User Reviews

After the incident involving the two dealers Gus is not happy with Walter but he still needs a master chemist so he can't kill him... not yet anyway. When Walt returns to work he finds himself working with Gale again; he appears to harbour no hard feeling and is keen to learn how to do things Walt's way. It quickly becomes apparent that Gus is planning to get rid of Walt; as he tells Gale about Walt's cancer and asks how long it would be before he can take over. Walt isn't stupid either; he knows that Gale is going to replace him as soon as he learns his methods so he determines that if he and Jesse are to survive Gale must die. Gus knows that it was Walt who killed his men but he is still intending to have Jesse killed and with Mike looking for him he could be in real trouble; after all Saul Goodman doesn't seem the sort of person who'd risk himself to keep a client's secret. Walter isn't Gus's only problem; the cartels are still looking for weaknesses in his operation; this leads to a thrilling scene where Mike takes out several cartel operatives who were trying to interfere with his chemical supply.

This was a great conclusion to a fine season; I loved how it began and ended with scenes of potential danger for Walter. It was nice to see Gale return; he seems a genuinely nice person despite his business so when Gus was telling him he would soon be taking over I'm sure he never suspected Gus was planning to kill Walt... this served to make it all the more tragic when Walter realises he must kill Gale.

Of the two protagonists Jesse has often seemed the bad guy and Walt a victim of circumstances but surprisingly up until know whenever one of them has killed somebody it has been Walt; here Jesse must be the one to take a life and Aaron Paul does a fantastic job portraying a man who must do something he knows is terrible. This is made even harder by the fact that his victim only poses an indirect threat. David Costabile also does a fine job in this scene as his character can't understand why somebody is going to kill him. This final scene left me keen to see what happens in series four.

Goddammit. I have strict rules about giving out 10s. One of the rules is if I cant bear to look away but I cant bear to look and I am screaming at the screen and on the edge of my seat. This episode had me doing all the above and it was all in the last 5 minutes of this episode.

I recently mentioned to someone that I have finally started watching Breaking Bad and they described it as Shakespearean. I didnt entirely follow what they meant. I know I am far from the end with two whole seasons to go but damn.. I am stunned. I knew after the last episode Half Measure that I could expect something never seen before in the final of season 3 but nothing could prepare me for this. Bryan Cranston's acting. Aaron Paul's acting. The plot. The plot twists leading to this. The character development. The direction. The lighting. The music. The execution.

Shakespeare would be proud.

Poor Jesse, I do believe that at his core he's not a bad person, he might be a little stupid: he's just made one bad decision after another, he might have steered in some awfully moronic directions, but he never really got to do anything truly horrible. OK, he's making poison that somebody else is going to take, but he's not making them do it. I mean, I don't think he even thinks about it. I repeat, he's a little thick but when push comes to shove, he shows more compassion than MOST of the other characters in the show. Remember that scene with the seriously creepy junkie parents and how he treated the little boy, how he was horrified at what he saw (and remember what he was supposed to do there!), I bet you, he was totally the sweetest person ever to handle that poor kid... Ever since Jane died he might somehow, even unconsciously, feel responsible (at least partly) and that has made him kinda bitter and a little cynical: trying to sell to recovering addicts... until he realizes the girl also has a little boy, and so he can't f*** her over! See? He's not a bad person, I think he has a big bleeding heart. That's why the last scene of season 3 f'in breaks my heart: up to now others are the ones that have seriously injured or even killed somebody (INCLUDING Walt!) He didn't mean for Jane to fall back into drugs, nor did he want her to die... But here we are witnessing the downfall of Jesse, there's no return from this, in doing so he's killing something inside himself too. Kudos to Aaron Paul, you made me feel like somebody slapped me hard, with an anvil, and that god-awful clutch in my heart...

Amazingly brilliant storytelling. Just amazing. Walter White is a genius. And his partner will do the thing that must to be done.

To W.W. My star, perfect silence.

It is an honour to working with you... Fondly G.B.

This is the episode where Breaking Bad finally decides to take off and not come back. This is the episode where Vince Gilligan and his crew decided to take a "Full Measure" and stop playing around with "Half Measures".

Up until this point in the critically acclaimed series, Breaking Bad wasn't fully sure of what it wanted to be or become- at least it seemed. They had been taking half measures for seasons and years. This wasn't a bad thing. It produced plenty of classic scenes and episodes like "Grilled", "One Minute", "Sunset", and "Half Measures".

But here, in "Full Measure", we get the show finally declaring, "This is what I am." This is the last episode of season 3, and in continuation, immediately afterward in episode one of season 4, it picks up right where it left off, in Box Cutter, and solidifies this "full measure" feel with one of the most meticulously planned out act of violence on screen ever witnessed. Up until this episode in season 3, Walt and Jesse had glided along getting by without anybody being killed since Jane's death. Sure, Combo was killed by the street gang, Tomas was killed by them also, and Hank was shot and took out the twin assassins, but Walt and Jesse did not have blood on their hands for any of these.

Here, Walt and Jesse are "all in" and there is no escaping, much like the writers' decision. This is the point where there is no turning back, and the result is the first masterpiece of Breaking Bad.

We start a flashback (which have become favorite staples of the show) of a younger Walt and Skyler looking at buying the house they will eventually own. Skyler is pregnant with Walt Jr. so this is 16 years earlier. We get a character study of Walt here as in the dialogue, it is clearly revealed his ambition to have a bigger house and to aim higher. This explains how he has become so ambitious in the meth business. Walt's ambition was always with him, but it seems like he got sidetracked, and it may have to do with his dominating wife, which is also revealed here when she is persuading him to buy the house, which they end up doing. It's also revealed Walt has a job at Sandia labs so it's great at a viewer finding out a little more about his career and job background when he was younger.

Then it moves to the current day after the credits with with a western style confrontation in the desert between Walt, Gus, and his crew. These eventually go on to become more and more of a staple of the show as it progresses through seasons 4 and 5. All of the best characters are fully present in this episode. We get vintage forms of Saul, Mike, Walt, Gus, and Jesse all on top of their game. The episode moves with incredible suspense, humor, and horror.

The best scene comes about halfway through it. After Mike threatens Saul for not giving up Jesse, we soon have what begins as a rather meaningless scene of Saul driving Walt to check out an arcade that could be a money laundering place. Soon after Saul and Walt enter, Saul reveals how fearful he is that he is being followed and bugged, and it's revealed that Jesse is hiding out there as he comes out of the shadows. Jesse and Walt have a dramatic dialogue here where Jesse tries to persuade Walt to just turn himself in to the DEA and just give up the information- basically get out of the business. He says he himself will run and get a new identity.

Walt tells Jesse no, that he will not go to the DEA, and you can see in his eyes it's because of Hank and his family. He says it's also because Gus can't afford to miss a week of production, and if he doesn't have Gale, then he would have to keep him on the payroll and be unable to kill him. In a heartbreaking realization, Jesse realizes what Walt is saying- that the only way they are safe and can survive is if they kill Gale first. It's a really emotional interaction between the two actors and a dark one that will go on to become a staple of the show, realizing together just how deep in over their heads they are and the shameful things they need to do to save themselves (and their loved ones).

After Walt is kidnapped by Victor in the next scene, at the laundry mat, Mike begins to escort Walt to his execution, and it looks like this is it and there's no way out. But Walt convinces Mike to allow him to make a call to Jesse that will give him up and reveal his whereabouts in town. Mike, being the dedicated man of his word, with a mission to find and kill Jesse Pinkman, cant resist the opportunity, and allows Walt to make the call.

Walt tells Jesse to kill Gale. We flash to Gale's apartment, and he is being his eccentric self cooking dinner and tea listening to his music when there's a knocking at the door. In one of the most heartwrenching scenes up to that point, innocent Gale tells Jesse, "You don't have to do this" as Jesse holds the barrel of the gun to Gale's face with tears in his eyes. The camera angle slowly shifts to the right and focuses in on the gun. A shot rings out and the screen fades to black. Breaking Bad has just arrived at its' true identity.

The final episode of season three is another winner. I was on edge the whole time not knowing what to expect. Things just seem to get darker and darker in this show and this is the best one yet. The interplay between the characters is spot on, the twists and turns come endlessly, even the most menacing of characters are likeable and frightening at the same time.

After the excellent episode Half Measure, the finale still manages keep up at the same high quality and doesn't disappoint at all.

Out of all the killings we saw on the show the one of Gale felt especially sad. This is because Gale was such a nice person, seeing him getting killed was pretty tragic. Not only because of Gale, but also because it was done by Jesse. He is a good guy who definitely struggled with it but had to do it to save Walt. Aaron Paul did an amazing performance, I really felt for him.

But it is better to see Gale killed than Walt or Jesse, I love those characters.

I also would like to mention Jonathan Banks who is absolutely great as Mike. I liked the character this whole season.

The prior episode was excellent, and this was about as good?

I'm really glad I'm watching this years after it aired. I'm not sure I'd be able to handle waiting long for Season 4. The cliffhanger here is just clever enough that it has me legitimately wondering just how things are going to go, and if Jesse really did go through with it...

All of the Gustavo stuff is legitimately interesting. He's a creepy character, and Giancarlo has done really well with his performance. But I have to wonder if he'll be departing in the next season. With the cartel on his a** and now Jesse and Walt threatening to slow down production in whatever way they can. I have a feeling S4 is going to only be better than this.

Skyler over here looking up Money Laundering on Wikipedia whilst kissing her baby... what an icon.

Mike is kind of a bada**? I really enjoyed his screen time on this episode.

A great end to what was a great season full of more twists and turns, great tension, compelling drama, and pretty great performances. Each season has just gotten better than the last.

My overall rating of "Breaking Bad"'s Season 3: 4/10

As much as I'd like to harp on about how this season has introduced way too many unnecessary plotlines, and that it mostly feels superficial and absent of artistic intent, these plotlines do tie up with a bang in this episode. I'm not sure why "Breaking Bad" has become so action-filled all of a sudden, but the PI guy playing out a "Splinter Cell" level makes for a pretty satisfying sequence. Many other sequences - the plot-laden dialogues - also feel significant, as the status quo of this series is certainly not coming back after these events. The acting is, as always, top notch.

I still have my reservations about the overall direction of the plot, as well as the questionable motives of some characters (Why is Saul even remotely OK with playing this game? Does the PI guy actually work for Gus full-time now? Is he Gus' only enforcer other than that Victor (?) guy, for that matter? Why did Walter not talk it out with Gus before killing his dealers? Did Gus authorise the child murder? How much of Gus' motivation did Gale understand?); but at the end of the day, this episode is a very solid one - almost better stand-alone, I'd say.

While watching the first season and a half of "Breaking Bad", I never really got into the tone of the show and rated it just as "okay". About halfway through that second season, however, I really started latching onto the characters and the intensity deepened. This third season for me, then, was the first season I was completely hooked on from beginning to end.

Some of my favorite moments from this season include (minor spoilers)...

-The character of Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), who at first seems like an idiot but once you get to know what he's all about is truly a hilarious (and important) character to the show. He appears in a good portion of the episodes this season. -This is the season where we really learn who/what Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) is all about. Let's just say he's not the innocent-looking "chicken restaurant man" we first saw. -"The Cousins" (played by Daniel & Luis Moncada) are introduced, and boy do they ever add a menace to the show that hadn't been seen until that point. -Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) becoming obsessed with determining the origins of the mysterious "blue meth". He torments himself, ignores wife Marie (Betsy Brandt), and even jeopardizes his health, job, and family in order to solve the case that has haunted him for some time now. -This is also the first season where Walter (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse (Aaron Paul) are not necessarily "partners in crime". Jesse is a different man coming out of rehab, while Walter must make the decision between turning into full-time Heisenberg or trying to extract himself from the drug business (easier said than down, of course). Only complicating matters (at least for a time) is the fact that Skyler (Anna Gunn) knows some of Walt's secrets...but of course not all of them! -The return of a character that you probably had not expected to hear from again. One clue: "ding!".

This is the type of television viewing that is binge-worthy from beginning to end. You won't want to stop at any point! The characters are all fleshed out by this point, the plot always moves forward, and the tone is a better balance (at least in contrast to earlier season). There is still dark/goofy humor, to be sure (just mention "the pizza" to any BB fan and they'll know what you mean), but it doesn't detract from the overall nature of the show anymore.

In the early goings of "Breaking Bad", there were a couple of times where I almost fell off due to that strange tone. I'm now obviously glad I didn't, as it has gone from "oddly entertaining" to "OMG", and that transition was cemented with this incredible third season.

The whole episode is very interesing. The moment with conversation between Walter and Gus making blood cold. When Jessy kills Gale - very touching. Masterpiece. The best episode so far.

The faces of the actors show how committed they are, and I wouldn't be surprised if Aaron Paul (Jessy) cried 15 minutes after the last scene of the episode, as it was supposed to be with Brian Cranston (Walter) during Jane's death. I also appreciate the editing here, which fits perfectly with the vibe of the episode, I think the name of the editor should be mentioned. Skip MacDonald. He won an Emmy for a reason (admittedly for the felina episode, but what a difference) In this episode, Vince Gilligan made one of the best episodes I've watched, not only from Breaking Bad, but in general.

For me, this was the episode where the show got good. Up to now when I first watched, the show was good, yes, but not in my favorite peices of media. This episode is for me when the show went from say a 7.4 to a 9 (and only climbed from there).

In this episode you see the show get much more serious than prior; up to now, yes, things had consequences and there were dark parts, sure. But Gale was the first likable character who you see die, and not in a dramatic or cool way, a cold, sad, drawn out and painful way that the show hadn't done before. And this would be nothing if not for the way the whole segment is put together, which is also done incredibly well.

In this episode Walter stops taking Half Measures, and after this episode the show certainly does as well.

Gus is a no good psycho, but apparently has people who could do him in. He sees Walter as a loose cannon and plots to get rid of him. The problem is that he can't have any down time on production or there will be consequences. Walter comes to realize that as soon as Gale learns the ropes, he is going to be killed. He decides that the only safety will be in his being the only one who can cook. But before he can act, the big boys move in. The last minute leave us with wide open questions.