[thesloppy]

I give this show/Odenkirk/McKean immense credit for walking the the tightrope of keeping Jimmy somehow likeable but always demonstrably scummy, while Chuck is despicable, but pretty much morally correct in every respect. I think that's probably tougher to write/act/direct than it appears.

Kim did a wonderful job putting their relationship into words, and pointing out why Chuck is still an asshole, even if he's always technically on the 'right' side, whereas the recent scene where kid-Jimmy pockets the cash from his dad's register shows that he always has and always will put himself first, without much thought to its effect on those around him. Despite the fact that we know Jimmy's a sketchy con artist who we KNOW is going to destroy everyone and everything around him (and Chuck's entirely reliable and always morally correct) they still manage to get the audience rooting for Jimmy (and against Chuck) every week, even as they explicitly show him fucking up the lives of everyone around him. They're doing a good job of selling the show exactly the way Jimmy sells himself, using his smile and good humor to put the audience on his side and obscure the fact that he's actually the villain of this story.

Regarding the Chuck/Skyler parallels, I find Chuck's & Jimmy's relationship sooooo much easier to take, if only because Skyler AND Walt (and pretty much everyone else on the show) were fucking miserable at that point, whereas Jimmy's MO/con relies upon constant good humor, a smile and a shrug, which certainly goes down a lot easier.