10 Best Performances In Better Call Saul

10. Patrick Fabian (Howard Hamlin)

Howard Hamlin epitomises everything Jimmy McGill hates: from a privileged upbringing, he has inherited a profitable law firm, and rides the coattails of more talented colleagues to further success. He’s not a bad man, but he’s the perfect antagonist for our antihero.

Patrick Fabian’s performance is delightfully smarmy, but disarmingly complex. From the off, he’s just too slick to be trustworthy - he tolerates Jimmy for the benefit of his partner, Jimmy’s brother Chuck, and maybe even enjoys his antics, but he’ll never take him seriously.

Fabian wears his character’s background like a protective shield, but it ends up blinding him - he carries himself with the confidence of a man who has never had to worry about his future, who has always known that things would work out for him. The performance is one of quiet but ingrained superiority - the belief that he is simply better than Jimmy means he never sees the guy as a threat.

And yet thanks to Fabian’s understated work, Howard remains likeable at times. He tries with Jimmy, even if he’s only doing so at Chuck’s behest. He just represents something that Jimmy McGill - and more importantly, Saul Goodman - can’t help but want to tear down.