As one of the greatest television shows of all time, Breaking Bad represented the best of the best, and TV just doesn’t get better than the show’s fourth season. The series took some time to fully hit its stride and stumbled a bit in the final stretch, where the hotly anticipated finale left an almost impossible task ahead of the writers. But Season 4 hit that perfect middle point where the show just couldn’t get any better.
Though the start of the series, which introduced a chemistry teacher partnering up with an ex-student to make meth, proved intriguing enough for viewers to give it a chance, it took a while for Breaking Bad to fully come into its own. As chemist Walter White and burnout Jesse Pinkman descended into the increasingly violent realm of the criminal underworld, the show moved from the relatable level of human characters into a mythic tale of karmic retribution. Season 4 was where it hit that stride.
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Breaking Bad Season 4 opened on “Box Cutter,” effectively establishing Gustavo Fring as the season’s primary antagonist as he opened an underling’s throat merely to prove a point to the series’ heroes. Though Walt and Jesse worked for Gus, producing the purest meth on the market in exchange for exorbitant wealth, both were aware that their time was going to rapidly dwindle away unless they could find a way to defeat Gus. The season then ended on that defeat, with Gus famously adjusting his tie moments before dying. These memorable scenes with the villain bookended Season 4 and helped to define it as the series’ best.
Not only did Season 4 flesh out Gus as a villain, giving rare insight into his origins and motivations, but it was also where the main characters fully came into their own. Though Walt began his journey saying that he wanted to provide for and protect his family, Season 4 saw him fully embracing his ambitions not only to defend himself from Gus, but to replace him. Jesse’s own character arc, which was frequently frustrated by indecision, regret and relapses into addiction, took a definite direction toward completing his arc, as he took the unexpected turns of first embracing his role as a villain, then discovering that he might really be good after all.
The other main contenders for the series’ best seasons are likely Seasons 3 and 5, but in comparing them to Season 4, it becomes clear that they lack vital elements. Season 5 lacked characters that came to cement themselves as some of the best in television history. Not only was Gus entirely absent, but Mike Ehrmantraut was similarly killed off and Saul Goodman was relegated to a far smaller role. While Season 3 had all of those characters present, they did not have their defined roles, personalities and relationships with Walt and Jesse firmly cemented yet. And with a story so crucially fixated on its characters, deciding its best season is a matter of figuring out which season best allowed them to shine. Season 4 does just that.
There may be isolated scenes in other seasons like Walt’s final moments or the entirety of Season 3’s episode, “The Fly,” that transcend anything else the series had to offer. But when it comes to overall quality and measuring the episodes pound for pound, there’s just no beating Breaking Bad Season 4. At its core, the show is about the corruption and transformation of one man from a caring father into a egomaniacal mastermind, and that is best demonstrated in the show’s fourth season. After all, it’s that season’s episode, “Cornered,” which contained its most iconic quote: “I am the one who knocks.”
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