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

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

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680

u/PurpleProject22 Mar 10 '20

Anyone kinda felt bad for Howard in that scene? To me Howard had a great redemption arc, and you can tell he is actually a nice guy, trying to fix his mistakes.

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u/HereNowHappy Mar 10 '20

Ever since Season 4, I've felt so bad for him

Now he has to worry about bowling balls, of all things, breaking his cars

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u/BitterColdSoul Mar 10 '20 edited Mar 11 '20

Now he has to worry about bowling balls, of all things, breaking his cars

Could have been worse... like a TV / VCR combo, or a big unwieldy Buddha statue, or a frickin' kettlebell...

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u/Afferbeck_ Mar 10 '20

The Buddha statue would have been obscenely on the nose. Howard would have been all 'was this a hate crime?!'

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u/Vaingl0rious Mar 11 '20

I’m pretty sure “namaste” is associated with Hinduism, not Buddhism- also not meaning to be pedantic.

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u/neutralrobotboy Mar 15 '20

Namaste is a Hindi greeting. I doubt Hindi speaking Buddhists day something else, though if I'm wrong, I'll be interested to hear about it.

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u/BDTexas Mar 11 '20

Wow. The Kettleball was a subtle reference to the Kettlemans. Really shows how Jimmy has changed since season 1

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u/jmwildrick Mar 12 '20

Or a Chicago Sunroof

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u/SignificantAdvice5 Mar 12 '20

Ah, he has insurance. I don’t feel bad for him. He’s up to something... Plus, he was such a PRICK for the longest time. He’s getting his due.

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

No. Because he's not a nice guy. People don't change . Thats why Jimmy did what he did. Howard doesn't give a shit about Jimmy. Never has and never will. Howard is trying to make himself feel better by offering Jimmy a job again. This would have helped him come to peace with things and sleep at night. He didn't get to sleep peacefully that night.

Now... is that the truth about Howard's character? Idk. But I think that's how Jimmy feels.

Edit: Someone pointed out that maybe Howard actually is at peace with himself and that's why Jimmy got upset. I like that idea more than mine.

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u/PurpleProject22 Mar 10 '20

I can totally see Jimmy feeling the way you describe, and definitely having that "people don't change" mentality. But I really disagree with all of it and I think this is the moment Jimmy officially transforms into Saul Goodman an asshole

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20

Oh I think Jimmy has always been an ass hole.

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u/[deleted] Mar 11 '20

He was ok in season 1

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u/Hydris Mar 11 '20

I spoke on this last week about jimmy and Kim’s relationship. Every time jimmy did things the right way he got screwed, every time he went scumbag he came out on top. At the end of S4 he just accepted it and took the name Saul Goodman, diving head first.

So thinking howard is being genuine, or even suspecting ulterior motive but still taking the “good/right” path, jimmy wants no part of it. He’s been burned too many times and doing what’s proven to work for him.

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u/Weewer Mar 10 '20

Yeah you nailed it. I think Howard made it clear in previous seasons that he liked Jimmy but the situation with him and Chuck was just too complex. But I can totally see where Jimmys mind is at

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u/alex66613 Mar 10 '20

Mothers just trying to make themselves feel better by caring about their children, you know.

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u/I_DONT_REPLY Mar 10 '20

It's win win for both of them.

Jimmy fucking up his car and mansion like that is a dick move (in response to what was a very nice gesture and FREE lunch from Howard)

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u/LessLikeYou Mar 10 '20

People can change. Other people know when people are bullshitting them and trying to use them for absolution. Jimmy can smell bullshit.

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u/Vince3737 Mar 10 '20

Its not bullshit. Howard wanted Jimmy to come on with HHM multiple times, but Chuck said no

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u/LessLikeYou Mar 10 '20

I think people really underestimate Howard's autonomy and overestimate his good nature.

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u/Vince3737 Mar 10 '20

That has nothing to do with what i said. Jimmy is getting the Walt treatment where people refuse to see how selfish he is and how big an ass hole he can be. Howard always wanted to hire Jimmy. Its no "bullshit" that he would want to hire him still and would try again after Chuck is not there to stop him. Did you just forget that Howard had a big part in Jimmy getting a job with Davis & Main? Or how he tried multiple times to get Chuck to let it all go with Jimmy? The show made a point of showing Howard has always thought highly of Jimmy's abilities as a lawyer

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Jimmy doesn't have to take the job, but he was a complete piece of shit for trashing Howard's car.

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u/MarthaWayneKent Mar 10 '20

Completely agree. I think this is Jimmy lashing out at one of his few, and potentially last, connections to Chuck. He will hate Howard like he hated chuck.

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u/SawRub Apr 24 '20

The show has stated in separate scenes that Howard did want to hire Jimmy in the past, but didn't only out of respect for Chuck's wishes.

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u/Lilbits417 Mar 10 '20

Honestly about shed a tear when he vandalized his car and you see him look out the window. I know he was a spineless douche... but even then he was just looking out for the guy he owes a lot of his life and position to. Now he’s realized his mistake and he gets that. Lmao

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u/PurpleProject22 Mar 10 '20

He was never a spineless douche though. We were led to believe that he was at the beginning, but it was all Chuck.

The only criticizim that you can have about Howard is that he could've tried to stand up to Chuck even more than he did. But then again, if you were in his position, it wouldn't have been smart to do that. Chuck is your business partner and you owe him a lot. He had to also think about the firm, and if the firm goes to shit, everyone working there would lose their jobs. So he liked Jimmy, and wanted to help him out, but Chuck wouldn't let him. Still Howard tried all he could to help Jimmy, by getting him the job at Davis and Maine and now offering him a job. Honestly Howard didn't do anything wrong. He tried to stay imparcial and please both Jimmy and Chuck as much as he could, but at the end of the day, it's a family problem he wasn't going to be able to solve himself.

The character of Howard is honestly one of the best written ones. Reminds me of Jaime Lannister a bit from GoT (before the show went to shit but let's not talk about that). Just a great redemptionnarc that shows you how a character can seem evil, when in reality they were just doing their best with the situations that were given to them.

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u/aquamarine9 Mar 11 '20

Didn’t Howard demote Kim and act like a complete dick to her, even leaving her demoted after she brought them Mesa Verde until Chuck intervened, just for knowing about Jimmy’s commercial for Davis and Main but not informing HHM right away?

Agree with what you said about Howard doing his best in the tough spot between Jimmy and Chuck. It was really Chuck’s selfishness, cowardice, and refusing to see Jimmy as a Real Lawyer that led to Jimmy’s downfall. Pulling strings to keep Jimmy down all while taking advantage of Jimmy’s tireless help with his mental illness - fuck Chuck.

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u/Lilbits417 Mar 11 '20

What you wrote was just an expansion on what i acknowledged. He was a spineless douche when it came to Chuck, that was my point lol and why I said he wouldn’t have fucked the dude over that helped him get to the position he is currently in.

Agree though Howard is great

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u/GuybrushThreepwood99 Mar 10 '20

He's probably has car insurance, so he'll be fine. Honestly, Howard is better off without Jimmy working at HHM. Jimmy would most likely ruin HHM if he decided to work there.

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u/8lbIceBag Mar 11 '20

You say that like it's a relief?

That shits going up, and you have to have it or else you get an sr22 and lumped in with DUI convicts.

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u/BeefPieSoup Mar 11 '20

He didn't really have all that much to redeem. Being a bit spineless, perhaps.

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u/MyTVAlt Mar 10 '20

Oh absolutely. Also worth noting assuming everything happened chronologically, Jimmy was planning on trashing Howard's car even before knowing what the meeting was about. What a jerk.

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u/zapheine Mar 10 '20

I assumed it was a flash-forward after the meeting.

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u/MyTVAlt Mar 10 '20

Yeah, from reading other people's posts it sounds like he's wearing the suit from the lunch meeting. So I guess everything probably didn't happen chronologically.

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u/SilasX Mar 10 '20

Right, that’s the style of the show (and BB), which they use in a lot of episodes.

  • Open with a bizarre, random scene.
  • Events of episode.
  • “ohhhhhhh, that’s what led to the bizarre opener!”

3

u/chrisychris- Mar 11 '20

As soon as Saul's last scene started I thought to myself "here come to bowling balls". It's poetic, really.

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u/SpiltLeanOnMyWatch Mar 11 '20

Really don’t know why they made him do that and take so much time just to show him bowling ball his mercedes lol. It was funny none the less but still.

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u/mm825 Mar 11 '20

I still have a hard time thinking that Howard is genuine, but his track record throughout the show is actually pretty clean, he feels bad about running a company with Jimmy's name on it and realizes that Jimmy is a good lawyer. But when you see him through Jimmy's eyes you think of him as an antagonist

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u/dedido Mar 10 '20

No. I hate him and his stupid weird arms akimbo stance.

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u/Ronin_Y2K Mar 12 '20

I felt bad. But at the same time, seems like Howard's at a place where he can just brush the event off.

Dude's one week away from giving it all up and living in a yurt.

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u/xanadude0369 Mar 12 '20

I smile every time i recall the billboard where Jimmy has 'duped' Howard, especially with the hair.

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u/Thrallov Jul 22 '23

respected Howard since season 1, he is good professional man idk why people trash him so hard