Was anyone else incredibly moved by the S4 finale opening sequence?
I thought it was incredibly powerful, given everything we have seen and learned about the brothers McGill over four seasons.
This sequence was a perfect encapsulation of their relationship. In detail after detail. Let's review my observations and then please ADD YOUR OWN:
1. The different natures of the brothers. Jimmy is comfortable around people, in social settings, drinking and having fun. Chuck is more awkward, sits off to side, straight-laced and anxious to get back to his home (his comfort zone).
2. Jimmy's worship of his big brother. He wants his pride and acceptance.
3. Chuck's envy of Jimmy's love-of-life, people skills and the love people have for him. He just doesn't exude the same energies as his little brother. As they sing karaoke, Chuck commandeers the microphone because he doesn't want to be outshined by his brother. We know that their mother never gave him the same love as she did Jimmy; and this "mommy issue" has festered since his formative years. HOWEVER...
4. Chuck loves and takes care of his little brother (relationships can be complicated). He wants to leave, but immediately changes his mind when Jimmy tells him he's going to sing on stage. He takes a drunk Jimmy home, removes his shoes, puts him in bed, gives him water. Then he decides to spend the night in case Jimmy needs it. He OFFERS to make breakfast in the morning. And then the two brothers enjoy singing themselves to sleep.
5. The choice of song. Almost every line in that song is a commentary on the brothers' relationship and a foreshadowing of Jimmy's story arc. And I mean pretty much every line. If you think about it, it also foreshadows (I believe) the relationship between Kim and Jimmy.
6. Symmetry. "People love symmetry(cality)," as Jimmy says. He drunkenly dreams of renaming the firm to HHMM, a more symmetrical (kind of) acronym. So let's look at two more examples of symmetry here. One, the name of the band who sings the "Winner takes it all" song. ABBA. A symmetric and palindromic name (and if you look at their logo, it is even more perfectly symmetric). The usual attention to detail by Gilligan and Co. make me suspect this is intentional. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY... the episode is symmetric. It both begins and ends with Jimmy in front of a panel deciding on whether to license him to practice law. Both scenes involve Chuck helping him. In the first scene Chuck vouches for Jimmy. In the last scene, Chuck's letter (and the emotional fakery of not being able to read it) prove to be a posthumous influence by Chuck on the board. Only, tragically, in the first scene we see two brothers with love (warts and all) for one another and the promise of good things to come. The last scene is about a man who's falling out with his brother and the latter's death have broken his soul. Now they don't even share a name. He will go rogue, be a criminal (literally) attorney and we know there is no promise of good things to come. We know where this is going. Nowhere good.
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