In Better Call Saul season 4, it’s very striking that when both characters read Chuck’s letter, Kim sobbed but Jimmy did not. Better Call Saul doesn’t hide the conflict between the McGill brothers from the start. During the first three seasons of Better Call Saul, the McGill conflict intensified, with Jimmy and Chuck both revealing decades of unresolved frustrations.
The Breaking Bad spin-off began with Jimmy sincerely assisting his older brother Chuck through a psychosomatic electricity allergy. The final scene between Jimmy and Chuck in Better Call Saul went back in time to before the pilot, which helped to explain why Jimmy refrained from crying when he received Chuck’s letter and the reason behind his constant time travel inquiries.
In season three of Better Call Saul, the McGills’ conflict came to a head. Chuck held down his legal career because he believed Jimmy was unworthy, and he persisted in disparaging and undermining his younger brother at every opportunity.
In “Chicanery,” Chuck finally had his chance when Jimmy was accused of tampering with official documents and went before the Bar Association.
However, Jimmy successfully discredited Chuck as a witness by ruthlessly exposing his brother’s baseless phobia of electricity in order to escape a more severe punishment. In the Better Call Saul season 3 finale, Chuck went into a downhill spiral when his career was in ruins and he was extremely embarrassed, which finally led to his suicide.
Jimmy got a letter as part of his brother’s will, and the fourth season started with examining the consequences of Chuck’s passing. In a letter sent years before, Chuck told Jimmy that he was proud of him and that they will always be brothers.
Although Jimmy’s and Kim’s responses fall on entirely different extremes of the emotional spectrum, Jimmy’s indifferent reaction is simpler to understand. From a distance, the letter is indeed heartwarming, but in light of more recent occurrences, it seems hollow. Although Chuck may have been pleased with his brother at the time, he told Jimmy in his parting words, “you’ve never mattered all that much to me.”
Whatever politeness may have been included in Chuck’s postmortem letter is overshadowed by this bitter farewell. In addition, Kim appeared to overlook the several subtle insults that Jimmy found in the letter.
The letter also provides some insight into why Rebecca divorced Chuck prior to Better Call Saul, given that Chuck was able to inspire Jimmy from the beyond. Chuck even jokingly claimed that their mother liked Jimmy more than anything since he was the “favorite son” and that he proudly worked in the mail room at HHM.
Chuck hated Jimmy’s ambitions to become a lawyer and believed the mail room was where Jimmy belonged, as was later made clear. Would Chuck have felt so “proud?” if Jimmy had been hired for a more lucrative and prestigious job rather than sorting his brother’s mail?
How Kim and Jimmy Were Affected by Chuck’s Letter?
Another significant turning point in Jimmy’s slow evolution into Saul Goodman was his icy response when he received Chuck’s letter. Jimmy even denied that his actions may have caused Chuck to commit suicide and failed to appropriately acknowledge his brother’s passing.
Jimmy’s heartless letter response was explained by the fact that the only way he could escape the emotional impact from Chuck’s passing was to have no sentiments at all about the subject. Chuck McGill from Better Call Saul was an important antagonist whose deeds were essential to Jimmy’s metamorphosis, despite the fact that he was neither a murderer nor a drug dealer.
It’s also interesting to note how Kim reacted as Jimmy read the letter out loud, crying more and more with each paragraph until she had to leave the room. Even though Kim doesn’t usually show her emotions, her reaction is surprisingly intense.
Most people would cry when they hear the words of a friend who passed away recently, especially when they’re extolling the praises of a loved one. Kim was blind to the letter’s hidden meanings, unlike Jimmy. She believed the comments to be a sincere homage from brother to brother.
She was unaware of how poorly their previous chat had gone and was unaware of the patronizing tone that lurked behind Chuck’s writing. In retrospect, this hinted at Kim Wexler’s demise in Better Call Saul; despite her superior intelligence, Kim never quite fit in the game.
Kim’s more “normal” response, interpreting the letter as a complement, is demonstrated in the episode that follows when she recommends Jimmy seek counseling after observing his lack of warmth.
However, Kim continues to be more impacted by Chuck’s remarks than the typical person would be, which may be because of her difficult upbringing. Better Call Saul disclosed through flashbacks that Kim’s mother was heartless and harsh, and the Wexler family lived in perpetual poverty.
Kim might have been reminded of the familial bond she never had when she heard how much Jimmy’s brother adored him. Above all, Jimmy and Kim’s divergent responses to Chuck’s letter demonstrate how different the two characters had grown by the fourth season of Better Call Saul.
Chuck’s Last Appearance Revealed Jimmy’s Humility
Chuck was reading H.G. Wells’ work The Time Machine at home before to the Better Call Saul pilot episode, which is why Chuck’s cameo moment with Jimmy in the finale finally clarified why Jimmy kept inquiring about time travel.
It was only in the most dire moments of Jimmy’s life that he asked Mike or Walter White what they would do if they had a time machine.
Walt clarified to Jimmy that his question was not about time travel but rather about regrets, revealing that Jimmy’s initial regrets were always connected to Chuck. Even though Jimmy has consistently stated that he would travel back in time to invest and become wealthy now, the question’s fundamental premise betrays Jimmy’s actual sentiments.
Actually, one of the few mementos Jimmy kept as Saul Goodman was H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, which made its debut in the Better Call Saul season 6 opener. In fact, Chuck’s appearance served as a reminder to the audience of Jimmy’s devotion to Chuck, which contributed to Jimmy’s conflicted sentiments regarding Chuck’s passing and the letter he left behind.
Furthermore, Jimmy was able to start moving on from Chuck’s passing in the Better Call Saul conclusion, even though it came at the expense of spending a few more years behind bars after confessing to additional crimes. Jimmy McGill admitted to deceiving Chuck and cleared his brother’s name in front of their peers in the legal profession during his last courtroom testimony, in which he effectively killed Saul Goodman.
In the eyes of the law and, more significantly, Kim, who had long given up on Saul Goodman, this was a pivotal part of Jimmy’s last attempt at atonement. Jimmy McGill didn’t really need to confess his crimes against Chuck in order to win Kim back in his life, even though it was the main goal of his testimony in the finale.
It was evident that some of the things Chuck wrote in his letter truly resonated with Jimmy after everything that had transpired.
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