S1E1 · Pilot

Complete story — includes the ending

Walter White, a milquetoast high school chemistry teacher dissatisfied with life, celebrates his 50th birthday breakfast with his wife, Skyler, and their teenage son, Walter Jr. Later at his second job at a car wash, Walter faints following a coughing fit; at the hospital, he is diagnosed with Stage 3 terminal lung cancer. Walt does a ride-along on a methamphetamine lab raid with his brother-in-law, DEA Agent Hank Schrader. DEA agents apprehend a cook/dealer named Emilio. Walt, waiting in the car, spots his former student Jesse Pinkman escaping the raid through a neighbor's window, but says nothing to Hank. Walt tracks down Jesse to propose a partnership wherein Walt cooks crystal meth and Jesse manages sales and distribution. They begin cooking crystal meth in a remote area of the desert in a recreational vehicle; Walt's skill in chemistry results in a pure, highly valuable product. Jesse approaches Krazy-8, a local distributor and cousin to Emilio, to arrange distribution. At a meetup with Walt, Emilio recognizes him from the DEA raid. A panicked Jesse tells Walt to run but knocks himself unconscious. Knowing the dealers intend to kill them both, Walt pretends to teach Emilio and Krazy-8 the crystal meth recipe before poisoning them with phosphine gas and driving off.