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It's all bad in the world of Saul Goodman.
Our favorite Albuquerque lawyers have never been more sad in the first half of Better Call Saul. The farewell season of the AMC show was going to be a wild ride, but nothing could have prepared me for the depths of darkness its mid-season finale would reveal.
Between the opening shot of Lalo emerging from a manhole in the dead of night and the closing shot of his depraved, deadly grin, I have praised and cursed this brilliant, ruthless show more times than I can count. The episode left viewers with a lot of uncertainty and another casualty, all while masterfully setting up the most heartbreaking finale yet.
Kim was burning rubber in Episode 6 when she pulled off a life-changing U-turn. She didn't interview for the job because she wanted to help Jimmy make their D-Day mission a success. Kim commits to self-destruction in the mid-season finale.
After she and Jimmy reshoot the actor pretending to be a judge, their plan to ruin Howard's reputation goes off without a hitch. The planning, calculation, and premeditation that went into Jimmy and Kim's big con was some of their best work. The elaborate scheme leads to an irreversible loss of innocence.
Don't reshoot! Credit: Greg Lewis / AMC / Sony Pictures Television
The majority of the episode shows Kim and Jimmy in control, but in the end Lalo is the one who holds all the cards. The boss of the cartel knows all about the mother of all meth labs, and he has figured out a way to get rid of his guards. It is clear that things can't end well.
Jimmy and Kim are enjoying wine, take-out, and a movie on the couch in the final minutes of the show. Howard knocked at the door and the candle lit up. In a stomach-sinking monologue, he displays an understanding of Kim and Jimmy so rare it has only been rivaled once by Chuck. Howard asked what justification made their treatment of him ok after he called the couple and their destructive antics out.
Even though I humiliated myself, and my clients and peers will whisper that Howard is a drug addiction, I have worked my way through worse. I will be fine. But you? Far from it. You two are soulless.
He calls out Kim for stooping to Jimmy's level before marveling at how perfect they are for each other. You did it for fun. You leave on it. You are like Leopold and Loeb.
Lalo brought an impenetrable tension into the room with a whoosh of the candle's flame.
Jimmy looks like he sees a ghost because he still thinks Lalo is dead. He grabbed Kim and asked, "How?" Quaking with fear, she said, "Howard, you need to leave."
Lalo needs to talk to his lawyers. He pulled out a gun and Howard said he was in the middle of something. Before he can finish, Lalo shoots him in the head. Howard hits his head on a table as he falls to the floor. Kim is screaming. Jimmy is crying. And Lalo calmly said, "OK!" Let's talk!
Protect Kim Wexler at all costs. Credit: Greg Lewis / AMC / Sony Pictures Television
Kim and Jimmy have irreconcilable guilt because of that single shot. A line has been crossed and no matter what happens next their moral compasses have been damaged. They are masters of mind games, but I believe they never wanted Howard dead. They are aware that their psychological torture is what led to his demise.
Had Kim let Jimmy call off D-Day, had she not blown off her job interview, and had they just let the Sandpiper settlement play out naturally, Howard would still be alive. They will live with a number of choices that could have been different. Jimmy as Saul will likely replay the events, fear, and regret of that night in the future, when he is brooding over delicious trays of Cinnabons in the mall.
It is a sad end for Howard, a slightly annoying but mostly fine guy with an impressive legal mind, superb taste in ties, and a skilled hand for latte art. He died because he wanted to be liked or left alone. It is a sad, scary moment for Kim and Jimmy. As a reminder, we have no idea if Kim makes it out of that apartment alive.
Better Call Saul is on AMC. The eighth episode of Season 6 will be on July 11.
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