For Walt, that means recognizing his ambitions' growth beyond simply providing for and protecting his family, while for Jesse, it is a process of self-acceptance and moral responsibility. Season 4 is probably the peak of both Walt and Jesse's character arcs as both embrace their villainy in different ways. The season opens on "Box Cutter" to demonstrate the cold brutality Gus brings to the drug trade, and it ends on the iconic shot of the meth lord straightening his tie before dying at last. Tensions between Walter and Gus finally come to a head in the show's fourth season, and as one of the greatest villains in television history, it's no wonder that his biggest season ranks as the show's best. RELATED: The Walking Dead: How AO3 Rewrites the AMC Series' BIGGEST Mistake 1.
The Neo-Nazis who served as antagonists may have been irredeemable forces fitting for Walt's final stand, but their relatively flat characters paled in comparison to Gus Fring. The show grew increasingly sensational as its story grew, and for some viewers, the final season may have pressed past the breaking point of believability. In comparing the seasons, it's possible to see where the final installment faltered.
#BREAKING BAD SEASON 1 ROTTEN TOMATOES FULL#
The two outings average out at 98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and MetaCritic, but of the two, only the fourth season receives a full 100 percent, edging out the show's epic finale. Though Breaking Bad steadily got better over the course of its first three seasons, the fourth and fifth seasons of the show are where critics disagree. RELATED: Fear the Walking Dead Revisits Madison’s Sacrifice, in a Surprising Way 2. Taking such a normal and loving father and twisting him into a downright supervillain is one of the series' greatest accomplishments, and it's in the third season that transition becomes clear. The season contains the series' divisive "Fly" episode, ably communicating its protagonist's full descent into villainy. As the business relationship with Gustavo Fring deepens, the series' ascends from its relatable tale of a desperate family man into a far more grandiose drama, and it's impossible to look away.
#BREAKING BAD SEASON 1 ROTTEN TOMATOES SERIES#
The Rotten Tomatoes score for Breaking Bad's third season crests at 100 percent, while the MetaCritic score remains more reserved at 89 percent, but regardless of its rating, the middlemost season of the series sets its hook thoroughly into any viewer. RELATED: John de Lancie Shares a Heartbreaking Story About a Breaking Bad Fan 3. By the end of the season, those tensions quite literally explode when two airplanes collide, underlining the show's underlying message of karmic retribution. Skylar's pregnancy and growing suspicion of Walt provides a growing tension paralleled in the introduction of recovery addict Jane, with the private lives of both Walt and Jesse conflicting with their mutual endeavor.
With the meth business in full swing, the show really begins to settle into its central conceit, and the characters requisitely settle into their roles. Season 2 - Average Score: 90.5Īs the plot thickened in Season 2, Breaking Bad really started to hit its stride, with its Rotten Tomatoes score spiking from 86 percent in Season 1 to 97 percent in Season 2. RELATED: Walking Dead: Appeals Court Shuts Down One of Darabont's Claims Against AMC 4. But at almost half the length of subsequent seasons, Breaking Bad just hadn't gained the legendary status it would go on to earn. The engaging characterizations, stylized cinematography and unique setup were all there as fans followed Walter's descent into the world of crime.
The entire series would not have been possible without the building blocks it established, introducing mild-mannered chemist Walter White and his brash partner-in-crime Jesse Pinkman, but both characters were only at the start of their journey. Though disagreement may rage among analysts of the show, most everyone, including critics, can agree that the first season of Breaking Bad was its weakest. RELATED: Breaking Bad Star Shares Deleted Party Scene From Pilot 5. And for a show about a high school chemistry teacher that becomes a meth baron, it's only fitting that the results are surprising. With that said, let's take the average of the aggregate reviewers' scores found on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic for every season of Breaking Bad to pin when the show was at its best and when it was at its worst. But in the time of statistical analysis, the critical reception of television shows and movies allows for the closest thing to an objective metric one can have in gauging a show's quality, and that even goes for dividing up a show by season. Every Breaking Bad Season Ranked By Critics Every Breaking Bad Season Ranked By Criticsīreaking Bad may be one of the greatest television shows of all time.