 --- The final season of Breaking Bad --- Tagline: Power Corrodes (part 1) Tagline: All bad things must come to an end (part 2) Tagline: Remember My Name (part 2) Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul return in their Emmy winning roles of meth cooks Walter White and Jesse Pinkman in the fifth explosive season of Breaking Bad. With Gus Fring dead, Walt's transformation from a well-meaning family man to a ruthless drug kingpin is nearly complete. Forming a partnership with Jesse and Mike, Walt proceeds to make a killing until the fruits of his murderous schemes are threatened by a new development in the investigation led by Hank. Executive produced by Vince Gilligan and Mark Johnson. 5.01 Live Free or Die - Flash ahead to Walter's 52nd birthday: he's at a Denny's, disheveled, hair and beard unkempt, using a false name and a New Hampshire driver's license, paying a guy for a car with weapons in the trunk. Back to the immediate aftermath of Gus's death: Skyler is dazed at Walt's murderous success, Walt and Jesse make peace, and Hank visits the burned-out lab. Walt remembers the surveillance cameras Gus used at the lab, so they turn to an angry Mike for help. Can they get rid of the digital evidence in police custody? Is hubris going to trip up Walt? 5.02 Madrigal - In Germany, the head of a multinational company's fast food division - which includes Gus' franchised chicken restaurants - commits suicide when the police come to question him about his ties to Gus Fring. With Jesse fretting over what happened with the poison cigarette intended for Gus Fring, Walt plans an elaborate ruse to let him find it in his house. With that out of the way, they approach Mike to join them in starting up the business but he refuses. Mike is also approached by a woman, Lydia - obviously involved in Gus Fring's drug business - who is worried about the number of people who could have their arms twisted to testify against them and wants them eliminated. Mike declines but when someone goes after him, he knows the source. 5.03 Hazard Pay - Walter moves back into the house, to Skyler's dismay. Walter, Mike and Jesse meet with Saul to discuss finding a new place to "cook." The group visits potential locations for a laboratory, but none is quite right. Walter decides they should use a pest control business as a cover. They will cook in the houses that have been tented over by the pest control business. Mike visits each of his crew to ensure that they stay mum, even with the feds pressuring them. Hank goes back to work. Skyler remains numb, and Marie badgers her about what's wrong. When it comes time to divide the spoils of their first cook, Mike says that much of the money must go to his former men, whose assets were seized when they were arrested. Walter reluctantly accepts this, but hints to Jesse that he may consider an attempt to remedy this situation. 5.04 Fifty-One - Walter, his confidence up, leases two muscle cars - one for himself and one for Junior. He's turning 51 and would like a party, Hank and his team visit Lydia in Houston, Jesse flies there to pick up the accelerant. Lydia offers up her own employee to the DEA and Mike offers her a replacement — Jesse. Together, she and Jesse spot a tracking device on a barrel of methylamine. Mike believes she placed the device herself. Hank is offered a promotion. Walt admits cooking again to Skyler and explains Skyler's behavior to Marie and Hank with references to Ted. Skyler, coming slowly out of her funk, hatches a makeshift plan to protect her children. 5.05 Dead Freight - A boy on a motorbike finds a large tarantula in the desert. Walter pays a visit to Hank in the new office; Walt's intentions are not entirely above board as he uses the visit to plant a bug in the office. The bug exonerates Lydia of being the one who planted the tracking device on the barrel of methylamine. The team's search for methylamine continues, with Michael and Lydia at odds, and Jesse wanting to obtain the chemical without resorting to murder. They hatch an elaborate plan involving buried tanks, a train trestle, and a stalled truck. The children remain with Hank and Marie to Junior's increasing anger and frustration. Skyler lays more of her cards on the table. What price success? 5.06 Buyout - Walter, Jesse, Mike, and their associate deal with the aftermath of the methylamine train heist. Mike is experiencing increased pressure because he is under constant DEA surveillance. He and Jesse begin to have doubts about their ability to continue in the illegal drug business. Mike strikes a buyout deal, which Jesse phones Walter to discuss. Walter invites Jesse to his home to talk, and confides in Jesse about his regret about selling out of Gray Matter for $5,000 and his plans to build another empire. When Skyler arrives, Walter insists Jesse dine with them. At dinner, Skyler reveals she knows that Walter told Marie about her affair with Ted Beneke. Talking after dinner, Walter tells Jesse that Skyler sent their children to live elsewhere and is waiting for his "cancer to come back," and that that he intends to continue cooking meth at all costs, because "the business" is all he has left. 5.07 Say My Name - Walter, Jesse and Mike meet with Declan, without the methylamine. Walter suggests that he cook for them, while they take a 35% cut and pay off the $5,000,000 to Mike. Jesse still wants to quit cooking meth after he has seen so much bloodshed and, after a dispute, Walter eventually lets him leave but is not willing to pay Jesse any of the "dirty money" he has earned. Meanwhile Hank has been told to end his pursuit of Mike, so instead he follows the lawyer, Dan Wachsberger, who is laundering Mike's money. Dan gives in to the DEA, but Walter finds out and warns Mike, who tells him to get the emergency getaway bag he left at the airport. When they meet, Walter demands that Mike tell him the names of the nine people in prison whose silence Mike has been paying for. Mike refuses to meet Walt's demand, so Walter shoots him using a gun he found in Mike's bag. Mike appears to escape, but Walt finds him. He then realizes aloud that he could have gotten the names from Lydia, and apologizes to Mike, who then tells Walt, "Shut the fuck up, and let me die in peace." Within a few moments, Mike dies and falls to the ground. 5.08 Gliding Over All - Walter meets with Lydia to obtain the names of Mike's associates. Lydia (correctly) suspects that Walter will dispose of her once he obtains the names unless she becomes useful in another way, so she pleas, succeeds, and partners with him to expand his distribution overseas to the Czech Republic. Walter takes the names to Todd's uncle, who has ties with Aryan Brotherhood gangs operating in the prisons. The nine prisoners and Mike's lawyer, including at least one ready to flip for Hank, are all killed within 2 minutes of each other as Walter had insisted upon. Walter's meth production runs profitably and uninhibited. Skyler makes another effort to convince Walter to give up meth production, and Walter, shaken by his murder of Mike and seeing an opportunity to reunite his family, relents. Walter pays back Jesse's cut of the methylamine sale, and apparently gives up on meth production for good. The Whites' children move back in, and the family seems to be back in order. During a lunch by the pool, Hank skims through Walter's copy of Leaves of Grass, left in the bathroom, and notices a note on the inside cover is addressed from "G.B." to "my other favorite W. W.". Hank remembers when he had read Gale Boeticcher's notebook with W.W. initials on. Hank looks on in surprise, seeing clearly that Walter is Heisenberg. 5.09 Blood Money - In a flashforward, an unkempt Walter arrives at his dilapidated and fenced off abandoned house. He grabs the vial of ricin, but is noticed by his neighbor, Carol. When Walter greets her, she drops her groceries in apparent shock. The narrative returns to immediately after the last scene in the previous episode. Hank's realization that Walter White may be Heisenberg causes him to have a panic attack while driving home with Marie, crashing the car. This gives him an excuse to call out of work as ASAC of the Albuquerque DEA office. However, he takes the opportunity to request all files of the Fring case and matches the handwriting in Walter's copy of Leaves of Grass with that of Gale. Meanwhile, Jesse is in a volatile downward spiral similar to his state after Jane's death. He attempts to donate all his money to the Sharp family and Kaylee Ehrmantraut using Saul Goodman causing Walt to show up at his house and emphatically deny killing Mike. Meanwhile Walt's cancer returns. After a chemo treatment, he finds his copy of Leaves of Grass missing. Alarmed at the coincidental timing of Hank's illness, Walt immediately searches for and finds a GPS tracker on his car. When he confronts Hank, Hank punches Walter and tells him that he's aware of what he's done. Walter pleads with Hank, reasoning that he will soon die anyhow and that prosecuting him would be pointless. Hank, now in shock more than anger says, "I don't even know you." Walter replies threateningly, saying, "If that's true—if you don't know who I am—then maybe your best course would be to tread lightly." 5.10 Buried - A man, while collecting Jesse's thrown money from the previous episode, discovers Jesse parked in a playground and absentmindedly spinning on a piece of playground equipment. Walter leaves Hank's house, and attempts to call Skyler. However, Hank reaches Skyler first, and arranges to meet her at a restaurant to discuss the situation. However, his ulterior motive of wanting to apprehend Walter becomes evident when he asks Skyler to make a taped statement in the restaurant, which Skyler refuses, leaving in a fit. Walter takes his money and buries it in the desert at the Tohajiilee Indian Reservation, and buys a lottery ticket whose numbers match the GPS coordinates of his cache; he attaches the ticket to his refrigerator. Lydia visits Declan's meth lab, and tries to convince him to use Todd as the chemist because his own product is inadequate for Lydia's Czech connections. Declan refuses, causing Todd, his Uncle and his Uncle's gang to kill Declan and his associates and take the equipment. Hank, unable to obtain information from Skyler or Walt, returns to his office at the DEA to learn that Jesse is being detained and questioned regarding his disposal of his money. 5.11 Confessions - In a show of respect to Walt, Todd leaves a message telling him of the messy "change of management" that occurred in his former meth empire. Jesse, face-to-face with Hank in the interrogation room, learns that Hank knows Walt is Heisenberg but refuses to cut a deal and give Walt up. After Marie makes a play to lure Walter, Jr. away from home, Walt intercepts him and discloses the return of his cancer, keeping Junior at home and away from Hank and Marie. At an arranged public meeting, Walt, Skyler, Hank, and Marie are together for the first time since Hank discovered Walt's illegal activities. When Walt's attempts to negotiate with Hank fail, he ends the conversation and leaves with Skyler, but not before he issues a gambit to guarantee his freedom: he leaves Hank and Marie with a DVD of what appears to be Walt's video recorded confession we saw Walt and Skyler begin making earlier. At home, Hank and Marie stand before their television watching in disbelief as Walt convincingly confesses his part in the meth manufacturing scheme and year of mayhem it precipitated, saying all of it was Hank's scheme and he participated in it out of desperation and violent coercion. Walt meets Jesse and Saul in the desert and offers Jesse money to leave town for good and assume a new identity. Jesse sees Walt's offer as mistrust that Jesse will ultimately cave in to Hank and recognizes in Walt's offer an implicit death threat if he doesn't accept it. Later, seeing no other option, Jesse agrees to meet Saul's contact who will give him a new identity until he realizes after Saul's henchman lifted dope from his pocket that Saul knew of the mysterious disappearance of the ricin from Jesse's cigarette pack. Realizing now that Walt–worst among all his evils–poisoned Brock, Jesse lapses into a rage and breaks into the White home and douses it with gasoline. 5.12 Rabid Dog - Walt finds Saul's car haphazardly crashed in his driveway, and his house unoccupied and doused in gasoline. He leaves a message on Jesse's voice mail to meet him in a plaza at noon in order to explain himself. When Skyler and Walt Jr. arrive home, Walt spins a story of a pump malfunction at the gas station which he says covered him in gasoline, and convinces the family to spend a few days in a hotel, which, for Walt, is a safety precaution. Skyler still perceives Jesse as a threat, however, and says he needs to be dealt with. Backtracking, we see Jesse moments away from lighting Walt's house on fire when Hank breaks in, pointing a gun at him. Hank proposes working together to burn Walt, to which Jesse agrees. Hank then takes him home and, the following morning, videotapes Jesse's confession. Hank, having listened to Walt's message, plays Jesse the message and informs him that that they plan to wire Jesse and have Walt confess to him at their meeting. Upon arriving at the plaza, Jesse sees an unarmed Walt sitting on a bench, but instead calls Walt, refusing to meet and threatening to "get him where he really lives." Jesse tells Hank that there's a better way to burn Walt. After getting in his car, Walt calls Todd to say he has another job for his uncle. 5.13 To'hajiilee - Lydia is unsatisfied with Todd's cook; the product is only 76% pure and lacks the blue hue. She demands that these issues be resolved. Walt calls Todd to negotiate a hit on Jesse. Meanwhile, Jesse attempts to learn the whereabouts of Walter's money through Huell. Hank and agent Gomez visit Huell, convincing him that Walt killed Jesse and will kill Huell next. Todd's uncle agrees to carry out the hit on the condition that Walt cook again so that Todd can observe him. Walt attempts to lure Jesse out of hiding by having Andrea leave him a concerned message. Hank intercepts the message, however. Aware that Walt has buried his money somewhere, Hank stages a photo to convince Walt that Jesse found the money. Walt immediately panics upon seeing the image, and is called by Jesse who tells him that he's found the cash and plans to burn it all. As Walt frantically drives to To'hajiilee where the money is buried, he desperately pleads with Jesse to reconsider, unintentionally confessing to various murders. He arrives to find no one there. Realizing he's been tricked, he hides as Hank, Gomez, and Jesse approach. Walt calls Todd's uncle and demands that he and his crew come to his rescue at once. Upon seeing who has come, however, he orders them off, resolving to give himself up. He comes out of hiding and surrenders, but Todd's uncle and his crew arrive. Walter begins screaming at them to leave, but seeing that Walt is in custody, they draw their weapons. After a standoff, both sides open fire as Jesse, in Walt's vehicle, and Walt, in Hank's Suburban, cower down and attempt to avoid the fusillade of bullets. 5.14 Ozymandias - After the dust from the shootout has settled, Jack and his team remain unscathed while Agent Gomez lies dead and Hank with a bullet in his leg. Hank spots Gomez's shotgun and crawls to it. Jack manages to step on it and take it away before he can get it. Jesse has gotten out of the Chrysler and is hiding under the car. Jack sends a search party out to unsuccessfully find him. Jack, about to assassinate Hank, is screamed at by Walt, who is released from the car by Todd. Walt begs Jack not to kill Hank, offering him all $80,000,000 of his fortune. Jack asks Hank what he should do. Hank responds by telling Jack to "go fuck himself" and is subsequently shot and killed. Walt collapses in grief. Jack and his team then look at the coordinates Walt gave them and find all 8 barrels of money. They load 7 of the barrels in their trucks and 1 into the Chrysler for Walt, who tells him that the hit on Jesse was never filled. Jack says they'll find him but Walt says he already did. Jesse is pulled out from under the car and about to be murdered when Todd tells Jack they should find out what he told the Feds first. He's taken away and thrown into a cell back at Jack's headquarters for a while before being pulled and his handcuffs attached to a chain in a meth lab. Todd suits up and tells Jesse it's time to cook. Meanwhile, Walt begins to drive away when he runs out of gas due to a stray bullet piercing his gas tank. He rolls his barrel through the desert until he reaches an American Indian's house and buys his truck. Meanwhile, Marie has gone to the gas station and told Skyler that Walt is in custody. She offers her support as long as all of the fake confessions are destroyed and Walt Jr. is told the entire story. They call him into the office where he claims the entire thing is "bullshit" in disbelief. Skyler and Walt Jr. drive home to find Walt demanding them to pack. Skyler demands to know where Hank is. Believing Walt to have killed Hank, Skyler grabs a knife and cuts Walt's hand before being wrestled to the ground and the knife taken from her. Walt Jr. manages to get Walt off of Skyler and pulls out his phone to call the cops. Walt takes Holly and leaves in the truck with Skyler running after. Police arrive after Walt is long gone when the phone rings. Walt, on the other end, berates Skyler, telling her it's her fault everything bad happened and his taking Holly is punishment. He then leaves Holly in a firetruck at a nearby station and leaves her to be discovered by the firefighters. We end seeing Walt being picked up by Saul's guy to be given a new identity. 5.15 Granite State - Walt is relocated to a cabin in New Hampshire. After being interrogated by the DEA, Skyler is threatened by Todd not to talk about Lydia. Jesse tries to escape from the Aryan Brotherhood, but is caught and punished. Walt calls Walter Jr, but Walter Jr. gets enraged and hangs up the phone. Walt then calls the DEA to turn himself in. While sitting at the bar, Walt watches Charlie Rose interview Elliott and Gretchen; both deny Walt has any serious claim to or history with Gray Matter. The police encircle Walt's location, but he has already left. 5.16 Felina - Walt locates Gretchen and Elliot's new house and gives them the money to give to Walt Jr. when he turns 18. He then crashes a meeting between Lydia and Todd, putting the ricin in Lydia's stevia. He then travels to Skyler's new apartment and owns up to everything he did, saying he did it for himself. He then drives to the Aryan Brotherhood's headquarters with the M60 jury-rigged in the trunk to fire at the press of a button. When Jack brings Jesse in from cooking to show him to Walter, Walt tackles Jesse to the ground and presses the button on his keychain. The M60 rips through the Aryan Brotherhood, leaving Walter wounded and Todd alive for Jesse to strangle him to death. Walt finishes off Jack and gives Jesse the gun. Jesse refuses to kill him, jumps in a car and drives away. Lydia calls Todd, not knowing that he is dead, and Walt picks up and tells her that she's been poisoned. Walt then goes into the meth lab and spends his final moments of life with the equipment before the cops arrive and find his body. ------------------------------Cast Notes: Bryan Cranston (Walter White [62 episodes, 2008-2013]), Anna Gunn (Skyler White [62 episodes, 2008-2013]), Aaron Paul (Jesse Pinkman [62 episodes, 2008-2013]), Dean Norris (Hank Schrader [62 episodes, 2008-2013]), Betsy Brandt (Marie Schrader [62 episodes, 2008-2013]), RJ Mitte (Walter White, Jr. [62 episodes, 2008-2013]), Bob Odenkirk (Saul Goodman [43 episodes, 2009-2013]), Jonathan Banks (Mike Ehrmantraut [29 episodes, 2009-2013]), Steven Michael Quezada (Steven Gomez / ... [28 episodes, 2008-2012]), Giancarlo Esposito (Gustavo 'Gus' Fring [26 episodes, 2009-2011]). IMDb Rating (11/19/12): 9.4/10 from 145,593 users
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