Breaking Bad - Episode 3.13 - Full Measures - Recap

Hello Spoilertv-verse MattV! here with the run down for last night's episode of breaking bad, Full Measures

Last weeks penultimate episode of the third season, Half Measures, ended with Jesse approaching Gus's dealers to avenge last seasons death of Combo. Just when it looked like Jesse was going to die in a shoot out Walt rammed his car into the drug dealers, killing one instantly and wounding the other. A stunned Jesse then watched as Walt executed the remaining dealer and yelled to him, "Run!" I think that most viewers of Breaking Bad can agree that this season has had its share of last minute twists and this finale was no different. But let's start at the beginning....

The episode opens with a flashback to a happier time for both Walt and Skyler. In the teaser a very pregnant Skyler and a full head of hair Walt are shown by a realtor the house that they will soon share together. This teaser does a great job of showing us just how far these two characters have come. Skyler just last episode offered to be Walt's money launderer and Walt is slowly on his way to becoming Omar Little with all the people he has killed. Walt ends the teaser by asking Skyler "Why be cautious? We have nowhere to go but up." Oh how things change Walt.

Back in the present Walt is anxiously waiting in his murder van for a call from Gus. The stakes are much higher now and any wrong move on Walt's part could mean death for himself and Jesse. Something that I found interesting throughout this season of Breaking Bad was the relationship between Walt and his family van. The van almost serves as a mirror of Walt, as it is constantly damaged but still drives on. I was wondering if the van would stop this episode but then I read Breaking Bad was renewed for another season so I stopped worrying. That car can handle another season’s worth of beatings, and so can Walt. He may do some very bad things but at the end of the day it is important to remember that he is still nowhere near as bad as Gus or the late Tuco (r.i.p.), well maybe he is at the end of this episode. Walt gets the dreaded call from Mike the P.I. and it’s time. Before Walt leaves he puts on his black Heisenberg hat, signifying that regular Walt is being left in the car and Heisenberg is coming out to talk. After a brief pat down Mike tells him that he has had a lot to clean up thanks to Walt’s killings and wants to know where Jesse is. Walt plays dumb and says he doesn’t know where he is. This could get messy.

The next scene is a very tense meeting with Gus and Walt where Walt is again asked if he knows where Jesse is and again he plays dumb. When asked about the men he murdered Walt turns it around and asks Gus if he was the one who ordered the hit on Andrea’s younger brother who killed combo. Gus is now the one who plays dumb and says he didn’t but given what we have seen Gus do this season I don’t think it is that much of a stretch to assume. Gus then strong-arm’s Walt into cooking again with one stipulation, he will do the choosing of his assistant. And we know what that means! Gale!

The very next scene for me reaffirmed why I love Breaking Bad. It starts off as a playful scene between Mike and his granddaughter and ends with 4 people dead and another shot. Breaking Bad is all about flipping things on their heads and delivering the unexpected in people and that is exactly what happens in this scene. After the slightly uncomfortable scene between Mike and his granddaughter Mike drives to a lone warehouse and takes out some of the extra balloons he had given his granddaughter. Is he going to some sort of a surprise party? No just a murder. Mike releases the balloons onto the power lines above, disabling them and with a silencer enhanced pistol, kills the 4 cartel hit men inside. The brutality and coldness of Mike while he is killing shows us that he is not one to mess with and might be a problem for Walt and Jesse next season. After he takes out the cartel hired men he calls Gus to check in with him and shoots the Chinese manager of the meth ingredients factory in the hand for being so stupid. Wonder what he has in store for Walt…

Next we are back in the super lab and Walt is introduced to his new Gus-approved partner, Gale. Did anybody else secretly wish that this episode would actually be a cross over with Flight of The Conchords, because I did. This scene seems like a quick little throw away scene but it will become much more important later in the next scene, which is a meeting between Gale and Gus. Gus asks Gale if he could talk over the lab full time if Walt’s cancer were to “worsen” and he tells him it would only take him one more cooking session to fully learn what needs to be done. Now we as the audience know what is going to have to happen by the end of this episode. Someone is going to have to die. Rut ro indeed Scooby.

Fortunately for Walt, Gale is not exactly the most subtle person in the world and very easily reveals Gus’s plans when he asks Walt the best way to purge the catalyst bay, something he has never been curious about before. In addition to the snooping Gale, Walt is now being monitored in the lab by Gus’s cronie Victor. Walt knows that he needs to talk to Jesse and figure out a way to get rid of Gale or else they will both be on the wrong end of Mike’s silencer.

The next three scenes set up the final act of this great finale and reaffirm some bonds between characters, mainly Jesse and Walt. The first scene takes place in Saul’s office and involves Mike strong-arming him into giving up Jesse’s current location, on threat of bodily harm. Saul gives it up easily because above all else he is in it for himself in the world of Breaking Bad. In the next scene Saul seemingly takes Walt to a new property to launder money from, a laser tag arena, but in actuality it is a meeting between Jesse and Walt. Saul just had to play because he too is now being watched. Walt and Jesse talk about all that has happened in the last 24 hours and Walt bluntly tells Jesse that Gus is going to try and take them both out and replace them with the loyal Gale. They need to kill Gale so that Walt is the only chemist around, and therefore indispensible. Walt also thinks that he can bargain with Gus to let Jesse live if Gale is out of the picture. It is only after hearing all of this that Jesse makes a surprising choice. He asks Walt if there is some other way because Gale is more of a bystander than a real threat and even recommends that Walt get protection from the DEA and he will flee the country. Jesse seems to be really on the end of his rope in this episode, similar to last season’s finale. Walt disagrees and tells Jesse that he personally will take Gale out; he just needs Jesse to get his address because Victor and Mike are following him. Jesse eventually agrees after Walt tells him, “I saved your life. Now will you help save mine?”

It is now night and Walt’s plan to execute the competition is about to be put into play. Walt shares a quiet moment playing with his baby daughter and then, with Gale’s address memorized, heads outside to go and do the deed. Unfortunately for him Victor is outside waiting for him and forces him to go to the lab to “fix something.” Walt knows that he is probably being led to his death. Once at the super lab Walt pleads with Victor and now Mike, who both have their guns pointed to kill at Walt. Walt appears to have a moment of great cowardice and tells them that he can give them Jesse’s location, which appears to stop them from immediately killing him. They allow him to call Jesse to come over but as soon as he is connected Walt tells Jesse that he was unable to kill Gale and that he is going to have to do it, because he is currently kidnapped by Gus’s men. Looks like Walt wasn’t going to sell out Jesse after all. The icing on the cake comes when an angry Mike asks Walt what he just told Jesse and Walt only replies by repeating the apartment number of Gale. Walt has out smarted Gus this time and secured both his and Jesse’s lives. Victor runs to try and warn Gale but we all know it is too late at this point.

The final scene of the third season is a shocking one. Back at Gale’s apartment he cannot hear his cell phone over the loud music he is playing while he makes his tea and we know that he has now sealed his fate. He turns off the music when he hears a knock on the door and when he opens it a tearful Jesse takes out a pistol and points it at his head. After some painful pleading from Gale and some crying from Jesse, the camera faces Jesse as he moves the gun towards the center of Gale’s head and just as the scene fades to black we hear a loud gunshot. Walt’s plan has worked and he is now the only chemist in Gus’s pocket, securing both he and Jesse’s lives, but at the cost of the mostly innocent Gale.