Compromise and Cowardice -- Recap -- Breaking Bad -- Episode 3.12 -- "Half-Measures"

So there I was, curled on the couch, holding my knees to my chest. I hadn't breathed in what seemed like forever.

In front of me, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) was doing something I'd known was coming for a long time, but I didn't want to see happen. A CD was in his lap and he began tapping the blue meth onto it before rolling a used dollar bill. "Don't do it," I muttered. "Walt...save him."

My exhortations had about the same impact on the events unfolding as they did when I screamed at referees to change a bad call during a Lakers game.

Jesse snorted the meth, his head shooting back against the head rest of his driver's seat. I understood why he did it, you know. I mean, Jesse's been through a lot:

Jane died of an overdose.

He went through rehab.

He discovered that he had no choice but to work with Walt, or else be run out of business...or worse.

Combo, his best friend, was killed by a kid. And he was sleeping with the kid's sister.

No one in his 12-step program was buying the blue meth.

And that asshole, Gus, had made him shake hands with the drug dealers responsible for making Tomas, the kid, kill Combo as a gang initiation rite.

Now, to top it all off, Tomas was dead, killed by those douchebags.

If anyone was entitled to fall off the wagon, it was Jesse, but I felt the tears welling in my eyes as I watched him enjoy the rush. Then I realized where he was, and why Walt (Bryan Cranston) hadn't been able to find him.

Jesse was back at the dealer's corner. They were there. He reached under his seat and grabbed his gun. He didn't give a shit anymore about keeping the peace Gus demanded of him. Those guys had killed Tomas, killed Combo, and they deserved to die.
Quickly, Jesse got out of the car and walked into the clearing. At first he hid the gun in his jacket, but once he saw the dealers, he knew there was no time left to be slick. He pulled out the gun. They were ready, though, and showed him.

If I wasn't breathing before, my face was turning blue now.

And right as Jesse Pinkman readied himself to put an end to their (and most like his, too) lives, the unthinkable happened.

Walt's Aztec smashed on to the scene and plowed over the dealers. One's body flew over the car, the other's was crushed beneath it. You could hear the bones cracking.

Then, after the car stopped, the door flew open and Walt stepped out. Without hesitation, Walt walked over to the guy still alive, picked the dealer's gun off the ground and put him out of his misery with a heartless bullet.

"Oh my god oh my god oh mygodohmygodohmygod..."

Jesse, wired and just as stunned as the rest of the world, just stood there, unblinking. And as usual, Walt had to tell him what to do next. His bald savior turned to him and simply said:

"Run."

This twelfth episode of Breaking Bad's stellar third season was one of the best hours of television I've had the pleasure of experiencing. It had everything that makes the show great: action, humor, character development, and clever, well-crafted dialogue. This scene stole the show, but it was only able to do it because of what has come before, not just in the episode, but in the season (and series as a whole).

How did we get here, though? What led to this moment when Jesse Pinkman was willing to die and Walt was willing to sacrifice everything to save him?

Compromises, Compromises

The anonymous quote states, "Compromise is never anything but an ignoble truce between the duty of a man and the terror of a coward." That seems to describe what's going on in this episode.

We open with Walt letting his son practice driving. The last time we saw them doing this, Junior (RJ Mitte) was having difficulty using one foot due to his Cerebral Palsy, so he began using two feet. Walt was outraged, and made it clear Junior needed to learn to do it the right way.

Now, Walt is a changed man. He allows Junior to do this, as long as it "safely gets you from point A to point B."

Then Walt arrives at the White house and enters into a conversation with Skylar (Anna Gunn) about her offer to be in charge of laundering his money. Walt is not thrilled by the prospect, but he's afraid of her. She knows too much, and he is still in love with her. Skylar uses this to get him to make another devastating compromise -- Walt gives in to her, but manages to save face by leveraging more family time for himself.

Jesse tries his hand at getting Walt to compromise when he tells him of his plan to poison the drug dealers with ricin -- last heard of when the boys' planned to poison Tuco with tainted meth. Walt doesn't cave on this one, though, making it clear to Jesse that neither were murderers. Of course, they both manufacter a drug that contributes to the deaths of thousands, but...

Walt is worried, though, and this leads him into yet another compromise as he gives up Jesse's plan to Saul (Bob Odenkirk), which gets back to Gus (Giancarlo Esposito), and leads to the episode's second best scene: the intervention. In this scene we see just how afraid of Gus Walt is. His compromising throughout the season has led him to accept the idea that Gus must somehow be vindicated in his decision to allow his dealers to use children in their work. Some might want to believe that Gus didn't know, and that's why he tells the dealers to stop once it is brought to his attention by Jesse, but I can't believe this. Gus is too intelligent and savvy to let something like this go on under his nose. His nonchalant command to the dealers is all the evidence I needed to believe he allowed it to happen, if not directly authorized it.

In this intervention scene, Jesse is forced to join Walt's club of compromise as he shakes hands with the dealers responsible for Combo's death. It reminded me of an old saying my dad had. "Son," he said, "sometimes in life you have to eat shit and grin. The eating shit part's tough, but the grinning is the hardest."

Season three has been about the consequences of compromise, and it all comes to a head when Tomas is found dead and Jesse and Walt make their climatic decisions.

Half-Measures

Walt realizes that he has to choose a side by the end of the episode, and it's the monologue of Mike, Gus' Mr. Wolf, that gives Walt the foundation for change.

Mike tells his story of when he used to be a cop and how he kept compromising with a wife beater. The wife wouldn't press charges, and every time he'd go back on a domestic disturbance call, things would be worse. But one night Mike said he'd had enough and drove the asshole to an isolated area and put a gun in his mouth to threaten him straight. The man made his promises through tears, shit, and piss, and Mike let him off with a warning. True to form, though, the next time he was called out, the wife was dead. Mike realized that he should have killed the wife beating SOB, but he had only taken half-measures.
When Walt sees the news report of Tomas' death, he understands that he has been letting too much happen, has been turning a blind eye for too long. Is this revelation just on this situation, or is it a turning point in his life as a criminal? That will remain to be seen. One thing is for certain: his relationship with Gus will never be the same, and the two are headed for a showdown that won't be as pleasant as their dinner at Gus' house.

Hank, Marie and the Groundhog

Breaking Bad wouldn't be as good without its humorous moments that break up the tension. This episode featured one of the funniest bits this season as Marie continues to try convincing Hank to leave the hospital and rehab his legs at home.

She bets him that if she can get his groundhog to see its shadow he'll have to go home. She wins. So does he, judging by the smile on his face that says, "Yes! I'm going to be able to have SEX again!" What guy wouldn't have that reaction in the face of the thought he might be paralyzed from the waist-down for the rest of his life?

Hank compromises, but it's a good one for them both. In Hank's world, compromise leads to everyone being happy. In Walt's, compromise leads to someone losing something too valuable.

Last Thoughts

I didn't mention the incredible teaser for the show, yet, but it can't be ignored. Since that really weird tejano band music video back in season two, the series has been very good at using the teaser to provide a unique perspective on the themes of the upcoming episode. And since compromise was the theme of the hour, what better way to showcase it than to provide us with a lighthearted montage of the meth-addicted prostitute, Wendy, turning tricks to feed her addiction. Having it set to the Association's "Wendy" was a stoke of genius and left me feeling very disturbed by the whole thing.

Lastly, this episode alone has made me believe that Breaking Bad is now officially the best scripted show on television. No other series seems as confident in its narrative than Vince Gilligan and his team of writers. Most other shows would have seen this as the season finale/cliffhanger, but it's obvious there's something even better coming next week.

This is my first post here at Spoiler TV. I hope you enjoyed it. If you are interested in reading more of my recaps, reviews, etc., check out my blog, Lost in Pop Culture.