Exactly, and probably 80% of the people who watched seasons 1-4 probably did it via Netflix like me, or pirated. Which means the show itself had artificially low ratings etc. (and that leads to other problems...)
Anyhoot, I was worried about the last half of season 5. Most great shows have horrible endings because they either weren't originally planned out and the (Sopranos) or rushed (DeadWood) or an entire season is rushed (HBO ROME)
or because the ending was already guessed by the fans in the first episode, so they pretend it's going to be different, but then it isn't any different from what the fans guessed it was, except the show runner argues with fans and tells them they are wrong, and everyone feels like everything after Michelle Rodriguez's character left was pointless nonsense. (LOST)
Grantland pointed out nicely how Breaking Bad is from the new type of show where they actually could plan an ending as the "dark cable drama" rules have now been laid out thanks to shows like The Wire and Sopranos. Now we expect great endings.
And "I'll tell you what" - Breaking Bad is the first show I've watched where I feel like the final season is exceeding expectations and not being silly and preachy (Deep Space 9) or written from anger at fans (Sopranos)
Like everyone else, I thought Jessie tossing money was unrealistic and a cheap tactic to get Jessie back into the story. But they made up for it the next episode.
Like everyone else, I also knew that the moment Landry showed up, he would ruin everything for Walt.