Everyone thinks Breaking Bad is worth it because the last season essentially pays off for the previous 5.

Not everyone thinks that. I've been following the show in real time since about the second season on, and while it has its hiccups, it also brings to the table something that rare other show does. It doesn't shy away from the dirty sides of life: not the blood and swearing, but the complexity of human beings, the dirt with the marble.

Walter is a brilliant chemist who takes great pride of his work and has great ego, who cares for his family but uses this as an excuse to continue working in the illegal field that finally brings him joy and allows him to feel, as he puts it, "alive". He left his own company and has been jealous of their success ever since, especially - as it has been hinted - because his partner took his girl and made her a partner instead. He's arrogant and selfish, but brilliant nonetheless, and while a big part of me wants to smash him like a bug, there's a sparkle of compassion that Walter raises.

Jessie is an addict because he has ambitions which he can't realize, with genuine and deep care for children, who doesn't shy away from being a criminal and a meth cook and follows through thick and thin one of the people to whose expectations he didn't live up to - until he snaps, grows a spine and quits. I can go on for a long time.

To say nothing of the gorgeous storytelling and the camera work.

All of this is very satisfying to watch. No, it isn't about the season five, which you imply to be somehow miraculous in comparison: it's about the whole story, with season five being its long-awaited culmination (with, I grant you, quite a few award-worthy episodes like Ozymandias). To watch the main characters grow in different ways, each with their own motivations clashing and working hand in hand - now that, my dear, is a powerful story, like very few of the available can provide.