We all knew Better Call Saul’s Season 6 mid-season finale would leave us hanging from a cliff. That’s just how TV shows work. But no one could see that bloody last scene coming. In Season 6’s Episode 7, “Plan and Execution,” Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) and Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) take the final steps in their plan to take down Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian). At the same time, Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) comes back to New Mexico and is ready to expose Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) for building his secret meth lab.
While Season 6 of Better Call Saul has been keeping the law side of the show separated from the cartel disputes, Episode 7 unites both halves of the story, pointing to a brutal ending to the series. Since we now have almost two months until the remaining episodes of Better Call Saul’s final season, let’s digest everything that happened in the mid-season finale.
Ending the Sandpiper Case
At the end of Episode 6, Saul realizes the plan to discredit Howard has a significant flaw. The plan involves a series of photos of Saul meeting an actor dressed like Judge Rand Casimiro (John Posey), the mediator chosen to follow the Sandpiper case. Naturally, Saul and Kim want Howard to see the pictures and jump to the conclusion that the judge is being bribed. However, the real Rand has his arm in a cast, a detail Saul found by chance on the same day the big Sandpiper hearing would happen. So, Saul needs to gather the troops and reshoot every picture, putting a makeshift casket around the actor’s arm. To make sure they get their plan back on track, Kim also comes rushing back to Albuquerque, missing the crucial meeting that could give her a fancy position as the defense attorney of a legal association.
Saul and Kim get the new photos ready in time, and the duo also dips the pictures in the pupil-dilating drug from Dr. Caldera (Joe DeRosa), the veterinarian who provides illegal contacts to select clients. The fake private investigator Howard thinks he hired delivers the drugged photos, leading Howard to think Saul was giving a considerable sum of money to a mysterious figure in the park. Finally, by touching the images, Howard also gets inadvertently drugged.
When the Sandpiper hearing starts, Howard begins to feel the drug's effects. His pupils are dilated, and he’s sweating a lot, even though no one else is feeling the heat. And when Judge Casimiro walks into the room, Howard has a breakdown in front of all his colleagues. Howard is convinced the judge is the man Saul bribed in the park and decides to expose his illegal actions in front of everybody. To prove the judge is corrupt, Howard even tries to show the pictures he got from the PI. However, the photos had been swapped out for ones showing Saul giving a Frisbee back to a mustachioed man. To everyone in the room, it’s evident that Howard hallucinated due to drug ingestion — and so, Saul’s and Kim’s plan come to fruition.
While Howard still tries to convince Clifford Main (Ed Begley Jr.) that they have been victims of a long con, Cliff decides they should take a settlement for Sandpiper. Howard's public breakdown gives Sandpiper’s legal team a huge advantage, so making a deal is the best option on the table. Howard is unwilling to give up without a fight, but he accepts the agreement when Cliff threatens to expose the supposed drug addiction to HHM’s board of directors. It was a master[plan with many moving parts, but Kim and Saul came out victorious from the whole affair.
Lalo’s Return
After his Eurotrip searching for answers, Lalo is back in New Mexico. The Salamanca leader knows that Gus is on his track, so he decides to hide in the sewers while surveilling Lavandería Brillante, the laundromat Gus uses as a front business to conceal his secret meth lab. After torturing one of the workers who helped build the underground lab to uncover the truth, Lalo is determined to expose Gus’ plans to the cartel. However, to get the proof he needs on camera, he must enter the laundromat, currently a fortress protected by Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) and his men.
Episode 7 shows how Lalo uses a gas station shower to keep clean, sleeping for only an hour in his car before hiding back in the sewers. As Lalo says in a video he’s recording to Don Eladio (Steven Bauer), his underground position allows him to track the movement of the guards stationed in the laundromat. So, Lalo plans to break into the laundromat, kill every guard, and gather visual evidence Gus has a secret lab under construction.
Once Lalo has decided his course of action, he calls Tio Hector (Mark Margolis) to share the good news. However, when he reaches the retirement home where Hector lives, Lalo is put on hold for far too long. Lalo realizes the phone lines must be surveilled by Gus and decides to use this information in his favor. Instead of sharing his actual plan with Hector, Lalo pretends he’ll make a move on Gus’ life. Mike's response is quick, as he relocates as many men as he can to Gus’ home, hoping to set a trap to catch Lalo. That means now the laundromat is less guarded, and low priority targets have lost all kinds of protection. Yes, even Saul and Kim.
It All Comes Together
The last loose thread in Kim’s and Saul’s plan is Howard, the only person to know the truth. Howard can’t prove anything, but Kim and Saul realize they’ll have to face their old nemesis sooner or later. So, when their doorbell rings, they know just what to expect. Howard burst into Kim's apartment with a bottle in his hands. He wants to celebrate Saul’s and Kim’s victory. Howard asks the two why they decided to drag his name through the mud, saying that he believes they get off on destroying other people’s lives. Howard drops some hard truth bombs, pointing out how Saul will never be anything more than a con artist and that Kim is throwing her life away by becoming this monstrous version of herself. However, the heated discussion ends abruptly when Lalo comes into the apartment.
As soon as they see Lalo, Saul and Kim beg Howard to leave. Howard is confused, not knowing who Lalo is and if that’s still part of the con. When Lalo pulls out his gun, though, Howard is convinced to leave. Unfortunately, it’s too late. Lalo attaches a silencer to his gun and shoots Howard in the head without any warning. Howard's bloody body falls to the ground while Saul and Kim scream. Then, Lalo forces them to calm down and says he wants to talk with his lawyers — and that’s how Better Call Saul decides to leave us hanging.
We know Saul comes out alive from this fateful encounter since he’s a big part of Breaking Bad. However, we’ve all been fearing for Kim’s life for a long time now, and she might be the ultimate price Saul has to pay for his criminal actions. There are still six episodes left in Better Call Saul’s Season 6, set to air from July 11 to August 15, and with the mid-season finale bringing closure to the con against Howard, we can expect the rest of the season to focus entirely on Lalo’s war against Gus with Saul being dragged into the bloodbath. We can’t wait!