Half Measures

For other uses, see Half measure (disambiguation).

12th episode of the 3rd season of Breaking Bad

"Half Measures"

Breaking Bad episode
Episode no.| Season 3
Episode 12
Directed by| Adam Bernstein
Written by|

* Sam Catlin
* Peter Gould

Featured music|

* "Windy" by The Association
* "Softly Baby" by Red Garland

Cinematography by| Michael Slovis
Editing by| Kelley Dixon
Original air date| June 6, 2010 (2010-06-06)
Running time| 47 minutes
Guest appearances

* Emily Rios as Andrea Cantillo
* Jeremiah Bitsui as Victor
* Julia Minesci as Wendy
* Ian Posada as Brock Cantillo
* Angelo Martinez as Tomás Cantillo

Episode chronology
| ← Previous
"Abiquiu"  | Next →
"Full Measure"

|

Breaking Bad season 3
List of episodes

"Half Measures" is the twelfth and penultimate episode of the third season of the American television drama series Breaking Bad, and the 32nd overall episode of the series. It originally aired on AMC in the United States on June 6, 2010\.

## Plot

[edit]

Skyler White pushes Walt to accept her plan of laundering his drug money through the car wash. Meanwhile, Jesse Pinkman begins to plot against the drug dealers who killed Combo Ortega. Having bought the blue meth from the gang responsible, confirming that Combo's killers work for Gus Fring, Jesse tells Walt and asks him to make ricin to exact revenge. Although Walt appears troubled by the gang's use of children, he dismisses the plan. Jesse replies he will kill them with or without help.

Convinced Jesse is likely to do something rash, Walt visits Saul Goodman and they plan to have Jesse jailed, albeit briefly, to cool down. Meanwhile, Marie Schrader wheels Hank out of the hospital, after betting she can arouse him during a sponge bath.

Mike Ehrmantraut makes an unannounced visit to Walt at home and reveals he also works for Gus, who would "take it as a problem" if Jesse would be jailed. Mike then tells Walt a story from his years as a cop, in which he laments showing mercy to an alcoholic, continually-abusive husband who subsequently killed his wife. Mike tells Walt he chose a "half measure" by giving the husband a warning instead of killing him on the spot, and warns: "No more half measures Walter."

Jesse plants ricin in hamburgers intended for Gus' dealers but is unable to find them at their usual location. He is stopped by Mike and Victor who bring him to a meeting with Gus, Walt, and the two targeted dealers. After tense negotiations, Gus promises his dealers will stop using children as pawns, and Jesse reluctantly promises to "keep the peace." On their way back, Walt tries to calm down the furious Jesse, who refuses to respond.

That night, Tomás, the eleven year old boy who was dealing drugs, is killed. Tomás' sister Andrea rushes to the scene along with Jesse, who realizes the two street dealers have executed Tomás, as he is no longer of value to them. The next day, Jesse fails to show up for a cooking session with Walt, who decides to start without him. During dinner with his family, Walt learns about Tomás' murder on TV and abruptly leaves his house.

Jesse watches the dealers from afar and snorts meth for the first time since rehab. He draws his gun and slowly approaches the two dealers, who draw their own guns and prepare for a confrontation. Suddenly, Walt plows into both dealers with his car, killing one and badly injuring the other. Walt gets out of his car, picks up the injured dealer's gun, and shoots him in the head, killing him. Walt then tells an utterly shocked Jesse one word: "Run."

## Reception

[edit]

Aaron Paul won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in this episode.[1][2]

In IGN's review, the episode is called "fun, creative, well-directed, well-acted and set us up for what's going to be an awesome finale", and was given a 9.7 rating.[3]

In 2019, The Ringer ranked "Half Measures" as the 15th best out of the 62 total Breaking Bad episodes.[4] Vulture ranked it 18th overall. [5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Emmy episode entries revealed: Lea Michele, Hugh Laurie, Jim Parsons plus more". Los Angeles Times. July 15, 2010. Archived from the original on August 11, 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
2. ^ "Winners! Complete List From the 2010 Emmy Awards". E!. eonline.com. August 29, 2010. Archived from the original on October 28, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
3. ^ Amitin, Seth (June 7, 2010). "Breaking Bad: "Half Measures" Review". IGN. Archived from the original on October 22, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
4. ^ Mallory Rubin (September 30, 2019). "The Ringer's Definitive 'Breaking Bad' Episodes Ranking". The Ringer. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
5. ^ Potts, Kimberly (October 10, 2019). "Every Episode of Breaking Bad, Ranked". Vulture. Retrieved March 27, 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* "Half Measures" at the official Breaking Bad site
* "Half Measures" at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Breaking Bad

Episodes|

| Season 1|

* "Pilot"
* "Cat's in the Bag..."
* "...And the Bag's in the River"
* "Cancer Man"
* "Gray Matter"
* "Crazy Handful of Nothin'"
* "A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal"

|

Season 2|

* "Seven Thirty-Seven"
* "Grilled"
* "Bit by a Dead Bee"
* "Down"
* "Breakage"
* "Peekaboo"
* "Negro y Azul"
* "Better Call Saul"
* "4 Days Out"
* "Over"
* "Mandala"
* "Phoenix"
* "ABQ"

Season 3|

* "No Más"
* "Caballo sin Nombre"
* "I.F.T."
* "Green Light"
* "Más"
* "Sunset"
* "One Minute"
* "I See You"
* "Kafkaesque"
* "Fly"
* "Abiquiu"
* "Half Measures"
* "Full Measure"

Season 4|

* "Box Cutter"
* "Thirty-Eight Snub"
* "Open House"
* "Bullet Points"
* "Shotgun"
* "Cornered"
* "Problem Dog"
* "Hermanos"
* "Bug"
* "Salud"
* "Crawl Space"
* "End Times"
* "Face Off"

Season 5|

| Part 1|

* "Live Free or Die"
* "Madrigal"
* "Hazard Pay"
* "Fifty-One"
* "Dead Freight"
* "Buyout"
* "Say My Name"
* "Gliding Over All"

|

Part 2|

* "Blood Money"
* "Buried"
* "Confessions"
* "Rabid Dog"
* "To'hajiilee"
* "Ozymandias"
* "Granite State"
* "Felina"

Characters|

* Walter White
* Jesse Pinkman
* Skyler White
* Hank Schrader
* Marie Schrader
* Walter White Jr.
* Saul Goodman
* Mike Ehrmantraut
* Gus Fring
* Todd Alquist

Related|

* Awards and nominations
* Better Call Saul
* "Breaking Bad"
* El Camino
* Metástasis
* Talking Bad
* Faking Bad
* "Baby Blue"
* "Celebrity Booze: The Ultimate Cash Grab"
* "Pickle Rick"
* "Emmy-Winning Episode"
* "(You Gotta) Strike for Your Right"

* Category

*[no.]: number
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*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template