Better Call Saul 6.08: Lalo's End
Jun. 9th, 2025 06:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerIt's been a few weeks since I've written about Better Call Saul. I've been busy with travel and catching up on work and other stuff after returning home. I'm actually not done with the series yet. Almost! Just a few more episodes. But I do have a few episodes I've already watched but haven't written about yet.
I've invoked what I call The Star Wars: Rogue One Rule several times in writing about Better Call Saul. A major character introduced in the prequel who doesn't appear in the original is doomed. Else, how do writers explain why that character wasn't in the original, without creating massive story discontinuity? While I've invoked that rule several times musing about one of BCS's protagonists, Jimmy's BFF and later girlfriend then spouse Kim Wexler, it also applies to the villains. And in episode 6.08 we see why Lalo Salamanca, head of the Salamanca branch of the drug cartel and Gus Fring's chief rival for two seasons, isn't part of the story in Breaking Bad.
Short version: Lalo dies.
Medium version: Lalo dies in a shootout with Gus. It's a showdown Lalo has been orchestrating. He's planned well and basically gets the drop on Gus. But Gus, ever the shrewd one, knows Lalo is coming for him and anticipates where Lalo will ambush him. Gus plants a gun for himself there and uses it to surprise Lalo when the moment comes. There are no witnesses to Gus killing Lalo, and only a few of Gus's henchmen know where the body is buried.
Longer version: Lalo has been headed toward a showdown with Gus Fring. He has been attempting to figure out what Gus is up to with the "super lab" that we see become operational a few years later in Breaking Bad. He figures it out, but it's not simply enough for him to rat out Gus to his boss, the cartel head. Lalo is a grandiose showman who has to brag about how he's outsmarted Gus. His plot with scaring Jimmy and Kim in the previous episode is to prod Gus into rushing to protect his half-build super lab.
Lalo's plan with Jimmy and Kim works exactly as he intended. I swear, Lalo continues to be the luckiest sumbitch that everything somehow works out for him. Or the writers are just lazy. Anyway, Lalo goads Gus into looking for him at the commercial laundry that sits atop the super lab. Gus is hardly foolish, though. He had four bodyguards with him. But lucky as ever, Lalo kills all four of Gus's bodyguards in one salvo without being injured himself.
Lalo force Gus downstairs into the half-built lab at gunpoint. Here Lalo starts making a video on his flip phone that he'll show to the cartel boss. He shows the space, talks about what Gus's plan for it is, and compels Gus to acknowledge it on camera. But Gus anticipated that Lalo might force a dramatic showdown here. Gus prepared for it days ahead of time.
Just before Lalo shoots Gus, Gus kicks an electric cable he purposefully left unlocked on the floor. It cuts off all the lights in the basement. In total darkness Gus dashes for a gun he hid a pre-counted number of steps away. Gus fires wildly at Lalo in the dark while Lalo fires back at him. When the shooting stops, Gus feels around and turns on the lights. Lalo is bleeding out from his neck and dies seconds later. Gus is wounded, but it's a gut shot; he can survive for several hours to get treatment.
I've invoked what I call The Star Wars: Rogue One Rule several times in writing about Better Call Saul. A major character introduced in the prequel who doesn't appear in the original is doomed. Else, how do writers explain why that character wasn't in the original, without creating massive story discontinuity? While I've invoked that rule several times musing about one of BCS's protagonists, Jimmy's BFF and later girlfriend then spouse Kim Wexler, it also applies to the villains. And in episode 6.08 we see why Lalo Salamanca, head of the Salamanca branch of the drug cartel and Gus Fring's chief rival for two seasons, isn't part of the story in Breaking Bad.
Short version: Lalo dies.
Medium version: Lalo dies in a shootout with Gus. It's a showdown Lalo has been orchestrating. He's planned well and basically gets the drop on Gus. But Gus, ever the shrewd one, knows Lalo is coming for him and anticipates where Lalo will ambush him. Gus plants a gun for himself there and uses it to surprise Lalo when the moment comes. There are no witnesses to Gus killing Lalo, and only a few of Gus's henchmen know where the body is buried.
Longer version: Lalo has been headed toward a showdown with Gus Fring. He has been attempting to figure out what Gus is up to with the "super lab" that we see become operational a few years later in Breaking Bad. He figures it out, but it's not simply enough for him to rat out Gus to his boss, the cartel head. Lalo is a grandiose showman who has to brag about how he's outsmarted Gus. His plot with scaring Jimmy and Kim in the previous episode is to prod Gus into rushing to protect his half-build super lab.
Lalo's plan with Jimmy and Kim works exactly as he intended. I swear, Lalo continues to be the luckiest sumbitch that everything somehow works out for him. Or the writers are just lazy. Anyway, Lalo goads Gus into looking for him at the commercial laundry that sits atop the super lab. Gus is hardly foolish, though. He had four bodyguards with him. But lucky as ever, Lalo kills all four of Gus's bodyguards in one salvo without being injured himself.
Lalo force Gus downstairs into the half-built lab at gunpoint. Here Lalo starts making a video on his flip phone that he'll show to the cartel boss. He shows the space, talks about what Gus's plan for it is, and compels Gus to acknowledge it on camera. But Gus anticipated that Lalo might force a dramatic showdown here. Gus prepared for it days ahead of time.
Just before Lalo shoots Gus, Gus kicks an electric cable he purposefully left unlocked on the floor. It cuts off all the lights in the basement. In total darkness Gus dashes for a gun he hid a pre-counted number of steps away. Gus fires wildly at Lalo in the dark while Lalo fires back at him. When the shooting stops, Gus feels around and turns on the lights. Lalo is bleeding out from his neck and dies seconds later. Gus is wounded, but it's a gut shot; he can survive for several hours to get treatment.
