What I’m Watching: Better Call Saul

Better Call Saul: Season 5, Episode 4 “Namaste” (B+)

I’ve always been fascinated by the character of Howard, who I think is played terrifically by actor Patrick Fabian. The energy with which he delivers each line makes Howard hard to read, so intent on coming across as genuine yet not necessarily being sincere. Chuck was the one who harbored ill will towards his brother, but Howard is just as much to blame for not pushing for Jimmy to have a chance. Following his apparently honest job offer, Howard got the response that probably should have been expected from Jimmy and definitely from the much more unscrupulous Saul Goodman in the form of bowling balls to his car, which he calmly unlocked from his balcony. Kim asking Jimmy to get involved in her Mesa Verde case was the latest instance of her compromising her legal integrity so that she can achieve a moral and ethical success, and I’m curious to see if she’ll be able to pull it off without Saul being connected back to her. Gus was meticulous about making sure that his DEA plant went well, and Hank seemed to be putting a positive spin on things even if the operation wasn’t quite as successful as it should have been. Mike has been spiraling for a while now, and choosing to walk past the guys he had dared to mess with him was simple bad math, not accounting for the fact that he’s much older than them and there were more of them. Hopefully he’ll come out the other side with a new outlook.

What I’m Watching: Curb Your Enthusiasm

Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 9, Episode 7 “Namaste” (B)

My wife informed me during this episode that yoga teachers don’t actually talk like that, but Larry has an incredible ability to make anyone hate him. I knew instantly that I recognized Tina, who I discovered was Alison Becker, who I know best from her role as Shauna Malwae-Tweep on “Parks and Recreation.” To think that someone would actually want to date Larry after hearing about him from Susie is crazy, but that was Lauren Graham’s censor who did very well with him despite his pointing out her few flaws during their couch discussion of how the date went and his iffy reaction to her son having Asperger’s, something that he tried to adopt to get him out of tough situations, a plotline that wasn’t all that funny. Where this show really hits its stride is with things like Larry’s low Uber rating which he blamed on the Romanian driver who got insulted when Larry said women from his country weren’t attractive and hilariously described how he was writing a computer program to change the rating. Larry expressing surprise that Jeff hadn’t mentioned his friend was black somehow worked out in his favor when he had Leon play him when the guy whose car he hit, played by Marc Evan Johnson, also a “Parks and Recreation” vet and currently appearing on “The Good Place,” was intimidated into agreeing to pay for all the damages to his car when he saw that Larry was apparently black. The bus storyline didn’t do much for me, and, funny as Larry’s assertion that, given two minutes, he could tell if Jews were Reform or Conservative, was, this show doesn’t really have that kind of depth and should stick to more surface humor.