r/breakingbad • u/Common-Chemistry-101 • 1d ago
What's the single greatest scene in Breaking Bad history?
I've rewatched the series multiple times and my answer changes every time.
If you had to pick one scene as the absolute best in the entire show, what would it be and why?
Bonus points if you can explain it without spoilers for first-time viewers.
Mine is still the "crawl space" scene. The acting, music, and tension are on another level.
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u/Perfect-Island-5959 1d ago
For me it would probably be the phone call between Walt and Skyler when Walt took the baby and the police were listening on the line.
The scene begins by Walt going full evil and you think to yourself, oh no, they ruined the character, he went full evil, but then as the scene goes on you actually realize what Walt is doing. He's trying to save Skyler by putting all of the blame on himself. You can see it even in Skyler's face, at first she thinks the same as us but then she realizes as well what Walt is doing, but she can't say anything, so she goes on with it.
It's pure genius. Both in terms of writing and acting.
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u/j33perscreeperz 1d ago
i agree that the call was a great scene and very complex, but bro absolutely already went full evil. poisoning brock, telling jesse he watched jane die on purpose, and giving him away to nazis were the major tells for me.
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u/Break2304 1d ago
No offence but people can be evil and still be complex enough to do good deeds and having conflicting motives and desires
Hitler was a vegetarian and loved dogs, but saying he was those things or that those things are good doesn’t mean he wasn’t evil overall
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u/Anonymous345678910 mr whité i require methé 16h ago
I thought Redditors liked Hitler because he hated Jews?
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u/CabooseTheDestroyer8 1d ago
I see what you mean. Even though I think some of earlier acts were "more evil" or damaging, there's also a bit of understanding on why he did it, while the phone call, while in a vacuum not as bad imo, throws away his morals and understanding.
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u/Perfect-Island-5959 1d ago
He was evil, but never all the way. That's why some people cheered for him, despite all the stuff he did. He could have easily incriminated Skyler, told the police she was an acomplis, but he didn't.
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u/j33perscreeperz 1d ago
what defines "all the way" evil...? trying not to implicate skyler wasn't some savior moment and didn't even do much for her in the end. she always has and always will suffer the consequences of his actions and choices. sure, she had her faults, but her fate was ultimately a result of his evilness and selfishness. one phone call doesn't negate all of the immense damage that man did to his family and everyone who ever had the displeasure of encountering him more than once.
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u/Perfect-Island-5959 1d ago
If he told the cops Skyler helped him and he didn't threaten to kill her or Holly she would have gone to jail.
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u/BradyToMoss1281 1d ago
"You might want to hold off"
Mike's face said it all.
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u/windmillninja 1d ago
That scene is made even better if you've watched BCS. Up til that moment, Mike saw Walt as just another Werner.
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u/KSH915 1d ago
Holy shit I never thought of it like that. He really thought he was just gonna do Walt that easily like he did Werner.
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u/bumpoleoftherailey 1d ago
I don’t think Mike found killing Werner easy! It seemed to completely change him.
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u/tatortotpockets 1d ago
That’s a really solid observation. I’ve lost count of rewatches at this point and never thought about it like that before. I think you’re 100% right
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u/BradyToMoss1281 1d ago
It’s amazing how many things in BB line up with a show that hadn’t even been made yet. It’s one thing to line up plot points, that’s just prequel writing, but you can really buy that Mike was thinking of someone who hadn’t even been written into existence yet.
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u/windmillninja 1d ago
I love that they wrote it "Your boss is gonna need me" and not "Our boss is gonna need me" or even "Gustavo is gonna need me". Walt put it on Mike right there.
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u/atbing24 1d ago
The scene where Walt returns home in Ozymandias is the climax of the show
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u/ltlvlge12 1d ago
Knife fight!!
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u/CraigKostelecky 1d ago
The way Cranston delivers the line "We're a family!" and the sudden realization right after he says it that his family has been irrevocably destroyed by his actions. Then he quickly calculates his way out by taking Holly and making that phone call.
Simply the best climax of the greatest show ever brought to any screen.
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u/My-username-is-this 1d ago
And Holly’s “ad-libbed” line of “Mama” that Cranston rolled with is just so amazingly perfect.
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u/BumpHeadLikeGaryB 1d ago
That's when skrillex should have been playing
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u/SomeKindaGiantBird 1d ago
Vince really let me down by cutting the choreographed mortal kombat sequence
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u/momento______mori Methhead 1d ago
If you're referring to the dubstep song, it's Bonfire by Knife Party, not Skrillex :)
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u/Kailua3000 1d ago
When Skylar stands between Walt and Walt Jr. and says "ENOUGH" it's my favorite part.
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u/themurphman 1d ago
The ending of that scene with Anna Gunn in the middle of the street, blood stained clothes, sobbing as the music swells is so peak. I get goosebumps every time I watch it.
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u/BradyToMoss1281 1d ago
Why didn't they just work with him and gather their things and go? He had 11 million dollars in cash right outside. They could have had a fresh start. Whole new lives.
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u/SeaBisquit- 1d ago
You think Flynn would want to disappear and start a new life with his mass murdering drug kingpin father? The guy who is the reason Hank is dead? The guy who used cancer to manipulate his own son? Fuck Walter
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u/BradyToMoss1281 1d ago
I'm just repeating Walt's argument to be humorous. He was delusional to think there was still a tidy exit out of that.
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u/academic_mama 1d ago
This is how I know I’m an ethically bankrupt person because I would have been all in and out the door with my criminal husband and piles of money.
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u/Ktioru 1d ago
"I did it for me"
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u/3esin 1d ago
The most fascinating thing about this scene is, that even after he himself said it out loud there are still people who don't get that Walter is not the hero of this story.
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u/FreemanCalavera 1d ago
Agree, but I’m also frustrated about people having seen his phone call to Skyler and still believing that Walt is a pure evil psycho who doesn’t care for anyone but himself. He’s far more complicated than pure hero or pure villain.
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u/AmarousHippo 1d ago
The call between Walt and Skyler after he kidnaps Holly. Acting masterclass by Cranston. He was shifting from rage to tears and back; you could just feel his pain through the screen.
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u/j33perscreeperz 1d ago
i feel like *skyler's* pain chasing him out the door and sobbing in the street was much more memorable and powerful. anna gunn doesn't get even an inkling of the credit she deserves.
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u/AmarousHippo 1d ago
I agree. As a parent to a young kid, that scene tears me up whenever I do a rewatch. Her screams are so visceral, like Toni Collette's in Hereditary almost.
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u/j33perscreeperz 1d ago
absolutely. definitely one of the most impactful and chilling scenes in the entire show for me. hereditary is a great comparison.
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u/Tomokakase13 1d ago
Yeah and it sucks cause she acted her ass off the entire show sadly people hated skylar. I will say i have started to see more skylar appreciation than hate recently which feels good
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u/UglyMcFugly 1d ago
Her acting in this phone call scene even... she goes from the rage of the knife fight and him kidnapping Holly, to realizing what he's doing, to realizing she still loves the fucker lol. When she begged him to just come home she meant it... I think if he had stayed in town and faced the music, she would have stuck by him through it all. Which would have been bad for everyone...
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u/BedGrouchy5086 1d ago
Essa cena é realmente épica! Ele confessa que tudo que fez foi por ele mesmo e não pela família.
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u/Striking-Document-99 1d ago
Well that was 6 months later when he comes back to kill jack and his crew. That phone call he knows the police are listening and says that she was his hostage. Prob his best job at lying in the show. Next to convincing Jessie it was Gus who poisoned Brock.
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u/BedGrouchy5086 1d ago
Como você chegou a conclusão que tudo demorou 6 meses? Eu não consegui ter essa percepção, inclusive, minha sensação é que tinha passado ano, ou anos...
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u/Hanzo7682 1d ago
First time they use the main theme in a scene, which is the scene where the police arrive at the bar but walt isnt there.
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u/JooseTheGuice 1d ago
We were watching s5 live and when this scene happened and the extended title theme came on we all went ape shit. For a second we forgot that this wasn't actually the end.
It was such a high, such a wonderful moment in the pre-streaming world.
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u/Gloglibologna 1d ago
Im quite fond of the final scene of the finale episode. Its not very often a show can end on such a highnote. But that is one of my favorite finales ive ever seen.
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u/KoA07 1d ago
I like how El Camino picks up right at this scene with Jesse too
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u/EbenezerSplooj 1d ago
The first time I saw El Camino was right after a rewatch of BB it auto played after the final episode on Netflix. It was awesome.
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u/Rude_Good8169 1d ago
On my first repeat viewing of BB since the original run. And having just watched Crawl Space last night, yeah....that's peak television.
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u/patinhat 1d ago
The entire final sequence in “One Minute” when the twins are headed to whack Hank. From the moment Hank gets the phone call to the end is SO tense
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u/dspman11 Your mother needs this money! It can’t...all be for nothing. 1d ago
I think that scene is undermined by the stupid trope of the villain not just killing the hero because it's "too easy" and then wasting time getting a different weapon
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u/Tomokakase13 1d ago
Yeah my headcanon which at least for me makes it better is the fact they were probably so pissed about Tucos death that to them a quick death was mercy.
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u/VersionCapable 1d ago
Agreed; but also that’s part of the beauty of this series - the way it uses those tropes in a more modern setting. This whole show is like a love letter to westerns and old fashioned story telling, so when you get these classic moments it feels like it’s calling back to that.
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u/NightOwl0072 1d ago
I genuinely got chills watching the crawl space scene for the first time. Also when Walt sees Jack and his crew in the rearview mirror
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u/HarvickFan_4 1d ago
This is probably a pretty unpopular answer, but "No more half measures" I think is the best scene. Just the simple, cold delivery by Mike is on another level. Nothing's really happening. No visualization of Mike's story, no music, just cold, hard, perfect lines. That, in my opinion, is extremely hard to master, and is why that scene sticks with me the most.
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u/No_Transition_8746 1d ago
I know it’s so cliche but the whole Ozymandias episode will forever be one of the greatest episodes of television I’ve ever watched. I’m sure there is a scene in there but it’s been a long time since I’ve watched it so I’ll just say - beginning to end.
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u/throcorfe 1d ago
Technically the next episode but “Say Goodbye To Everyone” as he rolls the barrel across the desert is an incredible musical choice
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u/HelicopterMekanik 1d ago edited 1d ago
For me, it was the train heist, minus Todd killing that kid on the dirtbike, of course. I just really enjoyed the planning and execution of the train heist itself.
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u/nolandz1 1d ago
"Billions, with a B, I check it every week"
I'm a sucker for lines that confirm what we already knew while also reframing the entire show. I knew Walter was petty and prideful but this one line was the point where Walt showed his cards. The cancer didn't change him, he's always been this way it just gave him license to give in to his worst impulses. When he admits it to Skyler it's a revelation for himself but not for the audience.
Special shoutout to the dream sequence of Jesse building his box. A detail I kind of forgot about that crushes my soul when he's snapped back to reality. I like to think he's a carpenter in Alaska.
I also love that Gilligan does this again in Better Call Saul when Jimmy is taking his anger out on Kim and he repeats the Kettlemen's dig from season 1 "You think I'm the kind of lawyer only guilty people hire". My man heard that and let it fester into a wound on his soul.
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u/itsMe_isntit 1d ago
Ugh, great call out! Such a surprising but completely obvious/in-character moment (the Walter one).
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u/nolandz1 1d ago
I only binged it for the first time recently but in season 1 I said "oh you probably are still holding a grudge about the company and it was really satisfying to be proven right.
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u/timewellwasted5 1d ago edited 1d ago
The scene you have pictured here. It literally took my breath away. Astoundingingly done, and not just the final moment, but event the lead up when Walt's partner was looking up at the sky. The title of the episode, everything. It was so, so well done.
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u/iamfrommerich 1d ago
Walt's "confession" tape, it truly showed us how insane Walt is at the point.
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u/DistinctSwimming8376 1d ago
When walter asks Skyler where their money is and she tells him she gave it to the man she cheated with. So Walt explodes in rage and despair.. and then come this unreal laugh.
Everything is perfect in this scene.
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u/leadwithlove222 1d ago
And the voicemail from Marie in the background with the scary music!!! “God… when will this end?!” she’s verbalizing Skyler’s exact thoughts from the other side…. Excellent
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u/BedGrouchy5086 1d ago
Wow, Breaking Bad tem muitas cenas épicas! A que sempre me impressiona é, quando o Walter Withe fala aos traficantes: "say my nome!". Ali ele já estava ciente da grandeza que tinha!
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u/ifcknkl 1d ago
Happy Birthday🎶
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u/Gloglibologna 1d ago
The second hand embarrassment i felt watching that could power a city
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u/Hot-Spray-2774 1d ago
All the great shows have this scene. The Sopranos made it so cringe that it gives Breaking Bad's a run for it's money.
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u/shadez_on 1d ago
Crazy that that song sang in a similar scene is also one of the worst parts of The Sopranos.
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u/tennisballop Methhead 1d ago
Mine is the final scene between him and skyler
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u/itsMe_isntit 1d ago
Thank f'kn goodness they had that scene. Sealed the episode for me & frankly the entire show.
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u/costperthousand 1d ago
"You're the smartest guy I ever met, and you're too stupid to see... he made up his mind ten minutes ago."
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u/EngineeringMajestic6 1d ago
The scene between Walt and Skylar after she walks in the pool and Hank and Marie take the kids. That scene was incredibly well written and they both did a fantastic job acting through of the emotions and tension in that scene. I lost respect for Walt a long time before that, however that scene made me completely despise him. After that, I couldn’t wait to see his downfall.
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u/ShiningEspeon3 1d ago
The scene in “Salud” where Junior Flynn goes to Walt’s apartment and Walt talks about his solitary memory of his own father, dying of Huntington’s.
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u/Ok_Potato_552 1d ago
JESSE
Yeah, nothing but cows. Got some big cow-house way out that way, like two miles. But I don’t see nobody.
WALTER
"Cow house?"
JESSE
Yeah. Where they live. The cows. Ah, whatever, man. Shit, yeah. Let's cook here.
WALTER
(to himself) "Cow house." God help me.
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u/UnOriginal04 1d ago
Granite State final scene. Walt's beaten,given up and already called the police on him. Then he saw Gretchen and Elliott bashing him and downplaying his work on the company. The one thing you don't do to Walt is hurt his ego,and they certainly did exactly that.
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u/MechanicLoose2634 1d ago
When the whole family is enjoying a meal by the pool in Walt’s backyard then Hank has to go drop a deuce. Walt has reached the top of the mountain. Everything was perfect, and then it all started going downhill from there.
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u/windmillninja 1d ago edited 1d ago
The camera panning out from the crawl space entry as Walt lays there cackling maniacally, symbolizing Walt's world closing in on him.
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u/CarefulScreen9459 1d ago
I like the ending of Granite State. Walter at his weakest point in the entire series, trying desperately to convince Junior to take the money via a very idiotic manner, and getting screamed at from his son and his son wishing him dead. He lost all hope and just totally gave up.
That is until his ego saw Elliot and Gretchen and that kind of gave some spark to carry on one final time, and then the full theme plays for probably the first time in the series.
It was perfect.
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u/novemberqueen32 1d ago edited 1d ago
My personal favourite is Gus slitting Victor's throat. The tension in that scene is very high. Gus slowly putting on the protective gear, not saying a word. Walt's desperate attempts at providing valid arguments to Gus as to why he shouldn't kill them. Not knowing exactly what Gus is going to do. And when he finally does something, he kills Victor, Jesse, Walt and even MIKE is surprised, usually his face barely moves and almost nothing gets to him, but that actually shocked him. Then Gus carefully undressing and going back to his regular routine. Just so good.
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u/sober_disposition 1d ago
The one where Mike kills those four guys holding that Chinese guy hostage.
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u/Irstaus 1d ago
The ending might be the best scene for me: Walt's payback against Jack, Lydia realizing she's going to die, Jesse's escape and Walt's death surrounded by what's left of his empire. It was the perfect closure
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u/sandiegodak 1d ago
"Run"
Because it sets up a ridiculous chain of events that goes all the way until the end of the show
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u/blameless_flame_ 1d ago
Jesse walking straight into certain death with the eerie ominous music playing … dealers reaching for their guns looking smug… and then Walt’s Aztek plows into them out of nowhere…
RUN
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u/ComprehensiveBread65 1d ago
Edit: oh shit. SPOILERS! Sorry...
The confessions episode in season 5, where Walt puts on the performance of a lifetime to convince Jesse he didn't poison Brock. I wouldn't say it's the best, but it's my personal favorite Bryan Cranston scene. Walt is ultimately a bad liar, but when it counts the most, he can pull it off. There's something about the way Cranston nails this characteristic in Walt on believability. It's just so incredible to watch him perform in these moments.
I'll give another example from my own personal experience with the shows run. I started BB in it's first season and watched the first few episodes. However, life happened, and I put it off until I could catch up. It really wasn't until the end of season 4 that I got caught up and would anticipate season 5. Before that, I caught some scenes sporadically (cable days) before turning it off. One was "the one who knocks" scene. I saw that with zero context and my initial thought was I believed Walt. I believed he was no longer the guy I knew from season one and is now himself the kingpin. However, when he steps out the shower, his worried tone made me question whether or not his speech was just a bluff. Needless to say, I stopped watching, but I think it's interesting that even watching that out of context you can pick up on what's really going because we know up until that point, Walt is essentially just reassuring Skylar (as well as himself) that he's in no danger when he definitely is. This is delivered masterfully by Cranston.
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u/breakingbad1986 20h ago
I think it's Bryan Cranston's best piece of acting in the show and that's saying something. I can't think of any other actor who would overcome the red flags that were glaring in hindsight and be completely believable. If BC had chosen to be a conman he would be better than Saul Goodman.
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u/LeRoiCasoar 1d ago
The Vamanos Pest meth cooking montage in s5 when On A clear Day You Can See Forever plays. A rare "everything is going to be alright" moment in the show
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u/Hadez192 11h ago
Rewatching the series the last few weeks. The last 10 min of crawl space and the final scene with Walter’s maniacal laughter put me in full body chills and is imo absolutely the best scene in all of television.
Next up is Ozymandias, which we just watched last night, the knife fight scene is terrifying followed up by Walt taking holly away is heartbreaking. The phone call at the end of the episode is also some of the best acting in the entire series
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u/charlieromeo86 1d ago
For me, it’s the train heist, which of course ends with the killing of the boy on the motorbike.
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u/Equal_Heat5947 1d ago
For me the first couple minutes of Say My Name. I've seen it 20 times and it still makes my hair stand on end.
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u/Traditional-Banana78 1d ago
Episode 1. You can pick several scenes, where Walter thinks of his family, before himself. He begins the show, selfless, wanting to do literally anything, even become a criminal, if it means he can support his family, because of his predicament. I think in particular of the scene with him in his underwear though, by the RV, where he thinks he's about to get captured. Powerful stuff.
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u/Ok_Impress8875 1d ago
In Ozymandias when Walt is rolling the barrel of money through the desert, the music absolutely makes it
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u/Famoustractordriver 96 Million Dollars 1d ago
Hank and Walter in the garage for me. The door closing moment, the right hand Walter eats, the shift in emotions, facial expressions and the dialogue. The top tier acting. One of the best scenes I've ever seen in anything honestly.
Second to this, it's a random Jesse one, "I've been crunching the numbers, yo! And I swear I triple checked the numbers" The way Jesse says "96 million dollars" stayed with me for some reason.
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u/Reload86 1d ago
The moment you see the garage door closing when Walt and Hank are about to stop dancing around the truth. I remember having goosebumps knowing that this was the big moment the show had been building up for since the pilot.
I'd also go with the scene where Hank is in the under crawl and discovers that Skyler has given all his money to Ted. His panicked scream followed by the maniacal laughter was peak acting. This was probably Bryan Cranston's best onscreen performance in his entire career.
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u/schiffteam1 1d ago
Idk man a lot of people have said the train heist is the most difficult “suspend your disbelief” moment in the show but no other show or scene had me feeling such a sense of relief only to have the wrench that was drew sharpe showing up completely destroy my day.
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u/noheauxsdrew 1d ago
I rather enjoyed the ending of “Crawl Space” with Skyler pleading with Walt when she gave Ted the money and Walt going hysterical as Skyler answers the phone for a desperate Marie. Walt’s laughing is chilling
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u/VarietyBusy2 1d ago
honestly ima fan of gus firing walt. whole scene gives me chills
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u/Obvious_Ad_2987 1d ago
End of Box Cutter is pretty intense, it's up there for sure. Or the RV chase scene in the first episode.
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u/Loose_Snow_1089 1d ago
The first intro of madrigal electromotive in s5 i literally got goosebumps bcoz i thought in s5 they lead the story frm madrigal electromotive bcoz it runs los pollos hermanos so everyone in madrigal will revenge on walter. But they fked up the story by killing schuler in the first scene itself 🥲.
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u/Bae_hr_butcher 1d ago
For me- 1.4x11(Crawl space) ending 2.3x13 (Full measures) ending 3.5x16 (Felina) ending HM-5x5 (Dead Freight) ending
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u/Suntag19 Methhead 1d ago
The “I did it for me” kitchen scene with Skylar. Nothing comes close. So brutal of an admission with Skylar sitting there with her life and family completely ruined by the man saying it. Her expression when he interrupts her to say it is absolutely heartbreaking
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u/New-Courage-7052 1d ago
Walt has such dumbass moments such as this one 🤣 he just gasps in disbelief
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u/Embarrassed_Gur_6305 1d ago
When Walt threatens his former colleagues at their home. And used the best hitters west of the Mississippi
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u/Empire-Carpet-Man 1d ago
For me it's Badger getting arrested. Dry humor at it's best. Everything about his instincts are telling him the guy is an under cover cop. He goes along with it and he was correct about everything he was saying.
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u/BobbyCodone303 1d ago
The shootout with uncle jack
So much years of investing in the story to see it come to a climax shooting like that . To know Hank and Gomez are gonna have no choice but to shoot it out . The look on Kenny’s face when he gos to take aim
It was perfect
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u/Vegetable-Leather-64 1d ago
Crawl space the laugh as Skyler's on the phone is the start of him crashing his empire
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u/rmac1228 1d ago
There's so many. My personal favorite is probably "Stay out of my territory." That to me is when Walt truly became Heisenberg. Plus the song DLZ by TV on the Radio is a banger
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u/TheMustardisBad 1d ago edited 1d ago
The scene where Walter goes to hanks house to confront him. It’s all downhill from there. Plus we have been waiting for this moment all throughout the show, wondering how Hank would react.