Breaking Bad & Better Call Saul: 10 Characters Killed At The Perfect Time
2. Better Call Saul - Chuck McGill
"You've never mattered all that much to me."
Initially portrayed as a sympathetic character, Chuck suffers from a mental condition leading him to believe he has become "allergic" to electricity. The co-founder of HHM is housebound as a result - a tragic fate for a supremely talented lawyer and guiding influence in Jimmy's life.
Except, not really. Despite possessing one of the most gifted legal minds possible, Chuck is filled with seething resentment towards his over-achieving brother, constantly seeking to undermine him and put him in his deemed place, due to his sordid past as "Slippin' Jimmy". The elder McGill is such a thoroughly undiluted b*stard that he could be perceived to have committed suicide out of petulant spite. Chuck dies in a house fire he started, his legal reputation in tatters and foiled by the brother he has always looked down on.
The irony of Chuck's death is that it propelled Jimmy inexorably towards his life as Saul Goodman, a fate Chuck always claimed he never wanted for him. His demise was an indispensable flashpoint in Jimmy's character arc, precipitating his devolution into the sleaziest lawyer imaginable. As such, the timing of Chuck's death at the midway point of the series is absolutely sublime.