SPOILER ALERT: Don’t read if you haven’t seen the Better Call Saul series finale entitled Saul Gone.
Chuck McGill was lovingly brought back to life in the series finale of Better Call Saul, but Michael McKean, who reprises his role as the late lawyer in a flashback, isn’t quite sure what it all means — because he’s still a some Episodes behind on the AMC series.
In two flashbacks during the finale, Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) asks Mike (Jonathan Banks) and Walter White (Bryan Cranston) where they would go if they had a time machine. Both Mike and Walt have great regrets — they took bribes and left Gray Matter Technologies — but Jimmy refrains from getting too personal. It’s only after the climax scene in the courtroom – in which Jimmy tries to redeem himself by confessing to his crimes and serving a much longer prison sentence to clear Kim’s (Rhea Seehorn) name – do we travel back in time to a conversation between him and Chuck , who died by suicide at the end of season 3 when Jimmy was delivering fresh groceries and newspapers to his older brother. (Notice how director Peter Gould anticipates Chuck’s flashback by focusing on the buzzing courtroom exit sign, a nod to Season 3’s “Chicanery”.)
While Chuck doesn’t get asked the same question Jimmy asks Mike and Walt, he does offer his younger brother some sage advice: “If you don’t like where you’re going, there’s no shame in going back and changing your path.” After Jimmy leaves, it turns out that Chuck is reading HG Wells’ The Time Machine.
Of course, McKean remembers filming that crucial final scene, but he has no idea how the show or his fictional brother, Jimmy, will end. In a careful, spoiler-free interview with Variety, McKean breaks down his return to Better Call Saul and takes a stab at the meaning of The Time Machine.
How much of Better Call Saul Season 6 have you seen?
My wife and I watched episode 8 so we didn’t see the last five. The last one we saw was a monster showdown between Gus [Giancarlo Esposito] and lalo [Tony Dalton]. That’s pretty good TV there.
When did you find out you were returning for the finals?
At the beginning of last season, they told me they needed me for another scene in the last episode, and I said, “Great.” And I said, “Don’t tell me anything Chuck wouldn’t know,” and they said ok I only read my scene and nothing else because I’m a fan of the series. And I want to see the story hatch properly. I’m so glad I didn’t know and people were very nice not to tell me what’s going on. And I try not to read anything on Twitter that tells me more than I need to know.
It must be difficult for you to avoid spoilers. What safety precautions have you taken? I imagine Twitter is a minefield.
There is a way to read and erase at the same time, so I know what to skip. People say such amazing, beautiful things about the show that I can absorb the positivity without delving further into what they’re alluding to. Also, the fact that Chuck wouldn’t know about this stuff kinda makes it right that I don’t know. It works pretty well.
What do you think the meaning of “The Time Machine” is after you haven’t seen the whole episode?
I think the reason Chuck is in the episode is to tell everyone that you really can’t go back in time. So you have to make your decisions in the moment. And we’re looking back at a guy who didn’t make the right decisions, a guy who let many long-burning issues set his life on fire, both literally and figuratively. Chuck might have had a glimpse of the future at this point if you frame it right. And of course, The Time Machine is about a badly designed future.
Maybe it’s about how you can shape the future in the way you can. don’t hit it Well that’s something said by a man [Chuck] who was just beginning to destroy his own future. He just didn’t know. He got himself into trouble because of his different feelings, his jealousy, his inability to win over people the way Jimmy does. [Chuck watches Jimmy] does what lawyers do but does it openly and boldly and gets away with it because he’s charming and a little raunchy. Chuck, by the rules, was the man who asked himself, “If I do it right, why do I feel so awful?” The past is the past, but it’s still with you. Reflecting on the past can be revealing about what you are doing to yourself and who you are. I think on a much shorter scale, that’s what Jimmy is doing and feeling in those moments as he reflects on the passage of time.
If Chuck had a time machine, where do you think he would go? Do you think Chuck regrets it?
Sure, but we have to include his mental illness in our calculations. Chuck might have had some version of sanity, but something triumphed…something that might not have been meant to be. Nothing is more present than the moment of your death. If Chuck could have had a time machine, if he could have gone back and convinced his parents that Jimmy needed a lot more rigor in his life, that Jimmy didn’t need to let go of his responsibilities, that Jimmy needed to calm down and get his shit together… then that would be worth another try. But listen, Chuck was already in law school when Jimmy was 18, and he pretty much left it all in the dust. If there was a way to do the right thing, it might not have occurred to him. So I don’t really know.
What do you think of Howard’s (Patrick Fabian) fate in Episode 7?
Wow. Graduation. Again, I had to be very careful not to spoil anything and my wife and I just watched with our jaws on the floor. First off, Patrick Fabian is a bloody great actor. And it was like his character took so much focus and then of course got blasted off the face of the earth. It was just devastating. We invested a lot in this man, even if we don’t rate him 100% positively as a person. There was so much about his relationship with his wife and his little tips on how to take the fizz out of the soda can…all those things, all those little details that make people special. People are not just made up of rough strokes.
And he certainly didn’t have to be a victim. He was a replaceable person until he wasn’t anymore. He was revealed to be double-talking and very destructive and cocky. These are all human errors. When he became a victim, it was devastating, but that’s how it was, life is like that. Life’s the type that comes in at the wrong moment, you know?
Beyond the grave, Chuck also plays a significant role in this episode, as his portrait looms over the mediation room. what did you make of it
I thought it was good theatre. It’s not like “big brother is watching,” but it’s kind of like surrogate father watching. I got this vibe from this relationship [between Howard and Chuck].
What are your hopes for Jimmy going into this final series of episodes?
I’m the type of guy who reads a detective story and has no idea who it is. I’m like the fool standing next to the detective, and that’s how I converse.
What legacy do you think “Better Call Saul” will have after the show is over?
Hopefully people will make an effort to write really good TV series. My wife and I often find that we love any story where we choose someone early on and either smash it or blow it up into something beautiful. I remember feeling that way on Say Anything with John Mahoney, who plays Skye’s father. We love this man until we don’t anymore. And we don’t see it coming, it’s just good writing, and that’s the key. The important thing is that people want to see what happens. You don’t have to love the people you’re watching. Your rooted interest doesn’t have to be absolute—in fact, it’s better if the rug is pulled out from under you.
Coming back for one final scene, how do you feel about Chuck and Jimmy’s relationship and your time on the show overall?
Chuck and Jimmy’s relationship was very complex. It grew by leaps and bounds, and Peter [Gould]vince [Gilligan] and Tom [Schnauz] always said a lot of stuff that bob [Odenkirk] and I inspired her where the story would go. I’m a little proud of that. Getting a relationship with so much complexity to work and making it dramatically viable for the rest of the show was something Bob and I discovered as we moved on. [“Better Call Saul”] is also one of those shows where no one ever had to say, “Hey, my character wouldn’t say that.” The writers were so sure of where they were going, and they were so sure they’d try if an idea came up came off the set. It’s perfect working conditions, plus everyone’s extraordinarily nice and smart and funny. This is the kind of job I wish everyone had.