You're a [BLEEP] lawyer, Howard.
But you're a great salesman.
So get out there and sell.
[BLEEP] you, Jimmy.
There you go.
"Better Call Saul" is a near-perfect example
of how to approach a prequel series to a show that is widely
hailed as one of the best television dramas of all time.
Somehow, "Better Call Saul" showrunners
are able to capture the tonal and thematic elements that
make "Breaking Bad" so great and repackage them in a way that
feels fresh and new.
Funny enough, the title of "Better Call Saul's"
perfect episode is the same tool that the writers
use to differentiate the series from "Breaking Bad" in such
a captivating way.
The fifth episode of the show's third season
is titled "Chicanery."
"Better Call Saul" entered development back in 2013
when AMC approached Vince Gilligan and Peter
Gould to create a spin-off of Breaking Bad.
"Better Call Saul" was initially conceived
as a series of short vignettes in which Saul Goodman would
be working on cases featuring various celebrity cameos.
Writing for this format was a struggle
and they quickly pivoted toward writing for an hour long format
with a focus on incorporating comedic elements into a crime
drama.
[CRASHING]
The show centers around Jimmy McGill who would eventually
become Walter White's shady attorney Saul Goodman,
and follows his transformation from a two-bit con-man
with good intentions into the flashy fast-talking cartel
lawyer who cuts so many corners that he eventually
whittles away at his sense of self
until he is almost unrecognizable.
The episode we are here to talk about,
"Chicanery," serves as the exact halfway point
of the entire series and is arguably one of, if not
the single most important episode for our main character
Jimmy McGill.
The entire episode plays out as a procedural courtroom drama
in which Jimmy acquires the help of Kim Wexler
to defend him during a hearing for his disbarment.
Jimmy tampered with evidence that
was in possession of his brother in an effort
to help Kim secure a new client.
Evidence tampering is a felony and a complete confession
to his crime is there to prove Jimmy's guilt.
The courts and the presenting attorneys
have everything they need to disbar Jimmy McGill,
yet we know for a fact that he doesn't get disbarred.
Clearly, his taste in women is the same
as his taste in lawyers.
Only the very best with just the right amount of dirty.
A lot of the fun in watching "Better Call Saul"
comes from our knowledge of where the characters end up.
However, because we know that certain characters are safe
and certain characters are not, the show
has to rely on relationships and emotions
to drive the tension of the story, which
results in a much richer and deeper story overall.
And while we understand that certain characters might
be physically safe, the show repeatedly
puts their psychologies, perspectives, and philosophies
in mortal danger.
While no character is actually killed off during "Chicanery,"
the episode does feature a couple of major deaths
in the spiritual and philosophical sense.
We're back at it.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
[PANTING]
Chuck, what the hell?
The opening of "Chicanery" finds Jimmy McGill showing up to,
once again, take care of his brother Chuck.
Jimmy has been caring for Chuck for the entirety
of this series, helping him through a disorder known
as electromagnetic hypersensitivity.
This condition exists in the real world
and while there is some debate of the legitimacy
of this disorder, it is largely believed
to be a psychiatric condition exacerbated by acute paranoia.
This flashback sequence at the top of the episode
really does a great job of establishing a few things that
are absolutely necessary to the emotional weight
of this episode.
The first being that Jimmy cares deeply
about Chuck and his well-being.
He cares to the point where he helps
Chuck plan this elaborate ruse to conceal his mental disorder
from his estranged wife, Rebecca, with whom
he is attempting to reconcile.
The second thing it establishes is
that Chuck is willing to go along
with one of Jimmy's elaborate ruses only
when it is to benefit himself.
Where Jimmy is willing to lie and manipulate
the people he cares about in sort of a backwards way
to help others, Chuck is willing to lie and manipulate
the people he cares about to save face
as a benefit to himself.
This also serves as a tool to exemplify Chuck's insane
level of pride and inherent need to appear
to be in control at any cost.
He'd rather let Rebecca leave thinking that he assaulted
her then admit to struggling with something
beyond his control.
This is all a great example of how important
these two incredibly flawed brothers are to one another.
Despite their struggles, they still respect each other
to some degree.
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And now, back to the video.
The disbarment hearing in which the bulk of this episode
takes place is a seemingly personal endeavor
for Chuck's legal partner, Howard Hamlin,
and most importantly, for Chuck McGill himself.
Chuck has been pulling the strings of Jimmy's legal career
for years and has largely used Howard Hamlin as a pawn
to execute his desires to tear his brother down at every turn.
During the scene in which Howard and Chuck are strategizing
about how the proceedings should play out,
Howard makes a plea for Chuck to let him
handle it and take a backseat.
Maybe there's no need to put you through the wringer like this.
This isn't about me.
Or my health.
This is about PR.
However, Chuck is a control freak
who is currently obsessed with delivering a killing
blow to a legal career he has tried to extinguish for years.
Chuck wants to beat Jimmy at his own game once and for all.
The remainder of this episode plays out
like two brothers placing their hands
on the top of a baseball bat.
The upper hand seems to consistently waver
back and forth between Jimmy and Chuck
during these tense, emotional legal proceedings.
We've seen Chuck and Howard's hand
and we know how they intend to play it.
On the other side of the coin, we
see Jimmy's hand play out just one card at a time.
In the stairwell, we are treated to a cameo from the "Breaking
Bad" timeline with the introduction
of Saul Goodman's faithful security
guard, Huell Babineaux.
We see Huell bump into Chuck in the stairwell.
We know that something happened here,
but we're unclear as to what.
Did Huell steal something from Chuck
or did he plant something on him?
We're slowly being led somewhere and it's
coming into focus one tiny piece at a time.
We also see Jimmy conferring with his secretary
over the arrival of someone important
and delaying the trial.
It's these little moments that reel us
into the plot of the episode, but it's
the emotional stakes that keep us living in the moment.
Chuck is trying to kill his brother.
I love my brother.
But Ted Kaczynski's brother loved him, too.
Not in a physical sense, but he is
trying to destroy the person who Jimmy McGill has become
and he's willing to do anything in his power to get there.
The crux of his entire assassination attempt
rests on a recording he made of Jimmy confessing
to felony evidence tampering.
After the opposing counsel plays the tape of Jimmy's confession
for the courtroom, it really seems
like this recording is the bullet that kills
Jimmy McGill's legal career.
This is also the first time that Kim Wexler
gets to peek under the hood as to exactly how she
came to become Mesa Verde's lead attorney.
Through Kim Wexler's reaction to the tape,
actress Rhea Seehorn is able to capture an emotional state
laden with surprise and concern, but there's also an endearment
to her reaction as well.
Throughout the entirety of "Better Call Saul,"
Kim Wexler has been a character who can see past Jimmy's
actions in favor of his intent.
When Chuck finally takes the stand,
we see all of that work and hatred
begin to play itself out.
He delivers an incredibly convincing speech
that seems to be received exactly
in the way it was intended.
That's why I did what I did.
Not to hurt him, but to protect something that I hold sacred.
However, the eyes of Michael McKean's portrayal
of Chuck McGill tell a more intricate and painful story.
Under the surface, we see Chuck desperately trying
to conceal his emotions and remain cold and indifferent
to the proceedings at hand.
The deck seems to be stacked against Jimmy McGill,
but the emotional stakes that play underneath it
all definitely present an interesting flaw
in the prosecution's ironclad case.
Before Jimmy cross-examines Chuck,
his estranged wife, Rebecca, shows up.
This was the arrival that Jimmy had been waiting for,
but why is Rebecca there?
We can presume that it is to throw Chuck off his game
during cross-examination, but it's really
much deeper than that.
Jimmy has disclosed Chuck's electromagnetic
hypersensitivity to Rebecca.
What exactly did he say?
Well, you had been sick.
Allergic to electricity?
He sent me pictures of the house.
Chuck, my God.
The concealment of this disorder was previously
established as something Jimmy would protect his brother from,
but this pivot toward disclosure is really
the writer's way of showing us that Jimmy
has let go of his obligations to his brother.
As finished as Chuck McGill is with Jimmy,
Jimmy is equally as finished with Chuck.
Despite the curveball thrown with the introduction
of Rebecca into this episode, Chuck still
seems to be wildly unflappable during this cross-examination
and he doesn't even flinch at Jimmy's ruse
with the cellphone.
May I?
And this moment is where Jimmy knows he has Chuck right
where he wants him.
There's a pause before Jimmy goes in for the kill.
He knows what he's about to do and considers it carefully
before following through.
Could you reach into your breast pocket
and tell me what's there?
He reveals that Chuck has had a fully charged battery
in his jacket pocket for almost two hours,
thus outing Chuck for being mentally ill.
This sends Chuck into an extremely emotional tirade
in which he drops his carefully rehearsed facade
and essentially confesses his true motives to the panel.
A heavy, weighted silence falls over the courtroom.
It's at this moment we understand
that the tables have turned.
It's now Jimmy who has killed his own brother
and everyone inside this courtroom
just watched it happen.
Jimmy hangs his head with guilt because he knows that he
has just destroyed Chuck.
In a way, this is also the moment where Jimmy McGill dies
and the real Saul Goodman is born.
Hi, I'm Saul Goodman.
Did you know that you have rights?
The Constitution says you do.
And so do I.
Chuck was the only family Jimmy had in the world and Jimmy
cared for him for years.
All of that is gone now.
This slow zoom shows the life leaving Charles McGill's eyes
and he looks like a corpse as he stares into the warm red glow
of the exit sign.
"Chicanery" is a perfect episode of "Better Call Saul," not
because it has the most shocking twists and turns
or the largest connections to the Breaking Bad universe.
It's a perfect episode because it truly
captures what separates "Better Call Saul" from "Breaking Bad."
"Chicanery" is the point of no return for Jimmy McGill
as he abandons his conscience and familial obligations
and essentially assassinates his brother's character in front
of his peers and loved ones.
It's an emotionally charged expose
of a strained relationship between two brothers that
results in almost nobody winning, reminding us that even
when the world of "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul"
strays from the world of cartels and drug trafficking,
there are still no real winners.
And that's it for today's episode.
What do you think the best episode of Better Call Saul is?
Feel free to let us know what you think in the comment
section below.
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