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Better Call Saul: Something Unforgivable (2020)
Get ready for Lalo's thunder!
It's all good man! Season 5 was magnificient and ended with an awesome episode. And I can't wait to see Season 6! As we come closer to BrBa timeline, the tension excalates. My sincere thanks to everyone who worked in this show, writers, producers, actors and the entire crew. They do a great job.
I have high expectations from S6 and there are many questions waiting to be answered:
*What will happen to Nacho and his father?
*When will Tuco be back?
*Will Lalo die?
* What will Jimmy and Kim do?
*Will Kim survive?
In BrBaS04E10 "Salud" episode, Gustavo Fringe visits Hector Salamanca after he takes down Don Eladio and tells Hector that his grandson Joaquin, his only family alive, is now dead. Killed by Jesse Pinkman. According to this, Lalo must have been dead. But... is he? Is there any chance he went rogue and operating clandestine under Gustavo's nose? Is that the reason Jimmy is so scared after he started a new life in Nebraska , shown to us in black and white at the beginning of every BCS season?
LALO SALAMANCA is a perfect BrBa-BCS character for his complexity. And Tony Dalton is delivering brilliant performances.
First time we heard about Lalo when Saul Goodman was introduced to us in BrBaS02E12 and later in the episode, he was brought to the desert by Jesse and Walter to be executed. He asks them in fear: "Did Lalo send you?" We never see Lalo in BrBa or hear about him again. Until, the producers cleverly introduce him in BSC in S04E08 "Coushatta".
Lalo carries a big smile to camouflage his intentions. He is even likable to some degree. Smart, observative, suspicious like his uncle Hector, but more reasonable. He is as dangerous as Salamanca Twins and Tuco but more in control. With this episode we learned that he doesn't sleep much, he is a nocturnal person, he prefers to think late at nights and get his best ideas when everybody's at sleep. He is loyal to his family. He holds a grudge -after all he's a Salamanca- and naturally, and obviously, he had an escape plan. No wonder he had a tunnel built under his bathroom! And perhaps Gustavo and Nacho underestimated his wicked intelligence.
The way he stared at Bolsa when he said "I understand it was expensive for you to get out", Lalo is maybe aware of Bolsa's affiliation with Gustavo. We know that Bolsa dies in BrBa S03E08 "I See You" as Gustavo planned it.
Everyone would assume Lalo is dead. Lalo will probably take advantage of this situation.
Will Lalo learn from Jimmy that he was attacked on his way to bring his bail money in Bagman episode? Will he also learn that Bolsa has planned it? He might even be behind Bolsa's execution in BrBa S03E08. Somewhat asisting Federales. Just a theory.
Lalo knows Nacho's betrayal now. Will he also find out that he is responsible for Hector Salamanca's condition?
NACHO is street-smart. He just wants to get out of the picture with his dad. But he tells Don Eladio that he wants: Respect. To make his own decisions. Go his own way. He doesn't want anyone to even think of playing him. He doesn't want to be looking over his shoulder. But now Nacho from halfway being Salamanca to being a traitor, will be on the run to oblivion. Nacho's mistake was assuming it would be easy to take down Lalo Salamanca. But he was wrong. And perhaps he took the Bad Choice Road.
DON ELADIO: In this episode there were so many foreshadows and references to BrBa S04E10 "Salud" when Don Eladio's mansion with the swimming pool and his famous necklace appears. And each time he said "bikers" and "businessman". He even raised his glass with Nacho and said "salud!"
In this episode there is a Scarface reference, again, and it's funny to see because Mark Margolis who plays Hector Salamanca and Steven Bauer who plays Don Eladio both had played in Scarface. Fortunately Saul doesn't reference to Fargo or Little Women!
Lalo bribed Don Eladio with a Ferrari and a "frunk" full of cash. We know how Don Eladio's weakness to "regalos" would affect on him as we saw in BrBa Salud episode. This "suavita" gesture of Lalo gave Bolsa chills. Seems like Lalo and Bolsa's tension will rise.
KIM WEXLER: Finally we saw Kim breaking bad. Deep down, she is a good person, she has a good character. She is fair and just. But she wants to punish Howard's vanity. And people like Kevin. We know from BrBa that Messe Verde name only exists as Messa Credit Union. We saw Walter White going there many times. Messa Verde changing its name might have something to do with Kim's involvement. She might find valuable information from the office she entered with his colleague Grant, where she'll deal pro bono cases.
S06 epectations:
We might see new characters.
My guess would be: Bolsa's brother, who is a police chief, he mentioned it to Gustavo in BrBa S03E08 "I see you".
We might meet Joaquin Salamanca. Hector Salamanca's grandson, whom killed by Jesse Pinkman in BrBa S04E10 "Salud".
Nacho wanted to deal with "bikers", maybe we can see Todd and his uncle's gang.
The flashback we saw about Kim and her mom in Nebraska might have something to do with Jimmy's escape to Nebraska.
And some more surprises perhaps.
It would be exciting to see some more flashbacks like, Gustavo Fringe on his early days in Chile. With Max and his German buddy Peter. And why, in the first place, Gustavo needed to go to Don Eladio with Max. If there is any chance writers/producers are reading this comment, consider it a fan request!
Better Call Saul: Bad Choice Road (2020)
Feel the suspense
Another brilliant episode where the tension rose gradually.
We know the fate of the certain characters from BrBa universe: Crazy8, Tuco, the Salamanca twins, Victor, Hector, Gustavo, Tyrus, Mike, Lydia, Hank and Gomez... BCS has presented new characters unbeknownst to us in BrBa timeline. Through five years as we got to know them, as an audience we started feeling empathy towards them. And just like in BrBa universe, the characters in BCS are as equally complex and deep as BrBa characters. They make some choices that bring consequences. We want certain characters to survive and we wonder what will happen to Saul, Kim, Nacho and Lalo. (We might have a clue what happens to Lalo from Breaking Bad S04E10 "Salud") And as we are familar from BrBa, we have a feeling that not all of them will get away from danger.
Speaking of danger, desert is a place we often saw in BrBa and continue to see in BCS, where meetings are held and transactions made. As we witness Jimmy's complete transition to Saul, as he walks in the desert, we are reminded of the danger that he is pulling himself into once again, when tarantulas and rattlesnakes enter the camera frame. Now he is in the game. And the game is deadly. Unwillingly, Jimmy let Kim enter the game. And in each episode, Lalo builds more tension. He is clever, nosy, dangerous as a rattlesnake, always suspicious, holds a grudge-well he is a Salamnca after all-and he traces like a detective in the story, somewhat unsettled. And in this remarkable episode, we saw that Kim spotted Lalo's doubts and used it against him. We witnessed why Jimmy needs Kim desperately and shouldn't lose her. Questions rise in spectators' minds once again: all this money, seemingly success after his late brother's legacy... Is it worth it? Is it worth losing Kim, the biggest success Jimmy has in his life after all? Will Kim pull the strings behind the curtain?The anticipation is the key to BCS's success.
What I respect deeply for Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould and their crew is, they never take the audience for granted. They reward the patience of the audience as they move on with the plot, they set the bar high, they care about the details and each episode gets better and better. This episode had the similar editing tricks that we are familiar from BrBa and I loved the split-screen sequence at the beginning. Gilligan tries to make the show as cinematic as possible. Which is a delight for fans.
BCS is a pre-quel to BrBa, so all the choices the writers make ragarding to writing deep backstories and side-plots work out flawlessly so far to serve both BCS and BrBa universes. What I also respect is, they don't show us a BrBa character unless it is relevant in the story.
Note: Rhea Seehorn deserves an emmy for this episode.