I thought this was going to be about the fly episode 😂😂

"It's just three guys pumping liquids while Bill Burr distracts the crew."

When Todd killed the Kid I was shook. My reaction was the same as Jessie.

When you think about it, this episode is the beginning of the end. Jesse totally quits after this, seeing Walts soulless reaction and condoning of the child murder. Its all been building to this. This is the worst thing they did. Complicit and covering up of a child murder. And from there the relationship disintegrates, causing Jesse to betray Walt and end his reign.

Just finished watching Malcolm in the Middle, and I can't wrap my brain around the versatility that Cranston has. Two polar opposite roles, one after the other, and he nailed both of them.

I've never notice at the end how when Todd is pulling the gun on the kid, Jesse starts to panic and scream and Walt doesn't even flinch, even after Todd pulls the trigger. I love this show, you can watch it multiple times and see something you missed everytime.

IDC what the fans say. “Breaking Bad” has never “jumped the shark”

The ending of “Crawl Space” still might be my favorite

I recently watched El Camino again, and didn't realize that the spider in Todds house was from this episode.

I wish an episode that would get more attention would be the one where walt and Jesse get trapped in the desert .

Something I've noticed that I've never seen anyone mention is that this episode is (iirc) the last time Jessie smiles in the series, right before the shooting -- unless you count his very final scene in the finale, but I can never tell if that's an anguished smile or an anguished scream personally

The train heist would have jumped the shark if it just happened. Most TV shows do this and they just become cyclical until their ratings drop and they call it an end... But instead of entering a cycle, Breaking Bad essentially set into motion the final stage of the series.

the show was basically the epitome of the butterfly effect...once walter and jessie hook up it never ends after that as far as misfortune and tragedy goes...he knows the dealing and walter knew the chemistry...the perfect storm especially when they get into bed with Gus

"Like a freight train this episode links together cars full of deceit, betrayal, intimidation, desperation, greed, action, and tragedy" Did... did something happen you on a freight train?

Walt's greed is shown while him filling up the tank to full capacity even risking getting caught. Jessi's care for kids is shown by his reaction on kids murder. Similarly Todd's mindless criminal, Lydia's desperation, Skyler's detachment, Mike's criminal mastermind is shown so well.

This ending made me really feel for Jesse. All he has ever been was just a troubled child, that's why he has a soft spot for children like the addicts' son and Brock. Him seeing Todd murdering Drew made me feel the same anger as he had on the next episode

Anyone else glad this wasn't the 47th "super clever" video on why "Fly" is actually the best episode? I actually like that episode, and even I'm sick of all the videos that focus on it over better episodes...

Breaking Bad was such a good show. Nigh on perfect.

I love how season 4 and 5 slowly show Jesse adapting to his environment. He never becomes a genius, but he’s growing more creative and street smart

Breaking Bad's biggest victory was how adamant they were about doing something that was never seen before and to avoid cliches. A train heist in a TV show is a big feat in and of itself but then they raise the stakes and make it so that they rob and no one knows about it. Then they make it thrilling and then give us a seemingly cliched ending of a successful heist until Drew Sharp appears and Todd kills him and the whole show begins to unravel after that. Damn this show was too good.

"Jumping the shark" For a super well grounded and realistic portrayal of robbing A train who the fuck would think that, maybe if it had them stick up the train conductor or narrowly avoid the law or something but they even had it down to the science between how much water weighs vs methylamine but yeah totally jumping the shark

I was expecting this to be a video essay on The Fly

I thought this would be about “Confessions” which was an absolutely brilliant retelling of the whole series up until that point. I saw it as a gift for viewers who had been paying attention all along. All of my family’s mouth was left agape as every point in the story made sense, and it really left everyone guessing what was going to happen next.

Nah I say Crawl Space is the best Only time in the whole show I felt genuinely worried about Walt and his entire family

Dead Freight was a great episode. I also find Granite State underrated. That final scene with the whiskey glass gives me chills every time 🥃

FINALLY SOMEONE TALKS ABOUT THE TRAIN EPISODE

I think the mechanics of the heist just being "some dudes pumping liquid" is an important element of grounding it. It's already a really WILD scenario, if the way in which they robbed the train and resoled it was also WILD, it would have risked actually jumping the shark, so to speak. The heist itself also taking up fairly little screen time and going off fairly flawlessly helped ground the scene as well, making it clear the tension was never suppose to be on if the heist fails or not.

I also love how this episode mirrors the overlying theme of the series in a nutshell. It shows how every "victory" in Walt´s and Jesse`s view, every overcoming of an obstacle in the criminal world just leads them deeper into breaking bad.

I remember watching this episode for the first time. There was so much tension built up during the heist it was triggering my nerves.

One thing I loved about this episode is once again, Jesse is the one with the master plan. Despite being in the company of a world class scientist and a veteran cop/hitman, it’s the former junkie who comes up with the brilliant idea on how to rob the train. He shows exactly the value he brings to the organization.

This episode that made me realize Jesse Plemmons (Todd) was THAT type of actor. He has been great in everything since BB

Nerdstalgic and Breaking Bad is like mac and cheese. The notification of the video alone already put a smile on my face!

I love that walter previously said "There's nothing stopping this train"

Another thing about this episode that really gave me chills was when Walt seemed overall nonchalant about the prospect of murdering Lydia. Remember, this is the guy that, in season one, grappled with the possibility of killing Crazy 8, a guy who DEFINITELY would've killed his entire family

My favourite thing during the Lydia interrogation scene, is that when Lydia calls Hank she actually sounds extremely nervous. There's a very noticeable tremor in her voice. But it's just subtle enough that if you don't know her or her voice is distorted through the phone, you might not notice, or you might think that's how she always talks. That's skillful acting, to hit that balance exactly right.

Personally, I love Half Measures and Full Measure the most. That is the moment when things broke the most badly.

"A satisfying climax is earned" amen brother.

I still remember the first time I saw this episode, the adrenaline rush I got watching this was surreal not to mention how shocked I was at the end of the episode. The writers are geniuses btw the way, when the scene started I was like "wtf, who the hell is this kid and what the hell does BB have to do with a kid collecting a spider"

Just about to ball my eyes out when I remember how depressed Jessie gets through the death of this kid. And then I remembered the death of Jane. So yeah. Time to feel depressed and rewatch it lol

"The One Episode of Breaking Bad BETTER Than Ozymandias" *You're goddamn right!*

5:46 "A satisfying climax is earned and pacing is the way to earn it" Weird way to explain edging but alright

“And everyone is complicit” as Jesse is screaming

For me, it's "Half Measures". -The opening Wendy bit; -Walt easing up on Flynn trying to brake and accelerate simultaneously after seeing him be much more of a stickler about it in the previous season, foreshadowing that his previous strict rule about not straight-up killing people that aren't a direct immediate threat to him are about to go out the window; -Jesse and Walt's tense exchange at he bar, hopes that there is still a decent man left in the former; - Mike's "No half measures" speech, I can see many intermediate theatre arts students using this as their monologue to audition for the advanced class, and succeeding; - The meeting with Gus, his no-nonsense words to Jesse, literal chills; - The horrifying aftermath of Tomas' death; - The final scene where Walt decides to take matter into his own hands, even though he directly wouldn't have been impacted by what would have transpired between Jesse and the dealers. This was the thirty-second episode of a sixty-two-episode series, making it the very beginning of the second half of the series, and Vince Gilligan and crew let us know right off the bat that no punches would be pulled wit this show going forward, not that many were pulled in the first half...

BB is a masterpiece from start to finish. But if I should pick my favorite episode, it would be the final episode of season 4, Face Off, when Walter found the way to kill Gus.

Love that Todd kept the tarantula, such an intriguing character. Underrated too imo

Love this episode. It’s non stop plot and action, they take something that seems impossible and solve each problem until they pull it off

I think the most interesting thing about this episode is you can perfectly see Walt's true feelings about Jessie and how he values him. Walt cares about and works well with Jessie, but not enough to sway from Walt's wants and desires. Not even a little. Walt was willing to put Jessie's life at risk (again) or possibly even kill him, just to make sure he got the maximum amount of methylamine. He refused to settle for less, even if it was for the best of the team not to get caught, or for the safety of Todd, and especially, Jessie.

This is the only episode that i re-watched after i completed the whole series. Some frames of the train with the sky as the backdrop were stunning.

I think this is the best shown I've ever experienced. Thanks for the insightful video.

My 2nd favorite episode has always been half measure. The crazy end plus Mike’s scene explaining his mistake in taking a half measure.

So glad you made this, this episode has always been my favorite of the whole show.

We love a good nerdstalgic breaking bad vid

Amazing video, very well put together, The only thing missing was a comparison with Ozymandias (since the title directly establishes a comparison itself) but its a level of clickbait that's acceptable. I hold Ozy above this episode anyway, but like this video because it made me appreciate Freight Train in particular and Breaking Bad in general that much more.

This is a phenomenal video dude🔥 good shit🤙 and one of the eeriest parts of this episode is right in the beginning after the kid scoops the spider, he hears the train 😩and I get those goosebumps everytime(no Travis)

THANK YOU for this video! This episode has always been my favorite and I'm still on the edge of my seat each and everytime I rewatch it. This is what television is supposed to be!

Finished my 4th watch through recently. Brilliant timing on this vid !

I love this episode so much, glad to see your analysis on it

Hands down, Vince Gilligan is one of the best directors to ever exist, and I cannot wait for more of his work. Every piece of Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and El Camino is deliberate, precise, methodical. It all has meaning and impact.

Glad to see this masterpiece of an episode get some much deserved love! There’s even more depth to it than I remember

This is one of the most memorable episodes in the whole show mainly because of the ending, great vid and analysis 👌

Just like the best episodes of Breaking Bad, there are multiple scenes where I was talking to the screen, begging for whatever was happening to just wrap itself up already! Like you said, the stakes are SO high during this episode, and the moments where characters act despite the risks, man are they some of the most tense moments I've seen in television.

Ive watched both New girl and Atlanta recently because your videos. I'm going to see Breaking Bad now too

Ahh no wonder why this is one of my favorite episodes! I just rewatched the show since it’s been 10 years since I’ve seen it and it holds up even more

Whoever said Breaking Bad every jumped the shark should have their TV privileges revoked. BrBa managed to have a whole spinoff series with no sharks in sight.

When I got to Season Five, Dead Freight was the episode I was looking forward to the most. I didn't get around to watching Breaking Bad until after the series had ended, and knew there was an episode with a train heist, so that was the episode I got excited about. It did not disappoint.

i just started rewatching this show, was waiting for you to make video about it

I remember watching this high at my peak of interest in the show and this is by far one of my favourite episodes man. The storu telling is phenomenal. I remembered the heist being at least 30 minutes long, maybe a little longer just shows how amazing they really did the last 15 minutes

This show got better and better with every season. Season 5 was genius every step of the way. He really destroyed the lives of his family by forcing Skylar to be his accomplice. It shows what a sociopath Walt became that Jesse cared more about kids than he did despite being a father. It shows you what a moral person Jesse is that he quit the business after this little boy was kiled.

Both this episode and “Ozymandias” are great, but to me the best is always going to be a tie between “Face Off” and “Felina”

This was my favourite too. I even felt the tension again just watching your summary!🙈😅

This was such a good episode, I remember this arc being like 2 or 3 episodes, but they fit all this amazing storytelling in one episode. Such a great show

I would say this episode was definitely a heartbreaker by the end, and a great episode overall, but I still think it's not quite as shocking since the characters are already so warped. I'm going to go with Phoenix in Season 2 as my favorite episode. It's maybe the last time I feel like the characters might just get away with what their doing, plus it juxtaposes Walter's lives and foreshadows tragedy too amazingly. There's a chance for Walter to have some moral compass in Season 2, but it disappears in that episode IMO.

100% agree Dead Freight was absolutely incredible. I'd say it was probably my favorite episode

This episode mirrors "Plan and Execution" on Better Call Saul. Detailed plan goes off without out a hitch...only to have an unexpected death at the end.

I loved how you could hear the train in the first scene right at the ending forshadowing what was about to come

the change in narrator keeps me from watching this video in it's entirety

I remember watching this episode for the first time. The suspense was so intense that I had the mild panic attack symptoms. Sweat, heart rate, dry mouth. It does make sense that it wasn't necessarily just because the heist was so tight (almost zero margin for error), but the pacing of the episode up to that point that build up the stakes.

Props to you for making this video and explaining everything in such a short amount of time. Such an incredible episode that could easily be overlooked if somebody wasn’t focusing on the attention to detail involved in the making of the episode. I felt that every action in the episode had a decent amount of weight to it that would shape the future of each of the characters. As you explained incredibly well. Thankyou for taking the time to create this video I’ll definitely be subscribing to check out what else you have to offer. You clearly have an appreciation for film making.

Heyyyyy basically right on time for a GREAT Nerdstalgic drop!

Great analysis, although to me Crawl Space is the best episode, there's so many gems in this series it really just becomes super relative

My favorite episode is Crawl Space personally.

I’m glad this episode getting the recognition on KZfaq for once. My favorite episode right next to episode 1 of season 4 and the entirety of season 3

This is a beautifully written video analysis

This episode broke me at some level, I love it

5:25 I agree with your analysis of this episode, on point in every respect, with one small exception. I think there's a subtext to this show that isn't picked up on here, even though it's made explicit towards the end of the series when Walt is forced to confront it. Walt begins the show as a sympathetic character; we cheer when he stands up to the kids bullying his son, and when he blows up the car of the douchebag in the store. He's henpecked at home, he's not respected at school, and we learn in flashbacks that he walked away from a promising career, something for which he views himself as a martyr. But if you remove his actions from their context, you see a pattern of violent behavior disproportionate to the harms visited on him. The meekness he exhibits is because he feels the strictures of life and society prevent him from being the great man he knows he is inside. These outbursts are Walt testing the boundaries of what can happen if he just does what he wants and ignores the rules he lived by. And the longer it goes, the more he does and gets away with it, the more he feels powerful and untouchable. By season five he's completely consumed with himself: moving back into the house of his own volition, and restarting his meth empire instead of cutting his losses. He *tells himself* that he needs the money to pay what he owes and save for his family, but the truth is he thinks he can just step directly into the void left by Gus and the cartel and do it better. He ignores Jesse's concerns, Saul's warnings, and Mike's threats, rejects their reality and substitutes his own. His family has not been driving him; his ego has been driving him basically from the outset. While it's true that he wants to leave a nest egg for Skyler and the kids, the way he approaches his final stage of life reveals the truth of Walt's character. With Skyler, he cares about demonstrating that he is the man who can provide for his family; with Walt Jr., that he will be well remembered after he is gone; with Jesse, that he is the best at teaching chemistry; with his meth empire, that his knowledge makes him better than those who came before him. It's even more evident in the circumstances that remind him - to his face - that he doesn't measure up in these categories: Skyler going back to work for Ted, the way he bristles at Gus' efforts to control him, the fact that Jesse lacks his intelligence and expertise but followed his tutelage well enough to become competent at cooking blue. And at nearly every inflection point in the show, he makes decisions that take him further down this road of megalomania. Hundreds of people died because he allowed one girl to O/D in order to keep Jesse under his control. Gale gave him the perfect out to any suspicion from Hank but he just couldn't let it go, could not let someone else take credit for his genius. Walt was never a good guy; this evil had always been in him and simply rose to the surface. When he lost his marriage, all he really lost was his rationalization.

Favorite youtuber uploads video about favorite show?? What a lovely day

immediately subscribed and i’m only 10 seconds through the video just because of how happy u sound talking about breaking bad 😭

Yea yea we all know the perfect episode is Pilot.. Or Fly, if you're a memelord

For me the best episode is the Season Four finale, Face Off. Gus Fring is not only easily the best antagonist on this show, but possibly any tv show. And that end reveal is definitely my favourite of all time.

this episode is a rollercoaster of emotions and makes you feel the real impact of breaking bad. How this series goes from emotion and excitement and suddenly creates this deep hole in your heart, that's the magic of breaking bad.

Honestly my favorite type of content on this channel😍

Another episode I think is a masterpiece is Season 4’s “Crawl Space”. The lead up to the ending is amazing and when it comes to that amazing ending, it hits you like a freight train (no pun intended).

Only issue I have with it is how they could get the train to stop exactly where it did. Lydia knew which car on the train it could be, yes. Maybe even how fast it would be going. But calculating the actual location would take knowing exactly how the brakes would affect the speed. Also when the driver of the train actually sees the stuck truck. There's no way you'd be able to get it that exact with all these variables at play. Still a great episode but yeah. No way you'd get it that exact.

I had a feeling you were going to discuss this episode, absolutely jaw-dropping.

I cannot believe the ingenuity of this programme, which is apparent when I watch this sort of video and in the show itself.

En serio, el grito de Jesse al final del episodio lo sentí demasiado real

The fly it's a masterpiece

For me, the episode also follows the arc of a successful criminal who has one brief moment of celebration only to see it turn to cold vomit. The heist is their greatest success as a team. But the wild card (that Opie-faced, pile of toxic waste) goes way off plan and commits probably the most heinous crime in the entire series. The aftermath is so industrial and lifeless it breaks my heart. The way every trace of the child is removed from the Earth (his clothes, each part of the bile ripped apart) is crushing.

Amazing dissection!

"The One Episode of Breaking Bad BETTER 'Than' Ozymandias"