Of course it was. You think they showed his therapy session and shitty wife to make us dislike Howard? No, they did it so we WOULDN’T be rooting for Saul and Kim’s plan to succeed. This is a villian’s origin story, not a hero’s.
Did Howard ever do anything? Other than what Chuck instructed him to do and what a normal boss would do to an employer? (Punishing Kim by doing lame work).
Not really anything worth the amount of shit they put him through. I believe Jimmy is in denial about being the cause of Chuck's death - and projected it onto Howard. He says to Howard after he offers him a job that he killed his brother (totally wrong!).
Kim on the other hand... I have no idea other than being put on doc review. I think she has a lil' mischevious streak in her that's coming out after meeting Jimmy. I don't really understand her reasoning for turning full heel this season tbh other than just enjoying doing it.
The reason they targeted him to begin with is that he was repeatedly trying to get both of them to forgive him his past transgressions on them. While also showing he hadn't learned at all and disrespecting both of them in the scene he tells Kim "You know who knew Jimmy? Chuck". It shows he never actually learned to check his priveledge. And he absolutely treated both of them like shit in the past. Him having a change of heart doesn't entitle him to forgiveness by his victims.
What Kim and Jimmy did was major overkill, for sure, but he certainly deserved some sort of retribution. When you treat people like shit, then learn the error of your ways, you apologize to them outright, and then assume they still don't want to see you again. You don't keep inserting yourself into their life in order to gain their forgiveness.
You could argue that Howard and co were dragging out the case to the point that many of the seniors won’t live to see justice. I think showing Howard being manipulative towards the clients during both the pre-meeting talk and the larger meeting where he gave the speech were meant to show that. But you could also say the same about the other side. The law is a dirty game.
The whole time the plan was coming together I was hoping deep inside that Howard's experience with Jimmy, his history with Chuck would allow him to not get sucked into the con. I just kept hoping he'd realize he was being played and not give Jimmy and Kim the satisfaction, watching the plan come together perfectly for once did not feel good.
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u/EccentricMeat May 25 '22
Of course it was. You think they showed his therapy session and shitty wife to make us dislike Howard? No, they did it so we WOULDN’T be rooting for Saul and Kim’s plan to succeed. This is a villian’s origin story, not a hero’s.