WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for the latest episode of Better Call Saul, "Bagman," which aired on Monday.
It's pretty obvious that this season of Better Call Saul has been the best yet. Episode after episode, the series has trumped fans' expectations, with the series five-season slow burn paying-off in tremendous ways. That being said, though, nobody was expecting how high the bar would be raised with this week’s episode, “Bagman.” This outing was an hour of television that fired on all cylinders, and really cemented this series as the best show on television.
Last week’s episode set up that Saul was going to have to retrieve $7 million in bail money for his client Lalo Salamanca. After a cold opening that shows Leonel and Marco retrieving the money, viewers are then brought to a conversation between Saul and Lalo, where Lalo explains to his attorney where to meet up with his family members near the Mexican border to get the money. Saul is a bit hesitant, feeling that he might not be cut out for such a job if it ends up going south, but Lalo’s charm and his commitment to his trade persuade him. As with all the show’s characters, Lalo has been sublimely developed since his introduction, and actor Tony Dalton's mixture of comic timing and reservation (not dissimilar from Odenkirk’s) make for a character that’s as compulsively watchable as any other on the show.
When he tells Kim about his new task, she, of course, is worried and tells him that he isn’t a “bagman." Saul assures her that it will be fine and a good way to make money. However, the audience knows that this drop-off isn’t going to go exactly as planned. Saul meets with Leonel and Marco and takes the money from them and then they depart. Saul collects the bags and puts them in the bag of his car, but he doesn’t get too far. He soon finds himself being tailed by some vans and then surrounded by heavily armed thugs. For perhaps the first time ever, fans see Saul completely terrified. He’s never faced this kind of artillery before, and his smooth-talking isn’t going to be his Teflon for this case. After Saul sacrifices his bags to the armed men, he’s quickly met with a gold-plated pistol in his face.
Obviously, something everyone knows is that Saul isn’t going to die, not just because he has to survive until the events of Breaking Bad, but because his knack for both luck and connections will always bail him out. In this episode especially, Lalo even refers to Saul as a cockroach (a description that series creator Vince Gilligan has used for him as well), meaning that he’ll always survive whatever comes his way.
Sure enough, Saul is saved by none other than Mike, who kills off his attackers from a sniper’s post. He recovers Saul, who is visibly shaken by having such a close call. Mike reassures Saul that he’s alive and that’s what matters, even when their situation gets worse. Unfortunately, their car’s engine has been left unusable due to the gunfire, and they’ll have to trek their way out of the desert on foot.
Saul and Mike’s relationship has always been a pleasure to watch. Whenever these two shared a scene in Breaking Bad, it was always something to cherish, with Mike’s gruff demeanor being the perfect foil for Saul’s charisma. While the first season of Better Call Saul saw the two interact a lot, their stories diverged for subsequent ones, but this one has finally seen fit to interject their two worlds again. What’s marvelous about how these two characters interact with one another is that it always has the potential to be simultaneously hilarious and poetic. A scene near the end of the episode where Mike explains to Saul that protecting his loved ones is what keeps him going proves a moving moment, to say the least.
As always, Better Call Saul always finds ways to surprise its viewers, as seen in the lengthy sequence that uses the Labi Siffre track “I Got The…” as Saul laboriously drags his bags of money through the desert, or how the climax finds a way for Saul and Mike to work together to overcome their common enemy. Once again, the show concludes how all fans knew it would, yet the tension is thick to the touch, thanks to immaculate filmmaking.
Being directed by series creator, Vince Gilligan, it makes sense that so much creative stamina and heart was put into this glorious episode. With just two episodes left this season (including the finale, which is directed by co-creator Peter Gould, and carries the enticing title of “Something Unforgivable”), it's mouthwatering to think what the writers will conjure up for the audience. Once again, to predict any major plot points would be futile, but everyone can rest assured that it will be fully transgressive, enjoyable and powerful.
Better Call Saul stars Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian and Giancarlo Esposito. The series has already been renewed for Season 6, which will also be its last.