Jimmy and Chuck had one of the most interesting relationships in Better Call Saul, but the original plan could have drastically changed the series’ ending. The two brothers had a love/hate relationship, and things spiraled completely out of control when working on the Sandpiper case together. Better Call Saul season 3’s ending sees Chuck die by suicide, as he sets his house on fire with the gas lantern that he used since the very beginning of the first season. Jimmy was ultimately to blame for his death, as it followed a huge falling out and Jimmy humiliating him in court.
However, while Chuck was considered the villain for the first half of the series, according to Kim Wexler actor Rhea Seahorn, Chuck was originally good-hearted in Better Call Saul. The actor explained, “Michael McKean played it with such gravitas and so much complexity and subtext that they were like, ‘Oh I think this is a formidable foe.'” The original plan was that Chuck was supposed to bring out the softer side of Jimmy, but the character ultimately ends up doing the exact opposite and being the one who forces Jimmy to become Saul Goodman. However, the original plan could have drastically altered Jimmy’s ending.
Jimmy’s Better Call Saul Ending Changes If Chuck Isn’t A Villain
Chuck was right all along that Jimmy fraudulently tampered with some legal documents, but Jimmy tampered with the papers for the greater good, and as Chuck tried to stop that, he was ultimately villainized. It didn’t help that Chuck had always been cruel to his brother and tried to stop Jimmy from ever taking the bar exam. However, In season 6, episode 13, “Saul’s Gone,” Jimmy gives a full courtroom testimony, also divulging his regrets about his brother, even though none of it is necessarily criminal. But if Chuck wasn’t the villain and didn’t force Jimmy to commit those crimes, Jimmy wouldn’t have anything to regret.
Before confessing, Jimmy had bargained a plea deal for himself that whittled his sentence down to seven years. If Chuck didn’t kill himself because of what Jimmy did to him, Jimmy likely wouldn’t have been regretful enough over anything that would encourage him to confess. He would probably have gotten the plea deal and continued his scams in jail until he was freed a few years later. However, at the same time, if Jimmy and Chuck didn’t have such an antagonistic relationship, Jimmy might have never become Saul in the first place, as it all started with the original pseudonym Chuck was so critical of, Slipping Jimmy.
Better Call Saul Could’ve Ended The Same (Even If Chuck Wasn’t A Villain)
Though a more brotherly relationship between Jimmy and Chuck might have changed Jimmy’s timeline, it could still have had the same fateful ending with Jimmy being responsible for Chuck’s death in some other way. As Jimmy frequently dealt with criminals and became heavily involved in crime himself, Chuck could have died as a result of that, just as Howard did. And though Chuck was the “villain” of the first three seasons of Better Call Saul, he still believed in the law and tried to inspire Jimmy to always do the right thing. In that respect, Jimmy might still have been influenced to do the right thing and confess in court.
