Breaking Bad · Story guide
Walt & Jesse: the partnership in 22 episodes
Follow Walter White and Jesse Pinkman’s partnership through 22 selected episodes, from Pilot to Felina. The list keeps the shared crises, moments of trust and major changes in their relationship in broadcast order.
A selected rewatch for people who have finished Breaking Bad, not every appearance or a first-watch shortcut. It spans all five seasons but leaves substantial story between the selections. Hank, Skyler, Gus and Jesse’s other relationships are included only where they help explain this partnership. El Camino and Better Call Saul are outside this episode list.
Episode titles and later-season context are visible here. The watch-path reader hides future details by default; you can switch that off for a rewatch.
The episode order
Selected for the story described above. Notes explain each episode’s place without retelling the plot.
Season 1 2 episodes
- S01
E01Pilot
Begin with Walt approaching his former student about a new partnership. Their unequal starting positions matter as much as the first cook.
Also in The Essentials, The speed run - S01
E06Crazy Handful of Nothin'
The introduction to Tuco tests the arrangement between Walt and Jesse. Keep this early checkpoint for the way business pressure changes their roles.
Also in The Essentials, The speed run
Season 2 3 episodes
- S02
E094 Days Out
A long cook in the desert turns into a test of cooperation. This selection resumes after the Tuco storyline and the arrival of Saul and Jane.
Also in The Essentials - S02
E12Phoenix
Money and Jesse’s relationship with Jane put the partners at odds. Watch ABQ next for the immediate personal aftermath.
Also in The Essentials, The speed run - S02
E13ABQ
Stay with Jesse after Phoenix and watch how Walt responds. This is a relationship checkpoint within a finale whose wider consequences continue into season three.
Also in The Essentials, The speed run
Season 3 4 episodes
- S03
E07One Minute
A hospital conversation forces them to confront what the partnership has cost Jesse. The preceding RV crisis is outside this selection; revisit Sunset first if you need that setup.
Also in The Essentials, The speed run - S03
E10Fly
The lab becomes the setting for an unusually sustained conversation between the two. Keep this quieter episode for the care, resentment and unfinished admissions beneath the work.
Outside the broader watch path - S03
E12Half Measures
Jesse’s conflict with the dealers puts Walt’s loyalties under pressure. Continue directly into Full Measure rather than ending with this episode’s final confrontation.
Also in The Essentials, The speed run - S03
E13Full Measure
The consequences of Half Measures force a desperate plan. Pair the finale with Box Cutter to keep the decision and its immediate aftermath together.
Also in The Essentials, The speed run
Season 4 5 episodes
- S04
E01Box Cutter
Resume at the lab after Full Measure. Their shared predicament establishes the pressure behind the changing loyalties of season four.
Also in The Essentials, The speed run - S04
E05Shotgun
Jesse’s day with Mike creates a new point of comparison with Walt. This belongs in the partnership guide even though much of it keeps the two apart.
Also in The Essentials - S04
E09Bug
Walt’s suspicions and Jesse’s changing position come to a head. Their confrontation is the relationship focus; the surrounding cartel story continues beyond this list.
Also in The Essentials - S04
E12End Times
An emergency involving Brock brings Jesse to Walt’s door. Keep Face Off immediately next to follow the shift in their alliance.
Also in The Essentials - S04
E13Face Off
The season finale completes the confrontation begun in End Times. Its closing detail matters for understanding a much later conversation in Confessions.
Also in The Essentials, The speed run
Season 5 8 episodes
- S05
E05Dead Freight
The train operation puts their problem-solving partnership back in view. Its ending supplies the immediate context for the argument about the future in Buyout.
Also in The Essentials, The speed run - S05
E06Buyout
The partners discuss whether to continue, and Jesse joins an uncomfortable dinner at the White home. Follow with Say My Name for the next step in that disagreement.
Also in The Essentials - S05
E07Say My Name
Jesse presses for a different future while Walt pursues his deal. This is the follow-through to Buyout, not the end of their involvement with each other.
Also in The Essentials, The speed run - S05
E11Confessions
A proposed fresh start prompts Jesse to reconsider earlier events. The final movement begins here; keep the next three selections in order.
Also in The Essentials, The speed run - S05
E12Rabid Dog
Continue the aftermath of Confessions. Jesse’s choices and Walt’s response redirect the relationship toward their next encounter.
Also in The Essentials - S05
E13To'hajiilee
A plan draws Walt and Jesse back to the desert. Watch Ozymandias next: the episode ends in the middle of the confrontation.
Also in The Essentials, The speed run - S05
E14Ozymandias
Continue directly from To’hajiilee for the decisive break in their relationship. This selection then jumps over Granite State’s separate aftermath before returning for the finale.
Also in The Essentials, The speed run - S05
E16Felina
End with their final encounter in Breaking Bad. The circumstances have changed since Ozymandias; this is a concluding rewatch chapter, not a substitute for the intervening episode.
Also in The Essentials, The speed run
Viewing questions
Which episode begins Walt and Jesse’s partnership?
Pilot, season 1 episode 1, shows Walt proposing the business partnership to Jesse, his former chemistry student. It is the starting point for this rewatch, rather than a claim that the two first met during that episode.
Is this every Walt and Jesse episode?
No. The 22 entries are selected relationship milestones from the 62-episode series, not a complete appearance list. Episodes outside the selection still carry their story. For example, Sunset (S03E06) supplies the RV crisis before One Minute; use the full episode order when you want those connections without gaps.
Can I use this list for a first watch?
Watch the full series in broadcast order first. Breaking Bad’s investigations, family story and criminal operations are closely connected, and this rewatch assumes you remember them. Episodes omitted here are not being labelled filler. The visible titles and later-season context can reveal developments even where the notes avoid outcomes.
Where do El Camino and Better Call Saul fit?
This guide ends with Felina, Breaking Bad season 5 episode 16. El Camino continues Jesse’s story after the series finale, with flashbacks, and is a separate film rather than another season-five episode. Better Call Saul is also a separate series; its appearances and timeline are outside this selection.
Spoiler answers
These answers reveal later events. Open only when you want the spoilers.
What changes between Phoenix, Fly and Ozymandias?Spoilers
In Phoenix (S02E12), Walt watches Jane choke and does not save her. He nearly tells Jesse about that night during Fly (S03E10), but stops short. He finally tells Jesse in Ozymandias (S05E14), after turning him over to Jack’s gang. Those are the event, an unfinished admission and the later disclosure, not three versions of the same confession.
What links End Times, Face Off and Confessions?Spoilers
End Times (S04E12) shows Walt convincing Jesse to blame Gus for Brock’s poisoning. Face Off (S04E13) reveals the lily-of-the-valley plant at Walt’s home to the audience; it does not show Jesse discovering Walt’s role. In Confessions (S05E11), another act of pickpocketing makes Jesse connect Huell and Saul to the missing ricin cigarette and confront the earlier deception. Brock was poisoned with lily of the valley, not that ricin.
How do Buyout and Say My Name fit together?Spoilers
In Buyout (S05E06), Jesse and Mike want out after Drew Sharp’s death, while Walt refuses the proposed sale. Say My Name (S05E07) carries Jesse’s decision forward: he still wants to leave, and Walt withholds his payout while trying to make him stay. Leaving the business does not immediately end Jesse’s connection to Walt.
How does their final scene in Felina end?Spoilers
Walt shields Jesse from the gunfire at Jack’s compound. Jesse then refuses Walt’s request to shoot him, and the two exchange a final look before Jesse drives away. The scene ends their on-screen partnership in Breaking Bad. Whether that look includes forgiveness is an interpretation; it is not an explicit reconciliation.