The episode starts with a flashforward to Walter White in a Denny's restaurant, on his 52nd birthday. Walt, sporting regrown hair and a beard, is using a New Hampshire driver's license and an alias. As he chats with the waitress and arranges his bacon in the shape of the number 52, he seems despondent. He meets with Lawson in the restroom, where he is given the keys to a car that has an M60 machine gun and ammunition in the trunk. In the present, Walt disposes of the pipe bomb materials and the lily of the valley plant involved in his successful plot against Gus Fring. Soon afterward, Skyler arrives home with Walt, Jr. and Holly. Walt, Jr. explains that Gus's illicit activities are the subject of a media frenzy and that the DEA believes the danger against Hank and Marie Schrader has abated. Skyler tries not to speak to Walt, explaining that she is now "scared" of him. Walt suddenly remembers the surveillance cameras that Gus installed in the superlab, realizing that the footage Gus may have collected could incriminate him. The following day, Mike Ehrmantraut, still recovering at Gus's makeshift clinic in Mexico, is told by a doctor that Gus has been killed. Furious, Mike attempts to drive across the border, and he comes across Walt and Jesse Pinkman. Mike prepares to shoot Walt, but Jesse persuades him to stand down as Walt explains that the security footage collected from the lab stands to incriminate Mike as well as Jesse and himself. Mike discloses that the feed went to Gus's laptop computer in his office at Los Pollos Hermanos. He repeatedly urges Walt and Jesse to take their money and flee the area while they still can, but his pleas are ignored. Meanwhile, Hank, having found the surveillance camera in the burned-out superlab, seizes the laptop as evidence. Walt, Jesse, and Mike learn that the computer is being kept at an Albuquerque Police outpost. Mike advises that they all leave the city, but Walt pursues Jesse's idea of using a powerful magnet to destroy the hard drive on the laptop without having to break into the highly secured evidence room. The trio manages to acquire a truck fitted with an industrial electromagnet from junkyard owner Old Joe and drive it to the outpost. Once activated, the magnet destroys the evidence room and, presumably, the information on Gus's laptop. Despite being forced to abandon the truck, the three escape. As they drive away, Walter defies Mike's doubts that everything is settled, ultimately telling Mike that everything worked perfectly, "because I say so". Mike and Jesse have different reactions to Walt's hubris: Jesse's expression conveys shock at Walt's answer, while Mike's expression conveys skepticism. Later, during an inventory of the evidence room, the police discover a slip of paper with details of a Cayman Islands bank account hidden in a framed picture from Gus's office, revealed only because of the destruction within the evidence room. The laptop was encrypted and thus useless to the DEA even before Walt and the others destroyed the evidence room; Walt's efforts have only given Hank a fresh lead in the form of the bank account information. Meanwhile, Saul Goodman approaches Skyler at the car wash and tells her that Ted Beneke survived the injury from his encounter with Kuby and Huell. Skyler visits Ted in the hospital and finds that he has been fitted with a halo brace. An intimidated Ted tells her that he will remain silent about what caused his injury. Elsewhere, Walt argues with Saul about the lawyer's failure to inform him about Skyler's bailout to Ted. It is revealed that Huell was told to pickpocket Jesse's ricin cigarette, which is why Jesse believed it was lost; Saul presents the cigarette to Walt in a plastic bag, remarking that he had no idea Walt was going to poison Brock in the service of killing Gus. Saul tries to end his and Walt's business relationship, but Walt coldly tells him, "We're done when I say we're done". When Walt returns home, he tells Skyler that he knows what happened with Ted and forgives her. As Walt hugs Skyler, she reacts with visible but unspoken dread.
Production
In July 2011, series creator Vince Gilligan indicated that he intended to conclude Breaking Bad with the fifth season. In early August 2011, negotiations began over a deal regarding the fifth and possible final season between the network AMC and Sony Pictures Television, the series' production company. AMC proposed a shortened fifth season to cut costs, but the producers declined. Sony then approached other cable networks about possibly picking up the show if a deal could not be made. On August 14, 2011, AMC and Breaking Bads production team agreed to renew the series for a final 16 episodes. Filming began for the season on March 26, 2012. Following a dispute between AMC and Dish Network that led to Dish's dropping AMC as of July 1, 2012, AMC posted the episode online for streaming. The episode is the shortest in the series, with a runtime of approximately 43 minutes.
Reception
Ratings
"Live Free or Die" was the most watched episode in Breaking Bads history at the time, with 2.93 million viewers.
Reviews
The episode was praised for the flash forwardcold open and Cranston's performance. In 2019 The Ringer ranked "Live Free or Die" as the 23rd best out of the 62 total Breaking Bad episodes.
