Chuck McGill: It's Electric!

[Jextella]

OMG.  Glad to see a little movement in this thread.  I'm dying to see the next season...whenever *that* is! 

[ShadowFacts]

6 hours ago, Jextella said:

OMG.  Glad to see a little movement in this thread.  I'm dying to see the next season...whenever *that* is! 

It was posted on the media thread that it might not be until fall.  I think that is just too long, I can't remember plot intricacies for that long. 

[ShadowFacts]

17 hours ago, Umbelina said:

http://breakingbad.wikia.com/wiki/Chuck_McGill

Maybe you are right, but in court in season 3, Chuck admitted under oath that his problems began when his wife left him, which was before Jimmy passed the bar, right?  So much was done in flashbacks, it gets a bit confusing.  He probably did have another "relapse" when Jimmy passed the bar exam, but I don't think that was his first time to have his made up disease.

My impression was that he was very perfectionist when we saw flashbacks of him with Rebecca pre-divorce -- maybe bordering on OCD.  He was, to me, a little predisposed to some mental illness for a long time, and gradually got worse and took it to extremes after Jimmy encroached on his safe and controllable and pristine place - the law. 

[PeterPirate]

2 hours ago, ShadowFacts said:

My impression was that he was very perfectionist when we saw flashbacks of him with Rebecca pre-divorce -- maybe bordering on OCD.  He was, to me, a little predisposed to some mental illness for a long time, and gradually got worse and took it to extremes after Jimmy encroached on his safe and controllable and pristine place - the law. 

That's what makes sense to me.  Jimmy passing the bar triggered Chuck into erratic behavior that drove Rebecca away. 

Fwiw, I took a look at the scene in 108 Rico wherein Jimmy tells Chuck that he passed the bar exam.  Chuck's hands move around a lot, but I didn't see a ring on his left hand.  

Edited April 2, 2018 by PeterPirate

[ShadowFacts]

20 hours ago, PeterPirate said:

That's what makes sense to me.  Jimmy passing the bar triggered Chuck into erratic behavior that drove Rebecca away. 

Fwiw, I took a look at the scene in 108 Rico wherein Jimmy tells Chuck that he passed the bar exam.  Chuck's hands move around a lot, but I didn't see a ring on his left hand.  

My memory could be faulty on this, but I seem to remember Chuck wearing a wedding ring past the time he would have been divorced.  I think there were discussions in the forum pondering if he was widowed before we knew anything about Rebecca, because he wore a ring but there had been no mention of a wife.

[ByTor]

On ‎4‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 10:55 AM, PeterPirate said:

Jimmy passing the bar triggered Chuck into erratic behavior that drove Rebecca away. 

That's what I was wondering, whether Chuck & Rebecca were still married when Jimmy passed the exam.  In the episode where all 3 had dinner together & Chuck was annoyed that Rebecca liked Jimmy and laughed at his jokes, did Jimmy say anything about passing the bar?  I remember Chuck asking Jimmy how things were in the mail room, but not Jimmy saying anything about the exam.

Edited April 5, 2018 by ByTor

[ShadowFacts]

19 hours ago, ByTor said:

That's what I was wondering, whether Chuck & Rebecca were still married when Jimmy passed the exam.  In the episode where all 3 had dinner together & Chuck was annoyed that Rebecca liked Jimmy and laughed at his jokes, did Jimmy say anything about passing the bar?  I remember Chuck asking Jimmy how things were in the mail room, but not Jimmy saying anything about the exam.

No, I think that dinner was shortly after he had moved to Albuquerque when he was new on the job, they talked awkwardly about him not having been at their wedding, as if they had not been in contact for awhile.  It took Jimmy years to finish his law degree and pass the bar, I think. 

[ByTor]

3 hours ago, ShadowFacts said:

No, I think that dinner was shortly after he had moved to Albuquerque when he was new on the job, they talked awkwardly about him not having been at their wedding, as if they had not been in contact for awhile.  It took Jimmy years to finish his law degree and pass the bar, I think. 

And Chuck had no idea Jimmy even went to law school until after he passed the bar, correct?

Edited April 6, 2018 by ByTor

[ShadowFacts]

2 hours ago, ByTor said:

And Chuck had no idea Jimmy even went to in law school until after he passed the bar, correct?

Right.  It seems like only Kim knew.

[PeterPirate]

On 4/1/2018 at 10:35 PM, Jextella said:

OMG.  Glad to see a little movement in this thread.  I'm dying to see the next season...whenever *that* is! 

I'm also looking forward to next season.  Although my gut tells me that it will be the last one.  With Chuck and Hector both out of the way, Kim, Howard and Nacho are only regular characters who need to have their story lines wrapped up.  I really am interested to see if any of them survive.  

[NYCFree]

On 4/6/2018 at 4:50 PM, PeterPirate said:

I'm also looking forward to next season.  Although my gut tells me that it will be the last one.  With Chuck and Hector both out of the way, Kim, Howard and Nacho are only regular characters who need to have their story lines wrapped up.  I really am interested to see if any of them survive.  

I’ve thought, since the beginning of BCS, that Kim’s death will be necessary for the full transformation into Saul Goodman.

[Bryce Lynch]

On 4/6/2018 at 6:57 AM, ShadowFacts said:

No, I think that dinner was shortly after he had moved to Albuquerque when he was new on the job, they talked awkwardly about him not having been at their wedding, as if they had not been in contact for awhile.  It took Jimmy years to finish his law degree and pass the bar, I think. 

There were 2 dinners.  The first was when Jimmy had been working in the HHM mailroom for about a week and Chuck was not yet suffering from his condition and was still married to Rebecca.

The second was probably about a year before the episode 1:1 takes place.  Jimmy had recently passed the bar and Chuck was divorced and had developed his phobia of electricity.

[Simon Boccanegra]

I'm doing a post-S5 Netflix rewatch of the first four seasons, because even though I've been with Better Call Saul from the start and have liked it, a lot of the events, especially in the early years, have gone blurry for me. I've never seen any episode more than once.  

It's reminding me how great Michael McKean was in this role. The love/hate relationship of the McGill brothers was the engine of the first three seasons, and it gave us great scenes like that truth-telling confrontation at the end of "Pimento" (1-9). McKean always played Chuck's inflections, hesitations, and expressions just right. When you watch the episodes again knowing where everything's going, everything about his performance tracks.

I remember that when I was following fan forums more in the first couple seasons, Chuck was polarizing; there were people who wanted him gone even before the first season finale. I consider him a great and necessary character whose run had to end eventually to get us to the next phase, and the show got the most out of him. 

[JudyObscure]

8 hours ago, Simon Boccanegra said:

It's reminding me how great Michael McKean was in this role. The love/hate relationship of the McGill brothers was the engine of the first three seasons, and it gave us great scenes like that truth-telling confrontation at the end of "Pimento" (1-9).

Agree 100%.  It was sibling rivalry jacked up to Shakespearean level and McKean's acting was well worthy of the writing. I still love the show but nothing equals the Chuck years.

[gallimaufry]

I think they just managed to write Chuck out before he had gone too far.  The nature of the character was such that the back and forth between him and Jimmy would become repetitive and almost was.  But as it turned out, Series 3 gave us an incredible climax to their hatred and then his rallying and crashing out in the last five episodes was absolutely gripping.  I agree this is the height of the show.  I was sad that Chuck wasn't in Series 5 at all.

[tkellnerus]

I had once heard the term nocebo (the opposite of placebo; it's something which if you think hurts you, hurts you). This article seems to regard electromagnetic radiation as a nocebo to Chuck. https://www.theguardian.com/science/shortcuts/2015/feb/15/better-call-saul-electromagnetic-hypersensitivity-real-health-risk

[PeterPirate]

Two videos about Chuck's psychology.  

I have already posted an excellent (imo) video about Kim's psychological motivations.  

[Cinnabon]

I love Michael McKean. He was so great as Chuck.

[Gobi]

8 minutes ago, Cinnabon said:

I love Michael McKean. He was so great as Chuck.

Amazing that he can do drama like this and also great comedy in Spinal Tap (with Ed Begley, Jr. in a cameo).

[Cinnabon]

1 minute ago, Gobi said:

Amazing that he can do drama like this and also great comedy in Spinal Tap (with Ed Begley, Jr. in a cameo).

Yes! One of my all time favorites. And don’t forget Lenny from Laverne and Shirley 🙂.

[gallimaufry]

So I never expect this to be addressed but... I wonder what happened to the portrait of Chuck McGill from the HHM conference room?  I can't imagine Bruckner Associates would want it on the wall.  Is there anyone who would really want an imperious-looking Chuck McGill on their wall at home?  Maybe they could auction it off to one of Chuck's admirers in the ABQ legal community but I think there's a decent chance it would be destroyed.

I feel like there's a golden opportunity here to do a mirror of the Citizen Kane sequence from episode 1 in HHM with the Chuck portrait being binned, the nameplate on the library being unscrewed, the Hamlindigo blue being painted over.

[scenario]

5 hours ago, gallimaufry said:

So I never expect this to be addressed but... I wonder what happened to the portrait of Chuck McGill from the HHM conference room?  I can't imagine Bruckner Associates would want it on the wall.  Is there anyone who would really want an imperious-looking Chuck McGill on their wall at home?  Maybe they could auction it off to one of Chuck's admirers in the ABQ legal community but I think there's a decent chance it would be destroyed.

I feel like there's a golden opportunity here to do a mirror of the Citizen Kane sequence from episode 1 in HHM with the Chuck portrait being binned, the nameplate on the library being unscrewed, the Hamlindigo blue being painted over.

Jimmy might buy it and put it on the wall in his guest bathroom. 

[Starchild]

That portrait could be Jimmy's Rosebud.

[PeterPirate]

Mr. Williams created a tribute video to Howard of all people.  

I've watched several of his reaction videos and I find them highly entertaining.  He and I share a lot of the same opinions about the characters.  Still, I am glad I didn't discover him until after the show aired.  His over-the-top personality would not have been suitable for this site, where we deal in nuance and detail.  

Also, since there isn't a dedicated Howard thread, I thought this the best available proxy.  

Edited August 26, 2022 by PeterPirate

[Dobian]

On 5/25/2022 at 5:51 AM, Cinnabon said:

Yes! One of my all time favorites. And don’t forget Lenny from Laverne and Shirley 🙂.

And together with "Squiggy" in Used Cars!

[PeterPirate]

Another tribute video to Howard.  It's more about looking at J&K's actions towards Howard.  

[Adiba]

7 hours ago, PeterPirate said:

Another tribute video to Howard.  It's more about looking at J&K's actions towards Howard.  

And this is why J&K’s final scene in the finale did not move me—although I was satisfied with the ending, it was not “tear-worthy” for me.  I can name many movies and sitcom finales where I cried or got misty-eyed, but BCS’s was not one of them.

Edited September 1, 2022 by Adiba
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