Better Call Saul Mid-Season Finale/Final Season Discussion

My jaw is still dropped as I write this lol my God what an incredible mid-season finale ‘Plan & Execution’ was and I have no idea what is gonna happen in these last 6 episodes. To be able to say that about a prequel is a testament to how amazing the entire Better Call Saul/Breaking Bad team is. Better Call Saul has gone from an accessory show to Breaking Bad to a legitimate all time great show on it’s own. The acting over 6 seasons by Patrick Fabian made Howard Hamelin a worthy addition to stand alongside characters like Walter White and Jesse Pinkman in the shows universe. What started as a character I thought was going to be the villain ended as one of the 2 or 3 genuinely good people on the show. I’m so glad they went a different direction with Howard’s character bc the rich, asshole boss was way too predictable for this show and making him a good guy opens up so many more questions and challenges. If Howard was the typical asshole boss then nobody would care about what Jimmy and Kim were doing to him but having Howard be a good guy really challenges the fans that are rooting for Jimmy and Kim bc what they do to Howard is truly evil.

You can bring up a few examples like Howard sticking Kim in doc review even after bringing the firm Mesa Verde but there is absolutely nothing that even remotely justifies their attempt to ruin his life and the lives of everyone at HHM. Since Chuck’s death, we have also seen Howard really struggling with the fact that his mentor committed suicide and that they were not on the best terms when it happened. But Howard didn’t lash out at Jimmy or Kim or anyone, he dealt with it on his own and kept trying to live up to the bright, confident public persona that he had created. Then in S6 we see that Howard and his wife are more roommates than husband and wife with a very cold connection between them despite Howard trying to reach out for a connection with the peace sign on her coffee or asking her to go to an event together. It was tough to see her carelessly pour the latte into a thermos and deny his request to attend the event together. Howard literally has nowhere to exhale, it feels like he is always inhaling and holding his breath, even at home so to watch Jimmy and Kim work so hard to destroy his life was fn tough.

Their plan worked to perfection as Howard made a complete fool of himself and justified everything that Cliff Main was thinking about Howard’s potential drug problem. Such great acting from Patrick Fabian to walk that line of trying to defend himself without sounding like complete lunatic and completely losing his composure. This brought up comparisons to Michael McKean’s iconic ‘Chicanery’ speech from S3 without being a copy of that scene. Pretty crazy to know that Slippin Jimmy got 1 over on 2 of the best legal minds, what was it that Chuck said, ‘a chimp with a machine gun’ lol man when Howard started to accuse the judge of taking a bribe it was The Office levels of cringe for me but with all that chaotic tension in the scene, i loved Irene’s “Is this how these usually go” after Howard accuses the judge of bribery and storms out of the room hahah this definitely was a devastatingly embarrassing moment for Howard but it wasn’t on the level that it would ruin his career and destroy the firm. In the end, the firm would still be making a ton of money just not as much as they could have. Howard’s reputation would never have been exactly the same but also wouldn’t take that long to rebuild since he wasn’t actually on drugs and is still 1 of the state’s top lawyers. I thought that Jimmy and Kim’s plan would lead to Howard committing suicide but after seeing it play out, I threw that possibility out. I almost thought Howard might survive after this and just leave to get as far away from Jimmy and Kim as he possibly could. Never let your guard down with this crew lol

I was actually happy that the knock at Jimmy and Kim’s door turned out to be Howard bc I wanted him to let those 2 know what pieces of shit they are but I was also nervous bc I thought it was possible that Howard could kill Kim and then himself. This show is dark at times but I honestly didn’t think they would go that far. But with suicide out of the question, I was running out of ideas to get Howard out of the story so everything was on the table at this point. Enter Lalo Salamanca. It was great to see Howard take Jimmy and Kim down a peg and expose their entire plan in front of them and then ask the questions that most of the audience has been asking like what their justification was for what they were doing to him? I’m glad he even listed the examples like putting Kim in doc review bc I know that was part of their justification and it was bullshit. Of course they try to gaslight Howard and make him think he is insane but he nailed it. Jimmy and Kim get off on the thrill of this and that is no more evident than when we see them having sex at the end of the conference call after their plan is a success. We see in flashbacks that both of them got the taste early, learning the art of scamming as kids but Kim had it under control until Jimmy came back into her life. Successfully scamming someone is like a drug; it makes you feel euphoric, it makes you feel powerful and it makes you want to do it again. The only thing that gave Jimmy worth in life was his ability to scam people but Kim found worth in grinding to earn a career as a lawyer and help hopeless people. But once she let that taste back into her life, it started to spin out of control until finally leading to this plan to ruin Howard.

As much as I was enjoying Howard’s much deserved rant on Jimmy and Kim, I noticed how confident Howard was that he would bounce back from this so I really had no clue about where his story was heading…then the candle flickered. Just absolutely brilliant cinematography. Lalo comes out of the shadows and my heart jumped into my throat, I knew that Howard was in big, big trouble bc in the current situation, Lalo is not leaving a loose end that can identify him. This scene really felt like 2 different shows coming together. The stuff with Howard always felt separate from the cartel stuff despite being part of the same story and show. But when they finally came together, it completely changed the dynamics for Howard. In Howard’s world he is in control, he has power, some people even fear him but in Lalo’s world, he is nothing but a cockroach to be squished at Lalo’s will. Patrick Fabian just crushed the transition from blowing Lalo off as some nothing client of Jimmy and Kim’s to realizing that the water was now up to his neck and he needed to get out of there. I honestly thought Lalo was gonna kidnap the 3 of them and then BOOM it’s all over for Howard. Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn deserve Emmy’s for their reactions not only to Howard’s death but to Lalo just entering the room. Bob looked like he was seeing the devil himself walk into the room and Rhea’s reaction to Howard’s death played on a loop in my head for the rest of the night. Yet another moment in the show that left me with my jaw hanging down like a fn neanderthal lol absolutely amazing TV but what a heartbreaking end for Howard.

It honestly bothers me that Howard’s family, friends, clients and colleagues will remember him as a drug addict that unravelled in his final days. Nobody will ever know the truth or see Howard’s successful redemption of his character. And for what? So Jimmy and Kim could take out all of the frustrations and failures of their lives on Howard? For sandpiper money? This is one of the worst things anyone has done on either show and that is def saying something. There is no reason Howard should have ever been in a room with Lalo, man if only Kim had just kept driving but she couldn’t help but take her bad choice road. Love the subtle details of the episode like Howard’s blood splattering over the painting that Jimmy and Kim were using the back of for their plan to ruin Howard. To know that Howard was not the bad guy we thought he would be at the beginning of the show, then to watch him suffer with guilt over Chuck’s death and with loneliness over a lack of connection with his wife, he really has become 1 of the most tragic characters on this show. Who could have ever called that one, man that’s why these shows are gonna live forever, this is mountaintop quality writing. What a run for Howard Hamelin, so much respect and love to Patrick Fabian for bringing this character to life.

Howard wasn’t the only brutal loss of the season so far as our boy Nacho went out in his blaze of glory in the 1st quarter of the season. I had got my hopes up that Nacho would be the one to kill Lalo and was hiding/on the run for all of Breaking Bad and might be the person that is trying to track down Saul as Gene. But that was not to be, Nacho had got himself into a corner and this time there was no way to escape without risking the lives of his family and there was still a very high chance that he would be caught and killed anyway. Even as they had Nacho surrounded and on his knees, I was still waiting for someone or something to stop it so I was really shocked when he pulled the trigger himself. Nacho technically killed himself but I don’t count his death as a suicide, it was definitely a ‘fuck you, you don’t get the satisfaction’ decision and prob saved himself a much worse death. I can’t express how much I love that Hector knows why he is in the chair and who put him there but damn it was unsettling to see Hector just pumping bullets into Nacho long after he was dead. Considering that, I don’t see how Nacho’s Dad survives bc Hector will want to kill everyone Nacho ever knew and Mike/Gus can’t protect him but I guess we’ll see if they address it in the last episodes. Michael Mando was so incredible for the entire show, he really made you feel everything Nacho was going through and made it easy to root for the character. Nacho was never just a normal henchman, you could see there were layers and layers of character there and Michael Mando knocked it out of the park every time they had to deliver a character moment. The relationship with his Dad felt so real. And it broke my heart when Mike kicked the 2 girls out of Nacho’s place, “but we like it here.” Damn, man. Just knowing their treatment by Nacho was not common and how another dealer/addict was gonna treat them and the abhorrent environments they were prob gonna live in now, almost brought a tear to my eye. Def gonna miss watching and rooting for Nacho.

6 episodes left and then that’s it. No more waits, no more theories, no more jaw dropping moments, but we aren’t there yet. I’m gonna enjoy this last little break and go crazy thinking of what’s gonna happen next. Like I said earlier, just insane that we’re watching a prequel that has lasted 6 seasons and with 6 episodes left, nobody has any clue about what is gonna happen. All I know is that Lalo needs to die lol man I almost booked a flight to Germany when I realized that woman was Werner Ziegler’s, Margarethe but thankfully Lalo isn’t that much of a scumbag. When Lalo confronts Casper and takes a shot in the gut, at first I thought it was the handle but with how much and how long Lalo was struggling, they got me for a second thinking he hit him with the blade. Would have been a crazy way for Lalo to go but unfortunately for Howard, Casper took a half-measure. Once the show is finished, I’ll def be doing a piece about the entire show but after those 7 episodes and that midseason finale, I had to write something. I don’t think the question is if Lalo will die, but who will do it? It’s not Jimmy. Could be Kim, that would be a shock. But with her reaction to Howard’s death and the cutting truth he delivered to her right before he died, I think this might wreck Kim. For her to do something like this to Howard goes against her true character and she knows it, she just can’t help herself at this point. The fallout of this is def why she isn’t in Breaking Bad, whatever happens. I’d say Mike is the favourite to do it right now but Gus could also put a big death on his resume. Could give it to Viktor or Tyrus to establish their characters more. Lots of options, gonna be crazy to see how it unfolds.

Been a really great final season so far, shout out to the Kettlemans lol was great to have them back in the story and establish a connection to Breaking Bad through the Statue of Liberty blow up sign. Cheers to Patrick and Howard, Michael and Nacho, for 2 fcking great performances and characters. Hate to say goodbye but can’t wait to see how it ends.