Lalo Salamanca discovers that Jimmy is actually the “guy for It” in season 6 of Better Call Saul, episode 8-that’s why the villain’s plan needed Saul Goodman. The finale of “Better Call Saul” in the middle of season 6 left viewers in a state of shock when Lalo Salamanca strolled into Jimmy and Kim’s apartment and executed Howard Hamlin. The gangster, of course, had no complaints about Howard, but this meant that it was necessary to answer the key question: why did Lalo actually visit Jimmy and Kim?
Returning with another adrenaline rush episode, “Better Call Saul” season 6 “Point and Shoot” reveals that Lalo wanted his two lawyer friends to do one simple job: kill Gus Fring. Lalo orders Jimmy to knock on Gus’ door and shoot the Chicken Man while Kim stays in the apartment for insurance, but two aspects of Lalo’s plan are not quite right. If killing Gus Fring was as easy as hiring a stranger to ring the doorbell, Lalo would have already tried it. Secondly, of all the potential killers Lalo could have chosen, why two terrified lawyers who had never held a gun before?
Link: Why THIS Character Died in Better Call Saul, Season 6, Episode 8
Lalo doesn’t really expect Jimmy or Kim to kill Gus-the whole ordeal is just a farce to manipulate Gus’ head of security, Mike Ehrmantraut, into leaving the super lab’s construction site vulnerable. Lalo needs access to the prosecution lab, but Mike’s round-the-clock security makes penetration impossible even for the snake-like Salamanca. Lalo knows perfectly well that any potential killer he sends towards Gus will be caught before any murder takes place. Then the terrified prisoner shouts, “Lalo Salamanca is in my apartment,” and Lalo expects Mike to immediately send all available people to this place, leaving only a light guard around the lab. A great success. In order for this scam to go smoothly, Lalo needs someone for whom Mike will drop everything, someone connected to their operation who could potentially spill the beans. Nacho would have done his job, but he’s, uh… unwell. Lalo knows that Jimmy was involved with Mike and Gus because of the bullet-riddled car he found in the desert, and this makes the lawyer ideal for luring, because if Jimmy starts telling Lalo everything he knows, Gus will have another serious problem.
What was Lalo’s real plan for Gus in “Better Call Saul”
Why did Lalo Salamanca prefer the home video of Gus’s super lab over revenge? The answer can be found in Lalo’s conversation with his uncle Hector at the beginning of the 6th season of the series “Better call Saul”. As the veteran of the cartel rightly pointed out, any violence against Gus will be interpreted as a step against their common leader, Don Eladio. So instead of striking right away, the Salamancas need proof that Gus betrayed the cartel, and nothing screams “proof” like a huge methamphetamine lab being built behind Don Eladio’s back. Lalo’s plan is simply to get video evidence of the lab’s existence, send the footage to Don Eladio, and then let the cartel justice run its course.
Lalo doesn’t necessarily expect Gus to show up in person at the super lab for the “Better Call Saul” premiere in the middle of season 6, although this sly Salamanca mindset certainly means he wouldn’t discount that possibility. After Gus actually arrives uninvited, Lalo takes his nemesis hostage and probably intends to end Fring right there and then in the super lab as soon as the “nickel tour” is over. After all, as long as he has the video, Lalo can justify the murder to the top leadership of the cartel. Unfortunately for Lalo, he makes the crucial mistake of thinking that his victory over Gus is assured in Better Call Saul. He gets cocky, counts his chickens before they hatch, and his plan ends with the feathers flying.
