dark show.

#17 Better Call Saul

The spinoff of Breaking Bad ultimately has a chance to pass that show in quality, depending on how it ends.  But for now, it'll have to "settle" merely for being the 17th best show on my list.  It is a way better than show than it has any right to be.  Yes, the character of Saul Goodman always looked ripe for his own show, but it never seemed like it would be this good of one.

#16 Fleabag

It is a testament to how good this show is that I have it this high with just 12 episodes.  I cannot stress enough that the amount of episodes and the success rate of that amount is heavily factored into where shows ranked.  It just does not seem fair to rank a show with 50 good episodes below a show 20.  But as I said, this only has 12!

#15 Gravity Falls

As a show that was on Disney XD, which I'm not convinced is a real channel, I did not watch this when it first aired, but well after, on Hulu.  It's only two seasons and 40 episodes, but it has a central mystery behind the comedy that is compelling in its own right.  This is a classic mystery show that constantly teases and foreshadows and actually delivers on that promise, unlike... just about every other mystery show there is.

#14 Nathan for You

This is one of those shows that, I'm sure if you watched the first episode - maybe even the first season - you'd be truly mystified at this ranking.  And I don't necessarily blame you.  It's best episode by far is its movie length last episode - another thing that would mystify based off just watching the first episode.  But stick with the show and you'll find it more than just funny and entertaining.

#13 Justified

I truly do want this to be higher, but I can't really go any higher than this, since for most of its run, it never really vaulted into one of the best shows on television.  The exception is the Margo Martindale season 2, and Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins constantly kept things entertaining, but what sealed its place on this list was its strong final season as well.  Modern Western that I wholeheartedly recommend.

#12 Community 

The sheer consistency of this show for its first three seasons is nearly unmatched by any other comedy on this list - and the first 9 or so episodes of the first season are not included in this list since they aired in 2009.  But that barely harms the show since it didn't really hit its groove until the 2010s hit.  Unfortunately, there's the dreadful season 4 and season 6, but I hardly feel compelled to hold that against them.  Dan Harmon was fired, a lot of the behind the scenes people left with him and the show's momentum was killed.  They did recover to make a good season 5 at least.

#11 Bojack Horseman

I have not completed the most recent season, but I don't have to - the show's first five seasons speak for themselves.  I'm knocking it ever so slightly for keeping its characters in stasis - and they are far from the first show to do so - but it tends to tilt towards misery porn at times with watching its main character constantly screw his own life over.  It's still 11 so obviously I don't have a huge issue with that, but it's a small complaint.

#10 Veep

Even in its down years, the cast and the colorful language kept this entertaining.  And obviously, the show became nearly prescient with what's happened after it aired, making its parody of politics reality.  I will say - it doesn't hurt the show much - but in its middle years, the show's commitment to not reveal Selena's party hurt it a bit - in my opinion anyway.

#9 Rick & Morty 

If only I could put this on this list without the backdrop of its annoying fandom that surrounds it.  I think I got into Rick & Morty before I let the fandom impact my opinion of the show, but I pretty much don't blame people who don't watch it at this point.  Nonetheless, they are missing out as this is a very inventive, funny comedy.

#8 Rectify 

I am struggling to write passages for every show - I'm not sure why I did that - but especially so for shows like Rectify.  Rectify apparently last aired an episode in December of 2016, and while that was three years ago, it feels like five.  So my memory of this show is of a quiet, very well-acted, very well-written drama that I need to rewatch as soon as I can.

#7 Parks and Recreation

With the 2009 episodes cut off, you lose.... virtually nothing.  You lose Hunting Trip, which is a classic, but otherwise you get a very different show in the first six episodes and a show still finding its footing in the beginning of season 2.  And I wholeheartedly recommend you start watching at season 2, but it's not quite at its peak yet.  Rob Lowe and Adam Scott enter the picture in the back half of season 2 and then the show becomes a classic.

#6 Fargo

If only it weren't for season 3, which is definitely better than I remember it, but which was coming off the tails of one of the best seasons of television I've ever watched in season 2.  The show is this high almost entirely on the back of season 2, even though season 1 is quite good in its own right.  And like I said, season 3 isn't bad, it's just mostly unpleasant to watch, which I realize sounds like a different way of saying it was bad, but you'd understand if you watch the show.

#5 Atlanta

How good is this show?  Well it's ratings appear to be shit, though I do not know the context for FX shows, and it got renewed for a third season after the second season and a fourth season in August of 2019 very randomly.  It still hasn't aired the third season.  Between Donald Glover's music and movie career and Laketh Stanfield being in every movie lately, I feel like we're going to get season 4 in 2025.

#4 The Pacific

This is technically a miniseries and I obviously have no other miniseries on this list, even though I'm sure I could have included more.  Alias Grace comes to mind.  I strangely haven't seen Show Me a Hero, but that's a David Simon show so I'm sure that has an argument.  But I just had to include this show, which doesn't even seem like it aired this decade, but it did.  It is a much more difficult watch than Band of Brothers, but no less remarkable.  In fact, it's told in a more - ambitious? - way and with less audience hand-holding.

#3 Breaking Bad

I'm not the biggest fan of the final season, but seasons 3 and 4 are the most thrilling, fly by the seat of your pants television I have ever seen and probably will ever see.  This is sort of a "watch it one time" type of show and if you watch it more than once, watch it with someone else with fresh eyes.  I'm still afraid I'm putting it too high - not that many would argue - just because, as I said, not the biggest fan of season 5.  But even then, season 5 has Ozymandias so you know what, it belongs.

#2 The Good Place

It is entirely possible that this show will fuck up the ending, but that actually doesn't matter at all on this list.  I mean a show as geared up towards an ending as Good Place will retroactively make the rest of the show worse if they do it badly enough, but I don't think that's going to happen.  Truly one of my favorite shows of all time.

#1 The Americans

I mean come on.  If you guys ever ever read my TV stuff - literally ever - this is the least surprising #1 pick ever.  It was my #1 show every single year I made a top 10 list.  I'm going to have to make my first top ten list without The Americans in a couple weeks.  And I don't know what's replacing it.  So that'll be fun.  So watch The Americans I say enthusiastically and demandingly.

Honorable Mentions
Legends of Tomorrow - A truly entertaining show I recommend to anyone.  It probably should have made its way on my list.

Archer - Unfortunately, this show was great for about two years, and one of the better years was in 2009 so pretty easy omission here.

The Crown - It's a bit too boring, but it's very well made and has great acting.

The Knick - The Steven Soderbergh produced show benefits heavily from what I thought was a great ending in its two season run.

Black-ish - In terms of sitcoms with serious highs, this had a real shot, but there's a whole lot of episodes of this show that are skippable.

Wilfred - This show never had a real shot at this list, but I do want to give a shoutout to this weird ass show that I liked a lot!

This is Us - Yeah yeah this show is actually good and it's kind of annoying, but it does try to manipulate emotions too much.

Shameless - At this point, I think the not good seasons outweigh the good ones, and that's why it's not on here, but it had a good run for a while there.

Santa Clarita Diet - Dark comedy featuring Olyphant and Drew Barrymore that I can't recommend enough if you like dark comedy.

Orphan Black - Again, never a real shot, but watching Tatiana Maslany play 20 different characters is worth the price of admission.

Banshee - Very kickass show

Chernobyl - I forgot to mention this show when mentioning miniseries that probably could have made it.

On Becoming a God in Central Florida - I felt weird putting too many one season shows on this list unfortunately otherwise it did have a shot.

Breaking Bad: Where does it rank all-time?

I keep flip-flopping on the finale of Breaking Bad - if it slightly diminished the series or if it was brilliant in giving the audience all possible endings.  I don't know if I'll ever truly make up my mind on it, but I'll never fully embrace it the way I did immediately after the episode.  That episode provided me with a state of instant gratification, but it's best if you don't think about it too much.

There's a few schools of thought on the finale, one of which makes the most sense to me and for this series.  In a series where just about nothing went as planned - with a few exceptions - everything goes to plan for Walter because he finally accepted the evil monster he is.  He's accepted he's a terrible person who did all he did for himself.  Once he came to that understanding, he could fully embrace his Heisenberg persona.  That's one theory.  He could never get his plans to come to fruition because he kept lying to himself.  (Another is that he died in the cabin and the finale was his dream - because literally every fucking thing went right and his plan was incredibly improbable)

It's ironic I think.  Vince Gilligan wanted to tie up all loose ends and yet here I am pondering the finale as if it hadn't.  But then again, I don't think this series could have really just ended on Granite State - Jesse perpetually a slave to Neo Nazis isn't exactly a thing I wanted.  And really, the ending wasn't a happy ending at all when you put it in perspective.  Walt gets his version of a happy ending, but Jesse's life will suck, his family is deserted, and there's no guarantee that Flynn will accept the money (which even he would recognize as fishy) or that Skylar's legal problems are finished.

That's enough about the finale.  Let's talk about the series and it's place in history.  Here I will confess that before the finale aired, I planned to write about how Breaking Bad is the best series ever.  Now, the finale didn't change my mind about it, I just thought more deeply about it and realized that doing that would be a mistake.  First, I'd suffer from recency bias and secondly, if I'm going to proclaim something like that, I better be sure about it.  Well, I'm far from sure.

For now, my publicly declared greatest series ever will remain The Wire.  I'm finishing up The Sopranos - safely in my Top 5 - and still need to watch Deadwood and The Shield.  Honestly, I probably shouldn't declare a greatest series ever until I finish those three shows.  The only reason I'm even doing it is because I'm very skeptical any show can surpass The Wire.  So skeptical in fact that I feel reasonably comfortable declaring it my greatest series.  (Mad Men is widely considered to be among these shows; I've seen four seasons and I just don't think it's on the same level unfortunately.  Alas, that's for another post)

I'm going to self-impose a waiting period of a year to re-asses Breaking Bad and see where I place it then.  Right now, it's definitely benefiting from a recency bias.  I remember almost every detail of the show from the past five seasons (I watched the entire series before this last season in less than three weeks).  Considering the emphasis placed on detail in Breaking Bad, this would tend to positively influence my perception.  Although, I do think the finale did more harm than good in my overall view of the series.

I will say this: In my personal ranking of TV shows - I don't have an official list because like I said I lack some shows that are considered - Breaking Bad is safely a Top 5 show of all time.  I consider it behind The Wire, but for now at least, I have it above The Sopranos.

Breaking Bad did do something that no other television show did.  It made a seemingly sympathetic, good man into an evil monster.  To use the cliche, it turned Mr. Chips into Scarface.  Now, The Shield fans, I unfortunately know a spoiler about that show - just for the pilot though.  I know (SPOILER FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN THE SHIELD - ALSO CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG HERE) that the main character kills another cop and that decision leads him down a road similar to Walter White's.  Here's the difference.  That cop clearly wasn't already Mr. Chips.  When you decide to kill another cop - no matter how bad that cop is, you clearly aren't a seemingly sympathetic good man.

Now the original picture of Walter White wasn't completely accurate as the details on his past are revealed, but being a pride-driven man hardly makes you a bad person.  What made Walt a bad person was a series of dangerously self-rationalizing decisions that kept escalating and he kept rationalizing until he was stuck in a cabin alone with his thoughts and he realized what he became and he was ok with what he became.  So Breaking Bad managed to do that which I'm fairly certain The Shield couldn't have done, because he killed a cop in the first episode thus making him not really a good person.  (SPOILERS FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN THE SHIELD STOPPED).

Unfortunately, Gilligan's insistence on closing every plot thread hurt the series more than it helped it.  For instance, we sort of got a farewell sequence to Skinny Pete and Badger, but it made absolutely no fucking sense for them to be the ones Walt hired.  That was pure fan service.  I don't want ambiguity in my finales or anything, but you don't need to close EVERY plot point.  Doing so makes it feel like the writers are manipulating events, not like it's an organic plot development - something the series successfully did in the series.

Anyway, I don't think Breaking Bad is the greatest series of all-time.  If I had to guess, one of the three shows I still have yet to finish will end up surpassing Breaking Bad too.  I feel pretty confident in saying Breaking Bad will end up as my #3 greatest series of all time.  I think it's place as a consensus top five show of all time is pretty safe as well.

Sorry if that's not exactly a definitive answer, but the answer to this question is definitive.  The important thing to remember is that this was one of the best series of all time and I enjoyed the ride.

I set up a poll.  I want to know where you think Breaking Bad should be all-time. (The poll is to the right of this post >>>>>>>)

Playlist (Best of Breaking Bad Season 5 Part 2)
1. "Where is Santa Claus?" - Mr. & Mrs. Yellowman
2. "Oh Sherri" - Steve Perry
3. "She's Blinded Me With Science" - Thomas Dolby (Todd's ringtone)
4. "Take My True Love" - The Limeliters
5. "El Paso" - Marty Robbins
6. "Baby Blue" - Badfinger

Breaking Bad: "Felina"

It's over guys.  It's really over.  There's no more new episodes of Breaking Bad.  That finale definitely sent the series out in a high note.  For the fans of Breaking Bad who love Heisenberg the badass, this was the finale for you.  In the end, Walter White wins.

I'll take you back a few seasons: Remember when Walt's family held an intervention to get Walt to take treatment for his cancer.  Even though Walt eventually relented, he said he didn't want to take treatment.  He wanted to make his own decisions for once.  He wanted control.  And that's really what this has all been about for Walt.

Well, Walt controlled his own destiny.  He mapped out his death so the cancer couldn't take him and neither could the cops.  He made sure his family would get the money in a brilliant ploy.  Shame on us for thinking he wouldn't find a way to get the money to his family.  Vince Gilligan and his team of writers managed to have their cake and eat it too: Walt would lose everything, but he also wins.

I'm a little frustrated because I don't see how Walt managed to get the ricin into Lydia's tea.  I think internet fanboys will closely examine and figure out a way - or Talking Bad will tell us.  But from what I saw, I couldn't figure out a window.  That's a little annoying unless I can go back and see the moment. (Update: I'm an idiot.  It was in the Stevia.  Still, a little too convenient that she goes to same place, same table at 10 a.m. every day for my liking. Whatever, small complaint)

Other than that, Walt got to make his rounds and say his goodbyes to who he wanted and his fuck yous to who he wanted.  He goes back to Gretchen and Elliot and I assumed - as I'm guessing most viewers did - that he was going to go on a murdering spree and start with those two.  But Walt's more calculating than that.

His meeting with Gretchen and Elliot also served another purpose.  He showed them how much money he made to them.  He "earned" it.  He's showing them how he achieved the same type of success as they did.  Granted, he kind of ruined his life while earning it, but he did do that.

Then he goes to say goodbye to Skylar.  As that conversation with Marie dragged on for a little too long, I became all too aware that Walt was already in it.  I suspect most people were.  That scene perhaps worked less for me because I completely expected that unfortunately.  That's not to say I need to have every scene be unexpected, but it was played sort of for shock value and it didn't "shock" so it didn't work.

He also says goodbye to Holly.  He gives his wife his final gift, a free pass out of the court proceedings - at least presumably.  He can't say goodbye to Junior unfortunately, because he's being closely guarded.  But he does get a last look at him - I don't think Junior would be as forgiving as Skylar because he's not as morally compromised.

So I guess Walt kind of does free Jesse after all?  Haha, well that's funny how that worked out.  He went on a suicide mission so that other people wouldn't take credit for his work.  He originally planned to kill Jesse too I'm guessing.  But when he found out that Jesse probably already paid for his crimes by being a slave, he saved him by jumping on top of him and taking a bullet to the side.

Side note: people who thought the ricin was for Walt?  Really guys?  Walt's not exactly the type of person who would kill himself.  He's especially not the person who would give himself a poison that would slowly kill him in the process.  Gunshot to the head?  That's the way to go, not ricin. 

When Walt asks Jesse to kill him, you could read it two ways.  He didn't really want Jesse to kill him.  He wanted Jesse to decide to not kill him in fact.  Or he could have wanted Jesse to kill him for all the shit he's put Jesse through.  I'm not sure which.  I think it's the former though.  

Thank you Vince Gilligan for giving Lydia and Todd the deaths they so richly deserve.  Jesse gets to enact revenge on Todd, who is one of the worst people on any TV show I've seen.  Emotionless bastard.  Thank you for giving Lydia, so willing to let other people kill, but so unwilling to see it for herself, the death she deserves.  A slow, grueling death that she learns will happen from Walt, whose murder she just ordered.

Jesse gets to go live in Alaska and live with his crimes and be thankful he's alive.  He'll probably go check on Brock and see if he's alright, but otherwise he is probably getting as far away from ABQ as he possibly can.  Who knows what he'll do with his life, but it won't involve meth!  Jesse gets a happy ending!

So Walter White, person who says he's done it all for his family all along, finally admits to Skylar that he did it for himself.  Well done, Walt.  Well freaking done.  You stopped rationalizing.  Finally.  That was the scene that made me love this finale.  Walter White grew as a person while also killing like 10 people.  But hey that's Breaking Bad for ya!

In the end, Walter White wins.  Last episode could have been the finale as well where he lost.  But this was the episode for Walt fans.  I'm not really a Walt fan, but I don't object to this finale.  He redeemed himself enough that I feel reasonably happy he got what he wanted.  He wanted evil people dead and himself dead so maybe that's why I'm happy he got it, but still....

It's over guys.  It's been fun talking Breaking Bad with you.  I might be talking about the series as a whole next week, but at least for episodes, this is my last episode I'm reviewing.  Thanks for reading.

Top 10 Breaking Bad Episodes

In preparation for the final episode of Breaking Bad's run, I decided to write the top ten Breaking Bad episodes.  To be clear, these are the 10 episodes I think are the best, not necessarily my favorite episodes.  Most of them feature something shocking happen naturally.  This was written before the finale so that episode wasn't taken into consideration, but I don't think it would find it's way on here anyway.  If it would make it on this list, you can safely put Breaking Bad as my choice for the greatest series of all time.  So anyway, first the honorable mention episodes.

Honorable Mention
Better Caul Saul: Season 2, Episode 8
This episode deserves worthy mention for being Saul Goodman's first and best episode to date.  That's right, this is his best episode, his very first.  This is the episode you should watch to prepare for the upcoming series Better Call Saul.  With that said, there's also the great pre-credits sequence where Badger gets busted by the cop.

Hermanos - Season 4, Episode 8
This is really just here for Gus' flashback scene.  It gives the character of Gus more development.  Season 4, by the way, has by a good amount, the most episodes I considered.  This scene was also important for establishing Gus' need for revenge on Hector.

End Times - Season 4, Episode 12
Spoiler alert for the rest of this list: Face Off makes the list.  I consider End Times and Face Off to be kind of the same episode.  So consider Face Off's position to be both End Times and Face Off.  You can't really just watch the latter episode without the former otherwise it loses its value.  I mean they foreshadow Lilly of the Valley in this episode.

Say My Name - Season 5, Episode 7
Better Call Saul is Saul's best episode.  Unfortunately, Say My Name is Mike Ehrmantraut's best episode.  At least it's Jonathan Bank's best episode.  Besides that now iconic line, this episode features Jesse disillusioned with Walt, refusing to work with him anymore.  "Shut the fuck up and let me die in peace." (Gilligan really does find the most appropriate deaths for the big characters)

Confessions - Season 5, Episode 11
If you don't remember, this is the episode with the table side guacamole, the video confession of Walt claiming Hank is the mastermind, and the episode with the cliffhanger where Jesse almost burns Walt's house down.  Yeah, this is a pretty good episode to say the least.  He also coldly tells Walt Jr. about the cancer returning so that he will stay with him instead of going to Aunt Marie's.

10. Dead Freight, Season 5, Episode 5 
I realize I just named three season 5 episode in a row, but I guess that's just the way it's going.  Dead Freight is one of the more fun episodes in the series - until the end at least.  It's an awesome train robbery in the West.  And then an important, monumental event happens in the series - Todd kills Drew Sharp, a kid who just wanted a spider.  The pre-credit sequence makes the episode a lot better the second time you watch it - almost like a string of inevitable things will happen and he dies every time - sort of like what's happening to Walt over the series.

9. Sunset - Season 3, Episode 7
Breaking Bad reached a new peak with this episode - a peak they would further ascend in just the next episode.  With about 20 minutes to go, Hank is at the RV with Walt and Jesse inside of it - and there's still a ton of episode left.  Then they get out of it by getting Saul's assistant to call Hank and claim she was at the hospital.  It's cruel and it leads to Hank beating the shit out of Jesse.  It's a great and suspenseful hour of television.

8. Phoenix - Season 2, Episode 12
This is Walt's turning point from basically good man who just wants to provide for his family to a monster.  You could argue that Walt saved Jesse by murdering Jane.  You could argue that "Jane had it coming." (I cringe just writing that.)  But you'd be wrong.  He didn't let Jane die because he wanted to save Jesse.  He killed Jane because she was an enormous pain in his ass and not letting him control Jesse.  This episode also features what Walt proclaimed was his "perfect time to die" in a later episode.

7. Half Measures - Season 3, Episode 12
Half Measures features a lot of great scenes.  The pre-credits opening scene is one of Breaking Bad's better montages featuring Wendy, a hooker, doing her thing to the song "Windy," a classic hit song by The Association.  Walt tries to save Jesse by telling Gus about it.  Gus tells the two drug dealers - "No more children."  I think they misinterpret (or Gus is an extremely cold dude) and kill the 11-year-old Tomas.  Then the ending sequence happens where Walt runs over the dealers with a car, shoots one directly in the head, and says "run."  Walt goes on to ruin all his good deeds in the next episode, but hey at least he saved Jesse here.

6. Crawl Space - Season 4, Episode 11
The back half of Season 4 of Breaking Bad is the best stretch of this series ever.  Every episode escalates the action.  The ending was able to convey perfectly the feeling of everything closing in on Walt until he devolves to madness, laughing like a maniac.  It also features the funny scene of Bill Burr and Lavell Crawford (who I fear will forever be stuck in that hotel room) getting Ted to pay the IRS already.  Then Ted tries to escape and injures himself.  The image of Ted in Season 5 takes away the humor in that fall a bit though.

5. Pilot - Season 1, Episode 1
For as good as the pilot was, it's kind of amazing to be able to say that there were four episodes that exceeded it.  Hell, some of the episodes I have below it might technically have been better.  But the pilot draws you in immediately and while Season 1 may have not been your cup of tea, I don't think anyone stopped watching BECAUSE of the pilot.  It forces you to find out how this man has come to this point - in his tidy whities driving an RV with three passed out people in it.

4. Salud, Season 4 Episode 10
Jesse gets taken to Mexico to teach the cartel how to cook blue meth.  Jesse straight up owns their top chemist in a scene where he skeptically dismisses Jesse.  Jesse cooks 96% quality, pleasing all there.  Then he finds out he needs to stay there and Mike informs Jesse that if Jesse stays, everyone is staying.  So the audience is clued in that something is up - and that something comes to beautiful fruition when Gus kills the cartel using poison (If you want the music to that scene, it's called "Tidal Wave" by The Oh Sees).  Walt also shares his first "real" moment with Walt Jr. after he got beat up by Jesse in "Bug."

3. Face Off - Season 4, Episode 13
Like I said above, you can't really include this episode without End Times.  Walt has finally gone just about as far as you can go - poisoning a kid.  You could say "Well Walt knew that kid wasn't going to die," to which I say "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?" - Anyway, the conclusion to Gus' death is perfect, his lone weakness being his downfall.  So sad to see you go Gus and I'd much rather you better Walter White than the Neo Nazis in Season 5.

2. One Minute - Season 3, Episode 7
I think this is a bit of a surprise, but I assure you this pick is for much more than just the scene where Hank survives the cousin.  Hank finally just accepts his punishment and admits to his crimes.  Then he goes into the elevator and Marie and Hank cry their eyes out.  Hank has reached a state of acceptance and tranquility and he's finally himself for the first time since he shot Tuco.  And then he gets shot four times.  Dammit.  Go back and watch this episode and you'll realize how damn good it is.

1. Ozymandias - Season 5, Episode 14
Maybe this is recency bias, but I think this episode goes down in the annals of TV history.  Wow what an hour where the audience pretty much has everything they have been waiting for happen in a single hour.  Right away, Hank dies and thank you Vince Gilligan for giving him an awesome death.  (Also R.I.P. Gomie)  Walt loses most of his $80 million in cash.  (69 to be exact.  Oh Gilligan, you dog)  Walt tells Jesse about Jane which should theoretically squash any theory that Walt will save Jesse in this final episode.  Jesse is held slave to the Neo Nazis, perpetually forced to cook meth.  Walt and Skylar get in a knife fight.  Walt steals Holly.  Walt finally does one decent thing for his family, albeit laced in truths and very real hate.  This hour of television is among the most heartbreaking and shocking as television can ever get.

Hopefully the finale can find its way on this list in the future and hope everyone enjoys this article as a precursor to the final episode!

Breaking Bad: "Granite State"

75 minutes left until Breaking Bad is officially over.  And from my perspective, they will need all 75 minutes of it, because I don't know how they'll wrap this series up in that short amount of time, especially given Breaking Bad's usual pace.  I don't doubt they will and I don't doubt that it will end up being perfectly paced, but it's just hard to see right now.

This episode scaled down a little - to say the least - from last episode.  It's a piece-mover for the end of the series really.  This was still good television, it just kind of seems like it was almost like the premiere of a new season.  You're not really judging it yet because almost everything in the episode will pay off later.

But then again, a few things happen that are shocking still.  I liked how they did the opener, defying our expectations a bit.  First of all, Robert Forster is the vacuum repair man!  And it's a real shop!  Saul understandably wants to get out of town and that will be the last we will see of Saul in this series I think.  That was a nice way to tie up his story while also still making sure to keep it relevant.

Walt has fallen far.  He deserves every bit of it and I'll speak more on that later - just for you people who somehow are still on Team Walt.  He tries to intimidate Saul to get him to stay with him, but Saul's had enough of his shit.  Sure, Walt pathetically having a coughing fit probably didn't hurt.  But it shows just how powerless Walt is now.

Meanwhile, Jesse.. oh Jesse.  That small slimmer of hope that Jesse would escape vanished this episode.  It makes sense that the Aryan Brotherhood would have cameras and have other means of making sure Jesse won't escape.  But they need to make sure Jesse won't even attempt to escape anymore and they kill Andrea.  This was actually kind of necessary for the time skip because it would help explain why Jesse would never escape.  He wouldn't even risk Brock getting killed.  He has a soft spot for children.

Todd somehow amps up his creepiness.  Man, is he a creepy fuck.  First of all, after breaking into the White residence, Todd creepily plays nice with Skylar - you know while her baby is being threatened - and wants to make sure that she won't tell the police on Lydia.  I doubt Skylar will or did I suppose.

Then he meets with Lydia and gets that business going.  They did make passing mention on why they are continuing to cook when they already have $69 million.  Part of it is because the writers can't have Jesse killed, but enough of it makes sense to not be terribly obvious in my opinion.  I mean they do need Jesse to cook 96% and Todd does know Lydia will do business with him if he can provide that quality of meth.  So really the only stretch is that the Aryan brotherhood would agree to this.  They don't really seem like the smartest people so I'm not bothered a lot by that stretch of belief.

So we skip to what I assume is around the time when the flash-forward happened to begin the season.  They show the passage of time by having Walt grow out his hair and his beard.  Walt is super depressed and lonely.  That scene where he pays $10,000 just for an hour of company is one of the saddest things I have ever seen.

He reaches a point where he wants to give money to his family, but Walt Jr is not having any of that.  Good for him.  Money has compromised far too many people, but it's clear Wal... I'm sorry Flynn will not be one.  So then Walt has lost all hope and just decides to turn himself in for the good of his family.

Except you know a little thing called Walt's ego happened.  He cannot take his former partners claiming Walt had nothing to do with the company.  His pride is being threatened.  So he changes his mind, presumably buying that gun that he bought in the flash forward, then returning to get the ricin, and likely plans to go out with a bang.

People who claim that Walt has always done this for his family?  You're watching this show wrong I'm sorry.  Walt was offered his full treatment for the price of nothing and he rejected it due to pride.  HE NEVER HAD TO MAKE METH.  If he truly was looking out for his family, he would have swallowed his pride and accepted that money.  It's all about Walt and his pride.  He needs recognition, and he needs to do it himself.  How more people haven't seen this is beyond me.

 I mention that because it's a nice parallel to what happens in this episode.  Walt's downfall is his pride, his ego.  So he needs to actively choose to do something that could harm his family when there are alternative options.  If he was cooking meth because he had no other choice: because he needed the money and he wanted to set his family up for his death, it'd be different.  But he had a choice.

I have zero idea how there are still people who are Team Walt.  Either it is physically impossible to dislike Bryan Cranston and people let that affect their opinion of Walt or there are more fucked up people in this world than I thought.  I think I rooted for Walt far longer than I should have, because really letting Jane die should have been the straw.  That is unforgivable and people who think she had it coming, you need help.  I'm sorry.  And people who think Walt's family betrayed him?  Seriously, what fucking show are you watching? /end rant

I don't know how many months they skipped, but it made perfect sense.  From what I'm watching, it seems like nothing super important happened between Walt escaping and Walt choosing to return to the ABQ.  The Aryan brotherhood didn't go anywhere which means Jesse didn't go anywhere.  They have most likely done the same thing for months, forcing Jesse to make meth, selling it to Lydia.  Nothing really new happens.

Skylar and Flynn are still trying to recover a semblance of the life they once had.  They aren't going anywhere.  I'm not really sure there's anywhere else to go with Marie's story.  I mean she was well-acted by Besty Brandt, but her entire relevance was being married to Hank and being sister to Skylar.  The characters are all in some sort of purgatory waiting in place for Walt to come back and screw up all their plans.

75 minutes left.  One week.

Breaking Bad: "Ozymandias"

*OBVIOUSLY THIS POST IS FILLED WITH SPOILERS AND WHILE I HAVEN'T HAD A WARNING BEFORE THIS, THIS EPISODE NEEDS A SPOILER WARNING.

Well, a lot of stuff just happened that I don't think I've actually processed yet.  I spent the last hour not thinking about Breaking Bad and calming down.  How did I do that?  Well I did laundry, washed dishes, picked up my car from my sister - constantly doing stuff.  Now I've had time to process what just happened, I can make a calm, measured analysis on Breaking Bad.

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HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!

Sorry, that was necessary.  I mean I was thinking that in my head - and sometimes saying it aloud to myself - during almost the entire episode.  BAM - BAM - BAM.  Something shocking happened every other minute it seemed.  We - the audience - didn't get a chance to catch our breath for the whole hour.  I'm almost grateful I saw this with commercials or I may just be in an ambulance right now suffering from shock.

Well, the start of the episode was predictably not the shoot-out.  Breaking Bad has a tendency to do that.  As Aaron Paul said on twitter, they showed the first scene with the lie that started it all.  It began Walter's slowly declining relationship with his family culminating in a later scene tonight.

The scene did two further things besides provide the audience with a bit of humor seeing how far they've come: it strangely emphasized that they were going to name the baby "Holly" which I found weird until he stole Holly from Skyler.  I guess that was sort of a foreshadowing.  Also, the scene focused on the phone by the knife set, which juxtaposed nicely with a later scene when Skyler took a fucking knife and stabbed Walt with it.  Sorry, back to the episode.

Rian Johnson did a phenomenal job directing this episode.  You had the call between Walt and Skyler by the knife which was a good choice (and also foreshadowing).  Then the cool scene where we transition from old Walt to present day.  It was a bit different in that you see Walt disappear, then Jesse, and then the RV.  Then the pre-credits roll and we see the cars aligned for the shoot-out.

Instead of continuing the gunfight, this episode just had the guns stop and then silence as the audience is on the edge of their seat wanting to know what happened.  Then we see Steven Gomez is dead.  That was a given.  We see Hank bleeding getting a decent shot to his leg.  Then he crawls to the rifle and it becomes apparent that Hank has no shot of living.  (I also liked the shot when Hank is crawling and you see the Nazis walk towards Hank)

Walt really gives it his all trying to save Hank's life.  Unfortunately, it was obvious that they were going to have to kill Hank.  Walt is an idiot and gives away that he has $80 million dollars buried in the ground.  As Hank says, "You're the smartest man I know and you're too stupid to realize that he made up his mind 10 minutes ago."

Remember when Walt said that he was doing this for his family?  Well he lost his family the moment Hank was killed.  I think Walt knew that.  Then he lost his money - or most of it - when he tried to save Hank.  I'm fairly certain he used a large majority of his barrel of money to get out of town so now he seems to literally have nothing.  No family, and the money is basically useless when its only used to hide yourself.

Marie goes straight from Hank's call to Skyler trying to make things right with her now that Walt has been caught.  That scene was painful to watch even if you hate Marie because the audience knows Hank is dead and yet she seems to bring Hank up every second possible reminding the audience Hank is dead.

I'd say Hank's death was appropriately badass.  I think he would have been done via machine gun in real life, but I'm happy to suspend disbelief so we he can have a death befitting his character.  He goes out like he's been all series.  Refusing to bend his morals and not begging for his life.  Sorry, but I respect Hank way more than Walt.

Then for about five minutes, I thought they were going to kill Jesse - which is actually kind of amazing because I assumed that he would live for sure until at least the final episode.  But no, Vince Gilligan decided to say "Fuck you, Jesse fans" and made a scenario that was somehow ten times worse than him dying.

Jesse finds out that Walt killed Jane, that Walt will get away, he gets tortured, he's held captive, and he's forced to keep cooking meth because they are threatening him with Andrea and Brock.  And this happens moments after he's convinced Walt will finally pay for his deeds.  Cruel. What the hell, Vince?  This makes me convinced that they will have Jesse come out on top by the way, because really are they going to leave his story on such a down note?

Oh yeah, and Walt Jr. found out about Walt.  That disappointed me because I have been asking for that for forever and they needed to kind of rush through that.  Still, it worked fine and honestly, what I was wanting probably would have exceeded the acting abilities of RJ Mitte.  He did fine here.  Also, I laughed out loud when Skyler told him to put on his seatbelt and he responded with "Are you shitting me?"

Hank and Gomie die, Jesse's held captive, Walt's separated from his family with a new identity, and millions of people around the world are collectively recovering from that onslaught of an episode.  Not sure they can top this episode.

Ok so it's pretty clear that they are going to skip a bunch of time next episode and if it were my bet, we finally reach the point where Walt is buying a massive gun at Denny's.  I can't believe we have to wait a week for that.  Two episodes left of what is looking like the best series ever.*

*Besides The Wire.  This is coming really close to that though and could surpass it.

Breaking Bad: "To'hajiilee"

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WOW!  So that just happened.  Each episode I've been impressed and shocked at how fast the plot is escalating and then I remember we only have "x" amount of episodes left in the series and it makes sense that the dominoes are falling as fast as they are.  That still didn't make this any less shocking.

Ok so I guess I'll start at the end of the episode since that's the freshest in my mind.  When Hank, Gomez, and Jesse showed up in the desert to greet Walt, I think we all knew that some way, somehow Walt was getting away.  That led to the inevitable conclusion that Hank and Gomez would probably end up dead.

And we all probably knew that Todd's cousins would ignore Walt and go towards the site anyway.  So while I was expecting the ending to some degree, it didn't lose any of its shock value because Hank's probably going to die.  Hank, the character we've spent five seasons with, will die most likely.  The deaths are going to start and main characters will start falling.

What a brilliant, brilliant plan by Hank and Jesse to outsmart Heisenberg who was tricked every step of the way.  First off, they go after Huell in a sort of genius idea to make Huell think he's going to die.  Poor Huell.  Basically, the writers came up with a plausible way for Huell to rat.  He thinks Jesse is dead (with a convincing picture) and it's hardly a stretch to assume that Saul would rat on him as long as it benefits Saul.

He reveals enough information for the rest of the plan to work, which basically is just that the money was in barrels.  They take a picture of the barrel with money inside of it, send it to Walt, and convince Walt that Jesse is going to burn the money.  I'm pretty sure Jesse has burned money before in this series so I think Walt takes this threat seriously.

Jesse remains a weakness for Walt as he would never believe Jesse would rat on him.  He doesn't even think it's a possibility.  As a side note, I think Todd's cousins knew that Jesse was a rat or a possible rat and it could have been a reason they decided to go to the site - besides the fact that they are crazy.

So Jesse's threatening to burn money he doesn't have and Walt falls hard for it.  His ego wouldn't allow his money to be burned.  Walt had the picture and he thinks Jesse found the GPS for his car, but if Walt would have put a little thought into it, how in the world would Jesse have obtained that information?  He'd need to be a cop because no way in hell would that company release that to an average citizen.  Then he would have known Jesse was working with Hank.

But Walt doesn't even think that's a possibility so he freely admits to all of his crimes, unknowingly screwing himself over.  He realizes it just in time to call his Nazi buddies to set up the end of the episode.  Now is the time when Walt starts getting people he cares about killed.  Does he still care about Hank?  At least enough to not want him killed.

Walt made a solid gamble on going to Andrea's and thinking it would lead Jesse there.  It probably would have worked too if not for the fact that Hank had Jesse's phone.  Either way, Walt was maybe a bit too confident it would have worked - which is usually the case with him.

The episode's open was probably the weakest of the season though I think that's more because of how strong the previous four were.  Walt is SO good at making meth, he's made Jesse his near equal and Todd a solid 76%.  Lydia would be satisfied except Todd's not sure how to make the meth blue.  I think needing Walt to teach Todd (and the millions of potential profits) provided Todd's cousins the necessary motivation to shoot at the end of the episode.  They need Walt and they need him alive.

I guess I should mention that they telegraphed Hank's potential death pretty clearly.  His phone conversation with Marie was as obvious a signal of "HEY THIS CHARACTER WILL DIE" as any I've seen in a while.  I know Hank's not dead yet, but if he survives this, he's Superman.  Also the flash-forward in the premiere indicates Walt is both free and without family so Hank dying would heavily support that.

Things are escalating quickly and the ending is near.  Still unclear how they get to the flash-forward from this point, but it's at least a little clearer.  Walt's arrested right now, but he looks to be free very soon - kind of - and he's likely responsible for yet another death.  Can't wait until next week.

Breaking Bad: "Rabid Dog"

Four episodes left.  So far I'd say that season five part two has lived up to its hype.  Walt looks primed for destruction and yet, I still have no idea how in the world he gets to the point where his house is abandoned and seemingly everyone knows he is Heisenberg.

The tension was high throughout the entire episode for me.  Inexplicably, I thought something would happen when Walt Jr. and Walt were having a conversation by the pool.  This season has accomplished the dichotomy between nothing happening and anything possibly happening.

In the open, Walt walks into his gasoline-infested house looking for Jessie.  I was on the edge of my seat that entire time expecting Jesse to jump out at Walt - even though that wouldn't really be a Breaking Bad thing to do.  They spent a good four minutes or so on the scene and it was a false alarm.  But it worked because we spent the entire time wondering where the hell Jesse could be.  His car was exactly how he left it when he planned to burn Walt's house down.

Walt tries to cover his tracks - and actually in my opinion comes up with a very feasible story.  If Walt wasn't always full of shit, his family would have bought it.  But not even his clueless son thought he was telling the truth.  If I were Walt, once Walt Jr. presented the story that Walt passed out, he should have jumped on that.  But his pride got in the way like it usually does and he doesn't want to come across weak.

Walt Jr. is really easy to buy off - not that I blame him though.  I mean that car would buy me off from wondering too much about where my dad has been.  This time it's a sweet hotel.  I still await the day when Walt Jr. finds out. Please let this happen sometime. Please.  I think RJ Mitte is a good enough actor to pull this off - not that it would be a very easy scene to play.  Mitte nails any material he's given in my opinion.

So Saul Goodman really thinks killing Jesse is the way to go.  He compared killing Jesse to Old Yeller.  Interesting comparison.  (I found it funny - any scene where Saul tries to make a euphemism for killing somebody, it's usually hilarious).  And in a surprising scene, so does Skylar.  Skylar has become a very interesting character.  It's really easy for her to say to kill him though since she's not involved and will never see it.  (Which is why it's surprising, but ultimately makes sense)

But that scene definitely nailed down that Skylar has long since been compromised.  I don't think there's a greater anti-drug message out there than this show.  Sure, you might make money (although you probably can't cook meth like Walt can - in fact, I'm going to go out on a limb and say you can't), but you only compromise your morals and just about everyone you care about as well and put yourself and everyone you love in danger.  So yeah go ahead and try it if you want.

The Jessie reveal was satisfying.  When we left him, I'm not sure I could buy that he would just "change his mind" as Walt puts it.  Well, he didn't.  You see Hank has shown a penchant for following his targets on his own accord many many times so it was not a dues ex machina thankfully.  So he saves Jesse from burning Walt's house down - not unselfishly because he realizes burning his house down in the long run really won't hurt Walt like Hank wants to hurt Walt.

So he takes Jesse under his wing and gives him a place to sleep.  Bringing him into the office wouldn't have made a lot of sense because there is no evidence.  I assume either Hank realized this or he wanted to make Jesse comfortable.  Either way works.  Jesse presumably tells a story that we have watched unfold over five seasons - from his point-of-view.  I'm sure this won't be the last time we see his testimonial before the season is over.

So Jesse becomes a "snitch," which I don't have a problem with.  The stigma over "snitches" is unfortunate and odd.  It's mostly due to television shows involving characters who have that stigma - but in their case, usually being found out resulted in death.  Here? Oh Jesse might be able to sleep at night and look at himself in the mirror.  Those aren't that important I guess.

Walt agrees to meet Jesse in person and despite everyone giving him advice that he needs to get rid of Jesse, he does not plan to do it.  He wants to explain to Jesse why he did it.  He wants Jesse to think highly of him because he looks at him as a son.  It's some kind of abusive father-son relationship, but usually fathers still care in some creepy and weird way for that son.

In a bit of extreme coincidence, Jesse sees a rather large man who looks like he's protecting Walt.  If he really had a plan to kill Jesse, I think it would have been more subtle.  Nonetheless, it's a rather large coincidence, though I think the show has had worse ones so it didn't bother me a whole lot.  I'm still a Jesse fan and I've stated I wanted Jesse to kill Walt, but this might be just as good.  Jesse's call to Walt was pretty awesome and properly scared the shit out of Walt.

Walt calls Todd as result to kill Jesse and I don't think that was a very good decision by Walt.  It's probably part of Jesse's plan in fact which we probably won't find out until we see it play out - just a guess.  Walt started the season with four things against him and now two of them are teaming up.  Cancer doesn't appear to be a huge threat in the immediate future and Lydia is nowhere to be found in this episode.  Hank and Jesse though have the most motivation and want to see him utterly destroyed.  Walt's imminent destruction is coming.

Breaking Bad: "Confessions"

First things first, I am posting this on Thursday night instead of Sunday simply because I have been unable to watch the episode until today.  This Sunday I will be in St. Louis and will almost definitely be able to write my immediate thoughts that night.  With that said, I have avoided any commentary on the episode and all opinions were formed by yours truly.

I suppose this season will be the season of the cliffhangers.  To the surprise of no one, Jesse does not team up with Hank and reveal Walt's identity.  There's just simply too much hatred between the two to allow that to happen.  Jesse is a pretty smart guy and figures out quickly that Hank basically has no evidence to support his claims.  He also correctly concludes that Hank is on his own and not backed by the DEA.

Todd has a rather large mouth as he freely reveals the train theft that happened last season.  That seems to not bode well one way or the other for Walter.  I wasn't completely clear on what was going on, but I'm pretty sure they are after Walt: they want him to make meth again so they can make a lot of money.  They seem like the type of people that would go to extreme lengths to make that happen.

Walt devises a plan that's both brilliant and breathtaking.  This show is so good at creating an event that seems impossibly unlikely and then when it's revealed, it seems like it's the only way to go.  Walt makes a "confession" (hence the title), but twists the events in a way where Hank is the mastermind.  Sure enough, the money trail would lead to Hank's recovery.  His convoluted story would make some sense to somebody who has no idea of the situation.

As Hank and Marie both watch the tape in shock (and creating a meme of epic proportions), they are our audience surrogate.  We also stand in a sort of amazement and awe at what Walt managed to do to get Hank off his back.  I'm not sure it'll work in getting Hank to cool it off, but it's hard to deny Hank is screwed unless he gets concrete evidence, which is made all the more difficult because Walt has retired (for now).

Walt unnecessarily tries to manipulate Jesse into going into hiding, but Jesse sees right through it and calls him out on his bullshit.  Walt knows how to respond to this though and just hugs him and lets Jesse cry.  It was kind of touching except for the fact that Walt has done absolutely horrible things to Jesse.  

Then the big moment of the episode when Jesse finds out that Walter poisoned Brock.  Oh my, this is one of those reasons I love the show.  I'll give two specific reasons: 1) The show was not going to let Jesse NOT know that Walt poisoned Brock.  It just does not do things like that.  Everything will get revealed by the end. 2) They needed it to be in a way that was realistic and not a convoluted plot device.  They succeeded at that.

Jesse is depressed and doesn't care so it would make sense that he would decide to have weed in his pocket and not care that Saul objects.  We've also heard about how formal and official this guy has been for a while so it would make sense that Saul would be afraid Jesse won't be accepted if he has weed in his pocket.  And the beautiful reveal as Jesse is having second thoughts and starting to get afraid of leaving his own life so he turns to weed and can't find it.  He realizes Saul took it away and that makes everything else so clear to him.  Just great writing.

And hey!  We got funny Saul Goodman.  I wasn't expecting anymore but the writers managed to find some comedic bits for Saul in this episode.  The Saul gets punched in the face and has his gun stolen from him.  Come to think of it, I'm not sure how Jesse knew Saul had a gun there.  Minor complaint.

So we leave the episode with Jesse possibly setting the White house on fire.  Here's where the flash-forward kind of comes at a disadvantage.  Ok, so he may succeed at least a little in lighting the insides of the house on fire, but the house is staying.  I don't know, I just don't see the fire actually doing what Jesse intends because we know the house doesn't collapse.  Still, this will show that Walt and his family are not safe and throw everything into disarray for him no matter what happens.

I know they are pushing back this Walter Jr. reveal, but man it's got to happen.  There's no way that they end the show with him not knowing.  I'm just waiting for when.  And it looks like Walt (and the writers) have a nice built in excuse for Walter Jr never going to Hank and Marie's with Walt's cancer.  Smart.

I'm pretty confident at this point Jesse will die.  Just my personal guess.  We'll see how the rest of the season plays out, but I don't see how both he and Walt will manage to live.

Playlist
1. "Kick Klack Bang" - Ces Cru
2. "Baby Says" - The Black Keys
3. "Verbal Intercourse" - Chef Raekwon ft. Nas
4.  "Better Days" - Citizen King
5.  "Electric Feel" - MGMT

Breaking Bad: "Buried"

This episode had a lot of plot to get through.  I liked this episode less than the pilot, but so many things move and nothing really stuck out as bad that I didn't mind a whole lot.  Things are clearly being put in place to set up the future.

That could sound like I'm complaining that this episode is only really about moving the plot forward, because usually that tends to be a weakness.  Thankfully, it feels pretty natural and in character so again a plot episode isn't bad, I just found it less interesting.

Walt has played his card and immediately calls Skylar, but he's beaten by Hank to the punch.  Hank meets Skylar in a restaurant and I like how slowly we realize Hank wants to get Heisenberg so much, he doesn't particularly care what will happen to Skylar if she tells.  He's more so intent on getting Walt at all costs.

His dinner conversation shows his pride is hurt (further shown in a scene with Marie where he says he plans to quit when he tells them his brother-in-law was Heisenberg) with Skylar.  People don't give Skylar enough credit as a character.  She holds her own and figures out what Hank's doing pretty quickly.

Then Hank uses Marie to try and get Skylar to break.  I think Skylar remained quiet both because she was trying to figure out what to do and to not say anything incriminating.  Also, she clearly felt bad as Marie came to the realization that she knew about Walt when Hank got shot.  That scene led to a slap in the face - a good one at that.  Walt getting punched and Skylar getting slapped has to be a parallel in that the lines are drawn as its the White family versus the Schrader family.

Also, Lydia's not going away any time soon as she's kind of terrifying in her brief scene.  Willing to wipe out the drug runners, but not willing to look at the carnage? Damn, that's... that's some cowardice right there.  Also, Todd and his "connections" are responsible as Lydia needs a better batch to send to Czech Republic.  Again, Todd feeling no remorse for helping kill ten people or so, but then tenderly helping Lydia walk back to her car?  You've got to love the writing on this show.

Jesse continues losing his shit and I wonder if this will lead anywhere.  I mean I know it will lead somewhere, just if Jesse will help convict Walt or not.  I don't think he will personally, which kind of makes that cliffhanger less impactful for me.  There's six episodes left so he certainly could.

So six episodes left and they somehow have to make up about nine months worth of time leading to the destruction of the White home, Heisenberg being known as Walt, and Walt apparently separated from his family with the need for a huge gun that you don't buy if you're desperate.  Not sure how they'll do it, but I have as little doubt as I can that they will do something spectacular and fascinating.

A theme is that none of the characters are looking so great right now.  I fear Hank's life has to be in danger since Lydia and Todd are probably coming after Walt now to get him to cook.  Jesse was caught with a bag full of money, and although he's distraught enough to not say anything, that's not really a good position to be in.  Saul was threatened to "get sent to Belize", which might be foreshadowing of some sort.  (And if the spinoff makes you think differently, they could do a prequel)  So, I guess the question for me is who dies first, because there will be deaths aplenty.

Breaking Bad: "Blood Money"

Well, this show certainly moved faster than I anticipated.  I assume Vince Gilligan and the writers thought to themselves, "I bet everyone expects us to drag out Hank knowing about Walter so let's reveal it in the first episode!"  Because that's what they do.

I don't think any other show could have handled Hank's reaction better than Breaking Bad.  It seems perfectly in character and realistic.  Hank is reacting with anger and apparently a passionate drive to catch Walt.  Hank has had time to think about what has happened in the past and realizes Walt is a monster.

We find out it's been a month since Walter quit making meth.  And it's clear that it is not going to stay that way.  Well, actually, it's clear it's not going to fly with Lydia.  Mike has warned about Lydia to Walt and Jesse and I think we see that play out in the next seven episodes.

Jesse goes through some personal shit, and frankly, I'm a little tired of that story.  It's been played out.  We get it.  But anyway, it's probably necessary since it's in character and it's his thing.  He doesn't give a shit and doesn't want money so he's a loose cannon.  Also, an important plot point is that he knows that Walt killed Jesse.  I hope I'm not spoiling that, the show hinted that at us pretty strongly.

We see a Saul appearance, albeit no memorable zingers this time.  I have a feeling we will have to wait until the spinoff for any more old Saul Goodman scenes.  That's just a guess, but it might feel out of place in this final season.  The Breaking Bad writers could certainly figure out how to fit it in though.

How to discuss this episode without mentioning the cold open, probably the best show at finding ways to open the show.  We get a further flash forward into what Walt's life will be like.  It doesn't look good.  So he just got his shotgun (I'm not an expert on guns so don't quote me on that) at Denny's in "Live Free or Die," the first episode of season five part one.  In this one, he's apparently coming home - or what used to be his home.

And uh, he's collecting the ricin he left in his outlet for some reason.  And uh, his home is abandoned, locked off, and people know he is Heisenberg it seems.  "Hello Carol" is probably the funniest part of the episode, first when she drops her groceries in shock, and later because of the contrast.

But it's not really hard to believe that is what Walt has coming for him.  I mean he has Lydia, Jesse, cancer and Hank after him.  That's the Lydia Mike insisted should be killed, the Jesse who doesn't give a fuck, and a Hank who is seriously pissed off at Walter right not and is also on the DEA.  So, I'd say they set up the final season quite nicely and I'm excited to be a part of it.

Note: I made sure to avoid any professional opinions on Breaking Bad so my opinions would not be influenced by anyone else.

Low Winter Sun

Well, this looks like an interesting show.  I'll probably be watching it for the rest of the first season, just because it's on after Breaking Bad and it takes very little effort.  The first episode was ok, way too intense for my liking, and there were zero laughs, which can put a strain on watching a series.

The performances are top notch with Mark Strong and Lennie James.  It looks pretty well shot and here's another show that for some reason is obsessed with bald men.  It's a pretty good start, but I do hope they inject some humor - any humor in the following episodes.  I won't be talking about the series any more, but that's just my two cents on the its start.  I can't recommend it to you, but I can't dissuade you either.

Breaking Bad Season 5 Songs!

My original plan was to write a sort of review for the first half of the fifth season.  However, I feel like that review should come when the fifth season is completed.  The first half was great except for one minor detail - as pointed out by Alan Sepinwall, there's no way Mike would entrust Walt to give him the money over Jesse making Mike's death seem a little contrived.  But that's literally it.

Anyway, I wanted to post the best songs of the first half for you to listen to before the finale to get you really amped up.  And of course if you missed it, I posted my reviews of the first four seasons below.

Breaking Bad (Playlist of Season 5 Part 1)
1. Stay on the Outside - Whitey (Walt and Jesse look for ricin cigarette)
2. On a Clear Day you can see Forever - The Peddlers (Walt and Jesse cook in Episode 3)
3. Bonfire - Knife Party (Walt and Walt Jr. test out new cars in Episode 4)
4. Going Down - The Monkees (Walt teaches Todd how to cook meth)
5. Pick Yourself Up - Nat King Cole (Prison shanking sequence)
6. Crystal Blue Persuasion - Tommy James & The Shondells

Previous Seasons
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4

Thanks for reading and let's enjoy this final season of Breaking Bad.

Breaking Bad: Season 4

Upon further review, I can say definitively that Season 4 is not the clear best season.  It's a very different kind of good than anything Breaking Bad ever did.  The string of episodes that end on a "HOLY SHIT" note is impressive, but I can't say that makes it the best season.  It just makes it the most exciting and shocking season.  To be clear, those are very different things.

It'd be easier to count the episodes that didn't have a "HOLY SHIT" moment, but I'll go through the list anyway.  Below I have each of the episodes of Season 4 and the "HOLY SHIT" moment - the moment where you sort of spend the next ten minutes after the episode saying "HOLY SHIT" repeatedly.

Box Cutter: Gus killing Victor with a box cutter
Cornered: "I am the one who knocks" (Maybe a stretch)
Hermanos: Max (Gus' "hermano") getting shot in a flashback
Bug: Walt and Jesse fight; Also, Gus with "Come at me, bro"
Salud: Gus killing the cartel
Crawl Space: The ending, oh God, that ending. (Walt laughing maniacally)
Face Off: Gus walking out after the explosion and adjusting his tie; also Lily of the Valley

That's more than half of the episodes.  I might be missing some only because they seem less shocking in hindsight or because I don't find them as shocking on multiple viewings.  Still, that's a lot of shocking moments.

This season seemed a bit more plot-based and not as character-based as the show usually does.  For example, the last five or so episodes are almost all plot.  I'm not saying it's a bad thing, because it's still well-written, it's just a different kind of good.  I almost don't want to compare this season to the others because it's almost a different show.

Hard to top, but Walt's descent into evilness goes even further.  It's really hard to top letting an innocent person die (Jane in Season 2), but then they did top that when he took Jesse to his level by telling him to kill Gale (in Season 3).  So how do you top letting an innocent person die and then destroying the moral compass of the people you love?  Well you give a kid poison knowing full well they could die from it.

Like I said in my Season 3 review, Breaking Bad could have went the easy way and had Walt kill Gale, but they made Jesse do it to elevate the show to something else.  Similarly, they could have just had Gus poison Brock, which would have actually been semi-plausible enough.  But instead they elevate the show and have Walt poison him, which makes more sense really and shows how far he's dropped.

So at the end of the season, Walt says "I won" after he's defeated Gus.  This means he takes no moral lesson from what he went through, what he put his family through, and it's simply vindication that he could now be the new kingpin.  Whereas most people might take this as a sign of good luck, Walter feels invincible, and he feels greed and power.

Jesse's transformation in Season 4 is one of the highlights.  He starts off the season as a depressed party animal, desperate to avoid any and all moments where he has to think about what he did.  Then Gus kind of manipulates him into thinking he's wanted and needed and valuable.  Then he proves his worth (I don't mean the fake robbery scene either)  His loyalty slowly switches from Walt to Gus until they fight in Bug and he fully separates himself from Walt.  He has a triumphant moment in Salud when he does his best Walter White impression in Mexico.

This show does not like it when things start going Jesse's way however.  Anytime anything looks promising for Jesse, the show does something to destroy it quickly.  In this case, he's manipulated by Walt into teaming up with him and trying to kill Gus.  It's a shame almost every Jesse action in this season is in some way manipulated by someone else.

Hank begins this season as a lost soul, picks it back up when he has a new target in Gus Fring, and really spends the rest of the season trying to find evidence on Fring.  He also collects rocks - sorry MINERALS - something that was depressing but never not funny.  The great thing about Hank is that he's really smart and is figuring this out due to persistence.  Like I said before, the law enforcement agents are actually smart in this show.

As far as the other main characters, Skylar spends the first half trying to run the car wash and the second half trying to shut up Ted.  There's not much character stuff, mostly plot stuff, but Skylar "breaks bad" even more this season.  Marie is shown struggling to get Hank motivated and happy and resorts to stealing.  That's pretty much all she does.  Walter Jr. gets a car, eats breakfast, and has a genuinely touching moment when he visits his Dad during his birthday after Walt got beat up by Jesse.  RJ Mitte is underutilized as he knocks the few meaningful scenes he's given.

Onto the interesting characters, we find out how ruthless Gus is in the first episode, we see why he's so ruthless in Hermanos, and we see his brilliant ploy to get Jesse on his side.  His downfall was his need for revenge on Hector Salamanca, which made him blind to his usual pragmatic and fastidious behavior.  I think it's ironic that his rise in power was made possible by Hector, but his downfall was also Hector.

Mike begins his father-son like relationship with Jesse.  He slowly comes to care about the kid even if he won't show it.  Jesse's apparent need for a father figure is a recurring theme in this show.  It's delightfully convenient that Mike needs a week to recover from his wounds, enough time to avoid getting killed.

I have less to say about this season mostly because it's more plot-based.  I think Season 4 is a season that is more instantly gratifying than the other seasons, but it's not better.  It definitely still lives up to the "greatest" show currently airing however.

Walter White Kill Count: 5 + 5 (I'm counting Hector's suicide murder of Gus and Tyrus; also two guards to release Jesse at end)
Walter White Death Count: 172 + 1 (I'm only counting one indirect death - Victor in Box Cutter)
Walter White Badass Count: 8 + 3 ('I am the one who knocks,' daring Jesse to shoot him, "I won")
Audience View of Walter White: I'm sorry I can't judge this because of HOW AWESOME THAT FINALE WAS - is most likely their view of Walter white.

Playlist (Best of Breaking Bad Season 4)
1. Truth - Alexander
2. Digital Animal - Honey Claws
3. If I Had a Heart - Fever Ray
4. 1977 - Ana Tijoux
5. Boots of Chinese Plastic - The Pretenders
6. Tidal Wave - Thee Oh Seas
7. Freestyle - Taalbi Brothers
8. Black - Danger Mouse & Danielle Luppi feat. Norah Jones
9. Goodbye (with Soap & Skin) - Apparat