Breaking Bad is not a show that gives viewers any kind of a break from its intensity. The new and final episodes of season five premiers Sunday, August 11th on AMC. The first part of season five, which aired July 2012, left viewers in awe of Walt White’s final transformation from a teacher trying to help his family to a power hungry drug lord. At the end of season four, fans were left with one of the most nail biting cliff hangers, as Walt kills both Gus and Hector Salamanca in an explosion at Salamanca’s retirement home, La Casa Tranquila. After calling Skyler as the news breaks of the explosion, Walt simply tells her, “I won.” Walt succeeds in killing his rival Gus, and now in the first part of season 5, he must figure out what to do now that he plans on taking over the meth business.

Walt’s transformation from Walter White to Heisenberg happens due to a series of events that happened in the first part of season five, that viewers could not have imagined when being introduced to the character in season one:

- The beginning of season five starts with a flash forward to Walt’s 52nd birthday, where he meets his former gun dealer in Denny’s parking lot, and it is revealed that Walt has bought a machine gun, and it is now in his trunk. This shows that, even when this part of the season wraps up, there is much more that is going to happen.
- Walt, Jesse, and Mike hesitantly agree that they must work together to destroy all evidence of Gus’s murder, and use a large magnet to destroy the laptop (and almost all the evidence in the room) that housed any evidence of their relationship with Gus. This is one of the first signs the viewers see of Walt’s madness, when he cranks up the voltage, he says it works “because I said so.”
- Saul attempts to sever his ties with Walt, who does not let him out of the deal. Walt intimidates Saul, and there is palpable tension in the room. Walt then says, “We are done when I say we are done.” There are clearly signs that Walt now feels he is the only person in charge when it comes to business.
- A new character, Lydia, is introduced. She worked with Gus though her company, Madrgial, to obtain large amounts of methylamine. She meets with Mike in a diner, where she gives him a list of eleven men that know everything about Gus’s business and were on Gus’s payroll. She implies that Mike should kill them before they start talking to the DEA. Mike shoots down the idea, and says that they will not talk and are highly paid off.
- The relationship between Skyler and Walt continuously worsens. After Skyler’s fake suicide attempt in order for Hank and Marie to take the kids, Walt is finally back in the house. The two continue to fight, but it reaches a new level of when she tells him she will continue to fight him, every day, until his cancer comes back (ouch).
- Saul and Walt work on trying to have the business up and running again. They find a pest control company, Vamonos Pest Control, and decide to cook when the homes are being renovated for pest control. They then find Todd, a young man that they later decide to make one of their henchmen to help with their business.
- Lydia finds a GPS tracker on a case of methylamine. Mike goes to kill her, but she is brought in front of Mike, Walt, and Jesse to plea her case. She says it wasn’t her, and that if they keep her alive, she has a way to remedy the situation. Thanks to the bug that is planted in Hank’s office, they listen in on him talking to a local police officer that says they put the tracker on the tank. Lydia’s plan is revealed, and that is that there is a train traveling through a complete dead zone that is filled with methylamine. In one of the best heists ever seen on television, Walt, Jesse, Mike, and now with the help of Todd steal the meth, and replace it with water. During their celebration, a young boy is watching them celebrate and waves at them. In a moment of silence as they stare at each other in a stand off, Todd shoots him as Jesse lets out a scream of protest.
- Because of the shooting of an innocent child, Jesse wants out of the business. Mike has also said he wants to quit, because the DEA has been on his lead. Though Mike would never crack, the other men that were on Gus’s payroll, the men on Lydia’s list, would eventually start talking.
- Walt is furious at Jesse and Mike backing out, especially since they agreed to sell their portion of the methylamine to Mike’s connection in Phoenix. Walt argues that, if cooked, it can provide them with way more profit. Walt tells the story of how the company he helped start, Gray Matter Technologies, He refuses to sell his part, and quickly goes to steal the methylamine. Mike finds him, and holds him hostage. Walt breaks free, and steals the methylamine. Mike returns, and sees its gone. He runs to the office and holds a gun to Walt’s head, where he simply and in a calm, eerie way, says he has a plan. With a smirk on his face, the episode ends, where he says, “everybody wins.”
- One of the most chilling and unforgettable moments in season five is when Walt goes to meet another drug lord’s henchmen, Duncan to sell him methylamine to make their own product. Mike had made the arrangement, and handcuffs Walter to a radiator. He burns the seal free, and steals the methylamine. The only way that he will give the methylamine back, and that everyone gets his share, Walt must conduct the meeting. Walt’s terms are basically, well, you work for me now terms. Walt tells Duncan that all his men, his boss included, now work for him. He then dares Duncan to say his name. He looks at Walt, and says, “Heisenberg.” Walt replies, “You’re goddamn right.”
- Walt finds out that one of Mike’s men flipped, and told the DEA about Mike. Mike is informed of the news, and realizes he is in deep. Walt demands that Mike give him the names of the men on Gus’s payroll. Mike refuses, and in a shocking turn of events, Walt shoots Mike. He then says that he just realized he could’ve gotten the names of Lydia. They both look out onto the peaceful scene of the lake, and Mike slumps over and dies. Walt then meets with Lydia, gets the names, and has Todd’s uncle, who has connections in prisons because he is head of an Aryan race supremacist group, has them all killed within minutes of each other (shown by them all getting killed in prison in brutal ways, with a juxtaposition of a ticking clock).
- In the final episode, Skyler brings Walt to a warehouse where she asks, “when is it enough?” as they stare at an enormous pile of cash. Skyler says she tried counting it, but it was near impossible. She begs Walt to have their life back, and to be a normal family once again. Walt goes to Jesse, and tells him he accepts the fact that he wants out. Walt leaves him five million, the amount Jesse would have received for the buyout of his share of methylamine from Duncan, and leaves. Walt, at this point, has trained Todd to cook with him instead. There is a trace of irrational confidence in Walt that he believes Jesse will come back and cook for him eventually.
- Walt returns home, and goes to Skyler and says, “I’m out.” Whether he means it or not, it is still a bit unclear. The end of the final episode seems happily ever after. The family is together, including Hank and Marie, having a barbeque outside. Okay, readers. Brace yourself for the biggest plot twist that could happen in less than a minute. Hank goes to the bathroom, and sits down looking for reading material. He finds a magazine, but looks disinterested. He then finds Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. He starts looking through it, and finds an inscription that reads: “To my other favorite W.W. It’s an honour working with you. Fondly, G.B.” In a flashback, Hank is sitting across from Walt after Gale’s death, jokingly saying, “W.W… who do you figure that is? Woodrow Wilson? Willy Wonka? Walter White?” in which Walt quickly responds, ironically, “You got me!” Well, Walt, it seems that Hank really does have you now after all, and the look of realization on his face says it all.

What will come for the final episodes of Breaking Bad? There have been many predictions, and fans are on the edge of their seats waiting for next week’s premier, myself included. As much as I was hoping it would be that Gus comes back from the dead, zombie style, for bloodthirsty (see what I did there?) revenge, I highly doubt that will happen. My prediction now is that there will be a rival druglord, possibly someone who knew Gus that tries to fight Walt for the top spot in the meth making business. I also predict, thanks to the intense last two minutes of the last episode, that Hank is going to have to find a way to prove that Walt is connected to the meth business. The look of realization on his face was a little too real for me, and this will, in turn, cause a break between Skyler and Marie if there is a confrontation between the two if Walt is arrested. I guess we won’t know until the final season airs to see if any fan predictions have come true.