Chuck fired Ernie. That’s enough to not care what happens to him.
People suggesting that Chuck and Jimmy were equally “good” are nutty - the only defense Chuck has for his atrocious and often cruel behavior is his OCD/mental illness (which is a decent excuse!). He is definitely completely selfish, self-centered, and abusive and cruel.
One of the things that I’m not sure was mentioned here is that Chuck was driven, perhaps predominately, by a sense of “justice” – he thought Jimmy was a bad person because he stole from their parents, but a few episodes ago we saw the truth of those events - Jimmy was just putting aside rare coins to prevent his parents from just throwing away their value.
What Jimmy did at the end of this episode - deliberately demonizing himself and compromising his entire legal practice to prevent an old woman from being unjustly ostracized by her friends - was pretty damn noble, even though the situation was caused by Jimmy. Chuck’s treatment and ingratitude towards everyone -other than Jimmy- shows his less flattering nature, by comparison. He has no heart, while Jimmy is all heart.
I do love the fact that Howard initially seemed like the villain in season 1, then it was revealed he wasn’t, but he still seemed kinda snobby or unlikable (as it was unclear whether he was playing along with Chuck’s illness to maintain control of the firm for no cost) – and, ultimately, he was revealed as completely…noble. His dealings with Chuck, Jimmy, Kim, etc. - he was fair and decent to everyone, even when he was actually being treated poorly.
No. I think what he did is what caused his relapse.
@Desslock Those are all good points. I love the comparison of all heart/no heart.
I just caught up on this thread after an afternoon watching of this season’s close. What did people think of the opening segment of Jimmy and Chuck in the tent? That was those two, right? Have we ever seen a flashback to that time before?
Definitely them, and seemed intended to both focus on the lantern (which was the name of the episode too) as well as to show that the nature of their relationship in early, happier, days, as a bookend to the ending.
Oh I should go back and watch that on the AMC app, thanks for the reminder. The PlayStation Vue “DVR” chopped off most of that scene for me on Monday.
I didn’t much care for Chuck, and I am rooting for Jimmy. But I think presenting the former as heartless and the latter as “all heart” is wrong and an oversimplification of the nuanced characters being presented. Jimmy absolutely means well, by and large, but there is a definite selfishness to his character and it’s only going to get more pronounced. This isn’t the story of Jimmy McGill making good and having a happy home life with Kim, after all. It’s about how he ends up Saul Goodman, a criminal lawyer for criminals. And I think calling his actions in the final episode noble is a stretch. Don’t get me wrong - it’s the right thing to do, and it is self-sacrificing to a meaningful degree…but it is just repairing damage that he did and did deliberately. That’s not noble. That’s walking back being an asshole.
I think Chuck telling Jimmy that he (Jimmy) never really mattered much to him was all about Chuck retaliating, wanting to sever all ties for good and wanting Jimmy to be out of his life. He didn’t plan to commit suicide at that point.
Jimmy isn’t perfect, but he’s mostly aware of his flaws and weaknesses; Chuck, on the other hand, has always been sitting on a high horse and was oblivious how obsessed he was and to his inability to cope with defeat. And with regards to his relationship to Jimmy, I think him being the overachiever and brilliant lawyer and Jimmy being the cheat and loser was an important part of his self-concept that he couldn’t overcome. He had that preconception of Jimmy which ultimately turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy because Jimmy might have gone down a different path had Chuck been more supportive of him becoming a lawyer rather than rejecting it.
Very true. Not sure it’s “self-fulfilling” if Chuck helped create Saul from Jimmy, but it’s a good observation and likely what we are intended to realize. The character arcs of these characters have been amazing. So believable because of the amazing writing and performances.
In unshocking news…
So huh. Is that unusual for a popular series to go season to season this way? I mean, that just feels a little short sighted. Some muckity muck could have just killed it after the last episode? We would never even know what happens to Cinnabon Saul!
Yes, it’s the rule rather than the exception. (And, alas, Better Call Saul isn’t actually all that popular.)
Season to season is normal, even for shows like Walking Dead (and, until it was in wrap up mode, Game of Thrones).
Waiting until the season is already over is unusual, however, and wouldn’t happen with a show that was a commercial blockbuster. But unfortunately Better Call Saul isn’t one. That said, AMC also screwed around Breaking Bad with the question of renewal, so every season essentially wrapped up, just in case, other than the 3rd one, which was an intentional cliffhanger.
Oh man, how have you never seen a show that just never came back after a cliff hanger?
Now that I think of it, I guess I binge watch most shows because I don’t have the “gotta see it first” gene.
I didn’t realize this. I would be very disappointed if don’t ever find out what happens to “future” Saul. I guess they’re taking a leap of faith that they’ll get renewed. I hope. I guess I have just assumed the show’s major plot arcs are mapped out ahead of time, and it would be a shame not to get to finish the story, but alas maybe this is just the way of the world. Managing seasons this way seems like a disincentive to have longer, more thoughtful plots, but that’s what I’ve really enjoyed about BB and BCS. Even if BB resolved most seasons, there was still a ratcheting up of drama and narrative tension from season to season that was really satisfying.
I’m kind of the other way, to be honest. I thought this season’s ending was pretty perfect as a lead-in to Breaking Bad. I don’t need to see any more now. Still gonna watch it, though.
Sure, I hadn’t thought of it that way, but okay. We don’t have to know what happens to Kim.
But the stuff with the Cinnabon is happening in the future, after BB. I’m pretty sure the last time we went there, Saul passed out. And, I don’t know, that stuff looks intriguing. I hope that material has more of a purpose than to just show a criminal lawyer’s last sad days.
So this is interesting…
…last night I was catching up with an old friend with whom I’d lost touch, and the talk turned to recommended shows. He started going on about how much he loved BCS. When asked if he liked it more than Breaking Bad, he told me he had given up on BB after the first couple of episodes, and never went back…
He had no idea that this was a prequel, or how iconic most of the characters are. Apparently he had seen McKean on some talk show shortly before the first episode aired, and he thought it sounded like it was worth a shot.
I convinced him to go back and watch Breaking Bad again, which means he’ll be following MIke, Saul & Gus in more or less chronological order. Might make for some interesting viewing.
I’d love to know someone who’s in that situation too. Pretty fascinating.
We just wrapped up season 3 over the weekend. I bloody love this show. Not since Breaking Bad and Six Feet Under have I given so much of a shit about the characters.
I’m in agreement with @Desslock and @JD about Chuck and Jimmy. I wasn’t a fan of Chuck but could certainly understand his anger at times. In the last few episodes Jimmy’s selfish and destructive behaviour was only redeemed somewhat by falling on his sword to help/reset poor Irene’s relationship with her friends. I felt so sorry for her. I’m reminded of Walter White in that I feel like Jimmy is a kind of eye of the storm with everything around him descending into chaos.
One thing I really loved that foreshadowed Kim’s accident was the ‘power nap edit’ in the car with her phone alarm. A really smart technique–that accurately depicts what the passage of time feels like when you’ve nodded off–put to startling effect an episode or two later when she’s driving. I had a feeling it was coming but not like that!
So umm, where the hell is season 4?
I can’t find squat regarding a premier date. :(
I heard it was moved to Q4, but this was months ago. Don’t remember more.