I have hesitated to write a review of this sublime television show due to the undeniable fact that I cannot possibly do it justice. My measly literary skills are inadequate tools for a proper salute.

Breaking Bad is that blooming good.

Admittedly, I was four-and-a-half years late to the Breaking Bad stampede. Netflix was my savior. Once I caught a ride, it was my mission to bolt to the front of the pack. I was completely fascinated by Walter White’s ironic ascension to rock bottom.

At my age, it is not difficult to identify with characters immersed in the struggles of middle-age. Walter White’s journey may be unique, but it’s certainly a side street on our own roadmap. Breaking Bad is about drugs, but its not. It’s about a kind of desperation that disguises darkness as a bright dazzling promised land. It can convince the most intelligent man that his motives are pure when they’re actually selfish and harmful. It’s about the seduction of power. In the case of Walter White, the lure is drugs, but it could have been anything. Diamonds. Chicken sandwiches. Politics. There is bait waiting on a hook for all of us.

Breaking Bad provides appeal for the most unappealing characters. There is Mike, seedy and indestructible. There are two low-life numbskulls named Badger and Skinny Pete, the ultimate losers who are as harmless as they are unsavory. There is Saul. Better Call Saul. He is Walter White’s attorney and a Supreme Court Justice when it comes to one liners. What Ken Nugent is to accident victims, Saul Goodman is to the Albuquerque underworld. You long to know where he made his connections and how his big billboard practice has survived. There is talk of a spin off. Oh, I hope so.

And there is Jesse.

When we first meet Jesse Pinkman, he is a hapless meth dealer who happily calls himself Captain Cook. Then he teams up with Walter White, his former chemistry teacher. The more Walter grows comfortable with his ugly enterprise, the more Jesse is horrified. And yet he sinks deeper. And deeper. The evolution of his relationship with Walter is mesmerising. Love-hate was never so volatile or captivating. Jesse learns to care only to see the targets of his affection fall victim to his choices. He becomes a poster boy of regret.

Any review of Breaking Bad has to at least mention Walter’s relationship with his wife, his cerebral palsy afflicted son, his DEA brother-in-law…all so complicated and worthy of examination. Among my favorites are Walter Jr., so polite and innocent. He nearly escapes his father’s misdeeds unscathed. There is Marie, Walter’s sister-in-law, strangely outfitted in purple. She has her own issues far removed from the world of murder and meth.

Leading the evil brigade is Gus. Hiding in plain sight. Walter’s orchestration of Gus’s final chapter is perhaps this show’s finest moment.

Actually, that would be the finale. There has never been anything finer on television. I’ll leave it at that.

The producer’s decision to end Breaking Bad after five seasons was brilliant. They didn’t allow this show to risk jumping a meth addicted shark. We are spared the pounding hangover that could have accompanied our own addiction.

Thanks for the ride, Walter. We’ll miss you.