Odenkirk's character is just not cut out for real police work. We saw that when he showed up to the Hess and Nygaard murder scenes and got sick both times. This episode, Molly is doing some real police work while he's showing pictures on a markerboard about an upcoming snowstorm. From his POV, the less ickiness he has to deal with the better.
As for the Duluth chief, he obviously doesn't think much of Gus since he puts him on substitute animal control all the time. If one of the two chiefs is crooked, I'd be more inclined to say it's the Duluth guy. I think his history with Molly's dad is going to be fleshed out more in later episodes.
True incompetency vs. perceived incompetency is a theme of the show however. Lester is an incompetent salesman and criminal (why didnt he taze the deaf guy too and then dump them both in the lake? and remember he killed his wife because she basically said he was an incompetent male). Odenkirk's character is an incompetent police chief. Deaf guy and his partner are incompetent criminals as well (they didn't even frisk Lester to take away his phone and taser when they kidnapped him, which should have doomed them). Hess was a big strong guy with a lot of money and got taken down, etc etc.
Molly, Gus, and Malvo, on the other hand, are the real forces of good and evil playing out in the show, and all three of them have an image of incompetency (an insubordinate officer, a glorified dog catcher, and a backwoods minister). We the viewer, on the other hand, know that they are formidable officers and a frightening villain.
One detail I thought was interesting was that both police stations have the same photo of George W. Bush on the wall, who was president in 2006, but was certainly not very popular at that time. Putting the picture of a powerful man famously derided as a bumbling, incompetent yokel on the wall in both police departments is a pretty clear sign from the writing/directing teams that we are supposed to see the police leadership as idiots.
I wouldn't be surprised if we see another apparently idiotic character turn out to have some part to play, maybe Dmitri.
As for the Duluth chief, he obviously doesn't think much of Gus since he puts him on substitute animal control all the time. If one of the two chiefs is crooked, I'd be more inclined to say it's the Duluth guy. I think his history with Molly's dad is going to be fleshed out more in later episodes.
True incompetency vs. perceived incompetency is a theme of the show however. Lester is an incompetent salesman and criminal (why didnt he taze the deaf guy too and then dump them both in the lake? and remember he killed his wife because she basically said he was an incompetent male). Odenkirk's character is an incompetent police chief. Deaf guy and his partner are incompetent criminals as well (they didn't even frisk Lester to take away his phone and taser when they kidnapped him, which should have doomed them). Hess was a big strong guy with a lot of money and got taken down, etc etc.
Molly, Gus, and Malvo, on the other hand, are the real forces of good and evil playing out in the show, and all three of them have an image of incompetency (an insubordinate officer, a glorified dog catcher, and a backwoods minister). We the viewer, on the other hand, know that they are formidable officers and a frightening villain.
One detail I thought was interesting was that both police stations have the same photo of George W. Bush on the wall, who was president in 2006, but was certainly not very popular at that time. Putting the picture of a powerful man famously derided as a bumbling, incompetent yokel on the wall in both police departments is a pretty clear sign from the writing/directing teams that we are supposed to see the police leadership as idiots.
I wouldn't be surprised if we see another apparently idiotic character turn out to have some part to play, maybe Dmitri.
