Okay so I didnt rewatch this or anything but I've been thinking about this show and this episode in particular lately, so I thought I'd do a breakdown of the cold open because its pretty easily my favourite introductory scene to like any episode ever, and I'm trying to get back to my old yapping ways lately. [⚠️ SPOILERS BELOW ⚠️] So the first part (and biggest part) of this review will be dedicated to breaking down the song 'The Winner Takes It All' by ABBA and how it correlates to Chuck and Jimmy's overall journey as a dynamic. JIMMY: "I don't want to talk, about the things we've gone through, Though it's hurting me, Now it's history. I've played all my cards, And that's what you've done too... Nothing more to say. No more ace to play... The winner takes it all!" This intro parallels his final conversation with Chuck in Lantern. Their confrontation essentially is brought about by (if memory serves) Jimmy coming to speak to Chuck to smooth things over, because they've both metaphorically played their cards, and 'though it (the outcome of them both playing their cards) is hurting [Jimmy]', he wants to smooth things over because (again, if memory serves) they are the two last McGills, or at least something in and around that. In my interpretation, the first 'the winner takes it all' here refers to how their explosive mid season confrontation has been sort of final, like 'there's nothing more to say', it's over and done and the best thing for them to do as brothers would be to move forward, hence why Jimmy approaches Chuck in Lantern. CHUCK: "The loser standing small" This mirrors how Chuck feels post-Chicanery in my eyes. He's once more been upstaged by Jimmy, but this time it's had extremely, extremely dire consequences. His 'health issue' has been exposed for what it really was, he's been forced out of HHM against his will, his whole life is essentially crumbling before his eyes. And it makes him feel small, so small to the point where it's all he fixates on, hence the isolation of this line in the song. And further than this, the isolation of the line and the defeated, weak way in which Chuck says it when he actually sings it further parallels Lantern by demonstrating the negative effect it has on him DUE to this hyperfixation (it makes him feel pathetically weak, mirrored by the weakness of his singing, and then this feeling of weakness is most likely a key contributor to why he says Jimmy never mattered to him). Sorry, that last sentence was convoluted as shit but hope y'all see what I'm tryna get at here. JIMMY: "Beside the victory, That's her destiny..." This line is pretty basic symbolically, it's essentially (in my eyes) just saying that there was always going to be a winner and a loser in this power struggle conflict between the brothers no matter what, their relationship was always destined to explode like this, with a 'winner' and a 'loser' emerging. JIMMY: "I was in your arms..." CHUCK "Thinking I belonged there..." So for Jimmy's line here I think it refers to how he felt after the Chicago sunroof incident. His entire life was essentially in the palm of Chuck's hand, and Chuck - 'thinking [he] belonged there', 'there' meaning in a position to help Jimmy - felt an obligation to come rescue his brother. JIMMY: "I figured it made sense. Building me a fence..." Continuing on from the Chicago sunroof incident, Jimmy has realised at this point he needed to start a new life, turn over a new leaf, or in this case, have Chuck metaphorically build a fence to force Jimmy to turn around. CHUCK: "Building me a home..." So on the surface level I think this could refer to Chuck leaving Cicero for Albequrque, but digging deeper I think there could be a hint of Chuck wanting to build a home (a life) for himself and Jimmy, whether due to a familial obligation he felt, or a true, more repressed love for his brother I can't be sure. BOTH: "Thinking I'd be strong there! But I was a fool, Playing by the rules." For Jimmy, this first line signifies how he thought this plan of turning his life around would be amazing, he'd go with his brother to Albequrque and start something new, but (as evidenced by the second line) ultimately he realises that playing by legal rules was never his style, as is shown countless times throughout the show. And for Chuck, I think the first line signifies the same as it does for Jimmy, but the second line I believe symbolises how Chuck originally decided to 'rescue' Jimmy out of his feelings of obligation to help a family member in need, but playing by these seemingly obligatory rules made a fool out of him ultimately. I fucking love the duality here sm, as I'm writing this this scene continues to grow on me. CHUCK: [snatching mic from Jimmy] "The gods may throw a dice, Their minds as cold as ice. And someone way down here, Loses someone dear. The winner takes it all!" I think the most important thing to understand about Chuck and Jimmy when analysing this section is how paradoxical and complicated their relationship is. They both inflict pain on one another constantly, sometimes unintentionally, they have also had their share of happy moments together as brothers, but ultimately neither of them can escape this cycle of violence because of how deep seated and deep rooted the pain each brother has inflicted on the other is within them. Everything that ends up happening between these two, all the results of it (Chuck's suicide, Jimmy living with trauma and unresolved emotional turmoil, and eventually Saul Goodman being born) feels like it was all just a roll of the dice, because of 1. how quickly and constantly their relationship goes around and around constantly changing outcomes, and 2. how it seems to teeter on different endings so many times, but ultimately culminates in one singular, unavoidable outcome, devised by 'gods' whose minds are 'cold as ice', who seemingly just watch from above as their plan for Chuck and Jimmy pans out. I also love how those final two lines exemplify Jimmy's sacrifice, as @spidrduckxcx eloquently puts it: "in order for Jimmy to finally achieve success as Saul Goodman, he must reject the influence that Chuck once had over his morality." And also (this is extremely random considering this entire review has been about Jimmy and Chuck, but whatever bear with me) this last segment also pertains really well to Mike's character, and works really fucking well with the context of Mike's plot this episode. The 'gods' in this symbol would be the higher-ups in the cartel, in this case Gus and his operation. They are rolling the dice, calling the shots, with a 'cold' calculation that doesn't take into account how Mike would feel having to kill Werner. Mike is the 'someone way down here' in this scenario, losing 'someone dear' (Werner) to 'take it all' (save his job and keep Gus' project alive). It's genuinely ridiculous how many layers this scene has, but anyways, back to Jimmy and Chuck. Now that I've delved into each little intricacy of literally each word of the song, I'll speak about the scene as a whole. This whole sequence serves as a microcosm to their relationship, Jimmy trying to involve Chuck in his life, Chuck taking the opportunity as a way to upstage him, Jimmy falling back into the shadows, not caring that his brother has snatched the mic from him but only caring about getting his approval, it's just so brilliant. And the craziest and arguably most heartbreaking thing about this scene, is that even though everything i've delved into is so so sad to contemplate, this is a genuinely happy moment between the brothers. As evidenced by the scene in the bed, after the karaoke has finished and the brothers continue to sing (in perfect harmony btw, perfect symbolism again for how, when out of the public eye, there are moments when the brothers can just be fraternal, be happy together) deep down, these two did genuinely care for one another, and it's exemplified perfectly by this scene. [⚠️ SPOILERS ABOVE ⚠️] Anyways yeah this scene is a goddamn masterpiece, after really taking my time to think about it I think it may be in my t3 scenes in the show, t5 at least. I don't expect anyone to have read allis but if u did I appreciate it immensely :)