Something too is that their edited reactions are 25-30 minutes so they can capture a lot more. So many reaction channels just do 10 minute reactions so how the hell do you properly capture 45+ minutes?
@spencerwattamaniuk950 yes they do 10 mins of reaction and still wonder about copyright . Is this reactions all copyright clamed or if not then how come?
Mike's speech is just presenting this idea to the audience. The half or whole measure was for Walt to decide. Walt chose a full measure and took Jessie's side. If Walt had of just stayed home and had dinner with his family, the entire series would have took a different turn. Walt and Jessie constantly fight and go back and forth, but no matter what they always choose to defend each other when an outside force comes between them.
@@MattAlbie gosh I know I hate it when people miss the point and want to try and correct someone obviously it is a typo or the person was talking to the phone and it picked up wrong geeze can't people understand anything when they read? Lol
@@TheRepublican777Like if it's a blatant mistake and the context makes that obvious, it's still a slightly annoying snobby thing to do but it's justified at least. This is just like... Shut up dude, sit down.
@@MattAlbie lol yea I usually talk text to my phone so there is always mistakes and lack of punctuations in my comments because the phone doesn't know when to stop and put those and a lot of times it hears me wrong and I don't always catch it before I send my comment and I don't always go back to correct every single thing lol. People need to read the comment and move on lol
I'm sitting here in my raggedy hoodie which is still pretty comfy, but with a fleece blanket over my legs that is also comfy, thinking "why have I not heard that it was possible to combine these two things??"
Thank god a reaction channel left Mike's speech in. So many cut it and it's pretty much one of the most major speeches in the entire show and changes Walt's entire persona.
"The level of Gusery", I like how Gustavo's character has reached the level of adjective. I hope Giancarlo Esposito got a few awards for his performances.
Little kids bring out Jesse's protective nature. Not that it wouldn't for others, but if we are talking about where the line is in a show about a bunch of meth cooks and dealers, harming children is it for Jesse. I think it's because he's got a little brother as well. So while he may be ok selling drugs to rehab patients or even killing and liquifying people, whenever he sees children in harm's way, his protective elder brother nature kicks in and he cannot let it slide anymore. It's a major part of his character throughout the show.
two conversations i'd like to point out: "they use kids because hey, why not? easy to control. easy to fool... get 'em young and they're yours forever." jesse, you're describe your relationship with walt here! and jesse speaking to wendy: "wouldn't you do anything to protect your kid?" later in the episode walt protects jesse's life and his innocence (from murder). there's also the flashback opening scene in the next episode when walter briefly mentions wanting 3 kids total eventually. i just really like this running theme. they also mentioned how walt talks to jesse like a rebellious angsty son, definitely deliberate. ahhhh i love this show!!!
i never picked up on that! i always knew Walt was like a toxic father figure to jesse but the flashback of walt wanting 3 kids never even clicked for me.
The first half of season 3 is "How can Walt fck everything up?" The second half of season 3 is "How can Jesse fck everything up?" Y'all gonna love season 4. Y'all wanted to see Walt fully commit. This it.
This is the episode that skyrocketed Mike to one of my favorite characters and he only gets better from here. Also the ending is wild. Walt is starting to choose full measures even though it wasn't the way Mike intended.
The funny thing is, I think it was actually Gus who took the half measure in this episode. Obviously from his perspective Jesse is a troublemaker and addict and not someone from within his own organization that he can trust, but he's still someone with a valuable set of skills that Walt considers a 50/50 partner. Gus sided with two street level scumbags over him, which in the grand scheme of things I think was his fatal error. Gus could have killed the dealers on the spot and made arrangements for Tomas to get out -- disguised through his community outreach or scholarship program -- and would have secured loyalty from Jesse, and with that, Walt. He'd also have avoided the series of events that the murder of Tomas kicks off (IE the entire season 4 conflict).
Wow. I never thought of that but you are 1000% correct. Gus took a half measure this episode and Walt took a full measure in the next episode. Brilliant.
Absolutely. I lost a huge amount of respect for Gus here. He's still a great character but he's not like the king of all crime ever put on screen anymore. Problem 1 is, Gus clearly doesn't give a shit if his guys are using kids. It's MAYBE not what he would do but he doesn't care. This takes him from the kind of villain protagonist audiences like to root for to one that most can't root for. We like criminals that have some kind of code. He still has SORT of a code but it seems a lot weaker now.
Instead he claims to not use kids, but lets his two meatheads tell blatant lies during a mediation he insisted on. It's unclear if Gus ordered Tomas dead or if the thugs did it themselves, but either way they had Gus's implicit permission. Why does Gus need to lie to Jesse about how his business runs? He should be so far above him. He should not need to lie. Problem 3: Gus let it get personal. He never gets personal. But his annoyance and disdain for Jesse caused him to side with two worthless, replaceable people just to put him in his place instead of actually handling the problem.
Then you could call the result Problem 4, but really it's just a consequence of the other problems: Gus does not get what he wanted. The situation escalates instead of being settled. He played it all wrong. And season 4 will tell where that leads.
I do wonder what the next episode would be if they took their grievance to Gus. He said "no kids". Now a kid is dead. a) Gus okayed the murder. He either denies it (weak, to have to lie to subordinates about stuff they already know you probably did), or says "I said 'don't USE kids', not 'don't KILL kids'." (also weak, playing semantic games). b) Gus isn't okay with the murder and says "okay NOW I'll punish my guys." Now he just looks like a fool with no control over his organization. Either way: He should've shut down the situation in the first place. As you say: Half measure.
Vince Gilligan is the creator and head writer of Breaking Bad. He also directed a few episodes. He is the guy you want to search for interviews with. There are a couple hour-long interviews on RUclips with him talking about the show. I don't remember how in depth the discussions got, but they do talk about the writing. There are also Comic Con panels, table readings, behind the scenes, bloopers and other fun stuff worth checking out. You'll find that Vince Gilligan is proud of the show and open about how they put it together.
Don’t always comment but please keep up this fun discussion energy. It’s nice to see people freak out over Walt doing vehicular manslaughter but the real enjoyment for me is the discussion afterwards and the examination of the characters.
When Walt ran those two dealers over that indicating just how much he cared for Jessie despite how he has treated him throughout the series; it was obvious at that moment that Walter has come to cherish the relationship he's developed with Jessie. one strong enough that he was willing to not only kill to protect him but also willing to incur the consequences that would result like Gus' response. I think the only other people Walt would ever even consider taking on such repurcussions would be his family.
So to be clear Walt had a perfect set up with a professional partner who valued his services. Jesse’s actions (and Walt’s decision to defend him) are the clearest domino that causes all the events that follow. Everything that comes to pass, all the deaths. Obviously there are always multiple factors at play but this was the clearest cut before & after. Gus is never their ally again.
Walt running over those guys is not Walt finally "committing to his bit.". He simply is protecting Jessie. It's that simple. No half measures and he chose to back Jessie rather than see him get killed. If he was "committing to his bit" as you say, he would have killed him or told Mike to. Love these reactions!
I think Walt's ego was hurt at the fact Gus was going to kill Jesse. Jesse was Walt's man, his protégé. I think Walt was also challenging the authority of Gus, I mean that was his whole reason for breaking bad in the first place to challenge authority after living meekly his whole life. He could never stand being an employee of Gus for long, he wanted his own empire. I don't think he cared about Jesse much, certainly not enough to risk his own life, but the fact Gus was going to kill him hurt Walt's ego. Like 'You can't kill one of my guys, only I can do that'. It was a great way for Walt to regain complete control of Jesse too, having Jesse thinking he cares enough about him to save his life. I think Walt saw Jesse as useful for his ultimate plan of being number 1 eventually.
@@hydnastrident "I would love to see Maple and Arianna do 'The Wire'. " I believe everyone who watches this channel would looove to see that happen!! 🤗🤗
@@heavydown2582i know! it's one of my favorite shows :) it seems so obvious but i legitimately hadn't even thought of it! i also hope they do Mr. Inbetween at some point. really slept on show but it seems like it's starting to get its due.
"A man's gotta have a code." Omar Little: "The Wire" HOPEFULLY, we'll see Diegesis add "The Wire" to it's channel reactions. In the meantime...we can hope. 🙏🏽
I think they killed the kid because they couldn't use him anymore. Gus said no kids, so now you've got all these kids running around who can point a finger at you, but aren't being paid or groomed anymore. Just a liability, so they got rid of him. I don't think Gus was deliberately provoking Jesse, just didn't expect him to know or care about the kid.
I didn’t take it as Gus directing them to kill the kid, figured that was something the dealers did on their own. Gus has shown he keeps a certain amount of distance between himself & his low level dealers. The mediation might’ve been the first time they met face to face.
If Gus didn't realize they'd kill the kid, or didn't realize Jesse would care when he's the one who brought it up, then he's an idiot. And since we've seen generally that Gus is not an idiot, I generally interpret it as Gus implicitly okaying the murder, despite Jesse's inevitable reaction. Which is also stupid for such a highly composed and deliberate man, but not quite as stupid as the alternative. Gus should've killed Jesse, or the thugs, right away. The mediation was a sham and a waste of time for everyone, that lowered the credibility of the man who orchestrated it.
About the whole social experiment thing, that is kind of true. This show is not just about some people breaking bad, but what the concept of "bad" is for you. They do a good job at it in this show, but take a much more subtle approach with Better Call Saul (which in many ways is better than Br Bad, don't worry I won't mention anything from Better call Saul). In fact, Vince Gilligan mentioned how surprised he was when most people just kept siding with Walt, not seeing the monster he slowly becomes (or maybe it's his true self coming out), and just hating Skylar instead. About the Skylar hate, you can probably find valid reasons to hate her, but there's no reason for Anna Gunn not having any social media other than straight up sexism. So the social experiment is just them exposing the mentality of the world by how people react to the show.
As jesse walks up to the bangers i cant help but smile from ear to ear because i know yall are about to witness greatness. The ending to this ep leaves me giddy and hyped 😂
yeh on the point of seeing the show as a social experiment, i remember the creator Vince Gilligan saying he was interested to see how far viewers would hang on to rooting for Walt, like how bad he could get and where people would draw the line.
Maypole's theory about the writers KNOWING how audiences will react is on track but not exactly what I've heard from a number of writers. They know how they're approaching it but not always how or when viewers will respond a certain way. The whole question of when does Walt become "the bad guy" reminds me of _Deep Space Nine_ where the villain was written sympathetically for a while to deepen him and create more interesting relationships with the heroes, but then the writers were seeing reactions just straight up taking his side as a whole and said "oh shit we need to remind people he's totally an evil dude". On _BB_ it was a plan to go that way from the start, but I don't think they exactly expected the divisiveness of some Walt defenders even very late into the show, or the vicious hatred for Skyler in some circles.
@@bigpictureguys8415 It's like he said to Walt, they have a good thing going. He's been in the business long enough along with being a police officer to know that nothing is ideal. I think he does care, but as long as it doesn't involve his granddaughter he'll live with it.
The creator of the show is Vince Gilligan. He got his start on the X-Files. There is plenty of interview material with him and with the cast, very in depth stuff about where his thought process was and what some of the reactions were like in the writers room, as well as when Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul would have to put it on the screen. The show is so incredible that Vince also did Better Call Saul, centering on Saul Goodman. There is also a Netflix 'movie' that Vince wrote starring Aaron Paul called 'El Camino' that you should check out when the show is done.
The creators of the show did a contemporaneous episode by episode podcast that you may be interested in checking out - it was called Breaking Bad Insider Podcast and is still up on all the main pod services.
@@MP197742 "Your honor, I'm entering into evidence these RUclips comments by my client proving they are a writer. Clearly, there was no other reason for them to look up how to destinkify the corpse found under their porch."
They didn't pick up on the fact that Skyler acted like an expert money launderer in front of Saul in the previous episode. She acted like she didn't need an education from an actual expert at hiding money which turned out to be b.s. Just listen to Saul and things will be fine. Instead she's putting evidence on her computer.
I think theres more than one turning point (basement boy, jane, etc). More like a series of lines stepped over. To paraphrase Charlie Murphy, Walt becomes an habitual line-stepper...
Combo getting killed could be called a turning point that isn’t a line stepped over. It directly leads to Jane’s death by getting Jesse using and her using, and eventually leads to this point in the show.
Don’t know if anyone else has pointed it out, but one of the editors, Kelly Dixon, had an amazing podcast called Breaking Bad Insider that featured the cast and crew breaking down every episode. It was released weekly after the show and is spoiler free. It really gave a ton of insight into the story and production and I highly recommend it.
Why are maple and Arianna so stuck on Jesse having a bigger issue with the use of children vs Jesse being okay with cooking meth? Like selling/cooking meth is bad yeah but no where near as bad as involving children
Everyone remember this episode in later seasons when Mike starts offering Opinions about the relative merits of Jesse & Walt and Walt's choices in his relationship with Gus.
I remember later characterization of Mike when watching THIS episode, I'll tell you that. Mike makes some interesting compromises/complacency in his code to work with Gus, but I really can't swallow the idea he approves of Gus employing gangs that use 11 year olds. (spoiler) On _Better Call Saul_ It's nice to see how the dynamic is when Mike actually questions Gus to his face, but it's still not fully explored how he resolves that conflict. Or, hey, maybe I'm wrong and Mike is a lot colder than I thought.
Mike's half measures monolog is one of the best in the history of television or film. I doubt that killing Tomas was anything other than the street dealers eliminating a potential witness. After all, he's a kid that they had to cut loose as per Gus, so why trust him?
Half Measures is without a doubt one of the very best episodes of the entire series.. everything is perfect.. the ending scene is one of the most intense things ever.. and Mike's story scene is A+ stuff!
I love, love, love when Maple and Ariana dig into the cosmos of the show(s). They shine so much during these moments. Edit: I also wanted to mention that The Body Keeps The Score is a great book! Took me a year to read it😅. Heady and cold, just as Maple said.
i just realized that whole episode is an arc that proves walt’s quote wrong. walt and jesse both prove by the end of the episode that they are in fact real murderers.
Thats why i watch this stuff. I can still remember how it felt to watch this episode for the first time all those years ago, its nice to feel that again vicariously. Also the nerd boner at the end was pretty glorious to witness
Riding high and spitting psychological help for Jessie after watching those two get Aztek’d! 27:23 - The kind of expressions one gets watching Breaking Bad lol
Jessie calling himself the bad guy and being willing to let himself slip deeper into that life is absolutely trauma speaking. Especially blaming himself for Jane's death. Trauma and shame will have you seeing only the worst sides of yourself, like it's the only thing you deserve. I think BB does a great job of displaying toxicity and insecurities, like with Hank. He's upset about his situation, so he can't really take in what Jr is trying to tell him. Hank is often too proud to admit his real feelings, and will deflect or verbally attack rather than engage, but the audience is fully aware of the anxiety he's hiding.
@@bigpictureguys8415 Well they had to go above and beyond to catch that dude. His capture is a reminder that we should mind our business when out in public 😅
You will find lots of behind the scenes stuff from show creator Vince Gilligan. Brilliant guy. Speaking of brilliant, this was the episode that introduced Mike as the key character he is. That half measured speech was amazing and his acting is tremendous going forward.
Edit: The ending changed your opinion a bit 😅 I'll leave the comment though... I have to disagree on the Jesse take when they're at the bar. Walt simply doesn't care about Combo because he barely knew the guy and it didn’t truly disrupt their operation, in the long run anyway. This is all happening over months, not years. And Jesse saying he's the bad guy doesn't automatically mean Walt has to accept that. Walt cares for Jesse in his own weird way, as was stated. It's manipulative at times, but there's an odd father/son relationship aspect to the whole thing. So when it comes to Jesse potentially putting himself in the firing line, and disrupting business as a result, Walt's all in!
How is Skylar going to leave Walt for being a criminal, then insist on being his criminal ally? I'm fine with either decision independently, but both at the same time?
its so fascinating rewatching this show on this channel because way back when I watching I remember finding marie utterly insufferable from start to end, but she somehow managed to become much more likeable this season, even if she still has her caveats.
I got a huge kick out of her...energy, even in season 1 haha. It's nice to see her turn that towards being a god damn champion supporting Hank in this season.
Mike talking about how some guy killed a sweet girl with a blender and yall high fiving in the background "I was right!!" gave me such insane whiplash lmao
Vince Gilligan's big break was working on The X-Files for Chris Carter. That's where he met Bryan Cranston, if memory serves. Maple, what the heck motivated you into reading Bessel van der Kolk?
Once you guys don't have to be concerned about spoilers you will find tons of in depth behind the scenes analysis of the writers on this show and the actors examining their characters psyche. Then there are tons of super fans examing the various characters mindsets from every possible option. So you have that to look forward to. You also have the best parts of the series to look forward to. It just keeps getting better and season 5 is untouchable television that nothing compares to.
Great show, great episode. One small nitpick. Why is Gus suddenly dealing in his own city? When he started distributing the blue meth Hank at the DEA noted that specifically it was showing up in several surrounding states but suddenly not in New Mexico any more. Presumably because Gus was too careful to sell product where he lives. Now in this episode not only is he dealing in his own backyard but he’s meeting face-to-face with what appears to be a pair of low level dealers. Seems inconsistent but it does give us some amazing dramatic tension going forward.
idk if they have it for every season, but for at least the last season or 2 there was an after show that would air with the director/writer and some of the cast talking about the episode and why and how things happened. I'm sure you could find it if you looked around if you want to hear their thoughts.
OMG YES!! the show was called Talking Bad on AMC and I would watch every time after an episode of Breaking Bad. It had the creator Vince Gilligan on a few times. It was great, especially when you wanted to see people talk about the thing you like so much.
Thanks to the editor for not massacring Mike's monologue. Love that scene.
I thought the same thing. I know there must be cuts... just not in this scene. Good decision on their part.
Something too is that their edited reactions are 25-30 minutes so they can capture a lot more. So many reaction channels just do 10 minute reactions so how the hell do you properly capture 45+ minutes?
@spencerwattamaniuk950 yes they do 10 mins of reaction and still wonder about copyright . Is this reactions all copyright clamed or if not then how come?
This is really the turning point of the whole show imo
Yup. I think this event, more so than another, affects the events moving forward.
Lmao There are like 6 turning points in this show 😂😂😂
This has been the most insightful of these types of comments yet! 😅 Keep them coming haha! We can start a Sopranos-esque meme thread.
@@MaMvidS45 I've posted this comment on every diegesis breaking bad vid because there's always someone claiming a "turning point" 😂
Nah thats the pilot
"You don't look at him, you look at me" is maybe the most cold-blooded line reading I've ever heard.
Talking to him like a child….because he is
Gustavo is frightening.
"Get back to work" was colder
That turned me on tbh
Mike's speech is just presenting this idea to the audience. The half or whole measure was for Walt to decide. Walt chose a full measure and took Jessie's side. If Walt had of just stayed home and had dinner with his family, the entire series would have took a different turn. Walt and Jessie constantly fight and go back and forth, but no matter what they always choose to defend each other when an outside force comes between them.
@@kuhpunktSeems like a bit of a strange grammar nitpick as those go
Yup
@@MattAlbie gosh I know I hate it when people miss the point and want to try and correct someone obviously it is a typo or the person was talking to the phone and it picked up wrong geeze can't people understand anything when they read? Lol
@@TheRepublican777Like if it's a blatant mistake and the context makes that obvious, it's still a slightly annoying snobby thing to do but it's justified at least. This is just like... Shut up dude, sit down.
@@MattAlbie lol yea I usually talk text to my phone so there is always mistakes and lack of punctuations in my comments because the phone doesn't know when to stop and put those and a lot of times it hears me wrong and I don't always catch it before I send my comment and I don't always go back to correct every single thing lol. People need to read the comment and move on lol
Well, Mike did say "No more half measures Walt"
funny how things are open to interpretation
Walt really said bet
Gus - "wtf??!"
Walt - "It was Mike's idea."
Mike - "wtf??!"
waltuh
This wasn't exactly what he had in mind.
Mike's half measures speech is one of the greatest moments of the entire series. I could listen to him talk for an hour.
He did a killer Jim Gordon in Arkham Knight
Arianna huddled up like Kenny from South Park... lol. I love it.
Like all that furry, comfy hoodie goodness is somehow gonna insulate her from the shit that's going down XD
**Mumbles with intense vocal fry**
I'm sitting here in my raggedy hoodie which is still pretty comfy, but with a fleece blanket over my legs that is also comfy, thinking "why have I not heard that it was possible to combine these two things??"
Thank god a reaction channel left Mike's speech in. So many cut it and it's pretty much one of the most major speeches in the entire show and changes Walt's entire persona.
"The level of Gusery", I like how Gustavo's character has reached the level of adjective. I hope Giancarlo Esposito got a few awards for his performances.
Little kids bring out Jesse's protective nature. Not that it wouldn't for others, but if we are talking about where the line is in a show about a bunch of meth cooks and dealers, harming children is it for Jesse. I think it's because he's got a little brother as well. So while he may be ok selling drugs to rehab patients or even killing and liquifying people, whenever he sees children in harm's way, his protective elder brother nature kicks in and he cannot let it slide anymore. It's a major part of his character throughout the show.
Exactly. So long as he doesn't see your kid, he'll sell you meth.
“CD cleaning dust”😂😂😂😂😂😂
Well he was hoovering something up 😅
can you get high on CD cleaning dust? lol
That stuffs rubbish, you always end up with scratched up CD's.
two conversations i'd like to point out:
"they use kids because hey, why not? easy to control. easy to fool... get 'em young and they're yours forever." jesse, you're describe your relationship with walt here!
and jesse speaking to wendy: "wouldn't you do anything to protect your kid?" later in the episode walt protects jesse's life and his innocence (from murder).
there's also the flashback opening scene in the next episode when walter briefly mentions wanting 3 kids total eventually. i just really like this running theme. they also mentioned how walt talks to jesse like a rebellious angsty son, definitely deliberate. ahhhh i love this show!!!
i never picked up on that! i always knew Walt was like a toxic father figure to jesse but the flashback of walt wanting 3 kids never even clicked for me.
The writing on Breaking Bad is top notch
Wtf are you talking about? Jesse is a grown man and was dealing way before Walt came into his life.
@@PeacefulJoint Jesse is a full grown man, yes, but still has a father/son relationship with Walt
@@PeacefulJoint I mean... a 20+ year old and a 50 year old, seems fitting for a father/son relationship to me.
Maple - "This is not the show where Jesse works out his trauma" ROFL!
The first half of season 3 is "How can Walt fck everything up?"
The second half of season 3 is "How can Jesse fck everything up?"
Y'all gonna love season 4.
Y'all wanted to see Walt fully commit. This it.
This is the episode that skyrocketed Mike to one of my favorite characters and he only gets better from here. Also the ending is wild. Walt is starting to choose full measures even though it wasn't the way Mike intended.
The funny thing is, I think it was actually Gus who took the half measure in this episode. Obviously from his perspective Jesse is a troublemaker and addict and not someone from within his own organization that he can trust, but he's still someone with a valuable set of skills that Walt considers a 50/50 partner. Gus sided with two street level scumbags over him, which in the grand scheme of things I think was his fatal error.
Gus could have killed the dealers on the spot and made arrangements for Tomas to get out -- disguised through his community outreach or scholarship program -- and would have secured loyalty from Jesse, and with that, Walt. He'd also have avoided the series of events that the murder of Tomas kicks off (IE the entire season 4 conflict).
Wow. I never thought of that but you are 1000% correct. Gus took a half measure this episode and Walt took a full measure in the next episode. Brilliant.
Absolutely. I lost a huge amount of respect for Gus here. He's still a great character but he's not like the king of all crime ever put on screen anymore. Problem 1 is, Gus clearly doesn't give a shit if his guys are using kids. It's MAYBE not what he would do but he doesn't care. This takes him from the kind of villain protagonist audiences like to root for to one that most can't root for. We like criminals that have some kind of code. He still has SORT of a code but it seems a lot weaker now.
Instead he claims to not use kids, but lets his two meatheads tell blatant lies during a mediation he insisted on. It's unclear if Gus ordered Tomas dead or if the thugs did it themselves, but either way they had Gus's implicit permission. Why does Gus need to lie to Jesse about how his business runs? He should be so far above him. He should not need to lie.
Problem 3: Gus let it get personal. He never gets personal. But his annoyance and disdain for Jesse caused him to side with two worthless, replaceable people just to put him in his place instead of actually handling the problem.
Then you could call the result Problem 4, but really it's just a consequence of the other problems: Gus does not get what he wanted. The situation escalates instead of being settled. He played it all wrong. And season 4 will tell where that leads.
I do wonder what the next episode would be if they took their grievance to Gus. He said "no kids". Now a kid is dead. a) Gus okayed the murder. He either denies it (weak, to have to lie to subordinates about stuff they already know you probably did), or says "I said 'don't USE kids', not 'don't KILL kids'." (also weak, playing semantic games). b) Gus isn't okay with the murder and says "okay NOW I'll punish my guys." Now he just looks like a fool with no control over his organization. Either way: He should've shut down the situation in the first place. As you say: Half measure.
Vince Gilligan is the creator and head writer of Breaking Bad. He also directed a few episodes. He is the guy you want to search for interviews with. There are a couple hour-long interviews on RUclips with him talking about the show. I don't remember how in depth the discussions got, but they do talk about the writing. There are also Comic Con panels, table readings, behind the scenes, bloopers and other fun stuff worth checking out. You'll find that Vince Gilligan is proud of the show and open about how they put it together.
Kudos on letting Mikes speech in !!
Half Measure, Full Measure, Box Cutter....
I've been waiting a long time for them to get to this stretch of memorable episodes
“Half measures availed us nothing.”
Heard this speech before jointing AA and couldn’t help but hear Mike’s voice every time that line comes up.
This is my favorite episode, and I happened to click on the VID right at the perfect moment, Mike's monolog.
'No more half measures Walter'
Don’t always comment but please keep up this fun discussion energy. It’s nice to see people freak out over Walt doing vehicular manslaughter but the real enjoyment for me is the discussion afterwards and the examination of the characters.
When Walt ran those two dealers over that indicating just how much he cared for Jessie despite how he has treated him throughout the series; it was obvious at that moment that Walter has come to cherish the relationship he's developed with Jessie. one strong enough that he was willing to not only kill to protect him but also willing to incur the consequences that would result like Gus' response. I think the only other people Walt would ever even consider taking on such repurcussions would be his family.
In fact, the only other time he's killed was for his family. Definitely tracks.
I wish Walt was my manager. He doesn't let his team down.
The bit about how they'd respect Walt more if he admitted to himself that he was a bad person immediately made me think of "Lantern"
"You've Never Really Mattered All That Much To Me"
When Jeese acts angrily on impulse Walt always talks him back to Earth
So to be clear Walt had a perfect set up with a professional partner who valued his services.
Jesse’s actions (and Walt’s decision to defend him) are the clearest domino that causes all the events that follow. Everything that comes to pass, all the deaths.
Obviously there are always multiple factors at play but this was the clearest cut before & after. Gus is never their ally again.
Walt running over those guys is not Walt finally "committing to his bit.". He simply is protecting Jessie. It's that simple. No half measures and he chose to back Jessie rather than see him get killed. If he was "committing to his bit" as you say, he would have killed him or told Mike to.
Love these reactions!
I think Walt's ego was hurt at the fact Gus was going to kill Jesse. Jesse was Walt's man, his protégé. I think Walt was also challenging the authority of Gus, I mean that was his whole reason for breaking bad in the first place to challenge authority after living meekly his whole life. He could never stand being an employee of Gus for long, he wanted his own empire.
I don't think he cared about Jesse much, certainly not enough to risk his own life, but the fact Gus was going to kill him hurt Walt's ego. Like 'You can't kill one of my guys, only I can do that'.
It was a great way for Walt to regain complete control of Jesse too, having Jesse thinking he cares enough about him to save his life. I think Walt saw Jesse as useful for his ultimate plan of being number 1 eventually.
“There’s no threshold in evil.”
A man got to have a code.
omg i would love to see Maple and Arianna do The Wire
"Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling… Makes no difference. The degree is arbitrary. The definition's blurred."
@@hydnastrident
"I would love to see Maple and Arianna do 'The Wire'. "
I believe everyone who watches this channel would looove to see that happen!! 🤗🤗
@@heavydown2582i know! it's one of my favorite shows :) it seems so obvious but i legitimately hadn't even thought of it! i also hope they do Mr. Inbetween at some point. really slept on show but it seems like it's starting to get its due.
"A man's gotta have a code."
Omar Little: "The Wire"
HOPEFULLY, we'll see Diegesis add "The Wire" to it's channel reactions.
In the meantime...we can hope.
🙏🏽
NEVER seen Maple and Arianna this shocked by any moment on any show--that reaction is priceless!!!!
I think they killed the kid because they couldn't use him anymore. Gus said no kids, so now you've got all these kids running around who can point a finger at you, but aren't being paid or groomed anymore. Just a liability, so they got rid of him. I don't think Gus was deliberately provoking Jesse, just didn't expect him to know or care about the kid.
I didn’t take it as Gus directing them to kill the kid, figured that was something the dealers did on their own.
Gus has shown he keeps a certain amount of distance between himself & his low level dealers. The mediation might’ve been the first time they met face to face.
If Gus didn't realize they'd kill the kid, or didn't realize Jesse would care when he's the one who brought it up, then he's an idiot. And since we've seen generally that Gus is not an idiot, I generally interpret it as Gus implicitly okaying the murder, despite Jesse's inevitable reaction. Which is also stupid for such a highly composed and deliberate man, but not quite as stupid as the alternative.
Gus should've killed Jesse, or the thugs, right away. The mediation was a sham and a waste of time for everyone, that lowered the credibility of the man who orchestrated it.
I love that the discussion is longer than the reaction haha.
I have a feeling we have a lot of episodes that will be like this in the future.
About the whole social experiment thing, that is kind of true. This show is not just about some people breaking bad, but what the concept of "bad" is for you. They do a good job at it in this show, but take a much more subtle approach with Better Call Saul (which in many ways is better than Br Bad, don't worry I won't mention anything from Better call Saul).
In fact, Vince Gilligan mentioned how surprised he was when most people just kept siding with Walt, not seeing the monster he slowly becomes (or maybe it's his true self coming out), and just hating Skylar instead. About the Skylar hate, you can probably find valid reasons to hate her, but there's no reason for Anna Gunn not having any social media other than straight up sexism.
So the social experiment is just them exposing the mentality of the world by how people react to the show.
As jesse walks up to the bangers i cant help but smile from ear to ear because i know yall are about to witness greatness. The ending to this ep leaves me giddy and hyped 😂
I can hear Mike's speech in my head as soon as I saw this tittle.
that and Walt saying, "run" before hard cutting to the credits. such an iconic episode
@@rilojenkinsthe amount of legendary scenes is crazy in this one. Mike's speech, run, gus confronting jesse...
no more half measures waltah
Saaaaame
Guiding principle in life
yeh on the point of seeing the show as a social experiment, i remember the creator Vince Gilligan saying he was interested to see how far viewers would hang on to rooting for Walt, like how bad he could get and where people would draw the line.
Maypole's theory about the writers KNOWING how audiences will react is on track but not exactly what I've heard from a number of writers. They know how they're approaching it but not always how or when viewers will respond a certain way. The whole question of when does Walt become "the bad guy" reminds me of _Deep Space Nine_ where the villain was written sympathetically for a while to deepen him and create more interesting relationships with the heroes, but then the writers were seeing reactions just straight up taking his side as a whole and said "oh shit we need to remind people he's totally an evil dude". On _BB_ it was a plan to go that way from the start, but I don't think they exactly expected the divisiveness of some Walt defenders even very late into the show, or the vicious hatred for Skyler in some circles.
As much as I love Mike, its VERY interesting he has a granddaughter and yet has no problem with kids being used as killers.
What makes you think he has no problem with it?
He assuredly does just not enough to stop working for Gus
It feels like they hadn't quite decided how much Mike cares about these things yet.
@@bigpictureguys8415 It's like he said to Walt, they have a good thing going. He's been in the business long enough along with being a police officer to know that nothing is ideal. I think he does care, but as long as it doesn't involve his granddaughter he'll live with it.
"You can't cage Jesse," oh maple. 😢
The creator of the show is Vince Gilligan. He got his start on the X-Files. There is plenty of interview material with him and with the cast, very in depth stuff about where his thought process was and what some of the reactions were like in the writers room, as well as when Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul would have to put it on the screen.
The show is so incredible that Vince also did Better Call Saul, centering on Saul Goodman. There is also a Netflix 'movie' that Vince wrote starring Aaron Paul called 'El Camino' that you should check out when the show is done.
When Walt stops lying about why he does everything is one of the most satisfying things ever
Yes he does it for pride but his decision here is clearly out of love for Jesse. There’s no other way around it
Ariana hiding in her hoodie like Kenny from South Park was hilarious! :)
Easily one of the best endings to an episode of television E.V.E.R! The editing is chef’s kiss.
❤
Absolutely love this episode. Can't wait to see their faces at the end...
There reaction at the the end was beautiful. One of those Breaking Bad moments that you never forget.
The creators of the show did a contemporaneous episode by episode podcast that you may be interested in checking out - it was called Breaking Bad Insider Podcast and is still up on all the main pod services.
Hahaha, their reaction to the ending was priceless!
Mike Ehrmantraut is fcking legend
The next two seasons are all killer no filler. You will see why this is considered (possibly) the best show of all time.
Just your energy alone inspires me to get back to finishing my novel
As a writer, I constantly have to google the best ways to crime.
Really? “As a writer?” That’s your alibi? No one’s gonna buy that?
@@MP197742 "Your honor, I'm entering into evidence these RUclips comments by my client proving they are a writer. Clearly, there was no other reason for them to look up how to destinkify the corpse found under their porch."
@@jerodast As an amateur home chef, I keep several pounds of lye on hand, in case I want to make soft pretzels 🥨
“I can’t even imagine how messy the next episode is gonna be “ 😂😂👏🏾
They've been calling beats since season 1 - but maybe this one was pretty much a gimme haha.
Welcome to the show! This is where the REAL FUCKING JAW DROPPERS start rolling out 😂
😂😂😂 Maple's rant at the beginning: "Skylar should read Criminaling For Dummies!"😂😂😂
"No half measures, Walt."
They didn't pick up on the fact that Skyler acted like an expert money launderer in front of Saul in the previous episode.
She acted like she didn't need an education from an actual expert at hiding money which turned out to be b.s.
Just listen to Saul and things will be fine. Instead she's putting evidence on her computer.
FYI There's a ton of behind the scenes videos on Breaking Bad and there's an official insider podcast where they go in depth with each episode.
THIS
Blue tape on the windshield is as inevitable as Walter walking around in his tighty whities.
I think theres more than one turning point (basement boy, jane, etc). More like a series of lines stepped over. To paraphrase Charlie Murphy, Walt becomes an habitual line-stepper...
Combo getting killed could be called a turning point that isn’t a line stepped over. It directly leads to Jane’s death by getting Jesse using and her using, and eventually leads to this point in the show.
Don’t know if anyone else has pointed it out, but one of the editors, Kelly Dixon, had an amazing podcast called Breaking Bad Insider that featured the cast and crew breaking down every episode. It was released weekly after the show and is spoiler free. It really gave a ton of insight into the story and production and I highly recommend it.
Why are maple and Arianna so stuck on Jesse having a bigger issue with the use of children vs Jesse being okay with cooking meth? Like selling/cooking meth is bad yeah but no where near as bad as involving children
27:49 say Walt doesn’t care about Jesse ONE MORE TIME, say it ONE MORE TIME! 😆
Didn't they talk about how Walt cares about Jesse multiple times? Y'all whiners are ridiculously selective haha.
@@jerodast it wasn’t directed at them but ok
Not gonna lie for the most part i didnt like marie but she is a great wife. His number one cheerleeder
“Handys aren’t the best??”
Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit 👀😮💨😂😂
In the car while you're driving? Oh yeah.
Everyone remember this episode in later seasons when Mike starts offering Opinions about the relative merits of Jesse & Walt and Walt's choices in his relationship with Gus.
I remember later characterization of Mike when watching THIS episode, I'll tell you that. Mike makes some interesting compromises/complacency in his code to work with Gus, but I really can't swallow the idea he approves of Gus employing gangs that use 11 year olds.
(spoiler) On _Better Call Saul_ It's nice to see how the dynamic is when Mike actually questions Gus to his face, but it's still not fully explored how he resolves that conflict. Or, hey, maybe I'm wrong and Mike is a lot colder than I thought.
That censor beep work? Chefs kiss.
@@SovereignJoh >2
Mike's speech and Walt's "Run" in the same episode. One of the best in the series.
People were getting caught up on internet searches long before 2008
Great comments. I think Bryan Cranston said once that the show is the journey of a man going from Mr. Chips to Scarface.
There are very detailed podcasts from the creators of the show that will go more in depth than the Succession videos did.
Mike's half measures monolog is one of the best in the history of television or film.
I doubt that killing Tomas was anything other than the street dealers eliminating a potential witness. After all, he's a kid that they had to cut loose as per Gus, so why trust him?
Half Measures is without a doubt one of the very best episodes of the entire series.. everything is perfect.. the ending scene is one of the most intense things ever.. and Mike's story scene is A+ stuff!
I love, love, love when Maple and Ariana dig into the cosmos of the show(s). They shine so much during these moments.
Edit: I also wanted to mention that The Body Keeps The Score is a great book! Took me a year to read it😅. Heady and cold, just as Maple said.
"you're not a murderer. you're not, and im not." well its a half truth at least.
A half measure?
i just realized that whole episode is an arc that proves walt’s quote wrong. walt and jesse both prove by the end of the episode that they are in fact real murderers.
They're both murderers.
@@jmhjmhjmh At this point in the show, no. Jesse hadn’t murdered anybody himself yet
Fun Fact: Wendy is not seen the rest of the series and was probably ordered to be killed by Gus.
When Walt Jr asks what a 'yawp' is when the boy just watched, read and had the answer read to him by Alex Trebek... lol what a fool
Thats why i watch this stuff. I can still remember how it felt to watch this episode for the first time all those years ago, its nice to feel that again vicariously.
Also the nerd boner at the end was pretty glorious to witness
Riding high and spitting psychological help for Jessie after watching those two get Aztek’d!
27:23 - The kind of expressions one gets watching Breaking Bad lol
"You can't cage Jesse". .............................................................
Jessie calling himself the bad guy and being willing to let himself slip deeper into that life is absolutely trauma speaking. Especially blaming himself for Jane's death. Trauma and shame will have you seeing only the worst sides of yourself, like it's the only thing you deserve.
I think BB does a great job of displaying toxicity and insecurities, like with Hank. He's upset about his situation, so he can't really take in what Jr is trying to tell him. Hank is often too proud to admit his real feelings, and will deflect or verbally attack rather than engage, but the audience is fully aware of the anxiety he's hiding.
Came for the Walt ender bender; stayed for the pseudo Psych 101 !! 😅
dude. this is the MOST badass scene in this show. One of my favorites. I was shocked when I saw it for the first time too!
Um..we knew not to use home internet for crime in 2008. Well, those of us not currently in prison knew.
Silk Road folks had a good little run for a minute tho.
@@bigpictureguys8415 Well they had to go above and beyond to catch that dude. His capture is a reminder that we should mind our business when out in public 😅
You know it's a good vid when more than half of it is discussion
You will find lots of behind the scenes stuff from show creator Vince Gilligan. Brilliant guy. Speaking of brilliant, this was the episode that introduced Mike as the key character he is. That half measured speech was amazing and his acting is tremendous going forward.
31:31 Jesse was about to kill someone/ be killed.
So he’s got blood on his hands too.
Edit: The ending changed your opinion a bit 😅 I'll leave the comment though... I have to disagree on the Jesse take when they're at the bar. Walt simply doesn't care about Combo because he barely knew the guy and it didn’t truly disrupt their operation, in the long run anyway. This is all happening over months, not years. And Jesse saying he's the bad guy doesn't automatically mean Walt has to accept that. Walt cares for Jesse in his own weird way, as was stated. It's manipulative at times, but there's an odd father/son relationship aspect to the whole thing. So when it comes to Jesse potentially putting himself in the firing line, and disrupting business as a result, Walt's all in!
This is the turning point of the show!! Where Walt becomes Heisenberg omg I think the groundhog can see its shadow
How is Skylar going to leave Walt for being a criminal, then insist on being his criminal ally? I'm fine with either decision independently, but both at the same time?
Because now she can be in a position of power in her marriage. Something she’s had for 99% of their marriage.
Ay yo I have a ton of CDs I need to clean, where can I get that dust?
its so fascinating rewatching this show on this channel because way back when I watching I remember finding marie utterly insufferable from start to end, but she somehow managed to become much more likeable this season, even if she still has her caveats.
I got a huge kick out of her...energy, even in season 1 haha. It's nice to see her turn that towards being a god damn champion supporting Hank in this season.
Mike talking about how some guy killed a sweet girl with a blender and yall high fiving in the background "I was right!!" gave me such insane whiplash lmao
It always annoys me how Walt was the one pushing for them to expand into other neighborhoods when Jesse told him it would be a bad idea.
True but then Jesse did it on his own when he tried to start his own side hustle
Vince Gilligan's big break was working on The X-Files for Chris Carter. That's where he met Bryan Cranston, if memory serves. Maple, what the heck motivated you into reading Bessel van der Kolk?
Mike is my favorite character aside from Jesse. The actor is great and the character is so self aware
I loved him in Wiseguy so when he first showed up in Breaking Bad I was super excited.
I love Maple! she seemed liked she was in a good mood today lol
Once you guys don't have to be concerned about spoilers you will find tons of in depth behind the scenes analysis of the writers on this show and the actors examining their characters psyche. Then there are tons of super fans examing the various characters mindsets from every possible option. So you have that to look forward to. You also have the best parts of the series to look forward to. It just keeps getting better and season 5 is untouchable television that nothing compares to.
Great show, great episode. One small nitpick.
Why is Gus suddenly dealing in his own city? When he started distributing the blue meth Hank at the DEA noted that specifically it was showing up in several surrounding states but suddenly not in New Mexico any more. Presumably because Gus was too careful to sell product where he lives.
Now in this episode not only is he dealing in his own backyard but he’s meeting face-to-face with what appears to be a pair of low level dealers.
Seems inconsistent but it does give us some amazing dramatic tension going forward.
When Skyler said Bonnie what's her name was referencing Bonnie Parker of Bonnie & Clyde gang
idk if they have it for every season, but for at least the last season or 2 there was an after show that would air with the director/writer and some of the cast talking about the episode and why and how things happened. I'm sure you could find it if you looked around if you want to hear their thoughts.
OMG YES!! the show was called Talking Bad on AMC and I would watch every time after an episode of Breaking Bad. It had the creator Vince Gilligan on a few times. It was great, especially when you wanted to see people talk about the thing you like so much.
haha i loved Maple loving the writers so hard XD
LOL, Arianna pulled a "Kenny" with the hoodie.
I was soooo stressed, I needed to suppress my nervous system.
So cute how Ariana looks like ET in the thumbnail. 🥰👽🖖
Jesse is 100% in a number of trauma loops, good call out! Great reaction as always
I never felt like he had serious childhood trauma as the girls suggested at one point. His life post walt? Nonstop 😆
Episodes 12 and 13 might be my favorite out of the entire series