Tamal Kundu
Portrayed by Tony Dalton, Lalo Salamanca is one of the main characters of ‘Better Call Saul,’ the prequel series of ‘Breaking Bad.’ Lalo makes his first appearance in the show in season 4 episode 8, titled ‘Coushatta.’ Lalo is a major antagonist in the series. He has limitless charm and personality, which he employs to hide how vicious he can really be. Lalo’s arrival in Albuquerque quickly changes the dynamic within the drug trade in the city. When he goes back to his home in Chihuahua, Mexico, Gus Fring sends assassins after him. However, he survives, killing all the intruders.
Many of the characters in ‘Better Call Saul’ have also appeared in ‘Breaking Bad.’ For example, Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman/Gene Takavic, the series protagonist, has been part of the franchise since the second season of ‘Breaking Bad.’ If you are wondering whether Lalo also first appeared in the original series, this is what you need to know. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Is Tony Dalton in Breaking Bad?
No, Tony Dalton isn’t in ‘Breaking Bad.’ Lalo is one of the characters created for ‘Better Call Saul. However, Saul Goodman mentions him in passing in the ‘Breaking Bad’ episode ‘Better Call Saul’ (season 2 episode 8), which is also the first-ever episode in which Bob Odenkirk portrays Saul Goodman. In order to convince Saul to serve as a lawyer for Brandon “Badger” Mayhew, Walter White and Jesse Pinkman abduct him and take him to a freshly-dug hole.
A terrified Saul erroneously thinks they are sent by Lalo and tells them, “It wasn’t me, it was Ignacio! He’s the one!” This means that Lalo is alive at this point in the timeline, or at least Saul thinks he is. However, in ‘Breaking Bad’ season 4 episode 11, titled ‘Crawl Space,’ Fring visits Lalo’s uncle Hector in the nursing home and mocks him by saying that every member of the Salamanca family except Hector himself is dead. This implies that Lalo might be dead as well.
Will Lalo Salamanca Die in Better Call Saul Season 6 (Theories)?
Lalo Salamanca doesn’t have any shortage of enemies, so he can indeed die in the sixth and final season of ‘Better Call Saul.’ If we are to believe what Fring tells Hector, Lalo is likely to die at the hands of Fring himself or one of his associates. It’s also possible that Nacho kills him. There is also some chance that he is still alive. During the timeline of ‘Breaking Bad,’ he was in hiding. With most of his competition gone, he might re-emerge to regain control of the drug trade in Albuquerque and surrounding areas.
In an interview, Dalton hinted that the sixth season will surprise the audience, dubbing it “out of control.” Dalton told The New York Times that he was glad that Lalo survived the assassination attempt because they could now show why Saul was terrified of him. “I learned [it] maybe a week before I got the script,” Dalton said after being asked when he discovered that his character had lived through the end of the fifth season.
“Somebody told me. But they can tell you anything they want. Not until you read it on the page do you know. When I finished reading the last episode, I thought, “OK, looks like I’m in this for the long run. To be honest, I try just to make the character shine, and if it’s going to end, it’s going to end. At the same time, I didn’t think that Lalo was going to die. I thought that the writers had to explain why Saul Goodman is so scared of Lalo,” he summed up.
Read More: Where Was Better Call Saul Season 6 Filmed?
