Breaking Bad is considered one of the greatest shows of all time. Across five seasons and 62 episodes, viewers watched as high-school chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston) became a criminal mastermind with an empire built on the best crystal meth in the US.

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While the quality of Breaking Bad was pretty consistent throughout, some seasons were obviously better than others. Viewers tend to be in agreement that Breaking Bad starts strong, and meanders along in the middle a little, before picking up in quality again into the final run of episodes that ended up being some of the best television around. Walter is one of the most sinister evil scientists on TV and his criminal dealings led to some of the best drama that TV viewers have ever seen.

Warning: Spoilers for Breaking Bad and the fate of some characters.

6 Season Two

Saul Goodman with his bluetooth speaker in his office from Breaking Bad

Generally considered the weakest season of Breaking Bad, Season Two deals with Walt and Jesse continuing to cook meth and make money from it while handling the fallout of their feud with Tuco Salamanca and meeting Saul Goodman for the first time.

The second season is significant in terms of the characters it kills off and the characters it introduces, but the pacing is quite slow and feels unrefined compared to the later seasons of the show. Despite being the weakest season of the show, it still of a great quality.

5 Season One

Walter White standing in the desert outside the RV in the pilot of Breaking Bad

The first season of any show should never be the best, as shows should generally develop storylines along, improve in quality, and become more refined as time goes on.

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Breaking Bad's first season is a seven-episode affair that deals with the White and Schrader family finding out that Walt has cancer and their response to that. Walt and Jesse begin cooking meth and navigate the changing dynamics of their relationship from the high-school teacher and student to partners in crime.

4 Season Five (First Half)

walter white breaking bad

The first half of Breaking Bad's final season was long-awaited by viewers. With the fallout of Gus' death at the hands of Season Four, the first half of Season Five detailed the vacuum left behind in the criminal underworld due to Gus' death.

While quite slow compared to Seasons Three and Four, fans of the more slower-paced Season Two will appreciate how it takes the time to build characters up and focus on the fallout of the previous seasons' events. Season Five builds up ready for the final episodes which is some of the best TV of all time.

3 Season Three

Spider-man jesse from breaking bad

Breaking Bad's third season is where the show reaches a refined point, it knows itself and what its audience expects by this point. Gus Fring, Mike Ehrmantraut, and other characters are very well-featured in the show and Walt and Jesse find themselves completely trapped in the criminal world. Season Three also has one of the best bottle episodes ever.

Season Three is full of twists, turns, and good storytelling. Viewers have seen by now how Walt caused the death of Jesse's girlfriend, and how this also translates into Walt treating Jesse poorly due to his own guilt. What's impressive about Season Three is its layered nature, making repeat viewings all the more enjoyable.

2 Season Four

breaking bad gus video game

The penultimate season of Breaking Bad, Season Four is great and is considered by many to be one of the best seasons of television. At this point in the show, all the best Breaking Bad characters are established and their motives clear. Ensuring that things didn't become stale, the series started to build up Gus as the show's primary antagonist.

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Season Four has some brilliant episodes and is where Breaking Bad started really breaking into the mainstream. Viewers found that more inclusion of the cartel was a good direction for the show, raising the threat levels and challenging Walt and Jesse to navigate a world that ultimately neither of them was prepared for.

1 Season Five (Second Half)

Todd in Breaking Bad

The final season of Breaking Bad is also the best in the show. Across 16 episodes with a mid-season split, the death of Gus opens up the show to breathe more life into it, with the focus being on the DEA as well as the Neo-Nazis. While the first half of Season Five is perhaps a little slow, the second half is some of the best television of all time and certainly has some of Breaking Bad's best episodes.

Characters that had been allied to Walt and Jesse in the past now become the main villain, with Todd and his Uncle Jack proving to be some of the most heinous characters featured in the Breaking Bad universe. The death of Hank Schrader comes as a crushing blow, as does the death of Mike Ehrmantraut, a character who should have his own spin-off series next. Walt and Jesse's relationship is truly fractured, leading to some pretty tragic moments for Jesse Pinkman.

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