Better Call Saul season 3 finale: Is Michael McKean leaving?
Still with us? Well, we’re about to answer the question at the top of the article…
Alas, Chuck McGill is gone. The closing scene of tonight’s finale was meant to be the death of Jimmy’s brother, who chose to kill himself by kicking over a lantern after everything was gone in his life. In some ways, he’d won — Jimmy hated him, the firm had given him money, but it wasn’t enough.
Speaking in a postmortem to the New York Times, McKean confirmed that Chuck is dead when he was asked if he was sure the character is gone:
“I am. I know they want to bring me in for some flashbacks this coming season, but that’s kind of beside the point. One of the things that made Jimmy Saul Goodman is the burden of, if not guilt, then that nagging feeling of having being somehow involved [in Chuck’s demise]. So that’s what he has to deal with, and it’s one of the things that made him wind up in a Cinnabon in Omaha.”
McKean noted that he enjoyed his work on the show the past three years, but it does feel like this was the necessary time for Chuck to go and though was no story left to tell since there was never going to be any peace between him and his brother. Bringing him back now would cheapen the show, since the final scene was structured for you to clearly think that he is gone and not coming back.
Chuck is obviously one component into why Jimmy becomes Saul Goodman. The other one was also illustrated tonight in how he burned his elder law business to the ground to effectively correct one of his past wrongs. It was brutal and very sad, but it was him recognizing that he didn’t want to be this terrible person who does bad things. Yet, here’s the odd poetry in losing his clients: He’ll now be desperate, and that plus Chuck’s death could revert him back to his old ways.
Also, there is one more thing for Jimmy still to lose: Kim. We don’t know how it’s coming, but at some point, the end of the road for her will likely be here.
What did you think about McKean’s exit from Better Call Saul? Be sure to share in the comments below!
(Photo: AMC.)