Chuck McGill
| Chuck McGill | |
|---|---|
| Better Call Saul character | |
 Michael McKean as Chuck McGill in a promotional poster for Better Call Saul's third season. | |
| First appearance | "Uno" (2015) |
| Last appearance | "Winner" (2018) |
| Created by | |
| Portrayed by |
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| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Charles Lindbergh McGill, Jr. |
| Aliases | Chuck Chucky |
| Occupation |
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| Family |
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| Spouse | Rebecca Bois (divorced) |
| Home | Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States |
| Nationality | Irish American |
| Birthplace | Cicero, Illinois, United States |
Charles Lindbergh McGill, Jr., is a fictional character who appears in the crime drama television series Better Call Saul, a spin-off prequel of Breaking Bad. He is portrayed by Michael McKean, and was created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould.
Chuck was born in Cicero, Illinois and is the eldest son of Ruth and Charles McGill Sr. He is the older brother of fellow lawyer and titular character Jimmy McGill ("Saul Goodman"). Chuck is a successful attorney, who runs his own law firm, Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill (HHM), with partner Howard Hamlin. Chuck has become semi-reclusive and believes that he suffers from electromagnetic hypersensitivity. He was amicably divorced from his wife, Rebecca Bois, a few years before the events of Better Call Saul.
Although he initially seemed supportive of Jimmy, Chuck harbored resentful feelings toward his brother. His betrayal of and opposition to Jimmy, and his subsequent death, serve as a catalyst for Jimmy's transformation into Saul Goodman. Chuck's life and death also deeply affect Howard Hamlin and Kim Wexler, Jimmy's law partner and girlfriend.[1]
Chuck's character development and McKean's performance throughout the first three seasons received critical acclaim, with many critics claiming that McKean gave the best performance on television in 2017.
Character biography
Chuck McGill was born and raised in Cicero, Illinois, United States. He graduated valedictorian from Francis Xavier High School at the age of 14, making him the youngest graduate in the history of that school. He later attended the University of Pennsylvania and graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center. After clerking at both the Delaware Court of Chancery and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, Chuck joined George Hamlin's solo practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Over the next twenty-three years, the two men, along with George's son Howard, built up their law firm, Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill (HHM). Early in his career, Chuck excelled in criminal law, famously arguing and winning the precedent-setting case of State v. Gonzalez.
Ten years before the start of the series, when his younger brother Jimmy faced serious charges after defecating through the sunroof of a romantic rival's BMW – unaware the man's children were in the backseat – Chuck bailed him out on the condition that Jimmy abandon his career as a con artist and work a legitimate job in HHM's mailroom. Around the time of his divorce from his wife, Rebecca Bois, Chuck took a leave of absence from HHM after apparently developing electromagnetic hypersensitivity. Jimmy, who had quit HHM to practice law after he passed his bar exam but was refused a job by the firm, took over Chuck's care, including buying and delivering his groceries and newspapers.
Season 1
In the pilot episode, Howard tries to offer a token payment as a buyout of Chuck's share of HHM. Jimmy angrily confronts Howard and demands that if HHM buys Chuck out, they pay Chuck its full US$17 million value. Jimmy later stages the phony rescue of a billboard worker to draw attention to his legal practice, and steals Chuck's morning paper in order to prevent him from reading about the "rescue". Chuck runs outside to take a neighbor's copy (for which he leaves a $5 bill as payment) and reads about Jimmy's act. After the neighbor reports Chuck for stealing the newspaper, the police force entry into his home. Chuck is tasered, arrested and hospitalized. A doctor tries to have Jimmy commit Chuck to a mental institution, but Jimmy convinces her that he is fully capable of looking after Chuck in his own home; the doctor advises Jimmy that Chuck's "disease" is entirely psychosomatic.
Chuck aids Jimmy in his investigation of the Sandpiper Crossing retirement community, which has been grossly overcharging its elderly residents. At a meeting between the McGill brothers and Sandpiper's attorneys, Chuck demands that they pay $20 million to settle the case. Sandpiper's attorneys refuse, and Chuck and Jimmy make preparations for a trial. During their work at Chuck's house, an exhausted Jimmy leaves some paperwork in his car. Preoccupied with his preparation, Chuck casually leaves his house to retrieve the paperwork without taking the usual precautions he believes protect him from electricity, and both Chuck and Jimmy are stunned to realize that Chuck has gone outside and suffered no symptoms. After the Sandpiper case becomes too big for them, they offer it to HHM. Howard agrees to accept the case but not Jimmy's continued involvement. Jimmy realizes that Chuck used Howard to not only secretly cut him out of the case, but to block Jimmy's hire after Jimmy was admitted to the bar. Jimmy confronts Chuck, who angrily confesses that he doesn't regard his brother as a "real lawyer", suspecting Jimmy hasn't changed his criminal, short-cutting ways. Jimmy cuts ties with Chuck, and obtains Howard's agreement to continue caring for him.
Season 2
Howard visits Chuck and expresses concern about Jimmy's employment at Davis & Main. Chuck announces his suspicions about the legality of Jimmy's solicitation of potential class members for the Sandpiper lawsuit by approaching a bus full of Sandpiper residents on their way to lunch.
In a flashback, Jimmy visits Chuck's house shortly after moving to Albuquerque, where he meets Chuck's wife, Rebecca (Ann Cusack). Jimmy charms Rebecca, which makes Chuck uncomfortable. Kim is still relegated to document review work at HHM. In a conversation about Jimmy she has with Chuck, he relates a story claiming that when they lived in Cicero, Jimmy embezzled money from their father's business, which led to its eventual collapse. Chuck then promises to try to get Kim reinstated.
Kim leaves HHM and takes Mesa Verde Bank as a client. Chuck then arranges a meeting with Mesa Verde's president and counsel, where he masterfully damns Kim with faint praise and persuades them to stay with HHM. Chuck appears normal during the meeting, but the strain of hiding his electromagnetic sensitivity symptoms causes him to collapse afterwards. At a subsequent meeting of the New Mexico Banking Board, the new branch application Chuck submits contains incorrect information, creating a six-week delay in the planned opening. Dissatisfied with Chuck's performance, Mesa Verde hires Kim as their outside counsel. A humiliated Chuck immediately and correctly suspects Jimmy is responsible for the sabotage.
In a flashback, Chuck and Jimmy are beside their comatose mother's hospital bed. Jimmy leaves to buy sandwiches for himself and Chuck, who has not eaten for days. While Chuck is alone with his mother she wakes and calls Jimmy's name twice before dying. Jimmy returns to find his mother's room empty, and asks Chuck if their mother awakened before she died or had any last words. Chuck falsely says she did not.
Kim infers Jimmy's guilt, and tells him that if he left any evidence, Chuck is smart enough to find it. Jimmy returns to the copy store where he altered the Mesa Verde documents and observes Ernesto speaking with the clerk. Having searched all night copy stores at Chuck's request until he found the right one, Ernesto leaves to pick up Chuck and bring him back to interview the clerk. In the interim, Jimmy bribes the clerk to say he doesn't remember Jimmy. Chuck arrives with Ernesto and begins to question the clerk, but his EHS symptoms overwhelm him and he faints, hitting his head on the way down. Jimmy rushes across the street and into the copy store to aid Chuck, and orders the clerk to call an ambulance. In the hospital, Chuck, now stable, wonders how it was possible for Jimmy to come to his assistance when Chuck was unconscious for less than a minute, correctly deducing that Jimmy had bribed the clerk and then stayed nearby to observe Chuck question him. Ernesto covers for Jimmy, falsely saying that before bringing Chuck to the store, he called Jimmy out of concern for Chuck's health.
Howard calls Jimmy to advise that Chuck has quit HHM. Jimmy rushes to Chuck's house, where he finds his brother covering the walls, floor and ceiling of his living room with foil sheets and reflective insulation panels. Chuck explains that the walls of his home were doing nothing to deflect electromagnetic rays, leading to mental deterioration, which is why he made the mistake with the Mesa Verde documents. Feeling guilty about his deception and Chuck's decision to abandon practicing law, Jimmy confesses to tampering with the documents and bribing the copy store clerk. After Jimmy leaves, Chuck unveils a tape recorder he had hidden and activated prior to Jimmy's arrival.
Season 3
Jimmy helps Chuck remove the foil from his wall and reminisces over a book they read together during their youth; Chuck is quick to end the nostalgia and remind him that his actions won't be forgotten or forgiven. Chuck plays Jimmy's confession to Howard, who warns him that the tape has no legal or public value, but Chuck assures him that it has a use. Chuck later arranges for a key part of the tape to be played by Ernesto in a way that appears to Ernesto to be accidental. Chuck makes Ernesto promise not to repeat anything that he heard.
As Chuck expected, Ernesto tells Kim about the tape. Kim relays this to Jimmy and advises him that the tape is no legal threat. Unsure of Chuck's plan, she counsels Jimmy to wait for Chuck to make the first move. Jimmy suppresses his feelings of anger and betrayal in front of Kim, but later drives to Chuck's house, breaks in, berates him and destroys the tape. Jimmy reacted as Chuck anticipated he would, and reveals that the tape was bait and Howard and a private investigator witnessed Jimmy's break-in.
Jimmy is arrested, represents himself in court, pleads not guilty, and posts bail. Jimmy later explains what happened during his break-in and tells Kim to work on Mesa Verde while he works his own legal battle, to which she flatly agrees. The prosecutor in Jimmy's case, Hay, meets with Chuck and tells him that she doesn't plan to let Jimmy off easy. Chuck says he wishes to seek a "better solution for everyone": Jimmy can avoid jail time, but will have to confess to his felony break-in and submit his confession to the New Mexico Bar Association, which will likely result in disbarment. Kim convinces Jimmy to let her help him fight Chuck's plot.
Jimmy, Kim, Howard, Chuck and ADA Hay meet in order to finalize Jimmy's confession, with Jimmy agreeing to have it reviewed by the bar association. After the meeting, Kim confronts Chuck, telling him that she suspects he has a copy of the tape Jimmy destroyed. Chuck confirms her suspicions and states that he plans to submit the tape as evidence in Jimmy's disciplinary hearing. Kim then relays the information to Jimmy, revealing that having Chuck admit the existence of the second tape was part of their plan.
In a flashback ("Chicanery"), Chuck invites Rebecca over for dinner and comes up with an elaborate lie about the power to his house being cut so he doesn't have to reveal his EHS to her. However, Rebecca answers her cell phone, causing Chuck to knock it out of her hands in a panic. He refuses to explain his actions and forbids Jimmy to reveal the truth. In the present, Jimmy meets with Caldera to acquire the services of "someone with a light touch." Both sides gear up for Jimmy’s bar association hearing, which does not seem to go well for Jimmy. Rebecca enters the courtroom, leaving Chuck both stunned. Knowing it's a ploy by Jimmy to throw him off balance, Chuck tries to remain calm. Jimmy shows evidence of Chuck’s bizarre living conditions, using the photos Mike Ehrmantraut took while pretending to be a repairman hired to fix Chuck's front door. Jimmy cross-examines Chuck about the circumstances of the recording, Rebecca’s presence and his illness. Jimmy reveals that Chuck has been carrying a fully charged cell phone battery planted by Huell for the entire hearing, contradicting the EHS symptoms Chuck claimed to have and suggesting he has a mental illness. This triggers a sudden tirade from Chuck in which he vents all his frustrations about Jimmy. Chuck realizes, too late, that his outburst has shocked the entire courtroom, including the committee.
Jimmy is given a year's suspension, but not disbarred. While he and Kim celebrate, Rebecca asks Jimmy to help with Chuck, who has shuttered himself in his home, but Jimmy refuses, saying Chuck is no longer his brother. Chuck later admits Howard into his home. Howard suggests to Chuck that he forget about Jimmy and look to the future, which Chuck appears to agree to. However, Chuck is later seen walking through the streets of Albuquerque, and calling Dr. Cruz, the doctor who diagnosed his condition, over a payphone. He admits that the disciplinary hearing demonstrated that his EHS may not be real. Dr. Cruz agrees to help Chuck, and he is able learn to tolerate electromagnetism, including walking to a store on his own to buy groceries.
Kim feels regret for destroying Chuck's reputation. While having dinner with Jimmy, she wonders whether they did the right thing and Jimmy replies what happened to Chuck was his own fault and that she should forget about him. Desperate for funds to keep up his end of office expenses, Jimmy meets with a representative of his insurance company to request a refund on his malpractice policy. The agent is unable to grant the refund and mentions that due to his suspension, when he resumes practicing law, his premium will rise by 150%. Jimmy is visibly shaken and starts to cry. When the agent reacts sympathetically, Jimmy seizes the opportunity to "accidentally" mention Chuck's mental illness before leaving, knowing that the insurance company will act on the information.
The insurance company's representatives meet with Howard and Chuck and give them an ultimatum: either they can have HHM's malpractice insurance premiums raised, or have another attorney supervise Chuck at all times. Chuck refuses to negotiate and decides to fight the insurance company in court. This proves to be the last straw for Howard, who informs Chuck that he will be forced to retire since his judgment can no longer be trusted. Chuck responds by suing HHM for $8 million, the value of his share of the practice. Howard calls Chuck's bluff by making the first of three installment payments out of his own pocket, ending Chuck's association with the firm.
Jimmy tries to make amends with Chuck, but Chuck coldly cuts ties. After forcing Jimmy away, Chuck's EHS symptoms begin to re-emerge, and he becomes obsessed with disabling all the electronic devices in his home, to the point of tearing walls open to remove the wiring in a search for whatever device is causing his electric meter to continue running. He reaches a breaking point and intentionally knocks a gas lantern over, setting fire to his house while he is still inside.
Season 4
Upon hearing the news of Chuck's death, Jimmy and Kim race over, just as the coroner's van is leaving with Chuck's corpse. Jimmy knows that Chuck seemed well five days prior, showing no signs of his electromagnetic hypersensitivity, but since then, all of his electronics had been thrown out, meaning he must have relapsed and set the fire on purpose. Jimmy falls into a deep depression.
Howard helps to arrange for Chuck's funeral, which many of Chuck's former legal associates attend. After the funeral, Howard approaches Jimmy and Kim and takes the blame for Chuck's death, having forced Chuck out of HHM due to the liability insurance rate hike. Jimmy doesn't reveal his role in informing the insurance company of Chuck's illness, and lets Howard take the blame, immediately regaining his happy-go-lucky composure. Chuck leaves his house to his ex-wife and most of his estate to various charities and civic endeavors, with a $5,000 bequest for Jimmy—just enough to prevent him from contesting the will. He also leaves an unsigned, undated letter he purportedly wrote to Jimmy when they were on better terms. Kim gives it to Jimmy, and after reading it to her, he dismissively calls it "nice", but Kim is visibly upset after hearing Chuck's praise for Jimmy.
Chuck also appears in two flashbacks. In the first, set 10 years before the show's 2003 present, the staff at HHM congratulate pre-illness Chuck after he argues obscure case law to successfully close a lucrative case for the firm. The reception Chuck receives serves as a catalyst for Jimmy's subsequent legal studies, which he carries out in secret. In the second, Chuck appears before the board of bar examiners during the admission of new attorneys in 1998, and provides Jimmy's ritual introduction and character reference. Following the ceremony, Chuck attends a celebration for Jimmy at a karaoke bar, and brings Jimmy home after the party.
When Jimmy picks up his token $5,000 inheritance check, he discovers HHM is experiencing declining business and layoffs. Howard admits to trouble paying out to Chuck's estate and says the events of recent years have damaged the firm's reputation and cost it clients. Howard seems subdued and uninterested because of his guilt over Chuck's death, and Jimmy tries a "tough love" speech to rouse him to action. By the time Jimmy is ready to appeal for reinstatement to the bar in 2004, Howard has finished grieving over Chuck, and announces that HHM is back on its feet.
Reception
Michael McKean's portrayal of Chuck McGill has received critical acclaim.
The first season episode "Pimento" received critical acclaim, with many critics praising the performances from Bob Odenkirk and Michael McKean. Roth Cornet of IGN gave the episode a 9.0 rating, concluding, "Better Call Saul revealed the betrayal that may very well be at the heart of what turns Jimmy McGill into Saul Goodman, as this stunningly crafted story continues to unfold."[2]
The third season episode "Chicanery", received universal acclaim from critics, with some considering it to be a series-best. Terri Schwartz of IGN awarded the episode a perfect 10 out of 10, describing it as "the best episode of Better Call Saul to date".[3] It currently holds a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes with an average score of 9.5/10 based on 12 reviews. The site consensus reads: "The war between Jimmy and Chuck comes to an unprecedented climax in the heartbreaking, sober, and defining 'Chicanery', an episode that clearly cements Better Call Saul as essential television."[4]
TVLine named Michael McKean the "Performer of the Week" for his performance in this episode, writing it was the "finest showcase yet for his fascinatingly layered performance as Jimmy's brother Chuck McGill."[5] Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club, who gave the episode an "A" rating, praised the courtroom scene, saying "it isn’t just to give us the satisfaction of a courtroom drama, the neat ending where the truth comes out. The brilliance of this structure is to give us a slow-motion view of the heavens falling, an outcome methodically pursued by Kim and Jimmy, which nevertheless seems to give them no satisfaction."[6]
Many critics were disappointed when McKean, who was said to have given "one of the best performances by anyone in TV all year", failed to secure an Emmy nomination in 2017 while his co-star Jonathan Banks did.[7][8] For his performances as Chuck McGill, Michael McKean won a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2018 at the 22nd Satellite Awards. McKean later received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series nomination for his guest appearance in the fourth season.
Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture considers him to be the Better Call Saul equivalent of Breaking Bad character Skyler White.[9]
References
- ^ Nemetz, Dave (May 31, 2018). "Better Call Saul Season 4 Gets August Premiere Date at AMC". TVLine. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
- ^ Cornet, Roth (March 30, 2015). "Better Call Saul: "Pimento" Review". IGN. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
- ^ Schwartz, Terri (May 8, 2017). "Better Call Saul: "Chicanery" Review". IGN. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
- ^ "Chicanery". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
- ^ "Performer of the Week: Michael McKean". TVLine. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
- ^ "Chicanery · Better Call Saul · TV Review". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
- ^ "The 2017 Emmy nominations' 13 most disappointing omissions". Vox.com. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
- ^ "'Its exclusion is an almighty slap in the face' – all the Emmy snubs and shocks". The Guardian. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
- ^ Seitz, Matt Zoleller (April 21, 2016). "Chuck McGill Is Better Call Saul's Version of Skyler White". Vulture. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
External links
- Chuck McGill at AMC
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