"Half Measures" ended on an outstanding cliffhanger and what does the succeeding episode do? It starts with a whole different setting, sixteen years before the current plot. Of course, this doesn't last for the whole 47 minutes but only for the pre-credits, however, it's still a really great way to start your season finale.
What happens in this scene is that Walt and Skyler see their future property for the very first time, even though the first shots led me to believe that this may be a season-two-revoking flash-forward to a time when the White family has moved out, or not entirely unlikely, has died. Additionally, the dialog between the couple perfectly displays how Walt hasn't achieved anything he wanted in his life until he started cooking meth – which is part of the reason why he now is unable to stop doing it. But as the plot soon goes back to the present, we are back in the perilous situation "Half Measures" established as Walt meets up with Mike, Gus, and omnipresent Victor. These five minutes include the return of Heisenberg and a goosebumps-evoking atmosphere; last but not least, Bryan Cranston and Giancarlo Esposito excel themselves yet again in a momentous debate.
I can't mention everything about this episode that I liked, but some other things I just have to remark on are, for starters, David Costabile's return as Gale Boetticher, one of the series' best characters, hands down. As we get a glimpse of his abode for the first time, the ability of the set designers comes to shine and so do Costabile's acting qualities once he has to sing along to Spanish nursery rhymes (or whatever that was). Then, of course, there's Jesse's episode debut about 20 minutes in. As the situation gets fiercer and fiercer, Breaking Bad's two protagonists come to discuss what has to be done and what later makes for the most dramatic final seconds imaginable. Aaron Paul absolutely outshines his senior counterpart and gives an unbelievably good performance that is probably the reason for the winning of his first Emmy award.
Over and above, there'd be many other things to go into depth about, but if you've just watched "Full Measure" yourself, you'll have already experienced the greatness of this season finale. Even if the whole season doesn't get remarkably better just through a fantastic ending note, it sure does a perfect job at making you excited about season four.
