The following article contains spoilers forBetter Call Saulseason 6.
Better Call Saulhas finally returned from its 7-week break with an episode that does everything to keep the series’ momentum going and close out one of its most intriguing story arcs, all while playing to the show’s strengths: creating endless tension that makes time fly in this 50-minute entry.
For a quick recap,Better Call Saul’smid-season finale left Kim and Jimmy confronting a determined Lalo Salamanca, who by mere chance happened to coincide with another unexpected visit from Howard Hamlin, thus feeling compelled to put an end to the latter’s life. This is all part of Lalo’s mission to uncover Gustavo Fring’s underground lab, as well as also killing the chicken man to gain Don Eladio’s favor and avenge the attacks against the Salamanca family.
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The opening scene is veryBreaking Bad, showing a pair of fancy oxford shoes by the sea, right before cutting to a shot of Howard’s “namasté” Jaguar abandoned at an unknown beach location — it’s not as subtle as past opening shots, but it’s a nice touch to say goodbye to Howard. Over at the crime scene, Tony Dalton absolutely dominates this sequence by informing the couple of what he has in store for them, though not before Jimmy can use his loudmouth superpowers to persuade him to send Kim instead of him to execute what seems like a certain hit at Gus’ home.
Rhea Seehorn’s performance is not in the spotlight as much as in past episodes but this is precisely where the brilliance of it all lies, Kim has very few lines in “Point and Shoot” but every single of those as well as her expressions are there to tell the audience this is the lowest of lows for her, she’s never been this close to reaching a breaking point. After that, it doesn’t take long for Lalo to muzzle Jimmy, but not before he can yell out one of his signature lines in theBreaking Baduniverse: “it wasn’t me.”
Lalo’s plan is rather brilliant and watching everything unfold just shows how clever he and Gus are at scheming their own cat and mouse games, almost as if they’re constantly one step ahead of each other. Watching arrive at Gus’ house to find a man fitting the description of whom she’s been sent out to kill is great, especially because of how the scenemirrors Walter White’s own plan to kill him, nonetheless, so is then cutting to Lalo infiltrating the laundromat complex in the middle of the night.
As soon as Kim reveals the reason why she’s there, both Mike and Gus go into overdrive mode with the former heading to the apartment to check on Jimmy, while Gus decides to take matter’s into his own hands and head to the laundromat where he knows for sure they’ll find Lalo. Make no mistake, Lalo is quite overpowered in this encounter as he effortlessly guns down Gus’ four bodyguards before they can react to what’s going on.
Without a doubt,Better Call Saul’sbiggest winin this episode is how little actually happens versus the tension it creates to fully milk each and every scene to its fullest. Sure, by the time Lalo starts his laundromat tour with Fring it becomes obvious that Mike won’t be the one to gun down Lalo, instead, the image of Gus hiding a gun in the lab’s construction site will come to many people’s minds as the two head down for their final duel.
The scene is carefully put together so that it remains plausible, Lalo never appears to lose control of the situation, and the single torture gunshot he inflicts on Gus is there to remind the audience that Mr. Fring is always wearing a bulletproof vest, as is his reminder that he needs only needs a headshot to easily kill him. This setup is what makes Gus’ surprise move believable, Lalo is too good of a shot to miss, yet nailing a headshot in the dark is no mean feat and this is precisely what allows Gus to pull off a hail mary play and land the killing blow.
When it’s revealed Gus took no less than three shots in the dark from Lalo and is heavily wounded, that’s when it makes sense thatBetter Call Saul’smost intimidating villain has finally been killed, as he could only be taken down by someone so meticulous to literally plan for everything, thus answering why aGus Fring spinoff would be a good idea.
Over at the apartment, Mike briefs Kim and Jimmy on exactly how they will carry on with their days and their lives, nevertheless, Kim’s face throughout the entire scene says otherwise as she remains in shock, perhaps a bit more so than her husband.Patrick Fabian’s final scenes come in corpse form, but the true payoff is not the connection to the opening scene, it’s Mike’s expression when he has to dispose of yet another innocent victim in this wicked criminal underworld.
The show alwaysmanages to come back on a high note, here taking very little time to solve Lalo Salamanca’s storyline and waving offBetter Call Saul’sbest original characters. That choice might seem rushed with five episodes still remaining, however, if they’re as well put together as this one, thenBetter Call Saullooks destined for a memorable finale.
