“Better Call Saul” fans are still trying to emotionally process the midseason finale, which ended with the shocking death of Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian) at the hands of Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton).
The “Breaking Bad” spinoff prequel delivered drama, suspense, and emotional turmoil for the entire first half of the sixth and final season. All along, fans have been wondering how new characters who never appear in the original show fit into the larger narrative. Now at least one of those questions was answered with the death of Howard.
“Better Call Saul” star Rhea Seehorn, who brilliantly depicts Jimmy McGill’s wife and partner in hijinks Kim Wexler, had a strong reaction to learning that Fabian was getting killed off.
“[Fabian and I are] very close and I love him, and it also was just another side of like oh, right, the show is actually ending,” Seehorn told Deadline. “Like for real. Like they’re not going to take this back. It’s happening.”
Fans have been mostly worried about Kim getting killed by Lalo, especially since she isn’t part of Jimmy’s life anymore once he appears as Saul Goodman in “Breaking Bad.” The first half of “Better Call Saul’s” sixth season focused so much on Kim and Jimmy destroying Howard’s life. That’s why fans found it shocking when all their work at pulling off an elaborate con came to an abrupt end when Lalo pulled out a gun and shot Howard simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
When asked how Seehorn found out about Howard’s death, she told the publication about her big reaction. “It wasn’t until we got that script and I audibly gasped,” the actress explained.
She went on to discuss how her character reacted to the surprise death of her former colleague.
“I had to start digging into how Kim would feel in this moment, and she’s so in control even when things outside of her are out of her control,” Seehorn said. “She suppresses and compartmentalizes and all that, but as you justifiably saw, there’s this book ending of how she responded last time Lalo came here and how she rose to the occasion and what she does this time.”
Seehorn went on to call the scene “traumatic” but also inevitable.
“It was traumatic to think about it and play it then deal with it, much like you’re saying to just deal with this sort of violence, to be that out of the blue and out of context,” she said.
The actress continued, saying “And yet, I’m playing Kim who is intelligent enough and self-aware enough that I believe that she would understand this is not out of the blue, but it all happens so fast too. It’s like how fast can you even process something like that. I think it’s utter shock at first. Yeah. It’s a lot.”
The conversation wasn’t all doom and gloom, however. Seehorn also alluded to the potential for a spinoff about Kim Wexler, who has become one of the most popular characters in the “Breaking Bad” universe.
“You know, [showrunners] Peter [Gould] and Vince [Gilligan] have said publicly that though they feel that there are stories, mine included, that are worthwhile to continue to tell, that they do want to step away from this franchise for a beat,” the actress said.
“So, that’s all I can say about that. You’d have to ask them for specifics beyond that. Nobody is being coy about anything, but I’m also very grateful that they and fans feel like there is an ellipse to who Kim is and who Kim was,” she added.
The second half of the final season of “Better Call Saul” premieres July 11 on AMC.