Namaste (Better Call Saul)

On the day after the closing scene of "The Guy for This", Jimmy and Kim head to work. Jimmy cons Sticky and Ron, the two drug users who had one of his "50% off" business cards,[lower-alpha 1] into keeping him as their counsel when they seem ready to accept a free public defender. Jimmy has lunch with Howard, who admits that HHM wronged Jimmy in the past, but says the feud was between Jimmy and Chuck, not Jimmy and the firm. Howard offers Jimmy the chance to join HHM and gives him time to think it over, but Jimmy is once again unsettled by the reminder of his previous life.

Kim recommends to Kevin and Paige an alternate building site that will enable Mesa Verde to work around Everett Acker's refusal to vacate his home, but they insist on evicting him. Kim looks on as Jimmy uses the Saul Goodman persona in a courtroom con that achieves a mistrial. She asks Jimmy as Saul to represent Acker against Mesa Verde, and Acker agrees to retain him. Jimmy buys three bowling balls at a pawn shop (as shown in medias res in the cold open) and flings them over Howard's front gate, damaging his expensive car.

The Albuquerque Police and DEA stake out the last of Gus's dead drops. Diego collects the money, then leads the DEA on a wild chase, eluding them by escaping through a small tunnel after abandoning the cash. While Hank is disappointed they did not get information on the higher-ups, the DEA and police celebrate the seizure of "just shy of a million dollars" in drug money, as well as the arrests of the three men who made the drug drops. Diego regroups with Victor and they contact Gus to inform him their task is complete. Gus has been seething in anger and venting his frustration on Lyle, making him repeatedly clean the Los Pollos Hermanos fryers. After Gus hangs up, Lyle asks if the fryers are clean enough, and Gus's reply that they are "acceptable" is clearly a reference to the dead drops.

Mike arrives at Stacey's home to watch Kaylee but finds Stacey hired another babysitter. She tells Mike she does not feel comfortable leaving Kaylee with him as the result of his previous outburst. Later that night, as Mike is walking home, he is set upon by the street thugs he previously encountered. They beat and stab him and Mike wakes up in a pueblo at an unknown location.

"Namaste" is the directorial debut of Gordon Smith, who had started off as a production assistant on Breaking Bad before becoming a screenwriter for both that show and Better Call Saul. In addition, Smith wrote the screenplay.[1]

Namaste is a Hindi customary greeting; in the episode, it is used as Howard's custom license plate for his car.[2]

"Namaste" received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, it garnered a 92% rating with an average score of 8.21/10 based on 14 reviews. The site's critical consensus is, "Everyone is struggling to keep their cool in a Better Call Saul entry that meticulously sets up the season's storytelling pins, racking up suspense for the impending bowling ball that'll knock everything down."[3]

• "Namaste" at AMC
• "Namaste" at IMDb