Breaking Bad
Ended Crime Drama Thriller

Breaking Bad

📅 Jan 2008 📺 5 Season(s)
9.2
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
TVmaze rating / 10
Watch Trailer

Synopsis

Breaking Bad follows protagonist Walter White, a chemistry teacher who lives in New Mexico with his wife and teenage son who has cerebral palsy. White is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of two years left to live. With a new sense of fearlessness based on his medical prognosis, and a desire to secure his family's financial security, White chooses to enter a dangerous world of drugs and crime and ascends to power in this world. The series explores how a fatal diagnosis such as White's releases a typical man from the daily concerns and constraints of normal society and follows his transformation from mild family man to a kingpin of the drug trade.

🎭 Stars & Actors

Bryan Cranston
Bryan Cranston
Walter White
Aaron Paul
Aaron Paul
Jesse Pinkman
Anna Gunn
Anna Gunn
Skyler White
RJ Mitte
RJ Mitte
Walter White Jr.
Dean Norris
Dean Norris
Hank Schrader
Betsy Brandt
Betsy Brandt
Marie Schrader
Bob Odenkirk
Bob Odenkirk
Saul Goodman
Jonathan Banks
Jonathan Banks
Michael 'Mike' Ehrmantraut
Giancarlo Esposito
Giancarlo Esposito
Gustavo 'Gus' Fring
Jesse Plemons
Jesse Plemons
Todd Alquist
Laura Fraser
Laura Fraser
Lydia Rodarte-Quayle

Why it is worth knowing

Breaking Bad is an American crime drama created by Vince Gilligan. Bryan Cranston plays Walter White, an Albuquerque chemistry teacher who begins producing methamphetamine after a cancer diagnosis. Aaron Paul plays Jesse Pinkman, a former student who becomes his partner and carries much of the story's emotional cost. Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt, RJ Mitte, Giancarlo Esposito, Bob Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks build a five-season study of crime, pride and family damage. The series is carefully serialised, so it should be watched from the pilot in order rather than sampled through famous later episodes.

Themes and ideas

What Breaking Bad explores

Walter describes his choices as support for his family, but the series steadily tests that explanation against pride, control and the pleasure of being recognised for his ability. Chemistry provides both practical method and a language of transformation. Jesse's guilt shows harm that Walter increasingly turns into calculation. Family secrecy affects Skyler, Walter Jr, Hank and Marie even before they know its source. The story also studies systems: health costs, drug markets, policing and legitimate businesses all shape available choices, but circumstance never removes personal responsibility. Small compromises accumulate until returning to an earlier moral position becomes harder than continuing.

Season and episode guide

Season 1

Emmy award winner Bryan Cranston stars as Walt White is a down-on-his-luck chemistry teacher struggling to make ends meet for his wife (Anna Gunn) and physically challenged son (RJ Mitte). Everything changes when Walt receives a startling diagnosis: terminal lung cancer. With only a few years to live and nothing to lose, Walt uses his training as a chemist to cook and sell crystal meth with one of his former students (Aaron Paul). As his status grows, so do his lies, but Walt will stop at nothing to make sure his family is taken care of after he's gone, even if it means putting all their lives on the line. Executive produced by Vince Gilligan and Mark Johnson.

7 episodes · 2008
  1. 1. Pilot (Jan 21, 2008)
  2. 2. Cat's in the Bag... (Jan 28, 2008)
  3. 3. ...and the Bag's in the River (Feb 11, 2008)
  4. 4. Cancer Man (Feb 18, 2008)
  5. 5. Gray Matter (Feb 25, 2008)
  6. 6. Crazy Handful of Nothin' (Mar 3, 2008)
  7. 7. A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal (Mar 10, 2008)

Season 2

As their partnership reaches new heights, Walt and Jesse begin to see the extremes of the drug trafficking business. Their trademark blue meth is making them rich, but it's getting more difficult than ever for Walt to conceal the truth from his wife Skyler, his son Walter Jr., and his DEA agent brother-in-law Hank. Walt struggles to maintain control of his life as he contends with vicious drug dealers, an increasingly distant wife and son, the impending birth of his daughter, and a strung-out business partner – all while battling terminal lung cancer.

13 episodes · 2009
  1. 1. Seven Thirty-Seven (Mar 9, 2009)
  2. 2. Grilled (Mar 16, 2009)
  3. 3. Bit by a Dead Bee (Mar 23, 2009)
  4. 4. Down (Mar 30, 2009)
  5. 5. Breakage (Apr 6, 2009)
  6. 6. Peekaboo (Apr 13, 2009)
  7. 7. Negro Y Azul (Apr 20, 2009)
  8. 8. Better Call Saul (Apr 27, 2009)
  9. 9. 4 Days Out (May 4, 2009)
  10. 10. Over (May 11, 2009)
  11. 11. Mandala (May 18, 2009)
  12. 12. Phoenix (May 25, 2009)
  13. 13. ABQ (Jun 1, 2009)

Season 3

Abandoned by his wife, feuding with his reckless partner and hunted by a Mexican cartel, teacher-turned-meth-cook Walt faces an impossible choice: make a fortune working for a dangerous kingpin or walk away and risk everything he cares about.

13 episodes · 2010
  1. 1. No Más (Mar 22, 2010)
  2. 2. Caballo sin Nombre (Mar 29, 2010)
  3. 3. I.F.T. (Apr 5, 2010)
  4. 4. Green Light (Apr 12, 2010)
  5. 5. Más (Apr 19, 2010)
  6. 6. Sunset (Apr 26, 2010)
  7. 7. One Minute (May 3, 2010)
  8. 8. I See You (May 10, 2010)
  9. 9. Kafkaesque (May 17, 2010)
  10. 10. Fly (May 24, 2010)
  11. 11. Abiquiu (May 31, 2010)
  12. 12. Half Measures (Jun 7, 2010)
  13. 13. Full Measure (Jun 14, 2010)

Season 4

As his young accomplice, Jesse, turns increasingly distant and hostile, Walt must deal with his estranged wife, his relentless DEA agent brother-in-law, and the ruthless kingpin manipulating the entire operation.

13 episodes · 2011
  1. 1. Box Cutter (Jul 18, 2011)
  2. 2. Thirty-Eight Snub (Jul 25, 2011)
  3. 3. Open House (Aug 1, 2011)
  4. 4. Bullet Points (Aug 8, 2011)
  5. 5. Shotgun (Aug 15, 2011)
  6. 6. Cornered (Aug 22, 2011)
  7. 7. Problem Dog (Aug 29, 2011)
  8. 8. Hermanos (Sep 5, 2011)
  9. 9. Bug (Sep 12, 2011)
  10. 10. Salud (Sep 19, 2011)
  11. 11. Crawl Space (Sep 26, 2011)
  12. 12. End Times (Oct 3, 2011)
  13. 13. Face Off (Oct 10, 2011)

Season 5

With Gus Fring dead, Walt's transformation from well-meaning family man to ruthless drug kingpin is nearly complete. Forming a partnership with Jesse and Mike, Walt proceeds to make a killing in the meth business until the fruits of his murderous schemes are threatened by a new development in the investigation led by his relentless brother-in-law Hank.

16 episodes · 2012
  1. 1. Live Free or Die (Jul 16, 2012)
  2. 2. Madrigal (Jul 23, 2012)
  3. 3. Hazard Pay (Jul 30, 2012)
  4. 4. Fifty-One (Aug 6, 2012)
  5. 5. Dead Freight (Aug 13, 2012)
  6. 6. Buyout (Aug 20, 2012)
  7. 7. Say My Name (Aug 27, 2012)
  8. 8. Gliding Over All (Sep 3, 2012)
  9. 9. Blood Money (Aug 12, 2013)
  10. 10. Buried (Aug 19, 2013)
  11. 11. Confessions (Aug 26, 2013)
  12. 12. Rabid Dog (Sep 2, 2013)
  13. 13. To'hajiilee (Sep 9, 2013)
  14. 14. Ozymandias (Sep 16, 2013)
  15. 15. Granite State (Sep 23, 2013)
  16. 16. Felina (Sep 30, 2013)

In-depth guide

The premise and five-season progression

The pilot introduces Walter's financial fear, cancer diagnosis and knowledge that former student Jesse has a connection to local drug dealing. Walter proposes a partnership built around his chemistry expertise and Jesse's practical access. Early episodes balance danger with dark comedy as two inexperienced partners solve immediate problems badly. Across five seasons, their operation changes in scale and encounters distributors, cartel interests, lawyer Saul Goodman, former police officer Mike Ehrmantraut and businessman Gus Fring. Hank Schrader investigates the drug trade without knowing how close the central source is to his family. Skyler gradually recognises that Walter's absences and explanations do not fit. Each season completes major conflicts while carrying consequences forward, and later episodes frequently rely on a small object or decision established much earlier. New viewers should avoid character-status searches, episode rankings and sequel descriptions because the end points of major relationships are commonly revealed in titles and thumbnails.

Verified Jul 16, 2026

Walter, Jesse and the family around them

Bryan Cranston makes Walter's change gradual enough that early fear, intelligence and resentment remain visible beneath later authority. His voice and posture alter depending on whether he is speaking as teacher, husband, patient or criminal identity. Aaron Paul gives Jesse humour, impulsiveness and increasing awareness of people treated as expendable. Anna Gunn makes Skyler observant and practical while the story places her inside choices she did not create. Dean Norris gives Hank confidence and comic aggression, then reveals professional fear and vulnerability as investigations become personal. RJ Mitte keeps Walter Jr's needs and loyalty distinct from the secret story adults are managing. Giancarlo Esposito makes Gus controlled enough that small breaks in routine become threatening. Jonathan Banks gives Mike weary professional judgement, while Bob Odenkirk turns Saul's fast comic language into a survival method. The ensemble prevents Walter's transformation from existing in isolation; every gain changes someone else's safety, trust or ability to choose.

Verified Jul 16, 2026

Visual storytelling and patient cause-and-effect

The New Mexico landscape gives the series open distance while characters remain trapped by plans and secrets. Cinematography uses wide desert frames, unusual object-level viewpoints and controlled colour associations without requiring viewers to decode every shirt as a fixed symbol. Cold opens often present an image whose meaning becomes clear much later, turning ordinary items into evidence of consequence. Editors move between procedural detail and family conversation so chemistry, money handling and lies feel like parts of the same system. Dave Porter's restrained score works with carefully selected songs and long periods of natural sound. Practical effects and location work give dangerous tasks physical weight, though the programme should never be treated as instruction for drug production. The pace is more patient than a constant-action thriller, especially in early seasons. That patience allows later conflict to grow from established habits. Episodes often ask viewers to sit with cleanup, waiting and emotional aftermath rather than moving directly from one set piece to another.

Verified Jul 16, 2026

Why the series is not simply about a good man turning bad

Walter begins with sympathetic pressures, but the pilot also shows resentment about lost status and unrealised talent. The series does not reveal one moment when a completely good person becomes a different species of person. It tracks repeated decisions in which fear, pride, love and control receive different weight. Opportunities to stop appear more than once, making later claims of necessity increasingly weak. Jesse provides a contrasting moral movement. He begins as the person Walter considers irresponsible, yet his response to children, partners and violence often becomes more humane as Walter becomes more strategic. Skyler's constrained choices also expose how audiences may excuse the central antihero while judging people who obstruct his preferred story. The title describes chemical change, but human behaviour is neither instant nor irreversible. Characters can recognise harm, confess, refuse, repeat or seek repair. The show remains compelling because understanding a motive never requires approving the action that follows.

Verified Jul 16, 2026

How to watch and what to expect

Watch all 62 episodes in broadcast order across five seasons. The short first season was affected by the 2007–08 writers' strike but still functions as the intended opening. Better Call Saul is a prequel and companion series released later; first-time viewers can watch Breaking Bad first to preserve introductions, then Better Call Saul, followed by the film El Camino. The series contains drug production and use, murder, suicide themes, explosions, shootings, poisoning, child endangerment, strong language, sexual material and domestic intimidation. Violence can be graphic and emotional pressure is sustained, so it is intended for mature viewers. Episode runtimes are generally around commercial-hour television length, and the story rewards regular viewing without needing a binge. The final season is particularly intense. Viewers should use official regional availability because streaming catalogues change and should check detailed warnings if children, overdose or captivity are sensitive subjects.

Verified Jul 16, 2026

Frequently asked questions

How many seasons of Breaking Bad are there?

There are five seasons and 62 episodes in the original series.

Should I watch Better Call Saul first?

New viewers usually benefit from release order: Breaking Bad first, then Better Call Saul. This preserves character introductions and avoids spoilers.

Is Breaking Bad suitable for teenagers?

It contains sustained drug themes, graphic violence, strong language, sexual material and harm involving children. Families should follow local classifications and detailed guidance.

Continue the story

Explore beyond Breaking Bad

Move between season information, connected performers, streaming services and other series guides.

Season and episode guide

Review the available season structure and individual episode records on this page.

Follow the cast

Explore actors across their connected film and television work.

Browse people

Discover more series

Return to the series library to explore another genre or status.

Browse series