Is next week the season final? If it is I wonder why they don't do 13 episodes like most of tv seems to do these days. Jason
That was about the most evil thing Jimmy has done. I'm starting to like Chuck more. Chuck is fighting his demons. Jimmy is embracing his.
Damn. I had a strong sense Chuck might die (and who knows, he may still live...), but I thought he was going to accidentally electrocute himself while tearing up his walls in a fruitless search for the electrical source, not by deliberately starting a fire in his own home. In between those moments, I thought his further downfall would follow from the ardent destruction of the electricity meter depending on who owns it, although in retrospect I wouldn't be surprised if Chuck managed to arrange ownership of it. Either way, Chuck has fulfilled Jimmy's prophecy: He has pushed away everyone in his life (Rebecca, Howard, Jimmy, Ernesto) and now he's going to die alone, shuttered away in his torn-apart home. On a side note, nice bookending with the lantern. Jimmy, upon realizing he's only good at destruction and not creation, fell on his own sword in order to restore Irene's reputation and friendships. He simultaneously showed how much he does care about the people he's helping by showing how much destruction he already created. It was the only way to help Irene, but he has ruined his own reputation even though he still cares about them. And I have to wonder how much Kim knows about the whole situation. She seems to know what he did during chair yoga with Erin, but does she what he did in the first place? The office is closed. Although for a moment, Kim was about to jump right back into the insanity she created, she pulled herself back, realizing she absolutely must have a breather now. She nearly died because she overworked herself. Now she has lost her second client, although apparently not her reputation. Despite Francesca's assurances that a lot of people die on that road, I can't help but wonder if there's some question from the outside about the nature of Kim's accident. Not only were there no other cars involved, no other cars were even around, as evidenced when Kim stepped out out of her car and no one was around. I wonder if that will become an issue next season or if I'm just overthinking the situation. And at long last, Hector has suffered his fated stroke. Nacho seemed to have lucked out, especially since he was about to go with cold blood murder. But he may have another problem: Gus clearly suspects there was malfeasance involved. Speaking of Gus, I was slightly surprised how quickly he leapt into action to save Hector. All a cover for Juan Bolsa, and by extension, Don Eladio, I'm sure, but I was still slightly taken aback.
We don't know if this was the actually stroke or not that made him a vegetable in the chair we see in BB. Either way, they will not be using Nacho's dad's business now since Bolsa clearly told Hector that they will be using Gus's chicken trucks. I did notice Hector doing some similar twitch's with his face he does in BB, in the scene at Nacho's dad's work, a sign of things to come I guess. Did Chuck really want to kill himself? Or was he so out of it he did not realize he was going to kick the lantern over.
Oh, I think he was deliberately trying to knock over the lantern. There was a shot where the lantern is in the foreground and Chuck is in the background where it seems pretty clear that he's looking directly at the lantern as he's kicking the desk. I only just realized we didn't have a single scene in this episode with Mike.
It looked to me like he was trying to commit suicide in a manner that looked like an accident. I wonder if he was trying to give Jimmy his life insurance money in a Pierce Hawthorne-esque plot to make Jimmy realize his conscience is just a farce. He decides to kill himself because he knows the alternative is being committed and his pride doesn't let him, but he does it in a way that will prove to Jimmy once and for all that he cares more about the money than he did his brother, showing him his conscience is all in his head as revenge for Jimmy showing him his condition was all in his head. Either that or he wanted Rebecca to get the money.
Damn, that's a hell of a read. I agree that he was trying to commit suicide while making it look like an accident, but I hadn't considered the rest. I think you might be onto something about his full motivations. Rolling Stone published this excellent article today about how Better Call Saul quietly went from a good prequel to one of the best dramas on TV.
Masterpiece. Could've been a series finale. But ended up to be the best cliff hanger ever, in a way. Now it remains to be seen what TBTB can do with a semi-blank canvas. Bravo.
Yeah, this was no accident. And I would be astonished if we see him again (except in flashbacks, obviously). Jimmy and the confluence of events appear to have led to a miserable end. I don't think the power Chuck had on when he last saw Jimmy was for anyone's benefit. It did seem as though the downward spiral started just after seeing Jimmy. He lay there in bed a man who knew his life's work was gone... and he didn't have anyone left. All he left to do battle with was his condition. I don't know. It will be better explained by someone else, but I second Borgminister: Masterpiece.
I don't know, for me it was Jimmy's trickery that forced Chuck to acknowledge his problem, it was then Howard's easing Chuck out that prompted a relapse. Of course Howard's actions were promoted by Jimmy's actions with the insurers so... I'm glad Jimmy rectified things with Irene because the week before felt like he'd crossed a line (and I know he has/will do worse but still)
This season finale seemed to me somewhat inferior than those of the last two seasons. The clifhanger was fine, but I'm not convinced with Jimmy's momentary return to the "good side." We all know where his story is headed, and this season took a few firm steps toward that destination, so I feel somewhat betrayed. Now, these comings and goings of Jimmy between scams and amendments makes me think about the "future". I mean, I always thought the series was going to end post-Breaking Bad, giving Jimmy the opportunity to have some kind of redemption...
Our last view of the future seemed like Saul was rediscovering Jimmy, when he yelled at that petty thief to not say anything without a lawyer.
Also it's kind of ironic that if Chuck dies, his final act will be to commit fraud. I don't think criminality is about the money for Jimmy. I think it is and has always been the thrill of getting the better of someone. He loved tricking Irene's friends into liking her, so much that deep down the damage to his practice didn't bother him.
I don't believe Chuck was even thinking about insurance money at all. He wanted to keep working at HHM. Work is his purpose. It is all he had to live for. He took some of the pills--which can cause suicides. (Jimmy offers Kim over-the-counter goods--and the "good stuff"--Chekov's pill bottle) Well--with the sense of helplessness Chuck had at the end--he saw the lamp--and restlessly kicked at it. When I first saw the scene--I thought he was in a fit. If he thought anything at all--it was "Burn the sucker down--that'll end the hum. That'll end everything." Makes me wonder just what was plugged in. I guess the meter itself needs power--or maybe--we are all getting scammed. A great write-up. I never could get into BB, except towards the end. To me--like Godfather II--the follow on is better than the original.
I'm not saying he committed suicide for the insurance. I'm saying, he staged his suicide to make it look like an accident. Kicking over the lantern on old papers, after Jimmy used the photo of the lantern on the old papers as an example of why he couldn't take care of himself. He chose the exact method of suicide that would be the most plausible accident. I suppose his motive for that might be more that an accident was better for his reputation than suicide but he's smart enough to know that this gives Jimmy or Rebecca the opportunity to claim his life insurance.