Spoilers below if you aren't fully caught up on the fourth season of AMC's Better Call Saul.
When it comes to emotional transparency, Better Call Saul's Jimmy McGill is an impenetrable fortress, rarely letting others in on his genuine feelings. Star Bob Odenkirk is a tad more candid and forthcoming about his own opinions, and he shared some rather dismissive thoughts about a major fan theory that Saul fans have latched onto in recent weeks, concerning the possibility that it was Kim, and not Chuck, who actually wrote that generically glad-handed farewell letter to Jimmy. Odenkirk doesn't buy it, saying this:
Yeah, that's crazy. I don't believe that for a second. I don't think Kim wrote the letter. I think that's what Chuck wrote a few years before, and it's just pro forma bullshit that Chuck was spouting to the world. . . . [Just before Chuck died], he said to Jimmy, 'You mean nothing to me.' [So Chuck's letter is] a weird 'Fuck you' to Jimmy, just to drive him crazier and make Chuck look to the world like the benevolent brother.
For those who need a refresher, the only things the now-deceased Chuck left for his brother Jimmy were a $5,000 payout and a letter passed on to Kim from Howard. Over a bowl of cereal, Jimmy soberly glazed through Chuck's stereotypical thoughts about flesh and blood trumping any disputes the brothers may have had, clearly not finding any deeper meaning to the words. Meanwhile, Kim was on the cusp of a complete breakdown in the chair next to Jimmy, which had some fans thinking that she crafted the letter that Jimmy read, possibly having switched out a letter that Chuck would have actually written. But as it was made clear in his comments to TVLine, Bob Odenkirk isn't on board with that line of theorizing.
Bob Odenkirk apparently doesn't see why the show would need to pull a fast one on viewers by having Kim be the letter's true author. Sure, it would be informative and fitting for Rhea Seehorn's character, in that Kim really wants to stir up some kind of impassioned response from Jimmy about Chuck's death, which he now knows was likely a suicide. But from the perspective of Chuck and Jimmy's respective character development, it's almost more satisfactory for all those largely meaningless platitudes to have come from the elder McGill himself. Since it proves that even from beyond the grave, Chuck can never stop pandering to his younger brother while preying on his fractured mental state.
As well, if the letter was Chuck's creation, it opens up a few more subtle lines of thought about the character throughout the show's run. It's presumed that Chuck slapped the letter together in a year prior to his most recent troubles with Jimmy -- the ones that essentially drove Chuck to his self-immolation -- so it's curious he hadn't written up a new letter reflecting the current status quo. I suppose that would have more to do with how impulsive Chuck's actions were on the night of his death, which is also interesting (if morbid) to wonder about.
For what it's worth, there are some Better Call Saul theories that Bob Odenkirk is definitely into, so he's not wholly anti-speculation about where the Breaking Bad spinoff could take things. But when it comes to Chuck's blasé last words to Jimmy, Odenkirk isn't taking the bait. But is everyone else convinced, or are there still some believers out there? Let us know below, and check out the scene again to sharpen your judgment.
With more to come from Mike's burgeoning criminal career and Gus and Nacho's intense "relationship," Better Call Saul will also continue delivering Jimmy's pre-Goodman ennui every Monday night on AMC at 9:00 p.m. ET.
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