Better Call Saul: 5 Reasons Fans Hated Chuck McGill (& 5 Why He’s Still A Great Character)

To say that Chuck McGill is the most hated character on Better Call Saul would be an understatement. In a show filled with lovable characters that fans can root for, from Kim Wexler to Nacho Varga, Chuck stands proudly as a reprehensible jerk. The audience’s indifference to the smarmy, self-obsessed Howard Hamlin doesn’t even scrape their level of hatred for Chuck.

There’s an entire subreddit dedicated to hating Chuck McGill. But he wasn’t a badly written or performed character — quite the contrary, he was brilliantly written and performed — but he was just the worst. So, here are five reasons why Saul fans hated Chuck, and five why he’s still a great character.

10 Why Fans Hated Him: He Was Never Redeemed

Most hatable characters are given some kind of redemption. The Sopranos episode “Whoever Did This” was dedicated to making the despicable Ralph Cifaretto character somewhat sympathetic. But Better Call Saul never did that with Chuck.

He was never given a redemption arc, which was a smart decision by the writers because it simply wasn’t necessary. Even in death, Chuck came off as a condescending jerk in his letter to Jimmy, and in the consequences of the selfish decisions he made when he was alive.

9 Why He’s Still A Great Character: He Was The Perfect Antagonist For Jimmy

Although Jimmy has faced off against such terrifying villains as Gus Fring and Tuco Salamanca, Chuck was the perfect antagonist for his character specifically. Chuck was the only one who could ever see through Jimmy’s schemes, which removed Jimmy of his power.

Chuck resented the fact that Jimmy was well-liked, despite having obvious flaws, and didn’t think that he deserved to practice the law. Every negative voice that’s stuck in Jimmy’s head originated from Chuck.

8 Why Fans Hated Him: He Never Appreciated Everything Jimmy Did For Him

When Chuck announced that he was allergic to electricity, the only person who genuinely believed him and didn’t think it was entirely psychological was Jimmy. And Jimmy bent over backwards to accommodate the changes to Chuck’s lifestyle.

Jimmy left his electronics in the mailbox, he did all Chuck’s grocery shopping, he liaised with H.H.M. about a buyout ⁠— he did everything for Chuck, and Chuck never appreciated it and refused to cut him any slack. Fans cheered when Jimmy finally left Chuck to fend for himself.

7 Why He’s Still A Great Character: His Motivations Were Somewhat Understandable

From Jimmy’s perspective, Chuck’s motivations probably don’t make a lot of sense. But imagine being in Chuck’s shoes. You’re a brilliant attorney who built a respected law firm from the ground up, and your brother starts taking shortcuts to arrive at the place you spent your whole life working toward.

Despite Jimmy’s obvious flaws, everybody seems to like him, finding his slippery antics and bending of the law to be rather charming. It’s easy to see why that rubbed Chuck the wrong way and drove him to such extreme measures.

6 Why Fans Hated Him: He Thought He Was Better Than Everybody

Chuck McGill was undeniably a genius, but he didn’t have to rub it in people’s faces. He looked down his nose at everybody, blindly assuming himself to be better than them.

When Kevin and Paige suggested he might’ve made a mistake, he snapped and started rambling about making a connection between Mesa Verde’s address and the signing of the Magna Carta. To be fair, he hadn’t made a mistake, but for all intents and purposes, he had, and he angrily refused to accept it.

5 Why He’s Still A Great Character: His Death Was Still Powerful

Usually, when a hated TV character dies, fans rejoice. When Ramsay Bolton was ripped to shreds by his own attack dogs, Game of Thrones fans cheered; when Negan disemboweled Spencer, Walking Dead fans threw their fists in the air. But when Chuck McGill died, it wasn’t a celebratory moment.

It was still a powerful, poignant scene. As Chuck tipped over the edge and descended into madness before solemnly kicking a gas lantern off his coffee table so that he could burn to death in peace with a defeated look on his face, it was hard not to feel bad for him ⁠— even after all the terrible things he did.

4 Why Fans Hated Him: He Was A Total Snob

There are few character traits more off-putting than snobbishness, and Chuck McGill is a first-class snob. At every opportunity, he’d quote a historical figure or a classic novel. And when he could stand the electricity emanating from the stereo, he played operas and classical music. Chuck was an 11 on the pretentious scale.

3 Why He’s Still A Great Character: The Show’s Best Episode Hinged On Chuck

Season 3’s “Chicanery” is widely regarded to be the finest episode of Better Call Saul. With six planned seasons, “Chicanery” is close to the midpoint of the entire series, and it revolves around Chuck taking Jimmy to court over his tampering with Mesa Verde’s address.

The whole episode builds up to an explosive climax in which Chuck has a meltdown in the hearing room after finding out Huell planted a fully charged cell phone battery in his pocket. Saul’s best episode hinged on Chuck.

2 Why Fans Hated Him: He Turned Jimmy Into Saul

Jimmy McGill was never, by any means, a straight arrow. But after Chuck bailed him out of jail and got him a job in the H.H.M. mail room, Jimmy was committed to doing things the right way. He put himself through law school and clawed his way to a law degree. If H.H.M. had just hired him as an attorney, he might’ve remained on a lawful path.

But Chuck wouldn’t hire him, and continued to betray his brother despite his desperate attempts to make him happy, so Jimmy went his own way and ended up becoming “criminal” lawyer Saul Goodman.

1 Why He’s Still A Great Character: Michael McKean Played Him Perfectly

You have to feel bad for actors who are very talented but play a hatable character, because everybody hates them if they do their job well. Jack Gleeson’s portrayal of Joffrey Baratheon in Game of Thrones is a prime example. Another is Michael McKean’s performance as Chuck McGill.

For the three seasons that he was in the main cast of Better Call Saul, McKean consistently shined as one of the finest actors on television. The nuances of his portrayal of Chuck subtly built to explosive emotional payoffs in key episodes like “Chicanery.”

About The Author

Ben Sherlock
(3461 Articles Published)

Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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