I'm getting flashbacks to the Nacho pill bottle toss into pocket scene of trying to make sense of a scene that could have gone 30 different ways.
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Better Call Saul S3 |OT| Gus Who's Back - Mondays 10/9c on AMC
- Thread starter TheOddOne
- Start date
Er...I'm not trying to nit pick the scene or anything. There's nothing wrong with how it happened.
I'm just wondering if people think there is a specific reason why he did it that way in particular.
After destroying his home and becoming exhausted, maybe he wanted the last thing he ever did to act as his last rest ever. So I guess him sitting in a chair while kicking the table was him exerting the last bit of energy he had before resting forever in a chair, while wrapped in a space blanket no less.
Permanently A
Junior Member
I don't think there was an ulterior plot driven motive. From a metaphorical lens, you can consider Chuck to be the lantern. Everything for the past three season, little by little, has been pushing him to this moment.
- The illness
- Jimmy becoming a lawyer
- Chuck being unable to prove Jimmy's malpractice
- Chuck's wife and mother liking Jimmy more than Chuck
- Chuck being utterly humiliated in court
- Chuck being thrown out of his own firm
- Chuck relapsing
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand now I've officially cried over Chuck's death.
I really like this answer.
It even works with how the camera pans over all the holes in chucks house. If the house is a symbol for Chuck's soul, you can see each and every hole that might be managable on it's own, but all together, has left the man utterly destroyed.
It had to be off camera when they were watching movies. The previous episode when Jimmy announces getting the money Kim is surprised a class action would close that quickly.
The thing that bother me more is why Jimmy burned the whole bridge down with the old people. Why not just fess up to manipulation because he needed the money himself. Yes it would tarnish his image but not destroy it as what he explained with his peanuts is true. Holding out would have really only benefited the lawyers and it could be a long time before they saw any money. When youre at the age you should enjoy it while you can instead holding out for something slightly better.
Permanently A
Junior Member
And most tragic of all, the holes are all of his own creation.
stenbumling
Unconfirmed Member
That's a great observation.
Oathbreaker
Banned
That final shot was fantastic! And yeah, best season I guess.
You could even go further with the parallels and say that Chuck's house symbolized his and Jimmy's relationship. Each confrontation slowly chipped away at their brotherhood, with the destruction culminating when Chuck decides to completely cut electricity out from his home, mirroring his decision to cut Jimmy out if his life.
This show man.
Also really happy Irene got her friends back <3
IggyChooChoo
Member
That scene at the nursing home, while scripted and planned, basically was a big confession. Here's what I don't get about that: how does word about that not get back to Davis and Main and the law license board? How does Jimmy keep his license after admitting those things in public?
I think there's a good chance the next season will involve Jimmy fighting with and eventually destroying HHM over nonpayment of that check. Michael McKean might be done acting, but Chuck could easily be in a coma or a burn ward, requiring expensive care for the rest of his life. And Howard may not be feeling generous to the McGill brothers when Jimmy comes begging. I don't know where else the season could go to create tension -- what other elements in Jimmy's life are there but Kim for the writers to even work with? It feels like it has to be Jimmy the Destroyer vs HHM.
PunishedOkabe
Member
Damn, sad to see Chuck go but I'm glad he's gone
bitbydeath
Member
I'd say it was his pride.
Killing himself would show weakness which he always had serious issues about how he was perceived, even to himself (most likely)
Sho_Nuff82
Member
I can see it now, Howard and Kim will end up together in the end.
Triggerhappytel
Member
Yeah, that bothered me too. He admitted to a fellow lawyer and with a few dozen witnesses that he'd interfered with a case while disbarred - surely that'll have further repercussions and could affect his license to practice the law altogether.
darkinstinct
...lacks reading comprehension.
Official name is "Lantern", not "Finale". Netflix just advertises it as the season finale.
I wonder, was it Kim's accident that made Jimmy do the right thing with the old ladies or was it Chuck's "You destroy people, it's who you are, embrace it"?
Button
Banned
It's unlikely a single, hidden electric component would rack up a whole kilowatt-hour very fast. But if you look at the number four, it has definitely rotated clockwise a little bit. You can see the leftmost edge of the four on the top image, but on the bottom image it's already covered under the plastic. I think Chuck was right, something was drawing power. Not a lot though.
Ok that is good. I want this to never end.
Great episode. We saw less of Saul then I expected though. He actually redeemed himself a bit. That scene with Chuck was masterful, McKean needs an Emmy now. It was sad the way he went out. Guy was completely broken. This will definitely put more weight behind Chuck's words with Jimmy. It will push him over. So has this been renewed? They're leaving it very late.
Human Trashcan
Banned
Was anything he did technically illegal though? I doubt it would hold up in court and that's IF someone brought suit against him.
Really great, but rough, season finale. That scene of Chuck tearing his whole house down was just so goddamn sad. He was SO CLOSE to really getting better. But he fucked himself.
I think his last words to Jimmy were really loaded with a lot of things. First, resentment - obvious. But also absolution, in a way. Saying, "you don't have to care about me because I don't care about you." He severed his last ties to society, which is one of the major factors in suicide. In the end, I think the great tragedy, in the Greek sense, is that both brothers see each other for who they really are, but neither can see themselves for who they truly are. I think Chuck has Jimmy's number, and always has - but so too the other way around. Howard had his number in the end, too. It's fucked up that Chuck's first instinct was to sue HHM. But Chuck was also right about Jimmy. This whole spiel of contrition, we've been there before, and I'm sure Chuck has seen it dozens of times. It's meaningless, because he's Slippin' Jimmy. But they also push each other in those directions. Jimmy, by fucking with the insurance, was the direct cause of Chuck's relapse, and Chuck, by keeping Jimmy from working at HHM, might have prevented him from going straight (although I doubt he ever would have - see also Jimmy at Davis & Main).
Kinda weird there was no Mike at all in this season finale. I really hope they get renewed soon because as a last episode this would be kind of rotten, although it's not hard to chart a direct line from here to Breaking Bad. There's still more story to tell.
turtlesbonanza
Member
I don't think he was trying to make it look like an accident. I saw the kicking of the table as him psyching himself up to do it. In the same way that some suicide victims leave hesitation marks on their wrists.
Merriweather
Member
Jimmy told him that he was going to die alone at the Bar hearing.
I think it was just an example Chuck being petulant to the very end.
This episode almost makes me wish Breaking Bad never existed. This could almost have been a series finale. Jimmy shows how he fantastically he employs self sacrifice and how, despite all of us knowing there is truth to Chuck's words, for once in this entire series, did something that was completely selfless - not because he was being offered money, not because he was between a rock and a hard place, not because he wanted to appease Kim or his brother, but entirely because of a semblance of good in his heart. Jimmy at the end of this season is the complete opposite of the opportunistic Saul that we know of in Breaking Bad. The first season ended with him ready to fully embrace his Saul persona, claiming that he knew what was holding him back from embracing an incredible opportunity, and that he was "never going to let it get in the way again". This season ends with him being okay with letting it get in the way again, and actually proving Chuck wrong. It almost ends the character arc for them, with Jimmy walking out together with Kim as a sign of them moving onward. Nacho "succeeds" in incapacitating Hector, Chuck checks out, Mike begins working for Gus (in the previous episode) - for the most of the part everything seems like it's resolved. Despite an immensely tragic end to Chuck's arc, for the most of the part everything in this series could have very well been resolved at this point in a bittersweet fashion.
Except the fact that, we know Jimmy is going to do a complete 180 by the time he first shows up in Breaking Bad. We know that Jimmy will be the energetic happy-go-lucky Saul at the strip-mall who gladly gets involved with criminals while not giving a single fuck. We know the teasers at the beginning of the seasons show Jimmy at his absolute bottom point. We know things will go wrong. And almost all of it ties back to Kim. The fact that his raison d'etre has been built up so much this entire series, is at it's apex at the end of this season, and is somehow not even mentioned once during the entirety of Breaking Bad.
And then I curse the fact that Breaking Bad has to exist. This show has built up Jimmy so much that I'm 100% positive by now; the moment Jimmy becomes Saul, it's going to be the most heartbreaking thing on TV since... well, since Walter's family turns on him in Ozymandias.
I worry I'm sincerely going to look back on the entirety of Breaking Bad, having originally loved Saul, to hating him once it's all done, depending on what goes down in the next season.
I'm partly expecting Season 4 to actually be the last one, because right now the only two plot threads left hanging are Nacho's fate and Kim's fate. With Chuck now gone, one of this entire series' central figures that was the crux behind Jimmy's motivations, he doesn't have a lot left holding him back. We're at a point now when the show is starting to reach full circle, and I'm not really sure how much there is to tell in regards to post-Breaking Bad Jimmy - especially when it's looking like he's coming down with something himself as of Season 3's cold open. I wouldn't be surprised if Season 4 will have several post-Breaking Bad cold opens similar to the pink teddybear of Breaking Bad, actually.
Except the fact that, we know Jimmy is going to do a complete 180 by the time he first shows up in Breaking Bad. We know that Jimmy will be the energetic happy-go-lucky Saul at the strip-mall who gladly gets involved with criminals while not giving a single fuck. We know the teasers at the beginning of the seasons show Jimmy at his absolute bottom point. We know things will go wrong. And almost all of it ties back to Kim. The fact that his raison d'etre has been built up so much this entire series, is at it's apex at the end of this season, and is somehow not even mentioned once during the entirety of Breaking Bad.
And then I curse the fact that Breaking Bad has to exist. This show has built up Jimmy so much that I'm 100% positive by now; the moment Jimmy becomes Saul, it's going to be the most heartbreaking thing on TV since... well, since Walter's family turns on him in Ozymandias.
I worry I'm sincerely going to look back on the entirety of Breaking Bad, having originally loved Saul, to hating him once it's all done, depending on what goes down in the next season.
I'm partly expecting Season 4 to actually be the last one, because right now the only two plot threads left hanging are Nacho's fate and Kim's fate. With Chuck now gone, one of this entire series' central figures that was the crux behind Jimmy's motivations, he doesn't have a lot left holding him back. We're at a point now when the show is starting to reach full circle, and I'm not really sure how much there is to tell in regards to post-Breaking Bad Jimmy - especially when it's looking like he's coming down with something himself as of Season 3's cold open. I wouldn't be surprised if Season 4 will have several post-Breaking Bad cold opens similar to the pink teddybear of Breaking Bad, actually.
So is he the best character on the show?
To me, Howard is the brother Chuck always wanted. A respectable law man, who Chuck groomed and worked alongside for almost 20 years to build HHM. As a big brother figure, Chuck helped Howard become who he is, professionally.
Despite Chuck's recent selfishness, Howard stayed extremely loyal and acted as a good brother to Chuck. In tonight's finale, for Howard to buy Chuck out of the firm, it must have been extremely painful for Chuck. A huge blow to his heart, not just his mind.
Chuck left his biological family and roots in the Midwest and created HMM. HMM became a new family that appreciated and loved Chuck for who he was. Chuck hoped HMM would be a place that a guy like Jimmy couldn't win over and become the 'favorite', despite Jimmy's destructive + selfish nature.
When Jimmy moved to the Southwest and injected himself into Chuck's new life, that's the catalyst that started Chuck's downfall.
Edit: One more thing to add. Chuck casting aside Jimmy is exactly what Chuck himself is experiencing with HMM. Through Jimmy, Chuck is spreading his pain. We all have moments of lashing out after having feelings crushed. I would love for Chuck to survive this fire, and speak with Jimmy after some retrospection, but that's not the story of Better Call Saul.
RecRoulette
Member
Watching this show makes me mad because you see people do these awesome things and go "Walter White beats all of these people or ruins their lives."
I legit had a dream last night that this happened.
CarlisleDavid1979
Member
So the long wait for S4 begins. Let's hope
survives.
Chuck
SDCowboy
Member
I feel that's a given. I'm predicting Jimmy drives by one more time and see's the fire or something.
MightyHedgehog
Member
Best season yet! I'm guessing that they haven't announced the renewal just yet because this is the point at which the writers can see the end in the distance and it would be best to work out a more specific number of episodes to reach an appropriate conclusion. Maybe over twenty but less than three ten-episode seasons, where AMC can wring more time and ads from a split final run, like Breaking Bad and others. Build up to and start Saul Goodman practice in S4, wind down Nacho's arc and even run a little concurrent to BB timeline in first half of S5, lead to present with conclusion to Gene's story in the final stretch.
BobTheFork
Member
Wow, was that suicide?
I was back and forth about if Chuck could come back or maybe get saved and have to be under observation next season. When they put up the suicide prevention number, I knew that was it.
Bye Chuck.
I will agree that Howard is the brother Chuck always wanted. If think what Howard did made Chuck realize it's not all just Jimmy fucking everything up. Chuck is a stubborn ass, with out without his condition and he caused his own rift with HHM. He thought he understood why Jimmy would fight against him but Howard doing it broke Chuck.
He doesn't, McKean confirmed it.
Ignatz Mouse
Banned
That scene tore me up like a nice ABQ two-story home.
SDCowboy
Member
Link?
Dark_castle
Junior Member
From Reddit:
Yooo.
I love this show so much. So sad it's over for this season and god knows how long we have to wait for another. That fucking ending though. And despite this fairly depressing episode, I find some bitter sweet moment like when Jimmy and Kim would share a short moment sitting on couch just talking about what shows Kim would watch, how Jimmy decides to come clean about the Sandpiper situation, and the last part where Jimmy and Kim packs up the stuff and they said they will "find a new wall", before she kisses him. So good.
It seems clearer than ever that when Jimmy realises what's important to him - Kim and Chuck - his moral compass realigns and he does what's right. Becoming Saul probably means losing both of those. He's already lost Chuck, so..
I'm sure Gilligan said in the last interview he hates when shows do that, referencing Kim's accident and why they didn't cliffhanger that she's alive until the next episode. Actually termed that kind of writing as 'schmuck bait.' Chuck's gone.
man why did they have to go down that route. Chuck was getting better and then suddenly he is insane, wrecking his (lovely) house and committing suicide? that is so cheap and totally not worthy of Chuck. I loved all scenes with him and now this shit.
other than that it was an okay episode I guess. setting some things in motion. not sure why they closed the practice and fired Francesca. It's not like Kim can't work and won't be back to full health.
overall not satisfied with this end at all. I want more witty Chuck! Make a spin off!
other than that it was an okay episode I guess. setting some things in motion. not sure why they closed the practice and fired Francesca. It's not like Kim can't work and won't be back to full health.
overall not satisfied with this end at all. I want more witty Chuck! Make a spin off!
BobTheFork
Member
hmm I wonder if anyone knows Chuck killed himself or if it ends up looking like an accident with a lantern they knew could be an issue.
CarlisleDavid1979
Member
Better Luck Chuck.
Man season 4 premiere is going to be so heartbreaking. Jimmy and Kim finding out about Chuck will be really hard to watch I bet. Jimmy will break down and Kim will end up blaming herself.
Also at the beginning of each episode when the theme music is played they always show a scene in the background. Sometimes it's the license plate on Saul's Caddy, or his drawer full of cell phones. This time it's a coffee mug falling off a table and shattering, much like the lantern fell from the table and shattered. Pretty sure it isn't the first time they used this for the intro, but you can bet its use this time was intentional.
Also at the beginning of each episode when the theme music is played they always show a scene in the background. Sometimes it's the license plate on Saul's Caddy, or his drawer full of cell phones. This time it's a coffee mug falling off a table and shattering, much like the lantern fell from the table and shattered. Pretty sure it isn't the first time they used this for the intro, but you can bet its use this time was intentional.
awesome_pants
Banned
It's ok to grieve. Chuck's mental illness may not have been electrohypersensitivity but definitely OCD to the point where it shaped whom he was (practicing law, an area where one needs to obsess about fine details in order to be successful). When Chuck felt he was not in control, he fell more and more into EHS discomfort (i.e. wife leaving him, Jimmy, etc.). The final straw was taking the last remaining thing that made Chuck "Chuck" which was practicing law and pushing back his only brother ("never cared about you"). The OCD took over and he fell further and further down the rabbit hole to the point where he couldn't even defeat that little bit of electricity remaining and death was the only way out.
I have known people with this disorder and when they feel they cannot "solve" the issue causing their OCD grief, it becomes like the world is crumbling down.