As the season finale of Better Call Saul arrives, we have a ton of questions. With episode 11, “Pimento” throwing our perceptions of Chuck (Michael McKean) and Hamlin (Patrick Fabian) upside down, there is a lot that could happen in the finale, “Marco.” Jimmy has always struggled with the criminal in him and his new desire to do what’s right. Everyone around him has told him that he’s lying to himself, and needs to accept that he’ll always be Slippin’ Jimmy. The one foundation and support in his life has been his older brother Chuck, who always pushed him to straighten up. It’s because of Chuck that Jimmy got his law degree.
While we’ve always thought Hamlin is the reason Jimmy wasn’t invited to practice at HHM, the shocking news that Chuck was behind it broke all of our hearts, Jimmy’s included. Chuck told Jimmy, “I know what you were, what you are. People don’t change. You’re Slippin’ Jimmy. And Slippin’ Jimmy, I can handle. But Slippin’ Jimmy with a law degree is like a chimp with a machine gun.”
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We spoke with Julie Ann Emery, who plays Betsy Kettleman to see what she thought about this reveal, and how it would affect Jimmy’s transition to Saul Goodman.
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Now that we know that Chuck has no faith in Jimmy escaping his criminal ways, do you think that’s what will push him to become Saul Goodman?
I think that will be a large contributing factor. But I think that when you build an entire series on how Jimmy McGill becomes Saul Goodman, that there’s not going to be one factor. I think there’s going to be a lot. But the question is, when does the moment happen that tips it over the edge? That’s what will keep me coming back.
That was rough, right? I mean Michael McKean is such a brilliant actor. He’s played Chuck so sweetly that it came out of nowhere. It’s a brilliant performance. Michael McKean has really built Chuck in a beautiful way that no one ever saw that coming.
And not just him, but Hamlin too. The way Patrick Fabian portrays that, we see him as the devil. He’s the reason why Jimmy isn’t successful, but that’s not true. Hamlin must be respectable on some level, because he’s doing all of this for Chuck. It made me respect Hamlin a little bit.
It brought a different dimension to Patrick’s character. Yeah, it’s nice. He’s also played his role in a wonderful way. He always says something with such a smile, and I don’t think there are many actors who would have played it that way. Whatever he says, he’s delivering with that gorgeous smile. And you can see why people would buy it, right?
You can see why the people in that world buy it, but we see it from Jimmy’s perspective. So we never thought he was genuine.
That’s right, you can see why his clients would love him, right? Why he’s the most wonderful guy to have. Yeah, that’s a tricky thing to play.
Catch the season finale of Better Call Saul Monday, April 6 on AMC.
(Images courtesy of AMC and Nogan Beck)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
