"Breaking Bad" was nominated for 29 Emmys in its first for seasons. It scored nods for acting, directing, cinematography, editing and sound mixing -- but never writing.

That drought finally ended with the first half of Season 5. Among the AMC series' 13 nominations this year are two for writing -- Thomas Schnauz for the episode "Say My Name" and George Mastras for "Dead Freight."

Mastras also got his first directing credit on "Dead Freight," which included a complex train-robbery sequence that he had to put together both on the page and on location. It was no small feat -- Mastras tells Zap2it the scene filled "10 or 15 pages" of the script as he laid out the multiple cuts between several characters and places.

Pics: 'Breaking Bad' Season 5

"I guess if you weren't directing, maybe you'd just kind of write the action out and not do it that way," Mastras says.