Better Call Saul: A Howard Hamlin Case Study

The Better Call Saul series finale has, in fact, provided some finality to the character arc of Jimmy McGill, aka Saul Goodman, aka Gene Takovick. And while his ending was a long time coming, many other characters from the Breaking Bad universe evolved (and devolved) in unforeseen ways.

Played by Patrick Fabian who is credited with Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993) and Twitches (2005), Howard Hamlin is the Robe Lowe personaed counterpart to Jimmy McGill, who in later seasons practices law as Saul Goodman.

In order to understand the complex relationship between Hamlin and Jimmy McGill, you have to start at the beginning.

Season 1

The series opens in the HHM conference room with Jimmy giving a boisterous monologue in the conference room of law firm Hamlin, Hamlin and McGill. Present in the room are Howard Hamlin and Kim Wexler.

Howard and Jimmy's relationship ultimately centers around Jimmy's brother, Chuck, who is on an "extended leave of absence" from HHM due to a rare electromagnetic hypersensitivity.

Howard offers Chuck a check via Jimmy on behalf of HHM, but Jimmy refuses it for him, stating that Chuck built the firm and owns at least a third of its worth. They both know that HHM cannot afford to buy Chuck out at full value. Despite his absence, Chuck was still receiving a $26,000 stipend from HHM to sit at home and “do an impression of a baked potato.”

There’s a bit of backstory that explains the animous between Howard and Jimmy. After being invited by his brother to work in the firm's mailroom and eventually passing the bar exam, Howard privately breaks the news to Jimmy that HHM would not be hiring him on as a lawyer.

In an attempt to drum up business and reclaim his own surname, Jimmy takes on Howard’s likeness and copies HHM’s marketing down to the "Hamlindigo Blue" font and imagery. Howard is of course furious and takes the battle to the courts, which rule in his favor and force Jimmy to take his billboard down.

Jimmy arrives at Sandpiper Crossing Retirement Facility for a client meeting with a resident named Mrs. Landry. At the end of the meeting, Mrs. Landry hasn't enough money to pay for services, leading Jimmy to discover that Sandpiper is overcharging residents.

Howard offers Jimmy a check for finding the Sandpiper case, but makes it clear that HHM is interested in just the case, not Jimmy’s legal expertise. Jimmy makes it clear that he would rather see HHM burned to the ground than left in the hands of Hamlin.

Kim reams Hamlin for his treatment of Jimmy. Hamlin reveals that the decision not to hire Jimmy wasn’t made by Howard at all; he was simply Chuck’s mouthpiece.

Season 2

Jimmy is eventually hired by firm Davis & Main to work on the Sandpiper case. Hamlin tells Chuck that he gave senior partner Cliff Main the full and honest picture of Jimmy to dissuade them from hiring him, to no avail.

Jimmy’s good standing with Davis & Main doesn’t last long, as he airs a commercial targeted at the members of Sandpiper Crossing without the consent of the senior partners. Howard is furious with Kim for not giving the firm a heads-up and demotes her to document review. Even though Kim busts her ass to get HHM a new client, Mesa Verde, Howard does not relieve her from doc review.

Season 3

When Jimmy doctors the Mesa Verde documents in an attempt to defame Chuck and position the case back into Kim's hands, Chuck creates a decoy tape of Jimmy’s confession, which Jimmy destroys with Hamlin secretly present.

Howard represents Chuck in against Jimmy in the pre-prosecution diversion. He tries to dissuade Chuck from using his personal testimony but Chuck continues, resulting in Jimmy being temporarily disbarred.

Kim, in partial defense of Jimmy, presents Howard with a check to cover the cost of law school, which HHM covered on contingency. Howard tears the check up and tells Kim that her debt is forgiven, but everything else is not.

Howard has been more than patient with Chuck so far, but after his episode at the print shop, HHM’s insurance premiums have doubled. Howard tries to convince Chuck to retire, but Chuck is optimistic about his recovery and refuses.

At this point, Sandpiper Crossing is looking to settle. Jimmy wants Howard to take the settlement so the senior home residents will receive closure. Howard sees right through Jimmy’s feigned concern for the elders and refuses, promising Jimmy he will get his money in the future if he plays clean.

Chuck, on the other hand, is looking to sue HHM for the share of his partnership, totaling $8 million. To remedy the Chuck situation once and for all, Howard offers Chuck a same-day 3 million dollar buyout out of his own pocket.

Season 4

Howard calls Jimmy to read the obituary he wrote. Jimmy doesn’t make it through the phone call, so Kim approves the speech.

Howard is grieved over Chuck’s suicide, and he feels that he’s partly to blame. He visits Jimmy and Kim at their home to confess his guilt. Jimmy doesn’t respond, but Kim does a few days later.

As the executor of Chuck’s estate Howard offers to let Jimmy go through the property for items of value, as well is a check for five thousand dollars. Kim declines for Jimmy and reams Howard for trauma-dumping on an already traumatized Jimmy to ease his own conscience, stating that 5,000 is what you give someone when you want to cut them out of a will.

Howard tells Kim that Chuck also left a substantial endowment for a scholarship for deserving youth and he hopes that Jimmy will serve on the board. He also gives her a letter, “for Jimmy’s eyes only.”

When Jimmy sees Howard next at the courthouse, he’s looking pretty rough. Howard admits that he’s suffering with insomnia. Jimmy gives him a business card for Kim’s therapist, which Howard rips up once Jimmy walks away.

Howard, at this point, has no idea how he’ll keep the firm afloat. Jimmy takes the five grand, but not without calling Hamlin “a shitty lawyer but a great salesman.” Howard retorts witha “Fuck you,” and Jimmy encourages him to channel that fervor into saving the firm.

In season 5, Howard expresses remorse for not standing up to Chuck and hiring Jimmy over the years. He offers Jimmy a job at HHM, stating that he feels the bad blood they've dealt with in the past was between Jimmy and Chuck, not Jimmy and himself. Howard was inspired by Jimmy standing up for a student with criminal history at the scholarship committee meeting. The two part on good terms, with Jimmy stunned by Howard's offer.

It takes a while for Jimmy to respond. Jimmy sent prostitutes to follow and solicit Hamlin throughout his day. When they meet at the courthouse, Jimmy becomes furious and publicly blames Howard for Chuck's death.

When Howard learns that Kim quit Schweikart and Cokely, he informs her of his belief that Jimmy isn’t good for her. The misogyny is lost on no one, least of all Kim, who unloads a defense for Jimmy. She relates this to Jimmy, suggesting they frame Howard for "something unforgivable" to tank his career and get Jimmy his cut of the Sandpiper settlement.

Season 5

But in season 5, we see a new Kim Wexler. Even Jimmy is dubious, but Kim’s urge for revenge is insatiable. Her master plan: to ruin Hamlin’s reputation and make Sandpiper leave HHM.

Kim hits the ground running in season 5, devolving very quickly into vengefulness and spite. For their first pass, Jimmy covertly attends Hamlin’s country club and plants cocaine in his locker, which falls out during a conversation between Hamlin and Cliff.

Hamlin is certain that Jimmy is the one framing him, but he can’t get anyone on his side. He has a hard enough time getting Cliff to lend an ear, let alone Sandpiper. So he seeks to resolve the dispute once and for all in a more unorthodox way...


Howard and Jimmy fight in the ring and Jimmy gets his ass handed to him. Hamlin states that he hopes they can put their differences aside. But Jimmy, per Kim, doesn't relent.

If it hasn't shown up on your radar thus far, there's a weird sexual dynamic boiling between Kim, Jimmy, and Howard, which seems to be reaching a fever pitch. It's never addressed directly, but it's hard to deny the on-screen chemistry between Rhea Seehorn and Patrick Fabian. Kim is most effective when working out of spite, and Howard Hamlin gets under her skin every time.

Kim is defensive of Jimmy at every turn.

At his wits end, Howard arrives at Jimmy's apartment to find the pair in a confrontation with Lalo. Howard tries to work his charm by reasoning with Lalo, but to Kim and Jimmy’s horror, Lalo shoots him in the head.

Mike, per usual, responds to the scene and provides an alibi for the affair. Hamlin’s car is left open on the beach with cocaine in the car, as if he had walked to sea never to return.

Howard's wife Cheryl is not convinced. When Jimmy and Kim visit the memorial at HHM, Cheryl asserts that they were the last to see him alive. Kim admits that Howard had visited them the night of his death (or disappearance) and had seemed worked up over something. When asked about what, Kim stated that he was incoherent.

In the penultimate episode of the series, we see Kim Wexler in Florida under the guise of her new identity. Stricken with guilt and not loving her administrative position, she writes a legal confession and presents it to Hamlin’s wife, allowing her to use it any way she chooses. In it, she mentions Jimmy McGill.

In the Better Call Saul series finale, Jimmy tries to leverage his knowledge of Hamlin's death to score a deal with the Feds. The agents tell him about Kim's statement to Cheryl, which catches him off-guard and ultimately leaves his powerless at the hands of the US legal system.

A Chance to Play at the Palace

Howard is an easy cliche to hate: an overgrown trust fund baby, whose career was built on the same nepotism that Jimmy was denied. He did everything in his power not to allow Jimmy to work at HHM, at least when Chuck was alive. But so much of Howard’s story is shaped through the lens of Jimmy McGill.

Howard is a beyond lenient with Chuck’s leave of absence, doing everything in his power to honor the attorney and his legacy with the firm. In many respects, he did more for Chuck's reputation than Jimmy. And he wasn’t a bad lawyer, either. He represented the firm with diplomacy and did everything in his power to preserve his.

It's this moral greyness that's the crux of the Breaking Bad Universe. Howard Hamlin isn't immune to the same flaws and deficiencies that enable Kim's blind allegiance to Jimmy or Mike's gruff and sarcastic disposition. Howard simply stands in the way of what Jimmy and Kim respectively wish for, and thus, he cannot truly win in the hearts of fans.

But if he was the anti-hero all along, why are we so broken at his loss?

In any normal universe, Howard Hamlin deserved a better ending. Did he really have to die a plot device in Kim's hurried storyline of devolution?

Where to Watch

Better Call Saul is available for streaming on Netflix and AMC+