History Recap / BetterCallSaulS3E5Chicanery

* KickTheSonOfABitch: While getting Rebecca into the hearing may have had a place in rattling Chuck, Jimmy could easily have sealed that deal just with the planted cellphone battery. Inviting Rebecca seems just to be icing on the cake of tearing Chuck down, and Kim even LampShades this by saying Rebecca will hate Jimmy for doing this.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** It turns out that a scam artist is better at foreplanning and underhanded tactics than a rule-abiding lawyer.
** Being mentally unwell is irrelevant when someone performed breaking and entering if you have proof of their forgery. But when Chuck admits that he instigated it so he could get his brother disbarred because he hated him, well, that's mitigating circumstances.

** It turns out that a scam artist is better at foreplanning and underhanded tactics than a lawyer.

* ForWantOfANail:
** Chuck ''could have'' gotten what he wanted and gotten Jimmy disbarred... had it not been for his pettiness driving him to testify on the stand. Howard tried to assure him that they could've accomplished the same thing with the private investigator, but Chuck insisted.
** Chuck was willing to deny the battery reveal and probably had a small but still persistent chance to keep his word as reliable... until the prosecutor uses ''schizophrenia'' as a comparable example to Chuck's condition when responding to Jimmy's trick. Chuck takes it as implying he's being seen as schizophrenic or more, prompting him to lash out.
** On a larger scale, Chuck's failure to get Jimmy disbarred (which should have been trivial to accomplish given how many advantages Chuck had going into the hearing) has massive repercussions for the rest of the show and ''Series/BreakingBad''. Jimmy being disbarred would have meant no Saul Goodman, meaning [[spoiler:no cartel lawyer that ends up getting Howard killed]] and no 'criminal' lawyer that enables Heisenberg years later. Furthermore, [[spoiler:Howard wouldn't have had to force Chuck out of HHM, meaning no suicide, and no chain of events that leads to HHM basically being destroyed.]]

** [[FromBadToWorse Also, while practicing for his bout on the stand, he compared Jimmy to''Ted Kaczynski, the fucking]] '''[[MadBomber Unabomber.]]''''' Even Chuck himself scoffs at the idea after saying it out loud, realizing how hyperbolically sanctimonious it sounds.

* ImpliedDeathThreat: The last thing Chuck says during his rant is that he "should've stopped him when [he] had the chance", and given his complete meltdown, it's not unreasonable to assume Chuck is wishing he had ''killed'' Jimmy. The courtroom visibly understands just where he might've been going.

** Jimmy's cross-examination of Chuck also has a lot of similarities to the "Code Red" cross-examination of Colonel Jessup in ''Film/AFewGoodMen''. A witness or two apparently stand ready in the background to validate the defense theory. Jessup gets teased with a lot of questions on matters that may be considered peripheral to the allegations themselves. The prosecutor objects to a lot of [=McAffey's=] questions, and the judge orders [=McAffey=] to stay on point several times. [=McAffey=] at one point shows reluctance to take the cross-examination further than he already has. [=McAffey=] pins Jessup down on his previous testimony to set up the trap at the end. And [=McAffey=] provokes Jessup into revealing his true motivations for ordering the "Code Red". And Jessup explodes with rage after realizing he took the bait.

** Jimmy's cross-examination of Chuck also has a lot of similarities to the "Code Red" cross-examination of Colonel Jessup in ''Film/AFewGoodMen''. A witness or two apparently stand ready in the background to validate the defense theory. Jessup gets teased with a lot of questions on matters that may be considered peripheral to the allegations themselves. The prosecutor objects to a lot of [=McAffey's=] questions, and the judge orders [=McAffey=] to stay on point several times. [=McAffe=] at one point shows reluctance to take the cross-examination further than he already has. [=McAffey=] pins Jessup down on his previous testimony to set up the trap at the end. And [=McAffey=] provokes Jessup into revealing his true motivations for ordering the "Code Red". And Jessup explodes with rage after realizing he took the bait.

** Jimmy's cross-examination of Chuck also has a lot of similarities to the "Code Red" cross-examination of Colonel Jessup in ''Film/AFewGoodMen''. A witness or two apparently stand ready in the background to validate the defense theory. Jessup gets teased with a lot of questions on matters that may be considered peripheral to the allegations themselves. The prosecutor objects to a lot of McAffey's questions, and the judge orders McAffey to stay on point several times. McAffey at one point shows reluctance to take the cross-examination further than he already has. McAffey pins Jessup down on his previous testimony to set up the trap at the end. And McAffey provokes Jessup into revealing his true motivations for ordering the "Code Red". And Jessup explodes with rage after realizing he took the bait.

** It also has a lot of similarities to the "Code Red" cross-examination of Colonel Jessup in ''Film/AFewGoodMen''. A witness stands ready in the background to validate the defense theory. Jessup gets teased with a lot of questions on matters that may be considered peripheral to the allegations themselves. The prosecutor objects to a lot of McAffey's questions, and the judge orders McAffey to stay on point several times. McAffey at one point shows reluctance to take the cross-examination further than he already has. McAffey pins Jessup down on his previous testimony to set up the trap at the end. And McAffey provokes Jessup into revealing his true motivations for ordering the "Code Red". And Jessup explodes with rage after realizing he took the bait.

** It also has a lot of similarities to the "Code Red" cross-examination of Colonel Jessup in ''Film/AFewGoodMen''. A witness stands ready in the background to validate the defense theory. Jessup gets teased with a lot of questions on matters that may be considered peripheral to the allegations themselves. The prosecutor objects to a lot of McAffey's questions, and the judge orders McAffey to stay on point several times. McAffey pins Jessup down on his previous testimony to set up the trap at the end. And McAffey provokes Jessup into revealing his true motivations for ordering the "Code Red". And Jessup explodes with rage after realizing he took the bait.

* InternalReveal: Jimmy and Kim expose Chuck's illness as fake to both himself and the public, and by extension, show his decaying mental health for all to see.
* {{Irony}}: During his rant against Jimmy at the end, Chuck brings up him switching the address numbers and declares "1216! One year after Magna Carta, like I could ever forget that!" ...However, 1216 is the erroneous number, with 1261 being the correct Mesa Verde address number. So Chuck's rant actually exonerated Jimmy even more than was made apparent, proving that Chuck ''can'' feasibly make such a minuscule error due to his mental state.

* RightForTheWrongReasons: Even Chuck considers his comparison between Jimmy and the Unabomber to be a shade too hyperbolic. Of course, given how many lives will be ended and destroyed as a result of Jimmy's future actions, he's not entirely far off the mark -- but then, it's far too early for anyone to know that.

* RightForTheWrongReasons: Even Chuck considers his comparison between Jimmy and the Unabomber to be a shade too hyperbolic. Of course, given how many lives will be ended and destroyed as a result of Jimmy's actions, he's not entirely far off the mark -- but then, it's far too early for anyone to know that.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Chuck gets more than a little tunnel-visioned and lacking in perspective in his obsessive need to be the one to bring down Jimmy's law career, but even he realises while preparing statements to deliver on the stand that making a comparison between Jimmy and Ted Kaczynski -- aka the actual Unabomber -- is over the top and taking things ridiculously far.

* ContinuityNod: After the battery plot is revealed, Chuck unleashes a ''scathing'' rant about his brother, recalling many of the schemes and antics that Jimmy had done up until this point. Besides doubling down on the numbers being swapped and adding that the copy shop's employee was bribed, he swears that Jimmy [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS1E4Hero deliberately planned the billboard incident]] as a publicity stunt, regrets how he [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS1E3Nacho bailed him out]] after Jimmy [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS1E10Marco got arrested for defecating through a sunroof]], and recants how their parents [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS2E5Rebecca never believed him]] when he accused Jimmy of [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS2E7Inflatable stealing money from their father's business]].

* BottleEpisode: The first one in this universe since [[Recap/BreakingBadS3E10Fly "Fly"]] aired way back in 2010. Save for the flashback opening, the animal clinic scene, and a brief scene of Chuck in his house before he testifies, the entire episode takes place in the confines of the Albuquerque courthouse, and almost all inside the courtroom where Jimmy's hearing is being held. The only difference from "Fly" is that this one has both main characters and guest stars.

** And the prosecution at the bar hearing: when Alley realizes Chuck is either delusional or lying, he tries to object on the grounds that while Chuck very well may have a mental illness, it is a non-issue. Unfortunately, one of Chuck's {{berserk button}}s is the implication that his disease is all in his head — and then the prosecutor pushes that button even harder by mentioning schizophrenia, and the damage control goes very badly wrong.

* MotiveRant: Jimmy's plays before the bar hearing cause Chuck to make a series of these, eventually leading to a total meltdown after Jimmy reveals the battery gambit.

* ThePerryMasonMethod: Chuck [[DiscussedTrope recognizes]] Jimmy and Kim as trying to do this, even referencing it by name. He explains their intention to introduce various things they know would wear him down until he lashes out on the witness stand, before declaring his intention to [[DefiedTrope Defy]] this. Unfortunately for him, their ''real'' ploy accomplishes a varation of this: by proving his condition as fake and making him confess to his deep-seated contention against Jimmy, his testimony and claims are called into question, allowing Jimmy to avoid a harsh punishment like disbarment.

* BackfireOnTheWitnessStand: Played with. Howard advises Chuck not to testify at the hearing, as they have enough evidence to get Jimmy's license revoked without it. Chuck insists on going anyway, both for his Control Freak tendencies and desire to end Jimmy's law career personally. It backfires in a breathtaking fashion when Jimmy tricks Chuck into his explosive MotiveRant on the stand, which damages Chuck's credibility and ends up getting Jimmy briefly suspended instead of fully revoked.

** On a larger scale, Chuck's failure to get Jimmy disbarred (which should have been trivial to accomplish given how many advantages Chuck had going into the hearing) has massive repercussions for the rest of the show and ''Series/BreakingBad''. Jimmy being disbarred would have meant [[spoiler:no Saul Goodman, meaning no cartel lawyer that ends up getting Howard killed and meaning no 'criminal' lawyer that enables Heisenberg years later.]] Furthermore, [[spoiler:Howard wouldn't have had to force Chuck out of HHM, meaning no suicide, and no chain of events that leads to HHM basically being destroyed.]]

** Being mentally unwell is a non-issue when someone performed breaking and entering because you have proof of their forgery. But when Chuck admits that he instigated it so he could get his brother disbarred because he hated him, well, that's mitigating circumstances.