Warning! SPOILERS for Better Call Saul season 6, episode 8, "Point and Shoot."
Another wild character death is featured in Better Call Saul season 6, episode 8, and the event also helps explain two of Gus Fring's murders in Breaking Bad. As its final season keeps inching toward its conclusion and connecting with the events of Walter White's story, Better Call Saul has been killing even more significant characters off. Nacho Varga and Howard Hamlin both met violent demises, as is par for the course within the Vince Gilligan prequel series and his original Breaking Bad show. Now, Lalo Salamanca is also dead - at the hands of coldhearted crime boss Gus Fring. Interestingly though, Lalo's Better Call Saul death doesn't just wrap up his character's storyline, it also implicitly explains two of Gus' later murders within Breaking Bad's timeline.
Breaking Bad first hit the air in 2008, introducing the world to (among other characters) Walter White, Jesse Pinkman, and their signature blue meth that kicks the widely-lauded series into drive. Better Call Saul, a Breaking Bad prequel series starring the character Saul Goodman (a.k.a. Jimmy McGill), premiered in 2015. It's been a fun ride to see how the fan-favorite, ultra-shady lawyer got to the point he's at in Breaking Bad and how plenty of other characters have been brought into the prequel project's fold.
In Better Call Saul season 6, episode 8, Gus kills Lalo because he knows that, if he doesn't, his rival will take him out instead. With seemingly no option but death, he shoots the cartel member and buries him in the superlab. Lalo has some fittingly gritty final moments, which include choking on blood and smiling. However, this Better Call Saul death is more than just another instance of Gus' psychopathic tendencies. As previously mentioned, it adds context and, subsequently, extra meaning to two of his later murders in Breaking Bad.
Gus Killing Lalo Makes Victor & Don Eladio's Deaths Better
When Gus is shown to have killed Lalo, it actually makes two of his murders far more interesting. Who can forget the chicken-selling crime boss's brutal slaying of Victor in Breaking Bad's season 4 premiere? The episode is aptly named "Box Cutter," a nod to the weapon Gus uses to slit Victor's throat in front of Walt and Jesse. He does this to send a cautionary message and to take Victor out of the picture after he stepped out of line and meddled in the meth-making. Gus' prior murder of Lalo on Better Call Saul fleshes out this death with a little more context surrounding the aforementioned killer, as it shows that he's already ruthless and will kill without issue - that he's willing to do whatever it takes to meet his goals.
Lalo's Better Call Saul death makes Gus' murder of Don Eladio better, as well. The Mexican drug cartel boss also meets his demise in Breaking Bad season 4, when the criminals' meth operations are in conflict and Don Eladio tries to force Gus into submission and steal the "Blue Sky" meth formula. Taking matters into his own hands once again, Gus poisons the cartel boss at his home. Now, knowing about Gus' murder of Lalo (who's employed by the cartel Eladio runs), his contempt for the latter character and his men is further hammered home. As Better Call Saul's six seasons have repeatedly showcased in countless ways, Lalo's death is yet another intricately embedded plot point that ties in with the larger Breaking Bad universe and fleshes things out even more.
New episodes of Better Call Saul premiere every Monday on AMC and AMC+.