Better Call Saul mid-season finale loses a major character with Howard Hamlin death

Bob Odenkirk in Better Call Saul. — (Image credit: AMC)

Warning: The following contains major spoilers! Turn back now if you haven't seen the Better Call Saul mid-season finale!

Better Call Saul has wrapped up the first half of season 6 – and the mid-season finale killed off a major character.

In the episode, Kim (Rhea Seehorn) and Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) finally get their revenge on Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian) after a half-season's worth of scheming. Their plan works, but the newly disgraced Howard shows up at the duo's apartment later to confront them. Disaster strikes when Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) also arrives – and shoots Howard dead.

"I mean, this is the embodiment of what Kim and Jimmy have been pretending is not true this whole season – that there are no consequences to their actions," Seehorn told Deadline of the moment. "That they're not actually harming anyone, and now a person is dying at their feet, and I think that is a seismic shift that would happen in somebody when that goes down. It remains to be seen where Kim will go with that, what she will do with it. It's traumatic."

She continued: "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, 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."

Better Call Saul returns this July 11, and you can check out our Better Call Saul season 6 release schedule to find out exactly how to watch the next episode.

In the meantime, see our guide to the best Netflix shows streaming now to fill out your watchlist.