--- title: "Breaking Bad: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/breaking-bad/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/tv/breaking-bad" critics_score: 76 critics_reviews: 8 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Breaking Bad (2008): what the critics said Critics' score 76 from 8 reviews: 8 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are unanimous in their approval, and nearly all of them arrive at the same place: Bryan Cranston. Reviewing the pilot in 2008 or looking back years later, critics single out his performance as the mild-mannered chemistry teacher who starts cooking meth after a cancer diagnosis. Vince Gilligan’s writing draws the next most praise for mixing desperation, dark comedy and suspense without settling on one. The later pieces, written on a rewatch, add that the series plans ahead carefully and rewards a second viewing. The reservations are small and scattered rather than shared. The Hollywood Reporter finds the early episodes too relaxed about the drug at their centre. Variety worries the series is front-loaded and may play like a little-seen indie film stretched across television. The Guardian, otherwise admiring, notes the female characters are thinly drawn. The spread of scores is narrow, from warm to warmer, and nobody dissents from the whole. ## The AV Club — Donna Bowman Rating A-. 22 January 2008. The pilot shows strong promise thanks to Bryan Cranston's mesmerizing performance as a high-school teacher entering the drug trade and Vince Gilligan's raw screenplay. It is rough, ugly, and sometimes nauseating but leaves the critic eager for more. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/breaking-bad-pilot-1798203677) ## Empire Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 18 December 2009. The series is a dark comedy feast about a high-school teacher who becomes a gun-toting drug dealer after learning he has cancer. Bryan Cranston delivers a standout performance as the chemistry professor cooking meth to provide for his family. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/breaking-bad-season-1-review/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Barry Garron Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 17 January 2008. The pilot presents an odd-couple dramedy where a mild-mannered teacher partners with a former student to cook meth after a terminal cancer diagnosis, blending desperation, dark humor, and suspense. Cranston is fun to watch and the strong supporting cast suggests room to grow, though the laissez-faire attitude toward meth is somewhat problematic. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/breaking-bad-first-season-review-2008-815936/) ## The Guardian — Sam Wollaston Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 5 December 2013. The critic calls the series an epic tragedy charting Walter White's ascent to drug lord and descent into moral depravity, hailing Bryan Cranston's performance as extraordinary and comparing the show to Dostoevsky. They single out the central teacher-pupil relationship with Jesse and the New Mexico desert setting for praise while noting some flaws like underdeveloped female characters. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/dec/05/breaking-bad-box-set-review) ## The i Paper — Mark Butler Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 2018. The critic finds that rewatching the series reveals Walter White's darker, more self-serving nature much earlier than first impressions suggested. The piece singles out the central performance and writing for making viewers root for an increasingly flawed protagonist. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/breaking-bad-rewatch-118486) ## Variety — Brian Lowry Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 17 January 2008. The series offers a breakout role for Bryan Cranston as a chemistry teacher turned meth cook after a cancer diagnosis, with a quirky sensibility and moral dilemmas that keep it absorbing yet front-loaded. It is a worthy addition to cable dramas but risks feeling like TV's version of a little-seen indie film. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2008/film/awards/breaking-bad-6-1200553589/) ## Vulture — Matt Zoller Seitz Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 25 July 2013. The rewatch highlights how the emotional weight of Walter White's cancer diagnosis and early choices lands harder on second viewing, crediting the show's craft in characterization, symbolism, and atmosphere. It praises the deliberate visual and narrative planning that rewards revisiting. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2013/07/seitz-on-revisiting-breaking-bad-season-one.html) ## Den of Geek Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 20 January 2023. The article celebrates the pilot as one of the best series introductions, establishing the protagonist's framework and Bryan Cranston's mesmerizing character work while hooking viewers on the high-stakes premise. It singles out the episode's ability to promise a rewarding payoff for investing in the story. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/how-the-breaking-bad-pilot-foretold-tv-greatness/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/tv/breaking-bad.md