Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 6, Episode 8 of Better Call Saul.
On the July 11 episode of Better Call Saul, titled "Point and Shoot," fans had to say goodbye to one of the biggest highlights to come out of the universe first created by Vince Gilligan nearly 15 years ago. Lalo Salamanca’s (Tony Dalton) demise was as inevitable as it was thrilling to watch. With only five episodes left in the masterful series created by Gilligan and Peter Gould, it was evident that Lalo would meet his end before the series concluded. After all, he is only ever mentioned once in the entire run of Breaking Bad, right after Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) is dragged out into the desert by Walt and Jesse (Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul). He is scared out of his mind, thinking that they were sent by Lalo, but as soon as he realizes this wasn’t him, he takes a huge sigh of relief. His demeanor then changes, and he is no longer impressed by the tactic that Walt and Jesse use to intimidate him.
At the time, this was practically a throwaway line to show that Saul has his hands in many dangerous pots. It would be more than possible that after the show ended, after Jimmy’s transformation into Saul Goodman, that he at one point screwed over a guy named Lalo and that would be that. Few, if any, would have batted an eye at the character being left out of the show, and even if he was included, it would be a monumental task to make a character that terrifies a guy like Saul to that degree. Yet, because of the masterful writing for the character, as well as the pitch-perfect casting of Tony Dalton in the role, Lalo Salamanca not only met those expectations, but exceeded them.
Lalo was first introduced in Season 4, Episode 8 of Better Call Saul, titled "Coushatta." One could be forgiven for thinking that at this late point in the show, a new Salamanca in the show could be ultimately regressive, however it is evident the moment Nacho (Michael Mando) walks into El Michoacáno that this man would be a game-changer. At this point Nacho is ready to leave the drug business with his father, but as soon as he walks in the restaurant he notices the nervous looks of everyone inside. He makes his way to the kitchen and hears a guy cooking him a burrito and singing. He casually says the burrito he’s making is so good, “He’s gonna die.” After Lalo introduces himself, he tells Nacho with a smile on his face, “Don’t worry. It’s gonna be like I’m not even here.” But, from the look on Nacho’s face, he knows that things will never be the same and his chances of getting out just swirled down the drain.
From this moment on, nearly every scene that included Lalo put the viewer on the edge of their seat. It is clear when he casually murders poor Fred from the Travel Wire (James Austin Johnson) that he has no reservations about taking a life when necessary, however what separated him from the other Salamancas is his inherent charm and his deceptively brilliant scheming. He is able to pick up the fact that Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) is working against the cartel from the moment he meets him. This remains his primary goal throughout his run on the show. However, since Gus is able to make so much money for the cartel, he needs definitive proof.
Up to this point, Gus is portrayed as the smartest person on the show, matched only by Walter White in Breaking Bad. In spite of this, Lalo is able to believably outmaneuver him at nearly every turn. When Gus has him put in jail for Fred’s murder, Lalo doesn’t break a sweat and through his coercion of Jimmy, he is able to walk out within a few episodes. When Gus devises the attack on Lalo’s home at the end of Season 5, he underestimates Lalo’s cunning and force of will, and he survived. This leads to the most recent season, where Gus, normally the calmest person in any room, even when he is slitting one of his henchman’s throats with a box cutter, is entirely on edge. Until now, no one in either show has managed to put Gus in a position where he is completely on edge.
This game of chess reaches its climax in Season 6 when, in a move to get Gus’s guys off the laundromat that hides the developing meth super-lab, Lalo comes to Jimmy and Kim’s (Rhea Seehorn) apartment. He devises a plan to put the attention on them, but not before murdering Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian) without so much as blinking. The plan works, and he is able to get the drop on Gus and force him to show him the lab. The only reason Gus gets out of the situation alive is because in a moment of either genius planning, or complete paranoia, he sets up a trap and a hidden gun in the super-lab. When he does manage to fatally shoot Lalo, it is a matter of simple dumb luck that Lalo is the one who ends up dead, and not Gus. As Mike (Jonathan Banks) said, “This could’ve gone another way.” From the most calculating schemers, to any poor bystanders who happened to cross his path, Lalo is able to strike fear in everyone he crosses paths with.
Lalo isn't simply cold and calculating. There are a number of characters across both shows who can be described that way. The last quality he possessed that made him so terrifying to watch was his natural charisma. Because of the way Tony Dalton played the character, in nearly every scene he is in, Lalo has a bright smile on his face. It isn’t some Joker-like smile that is over-the-top as much as it is a sly confidence that tells whomever he is talking to who has the real power in the room. One second he is the type of guy you’d want to have beer with, and the next he will shoot you in the face. What’s more is that this never-ending supply of charisma never betrays what the character is really thinking. He doesn’t need to threaten anybody.
In one of the show’s best scenes, Lalo comes to Kim and Jimmy’s apartment to find out what happened in the desert in season five, episode 8. He doesn’t go on some classic villain monologue, he simply lets Jimmy do the talking and every time he lies, Lalo smiles and says, “Tell me again.” Kim is thankfully able to talk him down, but the dread both characters feel when he leaves is palpable. Even after his death, it is evident that Jimmy fears that Lalo could be hiding behind any corner at any given time, and he did it all with a gun, a smile and a few choice words. In the three seasons he appeared on Better Call Saul, Lalo Salamanca’s charisma created a shroud of unpredictability and terror that made you love the character as much as fear him.