The setup on Howard was just fucking exquisite.
Redirected the PI, staged the cash withdrawal and payoff, got the eye dilating substance on the photos...
Just fucking genius.
The way Howard went from smug, to manic, to raving paranoid lunatic...to spoiler: dead
Then the fucking candle flickering...
Fuck is it July 11 yet?
The big takedown of Howard was kind of a letdown. Guess I expected more crash and burn. D-Day should have been epic as much time was spent building it up. But the complexity and depth of the plot was outstanding. Anticipating his every move and playing one step ahead.
Part of me was bothered by it though. Why? Why Howard? He championed Kim. He defended Jimmy. Yeah he deferred to Chuck but he tried to fix it. Wanted to bring Saul into the firm as soon as Chuck’s overbearing influence was gone. Why spend the time and effort to break a guy who actually appreciated you for who you are?
As it wore on I felt sorry for Howard. Overshadowed by pretentious asshole Chuck. Trapped between his (deserved) loyalty to that smug prick Chuck and his admiration for the recklessness and resilience of James. Always caught in the hedges between them, always forced to side with the interests of the firm. But he tried to make it right. Other than banishing Kim to the basement for betraying him - which she kind of deserved - I never really faulted his actions.
Outstanding character development by the writers to take what could easily be a one-note throwaway character and turn him into a fully realized and sympathetic three dimensional player. More than anything else the humanization of Howard illustrates the brilliance of the writers and producers of this show. That I came to care as much of more about Howard’s fate and his chances to disrupt the plot and win the day is evidence of that mastery.
I agreed with everything he said in his apartment speech. They are soulless. They are sociopaths. They are toxic together. Even in defeat he took it like a man. No fury. No vows of vengeance. “You won. But why? Help me understand what I did to deserve this from you…”
Made Jimmy and Kim look petty. He didn’t deserve their wrath. They were the bad guys in that scenario. I didn’t want them to win.