Better Call Saul season 6 episode 6 status review: Axe and Grind.

In which we return to “Bad choice, Kim.” She’s made her share of bad choices. As I’ve said in other reviews, I feel like this whole scheme against Howard is overelaborate and more worthy of Wile E. Coyote than Saul Goodman. I’m not sure if I even completely follow what their supposed coup de grace is. Something to do with the judge?

I do like the references to D-Day. They refer to HHM’s building as “Omaha Beach.” Literally, Omaha Beach is the code name the US Military used for the spot where they landed on Normandy Beach on D-Day (June 6, 1944). But Omaha is also where Gene Takovic (“the ghost of Saul Goodman’s future”) will end up living. And Kim, we saw, is from Nebraska somewhere too. I can’t help but feel like there’s some connection between the place of Kim’s birth, the eventual final destination of Saul, and the comparison of their coup de grace with D-Day with Ground Zero being “Omaha Beach.”

Also seen in this episode. Part of their plan involved seeing The Vet. As I’ve observed before, The Vet is to BCS what Saul was to BB. In this episode, we finally see how that gap will be bridged. We saw the little black book in the first episode of this season. It was sitting in a drawer. The feds did not consider it to be of consequence and they disposed of it. What they didn’t realize is that the book contained the entire rogues galary that would eventually make their way into Saul’s Rolodex. While Saul is likely making some of those connections on his own vis his own business, having access to The Vet’s little black book will definitely bring it to the next level. In fact, we saw him and Kim pausing at the business card of the vacuum guy. Of course, we have seen the vacuum guy in BB, in El Camino, and we heard his voice in BCS when Gene called him. Of course, Robert Forrester is dead, so no chance of actually seeing him again. But at least we know that this is how Saul will have him at his disposal.

Stray theory: maybe Kim doesn’t die but uses vacuum guy to disappear? What if Gene meets up with Kim, who ended up in Omaha? Or is Omaha too close to where she was born?

Which brings me to “The Most Interesting Salamanca”. I thought that part was done perfectly. This episode was directed by Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring). So while we don’t actually see Gus in this episode, the actor’s hand was clearly throughout.

I had to remind myself who Casper was. He’s the one who made the slide rule and gifted it to Margarethe. The whole confrontation between Casper and Lalo was amazing. For a second there, we really thought that Casper might have taken out Lalo. But he IS a Salamanca after all, and we know he’s made of stronger stuff than that. It’s going to take more than just one hatchet to take Lalo out. And Lalo took Casper out with one hidden razorblade. Classic Lalo. I guess my question is how much Casper really knows. He knows what he did at the site. But of course, he doesn’t know what Gus is doing. And we can only imagine what Lalo will do with the info he gets from Casper.

Which brings me to Howard. Poor Howard. The season began with a glimpse in Saul Goodman’s life by showing his house emptied out. We also got a glimpse in Gus’s house. Now we finally see the life of Howard Hamlin. Sure, we are not supposed to like Howard. But we can feel slightly bad for him. We see that similar to Gus, he is very meticulous and a subject of routine. But then we see (as hinted by the glimpse in his therapy session) that things are not alright with his domestic life. We see him working very hard to make latte artwork for his partner (a peace sign!), but she just pours it in a travel mug without looking. The whole conversation between them is not good.

Stray theory: One friend of mine suggested Howard will die. They’re definitely hinting at a Kim death (or something terrible).
Why Howard? The way I see it, Howard is everything Jimmy, Chuck, and Kim are not. Jimmy is probably the least competent lawyer of the group; he can get his way, but by thinking outside the box and making his own rules. Chuck and Kim were superb lawyers, and both started with a humble beginning and worked their way up from the bottom. Howard is not a good lawyer at all, but he’s a great politician and knows how to smooth things over very well. And most importantly, he only got where he was because his father handed him the job as soon as he passed the bar exam. We still don’t know a lot about George Hamlin, but George must have been spectacular if Chuck decided to partner with him. Basically, Howard represents a privileged strata that Saul and Kim hate, and they really want to take him down. They say it’s about getting the Sandpiper settlement; but as I see it, it’s really the thrill of taking Howard down.

Which circles back to “Bad Decision, Kim.” There is a serious snag in their plan. The judge has a cast. This will ruin everything. Saul is willing to call the plan off and regroup for another day. Kim, who as Mike said is made of sterner stuff, says that it happens today. She turns her car around and makes her way to (presumably) HHM. She was supposed to meet with an organization, per Cliff Main’s recommendation, to hopefully get funding for her pro bono enterprise. Nope, this plan is so important to her, that she’s willing to sacrifice even that prospect for the opportunity to shit on Howard.

Stay tuned for next week, the mid-season finale, when we see how D-Day goes.