Breaking Bad – Season 4
Netflix Streaming
DVD | Blu-ray
Created by Vince Gilligan
Starring Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, Aaron Paul, Giancarlo Esposito, Jonathan Banks
AMC / Sony
S04E01 First Broadcast: July 17, 2011

With the launch of the final fifth season of Breaking Bad on television, Netflix has finally brought the fourth season to the streaming audience, providing an awesome experience for subscribers. Season 4 of Breaking Bad, in my mind, is the superior of the series thus far; bringing Walter White’s journey to an incredible crescendo portrayed in an amazing performance by Bryan Cranston, and delivering some of the most compelling television with an explosive conclusion certain to satisfy the viewers and hardcore fans alike.

For the uninitiated, Breaking Bad follows the story of Walter White, a chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Facing continual mounting medical bills without adequate insurance, White is forced to find a manner of making money to cover not only the expenses, but to leave some sort of financial legacy for his family.

Breaking Bad – Seasons 1-3
Netflix Streaming
Season 1: DVD | Blu-Ray
Season 2: DVD | Blu-Ray
Season 3: DVD | Blu-Ray
Created by Vince Gilligan
Starring Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, Aaron Paul, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt, RJ Mitte, Bob Odenkirk, Giancarlo Esposito, Jonathan Banks, Danny Trejo, Raymond Cruz
AMC
Originally Televised: January 20, 2008

Breaking Bad, created by Vince Gilligan, is often explained as a crime drama. When the high school teacher with a genius background in chemistry Walter White (Bryan Cranston) learns he is terminally ill, he takes matters into his own hands by teaming up with Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) to cook crystal methamphetamine – in an effort to ensure his family is financially secure after he succumbs to cancer.

But the series is so much more than that.

Breaking Bad
Season Four, Episode 8 – Hermanos
Directed by Johan Renck
Written by Sam Catlin and George Mastras
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, Aaron Paul, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt, RJ Mitte, Bob Odenkirk, Giancarlo Esposito, Jonathan Banks, Steven Bauer, James Martinez, and Michael Sheets

Relationships have always been an important component of Breaking Bad, but a key aspect of these relationships are the blood ties that have formed over the course of the show. For good or for worse, our characters have formed connections due to the circumstances they find themselves caught in.

“Hermanos” is an episode that illustrates the full extent of these ties and the dangers that they can lead to.

Note: From here on out we’ll have to go full-on spoilers for this episode. You’ve been warned.

Breaking Bad
Season 4, Episode 1 – Box Cutter
Directed by: Adam Bernstein
Written by: Vince Gilligan
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, Aaron Paul, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt, RJ Mitte, Bob Odenkirk, Giancarlo Esposito, Jonathan Banks, David Costabile and Jeremiah Bitsui
Air date: July 17, 2011

Arguably the best show on television, AMC’s Breaking Bad recently returned for its Season 4 premiere and kicked things off with a bang. We’ve got your spoiler-free review here of the season opener after the break.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you start a season.

I’m always interested to see how Breaking Bad will reinvent itself as it returns each season, but this season looks to be the most interesting experiment yet. Picking up mere seconds after last year’s finale, we find out the cruel fate of Gale (David Costabile), just minutes after finding out what really did him in. However, Gale was marked for death the second Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) discovered there was a superior product on the market. The best Gale could produce was a 96% pure sample, compared to Walter’s purity of 99%. Whatever the future held for Gale before his death didn’t matter, it seems it would have been short regardless.