In hindsight - perhaps they were just so Chuck could keep the illusion going that he wasn’t the bad guy, but that HHM was, and that Jimmy was needed to protect Chuck? In short, Chuck got HHM to issue checks to Jimmy to manipulate Jimmy into “protecting” Chuck from HHM.
Chuck is obviously a deeply disturbed individual, with a lot invested in his perverse relationship with his brother - much of his behaviour seems to be motivated, conciously or not, by his deep need to manipulate Jimmy.
One wonders what will happen to him if Jimmy actually cuts contact.
Was Chuck’s betrayal a surprise? No, not since the scene a few weeks back where he was half-hearted with his pride in Jimmy’s accomplishments. And when he snuck out to make the phone call, I knew what he was up to. But it was still an incredibly well-written and well-acted episode. As someone said above, Emmys all around.
I want to watch Mike’s disarming of the bigmouth in slo-mo, to see just what he did.
I’ve been keeping out of most forums that discuss this show, so I didn’t see the betrayal coming until Kim showed up at Jimmy’s, after Howard talked with her in private, asking her to come back and close the door.
I was thinking aloud, what could Howard possibly have on Jimmy that would make even Kim come around-- then it hit me, Chuck was pulling the strings on the whole thing… for years even.
Even presently thinking while it was happening that Chuck was up to something sneaky when he went to make the cellphone call… but the next scenes made me think he called Howard to tell him he was coming back, and to prepare the building.
Excellent slight of hand there.
Wow, Chuck went from sympathetic to a jealous coward in nanoseconds. He single-handedly destroyed Jimmy, and will now have the credit for creating Saul. And it all could’ve been avoided if Chuck would’ve nurtured him instead of betraying him.
We have ourselves a nice, complicated tragedy, knowing where Jimmy eventually ends up.
To agree with the general consensus, this was a near-perfect hour of television. In particular I love what it does to the character of Hamlin, who for all we know is a basically nice guy caught having to do the dirty work of his partner just so his partner can keep up his relationship with his brother.
All the scenes with Mike were super-entertaining. And of course the confrontation between Jimmy and Chuck was a fantastic climax for the season.
And I have close to zero idea what will happen next week in the season finale. Mostly stuff to lay the ground for season 2 I guess? Maybe Nacho will tie Mike and Jimmy back together somehow?
I doubt that Hamlin is going to screw Jimmy out of his share but he’s still an asshole. He still made Kim move to the shitty office over what happened with the Kettlemens. She did an amazing job and got turned down because Mrs K is a psychopath.
It seems to me that as between the two brothers, it would appear that Jimmy is holding the upper hand. But after some thought, I’ve decided that is just not true.
It may look like it’s Jimmy. But it’s actually Chuck. Why?
The reason is that once Chuck identifies the cause of his neuroses and understands them, he will not have any further problems with his brother. At least, he will not have any problems that linger in his mind. Jimmy can still create problems that will hurt him. But Chuck will be able to get out of his house and go to work - just like everyone else.
Chuck will no longer be retricted due to his need for his younger brother’s help. Chuck will be free. Or maybe better put, Chuck will learn how to free himself and he will no longer be crippled by his mental condition.
I would be very happy to see Chuck alive and well without any need for his younger brother. I just hope that other folks will feel the same way.
Can’t wait to binge watch all of these episodes …back-to-back-to-back.
BTW - On one of those Youtube podcasts Patrick Fabian - the actor who plays Howard - admits that when he got the BCS job he hadn’t seen any Breaking Bad episodes …life had been busy with work, etc. So, before starting work on BCS he and his wife - parents of a newborn - started to binge-watch every season of BB … said they were hooked after one episode, and would watch late into the night … “it was like cocaine, wanna do one more?”
If anyone finds a place that sells “The University of American Samoa … Go, Land Crabs!” T-shirts, let me know.
I dread the last episode next week, and also long for it … wouldn’t dare try to guess what’s going to happen, just know it’ll be a dramatic cliff-hanger.
Anyway, Hamlin… huh. He was on the insider podcast a few weeks back, and ISTR he made a comment about how we were only seeing his character from Jimmy’s POV, and that from his own point of view, everything he’s doing makes perfect sense and isn’t an act of utter douchebaggery. As someone points out above, this doesn’t excuse how he treated Kim earlier in the series over the Kettleman affair*, but it does put everything he’s done to Jimmy into perspective.
Speaking of, as a former biglaw associate myself, that doesn’t make a lot of sense. I spent my first year sharing an office; after that, I got my own office. There was really no where to send me even if they’d wanted to; it would’ve been really weird to stick me at a secretary’s desk or something.
I listened to the same podcast with the actor who plays Hamlin. And while it’s true a lot of the douchey stuff he’s been doing, has really been because Chuck ordered him to, he has done incredible douchey stuff on his own.
Like when Kim lost the Kettlemans as clients, Howard immediately moved her to a shitty office. As soon as she got them back (thanks to Jimmy going way out of his way), he gives her her old office back again. Who does that other than Doucheus Maximus?
But still, Chuck trumps him now, hands down. What he did to Jimmy and using Howard as his douche-piece was the lowest of lows.
I suppose Hamlin’s precise level of resemblance to a device for the cleaning of bodily orifices can be debated, but he’s certainly someone who believes that it’s better to be feared than to be loved.
Just to be clear, though, Chuck screwed him long before he [Check] has a mental issue as well. Check kept him in the mail room when he first got his degree.
