Saul Goodman's Worst Moment In Better Call Saul Season 3
AMC's hit "Breaking Bad" prequel/sequel series "Better Call Saul" tracks Saul Goodman's path from hard-working public defender Jimmy McGill to the criminal lawyer Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) grow well acquainted with in the original series. "Better Call Saul" takes its sweet time tracking Jimmy's personal downfall, introducing supporting characters like Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian), and Chuck McGill (Michael McKean) in Albuquerque's legal industry.
The series sets up Jimmy and Chuck's tense relationship as a precursor to Jimmy's fall into criminal behavior, as he is shown as having always displayed tendencies toward pulling scams, much to Chuck's disapproval. When Jimmy eventually seeks out a career as an attorney like his older brother, Chuck internally disapproves, showing that he can't fathom Jimmy actually living honestly.
The first three seasons of "Better Call Saul" spend a significant amount of time on this dynamic. The conflict between the two brothers comes to a head throughout Season 3, as Chuck seeks Jimmy's disbarment over his attempted fraud to sway one of Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill's clients away from the firm. When the case is put before the New Mexico state bar association, Jimmy seeks a way to embarrass Chuck that he knows will infuriate his older brother most, breaking their relationship for good. What follows is arguably Jimmy's worst moment in all of Season 3.
Jimmy McGill enlists Huell Babineaux to plant a battery on Chuck
In "Better Call Saul" Season 3, Episode 5, "Chicanery," Jimmy and Kim take on Chuck and Howard at a hearing over whether Jimmy should keep his license to practice law. As the hearing plays out, the state bar association's attorney builds a strong case against Jimmy. When Chuck arrives to testify against his brother, everyone in attendance hands over their cell phones and lights are turned off so as not to provoke Chuck's supposed electromagnetic hypersensitivity.
Jimmy has planned to use Chuck's "condition" against him, though. Audiences witness Huell Babineaux's (Lavell Crawford) introduction to the greater fictional Albuquerque universe when Jimmy hires him to bump into Chuck "accidentally" outside the courtroom, planting a cell phone battery on him. Later on, Jimmy reveals that Chuck has carried a battery on him for an hour and 43 minutes — just after Chuck emphatically announces to the room that his condition is physical, not mental. Adding to the moment of embarrassment for his brother, Jimmy even invites Chuck's ex-wife Rebecca (Ann Cusack) to the hearing so that she can witness his breakdown.
"I am not crazy!" Chuck yells after Jimmy's latest chicanery, letting his true disdain for his younger sibling shine through and permanently casting doubt on Chuck's mental health. While this isn't the most overtly awful thing Jimmy does throughout "Better Call Saul," it's definitely the worst of the third season, and it marks the absolute beginning of the end for Jimmy and Chuck's relationship.