Chuck McGill's Biggest Mistake Ever On Better Call Saul

Although Chuck McGill (Michael McKean) is unquestionably one of the most detestable characters in all of "Better Call Saul," there are still plenty of moments throughout the show where you can't help but pity him despite all of his flaws. From the very first moment we meet him, his life is in turmoil. Afflicted by a psychosomatic illness that renders him unable to even leave his own home, he is a miserable man who is all but dead to the world, and his actions throughout the series only serve to make his life worse with each passing season.

Fueled by arrogance and spite for his brother Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk), Chuck makes several crucial mistakes that lead to him losing everything: his family, his friends, and the company he built from the ground up. Despite just how egregiously vile his character may be, watching Chuck blatantly destroy his own life is sadder than it is rewarding, a dynamic that has made him a divisive figure among "Better Call Saul" fans. Although Chuck makes plenty of questionable decisions throughout the series, there is one that stands out as the absolute worst. 

There's little question that Chuck's biggest mistake in all of "Better Call Saul," which ends up derailing his life to the point of no return, was going after Jimmy for tampering with his Mesa Verde files.

In Season 2, Jimmy McGill secretly alters several of Chuck's files in order to make him look like a fool and win back Mesa Verde as a client for Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn). The plan succeeds, and despite the fact that there is no evidence whatsoever linking Jimmy to the altered files, Chuck immediately blames his brother, refusing to believe it could have been an error. Chuck's anger at his brother is so great that he attempts to completely derail Jimmy's career as a lawyer, a mistake that costs him everything.

Even though he is correct in assuming that Jimmy tampered with the files, Chuck's retaliation against Jimmy does not come from a desire for justice, but from his own inflated ego. His pride blinds him to the possible repercussions of going after somebody like Jimmy, who has already proven that he doesn't play by the rules, and he certainly pays the price for it. Jimmy utterly destroys his brother's reputation. He provokes Chuck into an unbecoming rant in front of the entire court, and also reports his psychosomatic illness to the firm's insurance company, which forces Chuck's expulsion from the company he helped build.

Had Chuck simply accepted the fact that he might have made a mistake, he likely wouldn't have lost his job or his immaculate reputation. Not only that, but his decision to go after Jimmy also lost him the only family member he had left. Even though Chuck was correct in assuming that Jimmy tampered with his file, his egotistical attack against his brother proved to be a massive error.