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Two years have passed since the last episode of Better Call Saul aired in 2022. A sequel series to Breaking Bad and which explains how James Morgan McGill ended up being Saul Goodman... It is undoubtedly one of those series that will be in the memories of all those who are fans of the universe created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould... Beyond whether or not Better Call Saul surpassed its mother series, Breaking Bad, what is interesting to highlight in this post is the most distorted and at the same time, extremely deep relationship between two emblematic characters: the McGill brothers... Chuck and Jimmy, undoubtedly, a relationship that has crossed all the places that a mind can imagine?
And if you think about it, guys, we'll hardly be anything different from what we got used to as kids. We can even have the same upbringing; full of positive values and exemplary ethical and moral rewards, and still end up being totally different.... This is precisely what we see in the first seasons of Better Call Saul, which undoubtedly represent a jewel within the language of cinema... The very essence of Jimmy's (the main character) personality is based on the stormy and frankly sad relationship he has with his older brother.
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Sometimes the figures that touch us most deeply are those who seem to be our equals. And anyone who has seen the series will notice how the roles are very well cast. On the one hand, Jimmy is the very representation of living aimlessly. It is his older brother who gets him out of a huge legal problem, and who takes him away from the life that ruined his uncertain future..... But on the other hand, Jimmy represents authenticity. Whether this concept is understood as something ‘good’ or ‘negative’. The truth is that he will always be who he is, no matter what he is doing or with whom he is doing it ‘He (Jimmy) just can't help being who he is’.
However, one of the billionth positive things about this majestic series is that nothing is as simple as it seems. I've watched the first three seasons several times, and I've studied the relationship between Chuck and Jimmy in depth, and honestly if everything we saw in the series had happened in a different way; I think the outcome would have been the same. Because it wasn't Chuck who destroyed Jimmy, but Jimmy himself.... ‘Wolves and sheep’. He learned that dualistic concept from the time he was a child, and saw how others took advantage of his father's kindness, and decided not to be as soft as his father and mother were.... That's when he discovered, according to him, that the important thing is to achieve one's goal, no matter what...
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It was that simple but powerful event in his childhood that made him what we see in the series. It is no less true that Chuck has been separated from his brother for practically ever. He is the antonym of Jimmy: he is correct, hard-working, methodical, together, geuinely brilliant and everything he has achieved he has had to fight for. He is successful but without ‘cutting corners’ or pretending to have the charisma and total vision of his younger brother.... Although, this is a story of jealousy and cruel differences, very cruel....
For me, that's the wonder, the ace up Better Call Saul's sleeve, that during Chuck's illness and incapacitation, it is Jimmy who looks after him, sees to it that he is comfortable and happy; and above all, looks after his financial interests in a pristine and touching way.... It's really unfortunate that a sibling relationship ended the way it did; and with the coldness that it did .... Because in the end, to hear from the mouth of the person you admire the most (in reference to the most heartbreaking scene in the entire series between Chuck and Jimmy) that ‘in the end, I never really cared for you...’ is life-changing. It annihilates any faith and confidence you may have in yourself, and makes you inevitably retreat into the need to acquire everything you were never supposed to be able to achieve because of who you are and who you have been.
Ultimately, Better Call Saul, in its first three seasons, explores in depth how the complexity of a personality, while seemingly destined to accomplish a goal, no matter what happens along the way, also shows us that it's the subtle changes that make the difference.... That the betrayal of the person you have admired and loved the most since childhood, has an incredible effect on you... And maybe, and just maybe, having lived to please others, especially your brother's judgement was not only not worth it, but was fraught with disappointment and bitterness. I invite you, the many fans of the Breaking Bad universe, to analyse and watch the first three seasons of Better Call Saul and you will see what I see: brothers destroying lives...
