Will Howard die in season 6 of Better Call Saul? Recent events strongly suggest that this will be the case. Jimmy McGill and Kim Wexler are putting the heat on former employer Howard Hamlin for Better Call Saul’s ultimate prank. The devious duo is working to ruin Howard’s professional reputation by painting him as a collapsing drug addict in order to bank Jimmy’s money from the Sandpiper case (and exact a little revenge on a man they don’t particularly like). They’ve already hidden drugs in his locker, fabricated allegations from a past customer, and orchestrated a public collapse with Wendy the sex worker.
Howard finally comes to his senses in Better Call Saul season 6’s “Black & Blue.” Howard does the math after being challenged by a misled Cliff Main about the Wendy incident: public performance + mystery sex worker + Kim Wexler = Jimmy McGill. The dissatisfied lawyer ambushes Jimmy in a boxing gym and, rather weirdly, requests a match under the identity H.O. Ward. However, what happens after their embarrassing fight fuels speculation that Howard Hamlin will die before Better Call Saul concludes.
In Better Call Saul Season 6, Episode 5, Gus Plants The Gun
Howard exits the gym clutching his ribs and dripping with testosterone and toxic masculinity, and promptly meets with a private investigator he hired to track Jimmy’s every move. Howard Hamlin’s rage has not been quenched by a ring brawl, as he schemes to bring “Saul Goodman” down for good. Here, I’m reminded of Walter White’s famous “I AM the one who knocks” remark. Howard misunderstands the man Jimmy McGill has grown into in Better Call Saul, assuming he is still Slippin’ Jimmy, Chuck’s meddling, no-good younger brother. Even though the HHM supervisor now knows Jimmy represented Lalo Salamanca, he still believes his tormentor is a part-time lawyer desperate for work.
Howard is completely unaware. Only a little brown quiff of hair of Jimmy McGill remained flying on the surface of the waters. Jimmy has faced down a gun-toting uber-criminal, survived a gunfight, walked through the desert with a bag of illegal cash, become engaged in the machinations of the DEA’s most sought, and actively helped cover up a murder, far beyond the humorous antics of his earlier conman days. Skyler White had no idea she was interacting with Heisenberg instead of Walter White. Howard Hamlin is utterly unaware that he’s now pursuing Saul Goodman, posing an immensely greater risk of danger. Howard is poking his nose into a world he’s not equipped to handle by hiring a private investigator to dig up Jimmy McGill’s darkest secrets. The unprepared rarely survive in this world.
There are two possible outcomes for Howard Hamlin’s Jimmy McGill probe. Perhaps the private investigator is apprehended by Mike’s men and quickly confesses Howard’s identity when questioned. The HHM lawyer is then visited by either Gus Fring’s thugs or another cartel enforcer who wants to teach Howard a lesson about minding his own business.
Could Howard’s campaign, if not the cartel, lead Jimmy and Kim to even more severe measures? In Better Call Saul season 6, the husband and wife tag-team has already been busy destroying Howard – and that’s before he did anything major to them. Jimmy and Kim’s techniques (and Kim’s in particular, because she’s built of “sterner material”) may escalate with terrible repercussions now that their adversary is attempting to strike back by playing dirty himself.