quote:
I didn't hate him. I felt sorry for Chuck. He was mentally ill. I think the question about what Jimmy thought about Chuck is like a chicken and an egg. Was Jimmy truly that way or did what Chuck thought about him manifest itself in Jimmy? Chuck always treated Jimmy as though Chuck was superior in every way.

Very good point. And who knows. I don't we're supposed to. But one of the tragedies of their relationship was that Chuck was also jealous of Jimmy, because Jimmy was clearly their mother's favorite. She called out for him right before she died instead of Chuck, who was there in the room with her. And we didn't have to see their childhoods to know that this was probably always the case. Chuck resented Jimmy for that, and probably treated him the way we see him in the show most of their lives. And he also resented him for being more naturally charismatic and good with people, which helped him get away with stuff Chuck never could.

Which also goes back to your chicken or egg thing. Did Chuck treat Jimmy like a frickup because that's what he always was or was his being treated that way would made him act like that. And was Chuck always a smug, holier-than-thou, overachiever, or was he constantly trying to win his mother's love/affection? Even if it was subconscious on some level. I'm sure they both fricked each other up to some extent.

Identity is an obviously huge theme of the show. And it's not just how others see us, it's more about how we see ourselves. And I don't think Jimmy nor Chuck were very secure with who they were fully--Jimmy was a frick up, but good with people, Chuck was a super high-achiever, but bad with people--and those insecurities manifested in resentments because both know the other had what they didn't.

But again, which came 1st? I don't think it matters. I think the point is that neither figured it out in time, and it fricked up not just their own relationship, but their relationships with other people as well.

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Posted by deeprig9

Unincorporated Ozora, Georgia

Member since Sep 2012

64295 posts

Posted on 3/22/24 at 4:43 pm to Hot Carl

I don't think it's that complicated. Chuck was a well respected lawyer (self-made, no legacy) and his little brother was a frickup. Chuck respected the law, he revered it like a religion. It was everything to him. After bailing Jimmy out over and over, he gave him an ultimatum that you come back to New Mexico with me and I'll set you up with a mail room job but this is the last time I'm bailing you out from your shenanigans. If you ever frick up again, you are on your own, cut off, no help, I don't care if it's a parking violation. This is your final chance.

Jimmy followed all the rules, while working in the mail room, went and got an online law degree and passed the bar, without telling anyone, all the while not fricking around hustling people.

It was a shock to Charles when he found out. Everyone at the firm knew Jimmy as the likable "Charlie Hustle" but Chuck knew what a firecracker he really was.

I don't think it was resentment at all. Chuck didn't want that liability employed at a firm with his own name on the building, a BAR accredidation to Jimmy was like giving a chimp an AK47, in Charles' words.

He didn't want Jimmy anywhere near his own legacy that he built over decades, unless he was the mail clerk. Charles is very supportive of Jimmy working outside of the firm, doing public defender work, a very honorable and noble pursuit of the law, until Jimmy starts ripping off Chuck's "NIL" so to speak on billboards.

It's that simple.

This post was edited on 3/22/24 at 5:16 pm

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