Better Call Saul's season 5 finale, "Something Unforgivable", breaks with tradition for the Breaking Bad spin-off, with an ending that's centered around Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) rather than Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk). Season 5, episode 10 brought to a close not only the penultimate season of the show, but arguably its best year so far too. The episode didn't wrap-up storylines neatly, but instead left things nicely poised for a thrilling end to Better Call Saul in season 6.
"Something Unforgivable" featured all major characters, but the focus for much of the episode was split between Jimmy & Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) as they bounce back from Lalo's threats, and Lalo & Nacho Varga (Michael Mando) down in Mexico. With the former, Better Call Saul makes Kim into a Walter White-esque figure, as she breaks bad perhaps even more so than Jimmy has at this point. Previous seasons would have ended on her "pew pew" line; indeed, it's a direct mirror of Better Call Saul's season 4 finale, with Jimmy's "S'all good, man" line. Previous season finales have all done this too: Better Call Saul season 1 ended with Jimmy directly; season 2 was Jimmy and Chuck (Michael McKean), with the tape recorder; season 3 was Chuck's suicide. Every Better Call Saul ending has been obviously and directly connected to Jimmy's arc, until now.
What happens with Lalo and Nacho in Mexico not only feels like a bigger part of the story, but it's what gets to close out Better Call Saul's season 5 finale, and with that, the season as a whole. Fans' lingering memory will be that crunch of gravel, and the warning sign it sends to all those who have just wronged Lalo, from Nacho to Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). While Jimmy has had his own dealings with Lalo, this story is largely removed from him: he has no active part in it, he's not connected to the attempt on Lalo's life, and as far as he knows, Lalo ends up dead. This is a significant shift for the show, but it highlights just how much the cartel storyline has taken over Better Call Saul in season 5.
For most of Better Call Saul's run, there have been fairly distinct story strands. Jimmy was often a link between them, but the side with him, Kim, Chuck et al always felt very separate to what was happening with Gus, Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), Nacho and others. Better Call Saul season 5 brought those two sides together, first by making Jimmy a "friend of the cartel", and then with Kim dragged into it too. By choosing to focus on Lalo, not Jimmy, Better Call Saul season 5's ending hammers home just how all-encompassing this storyline is now on the show.
That in turn plays into Jimmy's future - or rather, the future of Saul Goodman. This storyline may not be intrinsically connected to him, but that just serves to showcase how deep he is into the cartel now. Viewers know that this criminal underworld will eventually be Saul's sole domain, and as Better Call Saul rounds the corner to the finish line, it sets up that fate where the cartel is all he knows, whether it's directly linked or not, it's what his life is now. At the same time this is happening, Jimmy finds himself losing Kim - which will only push him closer to the cartel and criminal lawyer lifestyle full time. By focusing on Lalo, Better Call Saul avoids having such a direct mirror to season 4 to end on, meaning it does something new, but also gets to setup the future of the series and its central character too.