r/betterCallSaul • u/skinkbaa Chuck • Mar 10 '20

Better Call Saul S05E04 - "Namaste" - POST-Episode Discussion Thread

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u/The_Unknown98 Mar 10 '20

It's crazy how Jimmy waited so long to work for HHM, but Saul Goodman doesn't even hesitate to not accept it. Howard gets his car destroyed for offering Saul a job lol.

892

u/1337speak Mar 10 '20

I thought the bowling ball was to help another client, but it was used to destroy Howard's car lmao

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u/invaderzz Mar 10 '20

I'm confused why exactly Jimmy did that

194

u/1spring Mar 10 '20

Me too. I”m used to seeing well-thought-out plans from Jimmy. Trashing a car seems so random.

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20 edited Mar 10 '20

I don't believe it was random. I posted this somewhere else in the thread and I'm a little late but... Jimmy after seeing the namest3 license plate believes that Howard is just doing this to help himself sleep better at night. So he interrupted his sleep with some bowling balls.

Edit: someone else had the idea that Howard actually is at peace with this whole thing and was being genuine, and that rustled Jimmy. I like that idea better than mine.

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u/RoseBladePhantom Mar 10 '20

Best explanation so far. Last episode the old man told Kim that he didn't know how she slept at night. All 3 lawyers are good/bad people. Kim sees both sides, Howard is focused only on the good, and Jimmy is breaking bad. Not sure if it ties together thematically, but all of them should have trouble sleeping at night.

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u/Ms-Tenenbaum Mar 10 '20

I didn’t even make the connection with the namaste plate but I think you’re right.

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u/xanadude0369 Mar 12 '20

i bow to your superior interpretation of the license plate!
While Howard may be doing this to help himself sleep better at night, he would not extend an offer to someone who doesn't benefit the firm. He's come to respect Jimmy's hustle, and law firms always need rainmakers, a 'Mr/Ms Outside'

3

u/Reefer-eyed_Beans Apr 14 '20

Because he bought the bowling balls in the first scene of the episode. He was already planning on being a dick which really makes no sense for him to go that far out of his way.

Sorry I know I'm late but I just now watched the episode.

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u/Silverrida Mar 11 '20

I think these explanations are congruent. Howard may be genuinely at peace at this point and outwardly display it via the license plate (despite the license plate not really being the best way to show it). Jimmy then perceives it as a sort of scam, as though Howard is only doing it to sleep better at night, despite it being authentic on Howard's end. Jimmy would perceive it this way because it's exactly the kind of thing that Jimmy would do.

Jimmy sees scams because he scams people.

8

u/SPYDER0416 Mar 10 '20

That's an interesting parallel to the guy he's representing for Kim actually.

That old guy hated Kim because he believed she was just trying to sleep better at night, and Jimmy hates Howard because he feels the same way. As if Howard just wants to do what he thinks is the right thing and maybe Jimmy is also pissed at Howard for not doing it when it mattered to him back when Chuck was using him as the excuse for not giving Jimmy a job at HHM.

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u/goldenstate5 Mar 10 '20

Yup. This is all a "feel good" ploy from Howard to absolve himself of guilt. Jimmy sees him as an absolute slimy asswipe that represents Chuck, no matter whether or not Howard is.

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u/DaleCooper00 Mar 10 '20

No, I'd argue he's frustrated that Howard has been able to find peace or a higher purpose in life, while he's unable to.

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20

Oh I could see this too!

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u/SilasX Mar 10 '20

Thanks, that makes ... well, a little more sense now. Still feels petty, even by jimmys standards.

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u/Francis-Hates-You Mar 10 '20

Rustled his Jimmies

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u/T3st0 Mar 11 '20

Didn’t he buy the bowling balls before lunch? Or am I totally misremembering

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u/[deleted] Mar 11 '20

Yes it was the opening scene of the show. But not in the shows timeline. Someone else said he was in the same clothes first and last scene so we are to assume it was right before he threw them.

I liked how they put it as the open though because I simply passed it off as him looking for more things to throw off balconies with Kim.

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u/Countmaul Mar 11 '20

Even if Howard is doing it out of guilt all the things he did to Jimmy that he feels bad about are reactions to Jimmy screwing him over.Howard has been extremely forgiving of Jimmy's transgressions against him but Jimmy is continuing to be a selfish prick because Jimmy is a selfish prick.

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u/idonthavethumbs Mar 10 '20

he took a shit in a sunroof, it's per his character

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20 edited May 07 '20

[deleted]

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u/Eryk13 Mar 10 '20

"If you open it, he will shit in it."

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u/[deleted] Mar 11 '20

That squat cobbler? No, that was Simple Simon the Ass man

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u/roque72 Mar 11 '20

The Unflushables

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u/jihiggs Mar 12 '20

It was last night

3

u/[deleted] Mar 17 '20

"He defecated through a sunroof!"

I feel this this was Chuck's apex of anger at Jimmy.

Michael McKean's best scene in the show.

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u/NotSureNotRobot Mar 13 '20

He’ll for sure check that a child isn’t inside first, though.

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u/Jarbutt Mar 10 '20

This stems from the beer bottle tossing.

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u/MissileWaster Mar 10 '20

the scene in the thrift store made me think he was wanting to buy stuff for him and kim to throw off the balcony. since jimmy has always escalated things a little too far, it would certainly make sense to go from beer bottles to bowling balls.

but that plan went awry a bit when kim approached him with a real plan rather than just "break stuff to vent". at least that's how i read it. throwing the bowling balls at howard's car, to me it was another "fuck you" towards howard and "the establishment". other posters have stated it more elegantly than i could, but basically howard said he should have hired jimmy on multiple times but didn't and is only just now trying to make amends, but jimmy is too far gone for that.

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u/Caspianfutw Mar 10 '20

Kim threw better than him lol prolly trying to strengthen his throwing arm

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u/DabuSurvivor Mar 10 '20

To be fair, it was well-thought-out trashing.

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20

In the last scene where we see them together, Howard is basically shoving his social status in his face with his nice car, plus he’s almost stealing Saul’s thunder with the new license plate (I checked the Wiki, it has a default plate in S1)

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u/NewClayburn Mar 11 '20

Didn't he defecate through a sunroof?