Live Free or Die

Episode Summary & Review

Summary

In the series 5 premiere, Walt deals with the aftermath of the explosion, while Hank wraps up his investigation of Gus and his criminal empire.

Our Take

The magnet heist: Walt, Jesse, and Mike erase the surveillance footage on Gus’s seized laptop by pointing a junkyard electromagnet at the evidence room from a truck outside the police station. It’s absurd, it’s science, and it works — mostly. The episode’s real engine is Walt at maximum hubris (“We’re done when I say we’re done”) while Mike, whose logistics built the empire, watches a partnership he can no longer control. Also: a cold open in Germany, a Madrigal executive eating her own suicide rather than face interrogation. The season opens at global scale.