12 years ago, Breaking Bad aired the best episode of its run, and quite possibly the best episode of television ever produced. Breaking Bad was still two episodes away from its series finale when it aired season 5, episode 14, “Ozymandias,” but that episode delivered all the shocking payoffs to five seasons’ worth of build-up. It was the culmination of the entire series, it provided one jaw-dropping twist after another, and despite having so much riding on it, it didn’t disappoint. All these years later, it still holds up as an all-time masterpiece of TV drama.

“Ozymandias” was directed by Rian Johnson, who would go on to helm Star Wars: The Last Jedi and the Knives Out franchise, and written by Moira Walley-Beckett, who went on to win Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series at the Emmys for her script. Bryan Cranston and Anna Gunn won in the Lead Actor and Supporting Actress categories, respectively, for their powerful performances in this episode. More than a decade later, the television landscape still has yet to top “Ozymandias” as the wildly satisfying climactic installment of a near-flawless TV saga.

Breaking Bad’s “Ozymandias” Is The Highest-Rated Episode Of All Time On IMDb

It Has A Perfect 10/10 Score

“Ozymandias” is the highest-rated episode of television of all time on IMDb, with a perfect rating of 10.0. There are plenty of runners-up with a near-perfect score of 9.9, including Six Feet Under’s widely acclaimed finale, Game of Thrones’ Red Wedding episode “The Rains of Castamere,” the Better Call Saul episode where Howard dies, the Succession episode where Logan dies, and Breaking Bad’s own final episode, “Felina.” But “Ozymandias” is the only TV episode ever made that has garnered a flawless 10/10 rating on IMDb.

“Ozymandias” Was The Culmination Of Everything Breaking Bad Had Been Building Up To

Walt’s Criminal Empire Came Crashing Down

“Ozymandias” was the third-to-last episode of Breaking Bad, and it serves as the climax of the entire series. In its pilot episode, Breaking Bad set up Walter White’s secret double life. His salary as a high school teacher wouldn’t cover his cancer treatments, so he resorted to cooking meth with a ne’er-do-well former student to pay his medical bills. From that moment on, the dramatic tension of the series came from Walt trying to hide his secret life as a drug dealer from his family. In “Ozymandias,” the cat is finally out of the bag.

The episode picks up where the last one left off, as Hank catches Walt in the desert and Walt’s neo-Nazi friends arrive to liberate him. “Ozymandias” kicks off with the untimely end of Hank, and it only gets more shocking and action-packed from there. Walt, Jr. finds out about his dad’s crimes, a brutal fight breaks out in the White household, and it all culminates in police officers swarming the family home and Walt leaving town to assume a new identity in a new state on his own. It’s the episode the entire series had been building to.

12 Years Later, “Ozymandias” Is More Than Deserving Of Its Top 1 IMDb Ranking

The Action Doesn’t Overshadow The Emotion

12 years after it initially hit the airwaves of AMC, “Ozymandias” is still deserving of its place as the top-rated TV episode on IMDb. The landmark plot points that audiences had been waiting for since season 1 — the deadly consequences of Walt’s criminal activities, the emotional fallout from his family learning the truth, etc. — all land effectively. It’s rare that a TV show actually satisfies audiences with the answers to its long-standing questions; see Lost, Game of Thrones, and How I Met Your Mother.

Johnson’s steady-handed direction of “Ozymandias” ensures that it’s as explosive and action-packed as the climax of this crime saga needed to be, but at the same time, the action never overshadows the emotion. The opening shootout is thrilling, but Hank’s death is the most memorable part of that sequence. TV shows almost never stick the landing, but Breaking Bad nailed it with “Ozymandias.”

Breaking Bad

10/10

Release Date

2008 – 2013-00-00

Showrunner

Vince Gilligan

Directors

Vince Gilligan, Michelle Maclaren

Writers

Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, Vince Gilligan, George Mastras, Moira Walley-Beckett, Sam Catlin, Thomas Schnauz