Tamal Kundu
Since its premiere in 2015, ‘Better Call Saul’ has been one of the best things on television. It didn’t take much time to achieve something that spinoffs generally don’t — becoming arguably better than the original show. Given that it is ‘Breaking Bad’ in this case, that’s objectively a phenomenal achievement. The airing of season 6 episode 8, titled ‘Point and Shoot,’ marks the beginning of the end. It starts where the mid-season finale ended. Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) holds Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) and Kim (Rhea Seehorn) at gunpoint after killing Howard (Patrick Fabian). It ends with Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) killing Lalo, which has been inevitable in many ways, but admittedly unexpected this early in the last leg of the show. Here is everything you need to know about it. SPOILERS AHEAD.
How Did Gus Kill Lalo?
The confrontation between Gus and Lalo has been in the making since the beginning of the series. One can even say that the seeds of Lalo’s violent end were sowed when Saul first mentioned his and Nacho’s names to Walter and Jesse in the ‘Breaking Bad’ episode ‘Better Call Saul’ (season 2 episode 8), which also marks the first time Odenkirk’s appearance as Saul Goodman.
In ‘Point and Shoot,’ Lalo instructs Jimmy to go to a “big, white brick house with a solid black door” and kill the person who opens the door, an African American man in glasses. Obviously, Lalo is speaking about Gus here, whom neither Jimmy nor Kim has met. Jimmy convinces Lalo to send Kim so that she can get out of the house. She takes Lalo’s car, encounters the police at an intersection but doesn’t say anything, and arrives in front of Gus’ home. Just when she is about to pull out the gun that Lalo gave her, Mike Ehrmantraut grabs her and drags her inside. Learning who sent her there, Mike rushes to Kim and Jimmy’s apartment.
It is then revealed that Lalo has used Kim and Jimmy as a distraction. He sneaks into Gus’ laundromat through the ventilator and waits. Gus seems to figure out what is happening and rushes there. Lalo kills all of Gus’ men before making a video for Don Eladio about Gus’ plans to set up a superlab and taking the other man to the hole that the German workers dug for Gus. In what is supposed to be his last moments, Gus pours out all his contempt for Eladio and the Salamancas before revealing that he has one final card up his sleeve. With his feet, he shuts down the light and finds the gun that he has hidden there. As Lalo continues to shoot wildly, Gus returns fire. When he finally turns the lights back on, Lalo is lying on the ground with blood gushing out of his throat. He laughs one final time, and then he is dead.
The entire sequence plays out as if it’s straight out of a western film — violent and suspenseful. It’s even predictable to a degree. Lalo’s violent end has always been in the cards, though, as mentioned above, it has come earlier than expected. What this has effectively done is that it has opened up the narrative for the final five episodes. Lalo’s pursuit of vengeance was the main driver of the plot in season 6. With both him and Howard gone, the narrative can virtually go anywhere. But then again, the only remaining main character who doesn’t appear in ‘Breaking Bad’ is Kim. So, her and Jimmy’s relationship will likely take center stage in the coming episodes. The focus might also be on Gene Takavic, Jimmy’s morose post-Breaking Bad alter ego, especially with Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul being slated to reprise their respective characters.
Read More: Where Was Better Call Saul Season 6 Filmed?
