10 Episodes to DVR During AMC's 'Breaking Bad' Marathon
AMC will have a 'Breaking Bad' marathon every Saturday before 'Better Call Saul' season 6 premieres. Here are 10 episodes to DVR.
Beginning Saturday, March 19, AMC will have a Breaking Bad marathon for five consecutive Saturdays, leading up to the season premiere of Better Call Saul on Monday, April 18. Think of it as Binging Bad.
Season 1: March 19, 7 episodes, beginning at 4:00 pm ET
Season 2: March 26, 13 episodes, beginning at 10:00 am ET
Season 3: April 2, 13 episodes, beginning at 10:00 am ET
Season 4: April 9, 13 episodes, beginning at 10:00 am ET
Season 5: April 16, 16 episodes, beginning at 6:30 am ET
According to AMC, the marathon will also include “exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews and bonus content, including Better Call Saul ‘Easter eggs’ and Breaking Bad trivia – one factoid per episode. It will also explore connections between fan-favorite characters from both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, including Gus Fring, Mike Ehrmantraut, Lalo Salamanca, ‘The Cousins,’ and more.”
Still, you may not want to hoover up a season at a time like its Blue Sky. Instead, set your Sling DVR to record and watch whenever. Here’s our list of 10 episodes you won’t want to miss. To watch Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul on Sling TV with AMC, sign up for Sling Orange + Blue using the link at the bottom of this page.
Season 1, Episode 1 - “Pilot”
The image of Bryan Cranston in his tighty whities, gun in hand, is one of the most iconic of any TV show (no wonder his underpants sold for nearly $10k at auction). It comes from the very first scene of the very first episode, a brilliant hour of television that earned Cranston (at that point best known for roles in sitcoms like Malcolm in the Middle and Seinfeld) the first of his four Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
Season 2, Episode 7 - “Negro y Azul”
Breaking Bad is about a terminally ill teacher who becomes a meth dealer so he can leave his family a nice nest egg after he dies. This is to say, it’s not exactly an uplifting premise. Still, no amount of forewarning can prepare you for exactly how brutal the show is. For example, the episode “Negro y Azul” features the decapitated head of former Sling TV spokseperson Danny Treijo strapped to a Totise which is also strapped with a bomb. When it comes to innovative ways to murder people, Breaking Bad is second-to-none.
Season 2, Episode 8 - “Better Call Saul”
As evidenced by the item above (and several below), Breaking Bad can be difficult to watch. But it can also be darkly funny, thanks in no small measure to Bob Odenkirk’s now iconic Saul Goodman, fka Jimmy McGill. He makes his first appearance in the titular season 2 episode as the defense attorney for Badger. Equal parts shameless and shrewd, Saul quickly established himself as a fan favorite, and the rest is history.
Season 3, Episode 6 - “Sunset”
As a DEA agent hunting for the mysterious Hiesenberg and the brother-in-law to Walter White, Hank’s obliviousness to the crimes happening right under his nose is a constant source of tension through the series. Hank nearly discovers the truth several times, but “Sunset” is probably the closest he gets until season 5. The scene where he attempts to pry open the door of the RV from Walter’s grasp is as tense as this show gets.
Season 3, Episode 13 - “Full Measure”
Poor Jesse Pinkman. In the season 2 finale, his girlfriend dies of an “overdose” and in the season 3 finale, “Full Measure,” he has no choice but to murder the man who is being trained to replace him. Later, he will be kidnapped by white supreamcists and forced to cook meth. But hey, check out El Camino on Netflix, he sort of gets a happy ending!
Season 4, Episode 11 - “Crawl Space”
The walls are closing in on Walt by this point, and just when you think he can’t get any lower, he finds the “Crawl Space.” The title of this episode references the stash spot in the White household, but it’s also a metaphor for the depths to which Walter’s soul has descended. The scene where Walter reacts to the missing money is among the best in the entire series; given that Cranston’s performance is among the greatest in TV history, this is basically the dramatic equivalent of Michael Jordan’s Game 5 against the Cavaliers in 1989.
Season 4, Episode 13 - “Face Off”
OK, so remember how we warned you that Breaking Bad is gut-wrenchingly brutal? In terms of both tension and visceral horror, the season 4 finale “Face Off” might be peak Breaking Bad (at 9.9, it has the second-highest IMDB score of any episode except the final one on our list). This was just the third episode to be written and directed by the show’s creator, Vince Gilligan; all three are on this list.
Season 5, Episode 5 - “Dead Freight”
Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul are skillful with their “cold openings”—the scene before the show’s opening title credits. The first scene of the fifth and final season does a superb job of teasing the show’s ending, but perhaps the best cold open is “Dead Freight,” which simply follows a kid messing around in the desert on a dirt bike. It’s so benign that it’s easy to forget…until the kid turns back up right after Walter and his bandits have pulled off their train heist, turning a moment of unbridled joy into yet another moral compromise.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/8jMFkf1mJhY
Season 5, Episode 8 - “Gliding Over All”
Why did Hank have to poop at that moment? Couldn’t he, nay, shouldn’t he have waited until he got back to his own house to do his business? If only he had waited, this entire saga would have had a very different, much happier outcome, especially for him. Alas.
Season 5, Episode 14 - “Ozymandias”
Sporting a perfect 10.0 rating on IMDB, this is the consensus pick for the greatest episode of the series. Directed by Rian Johnson, the auteur behind The Last Jedi and Knives Out, it also won an Emmy for Best Writing. Vince Gilligan called it "the best episode we ever have had or ever will have." It’s tragic, it’s harrowing, it’s unexpected. It’s perfect.
Use the link below to watch the Breaking Bad marathon and season 6 of Better Call Saul on AMC with Sling Orange + Blue.