For six seasons, viewers of Better Call Saul watched attorney Howard Hamlin as a polished and often misunderstood figure in Jimmy McGill’s world. Then, in a sudden and brutal moment, the character was killed off in one of the show’s most unforgettable scenes. The actor behind the role, Patrick Fabian, has since opened up about his reaction to discovering his character’s fate, describing the experience as a “real gut punch.”
The Moment Patrick Fabian Learned Howard’s Fate
Patrick Fabian knew his time on Better Call Saul was limited before the final season began filming. The show’s creators, Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, gave him a courtesy call to let him know he would be bowing out early. However, the specifics of Howard’s death remained a secret until Fabian received the script for the episode titled “Plan and Execution.”
Fabian recalled reading the script and getting to the final page. He described the moment he saw the stage direction indicating Lalo’s entrance and the swift, violent end that followed for Howard. He said the abruptness of it “sort of took my breath away on the page.” He had spent years playing the character, and the finality of those few lines was startling. The writers had told him his departure would act as a “hinge that swings the rest of the season open,” and the shocking death certainly achieved that.
“I knew I was going to bow out early, that was already told to me before the season. I didn’t know how, I didn’t know specifics… I didn’t know what was going on until 607 was dropped… I’m reading it, I’m like, ‘Oh, these are great scenes,’ and then I get to that last page… it says, ‘Lalo enters.’ I was like, What? And then literally half a page later, it’s over. End of episode. It sort of took my breath away.” – Patrick Fabian
Filming Howard Hamlin’s Final Scene
Shooting the climactic apartment scene was an intense experience for the cast. Fabian found it very emotional, comparing the feeling to the end of high school. He shared that after the scene was filmed, he physically felt the impact, putting his hands on his knees and bending over because “the wind was sort of taken out of me.”
The scene gave Fabian a powerful final monologue, a rarity for his character, who had often been more reactive. He was nervous but grateful to be performing alongside Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn, whom he called some of his “best friends and favorite people to ever work with.” In the scene, Howard confronts Jimmy and Kim at their apartment, brandishing a bottle of scotch and calling them “soulless” for their relentless campaign to destroy his reputation. This confrontation is tragically cut short by the arrival of Lalo Salamanca, who shoots Howard simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“It was that sense of leaving high school after graduation. But I had a wonderful ride, and they took me out in a beautiful fashion. I couldn’t ask for more. If you gotta get shot by somebody, you might as well get shot by the handsome Tony Dalton with all that charisma. What a way to go.” – Patrick Fabian
The Writers’ Room Decision Behind the Death
The decision to kill Howard was not made lightly. The show’s writers explored dozens of potential endings for the character. One early idea even involved the return of the skateboarder twins from the series premiere, where Howard would be tricked into thinking he had killed one of them with his car. Another considered scenario had Lalo taking Howard, Jimmy, and Kim hostage.
However, the writing team, led by episode scribe Thomas Schnauz, ultimately felt that having Lalo kill Howard was the most effective choice. They believed it was a perfect way to terrify Jimmy and Kim, showing how their actions had devastating, real-world consequences they never intended. The death served as a brutal merging of the show’s two main worlds: the legal drama of Jimmy McGill and the dangerous cartel operations of the Salamanca family.
Howard Hamlin’s Transformation and Tragic Arc
Howard Hamlin began the series as a perceived antagonist, a slick corporate lawyer who seemed to stand in Jimmy McGill’s way. Over time, the show peeled back the layers, revealing that much of his hostility was a performance dictated by Jimmy’s brother, Chuck. After Chuck’s death, Howard genuinely sought to improve himself through therapy and tried to make amends with Jimmy.
By his final day, Howard was in a good place personally and professionally, only to be systematically torn down by Jimmy and Kim’s elaborate scheme. His death was particularly tragic because he was an innocent civilian with no connection to the cartel, becoming collateral damage in a world he was never a part of. Fabian himself argued that Howard was not a villain, but a good guy who had tried his best, making his fate all the more heartbreaking for the audience.
Breaking Bad Universe
Howard Hamlin’s death is often cited as one of the most shocking and tragic in the entire Breaking Bad universe. Its impact was immediate and long-lasting. For the characters, it forced Kim to eventually flee and abandon her life, and it pushed Jimmy fully into his Saul Goodman persona. For viewers, it was a stark reminder of the high stakes and moral consequences that define the world created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould.
The episode “Plan and Execution” became the highest-rated episode of Better Call Saul on IMDb, a testament to its powerful storytelling and the profound impact of Howard’s untimely end. Patrick Fabian’s portrayal of a man whose world collapses in a single moment left an indelible mark on the series and its fans.
Credits: Variety, Newsweek, AMC
