Better Call Saul 2.10: Chuck's an Asshole
Mar. 19th, 2025 08:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerI've been hopping around season 2 of Better Call Saul as I write blogs about it. That's because I'm writing all these blogs after finishing watching the season and instead of blogging about the episodes chronologically, I'm blogging about the story arcs of the major characters. In this one I've chosen to write about Chuck, Jimmy's brother. (Jimmy is, of course, the titular character who hasn't yet changed his name.) And the long and short of it is, Chuck's an asshole.
Understand that I'm not saying Jimmy is perfect... or even better than Chuck. This isn't a comparison of two awful people. Jimmy is a con artist who's rooked a lot of people. He's got a good side, though. A big part of that good side is how much he's cared for Chuck over the past 2 years as Chuck has suffered from a mental illness that has him suffering psychosomatic pain. Jimmy accepts Chuck's psychosis instead of pressing him for treatment on it, and takes hours out of his day each day to support Chuck's idiosyncratic physical needs. If Chuck didn't have Jimmy supporting him constantly, he'd end up confined to a mental institution, declared mentally incompetent. In fact that's one of the subplots in mid-season 2: Chuck gets arrested and almost committed, but Jimmy steps in to get Chuck the minimum possible treatment to allow him to go back home. Chuck, of course, is nothing but critical of Jimmy's actions and motives. At every turn he accuses Jimmy of plotting the worst even as Jimmy has strained to cleave as close as possible to Chuck's wishes.
So why is Chuck an asshole? Well, aside from seeming to give Jimmy no credit for the enormous help he's given Chuck, Chuck carries an enormous grudge against him for everything thing he's ever done in the past. He remembers bad things Jimmy did as a kid, bad things he did in his 20s, and bad things he did 5 years ago. "But I accept it, Jimmy," he lectures sanctimoniously. "You hurt people. That's all you do." Chuck's feigned niceness counts only the bad things Jimmy has done and recognizes none of the good.
In episode 2.10 Chuck sets up a trap for Jimmy. Jimmy mucked with some documents Chuck had for a major client. Chuck and his firm lost the client over the mistakes in the filing. Chuck strongly suspects that Jimmy did it. He has no evidence except that he knows Jimmy is a cheat and had opportunity. And Jimmy did do it. He did it exactly like Chuck suspected. But again, this is not a comparison of who's the greater or lesser asshole.
Chuck set up a situation where it looked like he was spiraling deeper into mental illness. He covered the interior of his home with reflective space blankets, putatively to keep out electromagnetic radiation from the neighborhood. Not only did that made it look like he was plunging deeper into psychosis but also he talked to Jimmy like he was contemplating committing suicide. He didn't say literally, "I'm going to kill myself," but he certainly talked like a person who standing on the proverbial ledge. To talk him down off the ledge, Jimmy admitted to mucking with the documents— to assure Chuck that no, he wasn't losing his mind.
Chuck recorded the confession on a hidden tape recorder. Note, Chuck put himself in great pain to set up and use that tape recorder. And he did it to fish a confession of Jimmy. He purposefully talked like he was suicidal to get Jimmy to admit guilt. He talked like he was suicidal to a person who has been waiting on him hand-and-foot for two years. All because he's kept a running list in his head of every wrong thing— and only every wrong thing— Jimmy has ever done.
Understand that I'm not saying Jimmy is perfect... or even better than Chuck. This isn't a comparison of two awful people. Jimmy is a con artist who's rooked a lot of people. He's got a good side, though. A big part of that good side is how much he's cared for Chuck over the past 2 years as Chuck has suffered from a mental illness that has him suffering psychosomatic pain. Jimmy accepts Chuck's psychosis instead of pressing him for treatment on it, and takes hours out of his day each day to support Chuck's idiosyncratic physical needs. If Chuck didn't have Jimmy supporting him constantly, he'd end up confined to a mental institution, declared mentally incompetent. In fact that's one of the subplots in mid-season 2: Chuck gets arrested and almost committed, but Jimmy steps in to get Chuck the minimum possible treatment to allow him to go back home. Chuck, of course, is nothing but critical of Jimmy's actions and motives. At every turn he accuses Jimmy of plotting the worst even as Jimmy has strained to cleave as close as possible to Chuck's wishes.
So why is Chuck an asshole? Well, aside from seeming to give Jimmy no credit for the enormous help he's given Chuck, Chuck carries an enormous grudge against him for everything thing he's ever done in the past. He remembers bad things Jimmy did as a kid, bad things he did in his 20s, and bad things he did 5 years ago. "But I accept it, Jimmy," he lectures sanctimoniously. "You hurt people. That's all you do." Chuck's feigned niceness counts only the bad things Jimmy has done and recognizes none of the good.
In episode 2.10 Chuck sets up a trap for Jimmy. Jimmy mucked with some documents Chuck had for a major client. Chuck and his firm lost the client over the mistakes in the filing. Chuck strongly suspects that Jimmy did it. He has no evidence except that he knows Jimmy is a cheat and had opportunity. And Jimmy did do it. He did it exactly like Chuck suspected. But again, this is not a comparison of who's the greater or lesser asshole.
Chuck set up a situation where it looked like he was spiraling deeper into mental illness. He covered the interior of his home with reflective space blankets, putatively to keep out electromagnetic radiation from the neighborhood. Not only did that made it look like he was plunging deeper into psychosis but also he talked to Jimmy like he was contemplating committing suicide. He didn't say literally, "I'm going to kill myself," but he certainly talked like a person who standing on the proverbial ledge. To talk him down off the ledge, Jimmy admitted to mucking with the documents— to assure Chuck that no, he wasn't losing his mind.
Chuck recorded the confession on a hidden tape recorder. Note, Chuck put himself in great pain to set up and use that tape recorder. And he did it to fish a confession of Jimmy. He purposefully talked like he was suicidal to get Jimmy to admit guilt. He talked like he was suicidal to a person who has been waiting on him hand-and-foot for two years. All because he's kept a running list in his head of every wrong thing— and only every wrong thing— Jimmy has ever done.
