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Straight from his personal funds.
That’s how badly he wanted him gone.
And soon after that, it all went to hell.
When he was unable to do so, he took a baseball bat to the meter.
Let’s check in withand pay our respects toMichael McKean.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I’m still reeling from that ending.
I did not have that awful exit for Chuck on myBetter Call Saulseason 3 finale bingo card.
MICHAEL McKEAN:That’s good to know.
Listen, I was a hugeBreaking Badfan, and the stuff you could’t see coming?
These guys are awfully good.
[Series co-creator]Peter Gould saidyou were actually sniffing around the right area before they called.
It got a laugh from them.
I didn’t know exactly how it would work, what it was to be.
Nobody said it’s a suicide.
When I read the script, I said, “Boy, this is really dramatic.
This is really great.”
So, I’m delighted to be part of anything that works.
Fans will be dissecting this episode and that final scene.
What do you think drove Chuck to do it?
But I don’t think it is the world’s most conscious suicide, frankly.
I rarely had to ask for anything in the entire three seasons because things are so clear.
I’ve had to ask very, very few questions, and I didn’t question this terribly much.
And in the last moments, I wanted to see an empty pill bottle there.
I don’t think that Chuck has ever demanded all that much patience from anyone.
I thought that he carried out his duties as a lawyer with some real dispatch.
A lot of it is spoken, very much more is not spoken.
I always felt it.
I always understood it.
It was a real, interesting and understandable, adversarial relationship.
There is something about the personal side of that.
I don’t pretend to know what people who abuse drugs and wind up dead go through.
I’m fine with this."
Not to put too fine of a point on it; it’s a TV show.
I’m not a suicidal person.
I’ve been depressed.
Also, I’ve played some awful characters, but I’ve never hadnosympathy for those characters.
I’ve always understood them on some level.
I don’t have to accept their values.
Their values don’t have to be my values.
I just have to understand them.
He seems plagued by such demons in his obsession to find the electrical source.
Well, good, I’m glad it alarmed you.
They did a couple of times.
But mainly it was done in sequence.
I did it all.
There were no stunt hammers at work.
So there was something that felt proactive about it to Chuck.
Chuck really felt like, “I think I can do this.
I know I can track this down.
They’re not helping me over at the power station.
That damn disc keeps going around.”
Listen, Chuck had never had to doubt himself until several years ago.
He really was on that cloud.
Let’s talk about the brutal final conversation between Chuck and Jimmy.
What are his intentions in that moment of trying to wound his brother?
It’s absolutely not true.
The family was gone.
The firm was gone.
He had Dr. Cruz, who was a person that he pays.
Clea DuVall is amazing.
But Dr. Cruz is the one person that we’ve seen him be completely honest with.
I feel uncomfortable analyzing something as a viewer.
I haven’t seen this episode… Chuck was a sanctimonious, unrelenting man who scorched his brother’s chances for advances at the law firm.
It’s the same thing with Tony Soprano and Walter White.
These are people who are not doing good things.
Listen, we root for the Wild Bunch in that movie.
These are terrible people.
These are the worst people.
But the Mexicans are worse [in this movie].
The guys inThe Italian Jobboth versions ofThe Italian Jobwe love hanging out with them.
We love driving around in the little cars with them.
But we also know that they’re breaking the law, but we’re rooting for them anyway.
People call Chuck a lot of terrible names.
And I wouldn’t care to continue the conversation if they loved Chuck.
So, that’s always good.
This season has been a stand-out showcase for you.
I think that has a lot to do with what happens to Jimmy, vis-a-vis this event.
There are going to be some people who say “Good.
Boy, that’s good.
He burned to death.
He’s over.”
It doesn’t matter to me so much.
So, what do you think thiswilldo to Jimmy?
I don’t really know.
I couldn’t really speculate.
I’m anxious to see.
Obviously, the show jumps around in time so we could see Chuck next year in flashbacks.
Peter Gould has said he’s very eager to keep working with you on the show.
Will Chuck be on the show in some form?
What do you anticipate?
It’s a possibility.
That’s all I can say, really.
Which scene or scenes from the show’s run do you look back at most proudly?
All of [“Chicanery”] was a great experience.
I haven’t seen it, so I don’t know how it comes across.
Well, I’m just kind of behind in my business, generally.
I’ve been doing this play [The Little Foxes].
We’ll catch up eventually.
I thought that scene worked really well.
And I love the stuff that we did with Annie Cusack as [Chuck’s ex-wife] Rebecca.
Listen, I like all the stuff that I did.
I had a great time.
I do miss the company, and I miss the level of work.
The quality of everybody who works on that show.
We were two-for-two in great [directors of photography]; we had Arthur Albert and then Marshall Adams.
It’s just remarkable stuff.
But everybody all the way down the lineI will miss the company very much.
I’ve had such a great time.
I was a big fan of Bob, of coursewe’ve worked together a couple times.
Big fan of Rhea Seehorn; I was so delighted when I found out she was cast.
I thought,Yeah, these guys are on it.
She’s somebody I’ve had my eye on for a long time.
Jonathan Banks is remarkable.
I only go to do one little scene with him, but he’s just an awesome guy.
We had great directors, great writing.
It was a great experience.
How can you be a good brother to such a bad brother?
Siblings aren’t easy.
How do you help someone who thinks that everyone else needs help and not him?
Be patient and just keep knocking on that door.
What should it say on Chuck’s gravestone?
