Season 5
In the highly anticipated new season, a newly empowered and increasingly remorseless Walter White (Bryan Cranston) finds himself attempting to control a tenuous empire. But uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.
At the end of Season 4, Walt's war with Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) ended in triumphant victory. Now, his transformation from a well-meaning family man into Heisenberg, a ruthless drug kingpin, is almost complete.
No longer under the thumb of a mastermind criminal, Walt now assumes the role of one himself, as he and Jesse (Aaron Paul) look to build their own empire.
Meanwhile, Skyler (Anna Gunn) struggles with the reality of her husband's new role and Hank (Dean Norris) works to wrap up his investigation of Gus' business.
Breaking Bad follows protagonist Walter White, a chemistry teacher who lives in New Mexico with his wife and teenage son who has cerebral palsy. White is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of two years left to live.
With a new sense of fearlessness based on his medical prognosis, and a desire to secure his family's financial security, White chooses to enter a dangerous world of drugs and crime and ascends to power in this world.
The series explores how a fatal diagnosis such as White's releases a typical man from the daily concerns and constraints of normal society and follows his transformation from mild family man to a kingpin of the drug trade.
Broadcast Notes
Season 5 premiered on M-Net Series on Thursday 27 September 2012, at 21h30. New episodes broadcast weekly for eight weeks, before the season went on hiatus until 2013. Season 5 resumed with Episode 9 on M-Net Series Showcase on Sunday 25 August 2013, at 22h30.
The second half of Season 5 premiered on M-Net Series Zone on Friday 29 November 2013, at 21h00. New episodes broadcast in a triple bill, weekly. There are eight episodes in the second half of the fifth and final season, which has 16 episodes in total.
Season 5 originally aired on SundanceTV in a double bill on Thursdays at 21h00. The final four episodes were burned off in double bills at 20h30 on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 December, 2017.