Curious to get people’s theories. In an alternate universe where the Kettlemans hired Jimmy right away at that first meeting in Uno, how would the whole series change as a result?
In S2 E10, when Chuck is so convinced that Jimmy got the temporary emergency guardianship in place because he was going to have Chuck committed, he is telling on himself in a way that is more unsettling with every rewatch. I’m certain that the reason Chuck immediately jumps to this conclusion is because it’s what Chuck would do if the roles were reversed.
“You finally got me where you want me.”
“Where to next? Some insane asylum in Las Cruces? Someplace you can really tuck me away but good?”
He thinks this because he is projecting - Chuck would jump at the first chance to have Jimmy committed if he could.
Meanwhile Jimmy is only doing it so he can get Chuck the medical care he needs and then get Chuck home sooner. He only gets the TEG out of genuine care and concern for his brother.
I am in no way saying that Jimmy’s actions leading up to this are OK. We see him commit crimes and really screw Chuck (among others) over before this. The end doesn’t justify the means whatsoever.
I just find it interesting that screwing people over hasn’t been Jimmy’s primary motivation up to this point in the show, but more of a “side effect.” By my recollection, the first time we see Jimmy acting out of a primary motive to hurt his brother is later in the series when he talks to the person at the Insurance office…
And that’s only after Chuck has done the same thing to him through pretty much the whole series until that point. Chuck obeys the law, but he uses his beloved law to look for ways to harm his brother. He can tell himself it’s for Jimmy’s own good, or for the good of the world, or whatever all he wants - but nearly every time we see Chuck doing anything in those first couple seasons, it’s with a goal of punishing Jimmy, holding him back in some way, or otherwise sticking it to his little brother.
Even when Chuck first starts helping Jimmy piece together the Sandpiper case (literally)… my first time watching it, almost felt hopeful. The next couple times, it seemed out of character for him. Now, I just wonder if the moment he realized Jimmy had a case, Chuck started plotting to steal the case away from Jimmy and give it to HHM. That is what happened, after all, I just mean, maybe that’s the only reason he ever helped Jimmy with the case in the first place.
Anyway, a lot of this Chuck stuff has been said before, but I don’t think I’ve seen anyone talk about Chuck’s lines about the TEG being a giant projection.
I’m on my umpteenth rewatch, and my suspension of disbelief is starting to slip on this one weird and specific point: I don’t believe there’s any way the Kettlemans were able to return all of their money neatly down to the penny like that, including the money they had given Jimmy.
The Jimmy part is the least plausible to me, because we *see* how he spends the money on his suits and his billboard… and we know how broke he is in season one. I’ve been that level of broke. Money has a way of going where it’s needed, and it always flows out faster than you think it will. But yet we see him get his money out, somehow it’s all there, he doesn’t need to take time and wait to earn any of it back or anything, it’s conveniently just all there in one place for him to add to the Kettlemans’ pile.
The Kettlemans are also puzzling. They believe they deserve to have that money, and they certainly seem to care about keeping up appearances, but yet they haven’t spent a single dime of it? They deny it exists, but they keep it all in one place and schlep it through the woods - but only the exact amount of the stolen money, which is kept completely separate from all of their legitimate money? I can’t make that make sense.
Someone was going to mix the money in with their legitimate money. I’d be shocked if the Kettleteam didn’t put some of it in the bank or a mattress or a safe deposit box or bury it in the yard or something. Someone, if not, everyone involved, was going to spend more of that money than they would have been able to replace. There’s no way Jimmy is able to have Mike steal and then turn in the exact amount of only the embezzled money. Right? What am I missing?