Bryan Cranston gave an iconic flip as Walter White, and a few Breaking Bad episodes highlighted his dramatic vary greater than others. After years of enjoying a dorky dad in Malcolm within the Center, Cranston’s portrayal of Walt in Breaking Bad proved he was able to a lot extra. From “Ozymandias” to “Phoenix,” these episodes exemplify that.
10
Cornered
Season 4, Episode 6
Cranston delivered fairly probably his most iconic monologue of all the collection within the season 4 episode “Cornered.” When Skyler expresses concern that Walt is in peril, he viciously tells her that he’s not in peril — he’s the hazard. This “I’m the one who knocks” speech is ingeniously written, but it surely’s much more ingeniously carried out.
Together with his red-hot rage, Cranston completely captures the subtext of this monologue. Skyler is genuinely anxious about Walt’s security (to not point out that of their children), however all Walt hears is that she thinks different males are stronger and smarter than him, and that triggers his insecurity. It’s an ideal instance of the layers of Cranston’s efficiency.
9
Full Measure
Season 3, Episode 13
Walt pulls off one in all his most crafty plans within the season 3 finale, “Full Measure.” As he realizes Gus goes to bump him off and change him with Gale, Walt comes up with a option to make that inconceivable. Whereas Mike is distracted by the hit on Walt, Walt sends Jesse to Gale’s residence to kill him, forcing Gus to maintain Walt round.
Cranston at all times did a great job of displaying Walt’s fast pondering underneath stress. It’s a difficult tightrope line to stroll. Walt must be genuinely panicked, so he can’t provide you with an answer too simply, however he’s additionally a genius, so the answer has to return pretty rapidly. Cranston managed that back-and-forth steadiness fantastically.
8
Confessions
Season 5, Episode 11
Cranston did a few of his most spectacular appearing in Breaking Dangerous when Walt himself was appearing within the present. Each time Walt lied to his household or manipulated Jesse or feigned an emotion, Cranston needed to give a efficiency inside his efficiency. An ideal instance of that is season 5’s “Confessions,” by which Walt comes up with a novel response to Hank’s threats.
After Hank finds out that the elusive Heisenberg he’s been chasing for a 12 months is his personal brother-in-law, Walt has to behave quick earlier than he can construct a case. Walt sends Hank a faux confession video by which he claims that Hank is the true mastermind, and he’s been forcing Walt to cook dinner meth for him. It’s a performance-within-a-performance masterclass.
7
Fly
Season 3, Episode 10
Season 3’s “Fly” is mired in controversy, as a result of it’s a bottle episode — and, as such, basically filler. Wedged in the course of one in all Breaking Bad’s most thrilling seasons, “Fly” takes place nearly fully within the industrial meth lab, the place Walt and Jesse spend all evening making an attempt to conquer a housefly that would contaminate their newest batch.
However, whereas “Fly” doesn’t essentially advance the plot, it does put a highlight on Cranston’s efficiency. He performs Walt’s obsession with the fly and his ensuing spiral into insanity with fierce conviction. In a state of delirium, Walt confesses to Jesse that he watched Jane die (though Jesse shrugs it off), and Cranston poignantly exhibits the guilt gnawing at Walt.
6
4 Days Out
Season 2, Episode 9
As Walt’s most cancers worsens and he fears his time is working out in season 2’s “4 Days Out,” he forces Jesse to hitch him within the desert for a multi-day meth-cooking marathon. Unbeknownst to Walt, Jesse has left the RV’s keys within the ignition, unwittingly draining its battery and leaving them stranded within the desert with nothing however Funyuns for sustenance.
Cranston does a fantastic job of charting Walt’s feelings all through this ordeal. At first, he’s infuriated with Jesse. Then, he frantically tries to think about an answer. Then, he offers up and descends into pessimism. Then, lastly, Jesse conjures up him to provide you with a option to save them. It’s a completely fledged arc, and Cranston captures each step of it.
5
Crawl House
Season 4, Episode 11
This episode deserves a spot on this listing for its ultimate scene alone. As an actor, it’s actually exhausting to drag off faux laughter and have it really feel actual — particularly when that laughter is the results of an entire nervous breakdown — however Cranston makes Walt’s psychotic match on the finish of season 4’s “Crawl House” really feel hauntingly actual.
After Gus threatens to kill Walt’s total household, he decides it’s time to go and races residence to gather sufficient money to recruit the disappearer. However when he will get into the crawlspace, he’s horrified to seek out that the majority his cash is gone. When Skyler confesses that she gave it to her lover Ted, Walt snaps. It’s hilarious and horrifying in equal measure.
4
Felina
Season 5, Episode 16
In Breaking Bad’s series finale, Walt’s story got here to an appropriately bittersweet finish. He was in a position to return to Albuquerque, make some sort of peace along with his family members, and settle all his scores along with his enemies, however he took a deadly gunshot wound within the course of. This episode marked the right coda to Cranston’s iconic portrayal of this character.
Cranston gave one final powerhouse efficiency within the finale. He nailed the monologue to Skyler about the way it was actually all for him, not the household. He nailed the silent ultimate change between Walt and Jesse as they spared one another’s lives. And he nailed the melancholic nostalgia of Walt’s final wander round a meth lab in his ultimate moments.
3
Face Off
Season 4, Episode 13
Within the action-packed season 4 finale, “Face Off,” as Walt performs thoughts video games with Gus and Jesse, Cranston performs thoughts video games with the viewers. When Jesse suspects that Walt poisoned Brock and comes over to kill him, Walt convinces Jesse — and, by extension, the viewer — that Gus did it in a ploy to get Jesse on board with killing Walt.
Nonetheless, the ultimate shot of the episode reveals that the other is true: Walt poisoned Brock and tricked Jesse into pondering Gus did it to control him into serving to along with his plot to kill Gus. That surprising twist solely works if Cranston efficiently satisfied the viewers that Gus was chargeable for the poisoning, and he did.
2
Phoenix
Season 2, Episode 12
Cranston places on a clinic within the climactic scene of the season 2 episode “Phoenix.” As Walt furiously breaks into Jesse’s home to unravel their enterprise dispute as soon as and for all, he finds Jesse and Jane handed out on heroin. As he tries to shake Jesse awake, he unwittingly knocks Jane onto her again and he or she begins choking on her personal vomit.
Walt’s preliminary intuition is to assist her. However then, it happens to him that if he lets her die, all his issues will go away and Jesse will fall again in line, so he does nothing. He stands over Jane’s spasming carcass and watches her die. Cranston conveys this big selection of feelings and thought processes with out saying a phrase.
1
Ozymandias
Season 5, Episode 14
Breaking Bad’s third-to-last episode, “Ozymandias,” is broadly regarded to be the perfect episode of the present. It’s the explosive climax that all the collection had been constructing to. Walt’s two lives lastly got here crashing collectively and the dire penalties began rolling in: Hank was killed, his son noticed him as a monster, and the entire household wanted to relocate.
These dramatic payoffs have been years within the making, and Cranston pulled off each single one. He nailed the tortured, exasperated, determined supply of the road “We’re a household!” He captured the facade of viciousness and undercurrent of anguish as he clears Skyler’s title over the cellphone. “Ozymandias” sees each Cranston and Breaking Dangerous itself at their best.
