‘Breaking Bad’ Retro Recap: ‘Full Measure’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

One question that we ponder upon at some point in our lives, is how far we would go to protect our family members and loved ones from harm. And we ponder upon that, to remind ourselves of how much we love them and how much they mean to us. But while we have thought about that scenario from time to time and discuss it with others now and again, what’s fascinating about this line of thinking is that the vast majority of us, never ask that question in regard to our own personal safety. Likely because we never quite think we will be in a scenario where we need to do whatever it takes to see another day, but it wouldn’t be a bad thing to ponder on such a notion… if only for a moment.
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In part because, you never know, but also to give us perspective in this life. Because there are some folks, that do have to ponder upon that question and execute whatever plan comes out of it and one type of person that likely has to think about this more often than they’d like, are drug dealers. Since that career field is a chaotic one at best, where anything can happen on a moment’s notice and it just so happens, that Walter White has to deal with this particular conundrum in the season three finale of Breaking Bad. For when we catch up with Walter in ‘Full Measure’, the situation is quite grim. After all, two of Gus’ drug dealing lieutenants are dead and Jesse Pinkman looks like the prime suspect to Mister Fring, even though he’s innocent here and well… that forces the real killer, Walter, to step in and try and smooth everything over.

A feat that he manages to accomplish by proving to Gus that he does indeed respect him and his role and understands his reach, and once both men come to even ground, Walter is able to land his old job back and even land a new/old lab assistant in Gale, making it seem as though… everything is going to be okay. But it doesn’t take long for Walter and the audience to realize, that Gus isn’t happy with the drama that Walter and Jesse have brought to the table and that he wants to replace Mister White the first chance that he can and that’s when Walter has to think about how far he is willing to go in order to protect his own life and well… what he comes up with to make that happen is pretty damn impressive. Because if there is no Gale in the picture, there’s no chance that Walter will be muscled out and that motivates him to put together a sneaky plan to make that happen with Jesse.

One that Walter must put into motion pretty quick when Gus decides that he has outstayed his welcome and as it turns out, Walter is fully prepared to do whatever it takes in order to ensure that he sees another tomorrow. For his plan involved having Jesse make a mad dash to Gale’s house, in order to straight up kill him, all so that both men can continue to live and collect their money and finish what they started in essence and it would seem that the plan goes off without a hitch. Because despite being nervous to do what must be done, Jesse does indeed show up at Gale’s doorstep and he does indeed fire a single shot at Gale at point blank range. But alas, the screen fades to black before we learn the final result of this incredible end around, leaving us to wonder if Jesse’s moral code kicked in at the last possible second.  

But more than likely, that was the end of Gale and this bold move on Walter and Jesse’s part will undoubtedly put them back in the lab to cook since Gus Fring will indeed be forced to use them both to make more Blue Sky. But while we wait to see if that is the case, we can bask in the wonder of one wild and tense tale. One where danger was once again hanging over every single moment, since we hadn’t a clue if Gus was going to snap and execute his plan sooner and well, in the end, you simply cannot go wrong with a finale that raises the stakes in this manner and corrupts characters in this fashion. Because all trouble aside, Walt and Jesse really did commit to the darkness here and further corrupted their souls in the process… and it will be quite interesting to see how their actions here change them for the worse, when we dive into season four of this magnificent series. Until next time.

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