‘Better Call Saul’ Season Finale: Key Moments From ‘Something Unforgivable’ (RECAP)
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 5, Episode 10 of Better Call Saul, “Something Unforgivable.”]
Better Call Saul certainly raised the tension in its final chapter from Season 5 as the series sets its sights on the final season sometime in the undetermined future.
Building throughout the season, uncertain fates appear to have been determined, at least for now, by the episode titled “Something Unforgivable.” What could that unforgivable act be? Well, if fans were worried about Kim (Rhea Seehorn) after the penultimate episode, they’re certainly on edge for Nacho (Michael Mando) after the finale. Below, we’re breaking everything down from major cliffhangers to severe transformations, beware of spoilers.
Jimmy & Kim on Edge
(Credit: Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television)
Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) may have taken on the Saul persona, but that doesn’t make him nor Kim invincible against danger. After Lalo (Tony Dalton) leaves their apartment, Jimmy picks up the open cell phone where Mike (Jonathan Banks) was listening from the other end and asks the old man if he heard Lalo before hanging up. Kim asks who was on the line and Jimmy tells her “the man who saved my life.” He then goes on to tell her the truth about what happened in the desert, saying he was caught up in a cartel shootout.
They end up moving to a hotel for safety reasons and he questions aloud if he’s bad for her, but she argues that he won’t be making any crazy decisions like picking up $7 million in the desert again. Jimmy doesn’t look so sure though. The next morning when Kim’s getting ready for work, Jimmy pushes for them to have a stay-in spa day and she picks up on the hint. “You don’t think it’s safe?” she asks, but he won’t explicitly say it’s not. Kim’s made up her mind though, revealing that she thinks it best to keep her eyes open and get on with life. “It’s gonna be fine,” she tells Jimmy.
(Credit: Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television)
When they go their separate ways for the day, Kim goes to court and asks for 20 felony cases to work on, looking for something that will bring about the most good. Eventually she’s led into a room stacked with boxes upon boxes which she learns are all pending cases. After selecting her files she heads out and runs into Howard (Patrick Fabian) in the elevator. In their catch-up chat, Howard learns Kim’s out on her own again after leaving Schweikart and Cokely. After the elevator reaches its destination, Howard pulls Kim aside to talk.
He expresses concern for her over Jimmy, revealing Jimmy’s stunts from earlier this season with the throwing of bowling balls at Howard’s car and sending prostitutes to his table, as well as refusing the job at Hamlin Hamlin McGill. This makes Kim laugh and she seems to brush off the tense situation, while Howard expresses concern and says, “You know who really knew Jimmy? Chuck,” calling out Jimmy’s deceased brother.
Meanwhile, Jimmy makes his own day, accosting Mike at his home for information about Lalo. The man tells Jimmy, “You’re asking for information that you can’t have.” When Jimmy frantically reveals his distress over something happening to Kim, Mike throws him a bone and reveals that Lalo’s not thinking about Saul and that there’s a plan to kill the Salamanca in place.
That evening when Jimmy and Kim reconvene at the hotel, he shares this information with her, and when she questions how he knows about the death plan, he says he found out from his guy, indicating Mike. “It’s over this time,” he says, and then she counters that there won’t be a next time. When he mentions checking out of the hotel, she refuses and plans to stay for the stay they’ve paid for.
(Credit: Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television)
Their chatting reveals her Howard run-in earlier in the day and mentions the accusations he shared against Jimmy. Kim then goes on to begin planning their next con against Howard, revealing she wants in on his little gimmicks against the stuffy lawyer, suggesting they frame him for crime of misconduct. After receiving an ice cream room service tray, she tells Jimmy she wants to start a pro-bono practice and he wants to get a house together, but in order to get what they want they’ll have to frame Howard for something terrible, Jimmy says.
In order to get the team she wants, Kim would have to lead people away from Howard, and the best way to do that is accuse him of something bad — but how bad? Jimmy says they won’t do it, but Kim keeps pushing. She wants what she wants and she seems willing to do anything to get it. “It’s a career setback,” she tells Jimmy, who counters that she wouldn’t be okay with what she’s planning, but she brushes him off. They finish the season with Kim in the same position Jimmy was during the Season 4 finale, as she shoots finger guns in his direction, committing to her plan, shocking him in the process.
Assassination in the Desert
(Credit: Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television)
Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) continues his work against the Salamancas, planning an assassination of Lalo as he meets with Mike in the lot of the burned-down Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant. Mike reveals that Lalo took Nacho over the border and the old man makes an appeal to try and save the young man who is trying to break free from the cartel. Gus returns by saying, “And dip our hand?” Gus doesn’t plan to save Nacho, saying that since he’s unaware of the assassination attempt that’s going to be made, that could be an advantage to them.
Meanwhile, we see Lalo and Nacho arrive at a guarded compound in Mexico where the Salamanca is greeted by various family members and workers who seem kind in comparison to their harsh surroundings. Nacho is clearly tense when he discovers there’s no cell service as he’s introduced to the welcoming group. Lalo’s harsh side comes out when he yells at one of the men to collect his bags from the car.
Later on we see Nacho helping Lalo fix up a car, and the Salamanca instructs his companion that when he talks to the boss, call him Don. Stressed, Nacho asks, “What if he doesn’t like me?” But Lalo reassures that him that he’ll be fine, indicating an upcoming meeting they’ll soon be engaged in. Before the meeting takes place, he receives a call to open the back gate of the compound at three in the morning and run, an obvious instruction in Gus’ assassination plan.
With this new information, Nacho accompanies Lalo to meet Don Eladio (Steven Bauer) who tells Lalo he heard about his bad luck in the desert, referring to the bail money Saul picked up. Juan Bolsa (Javier Grajeda) is also there and delivers money to Eladio from Gus, but Lalo outshines him when he presents the Don with a new car and introduces him to Nacho. The man pulls Nacho aside for a talk where he tells the young man that he’s in the wrong business if he doesn’t want to keep looking over his shoulder.
(Credit: Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television)
Knowing that his window is closing, we see Nacho watch the clock as he plans to follow through with the instructions given to him. When he sneaks out to open the gate, he runs into Lalo who is sitting by the fire pit. “I get my best ideas when everyone’s asleep,” the Salamanca tells Nacho. Forced to keep up appearances, Nacho converses with the man and is sent inside to retrieve stronger booze. In order to make his move, he sets a pan of grease on the stove, turning the burner all the way up before leaving for the backyard. There, he sits with Lalo, but when the man is eventually distracted by the smoke that begins pouring from the house, Nacho runs for the gate and lets a group of shooters dressed in black into the compound, running for his life in the process.
What follows is a heart-stopping pursuit as the shooters go for Lalo in the kitchen, but the Salamanca is quick as he pulls the grease pan up, using it as a weapon against his would-be assassins. Continuing to run for his life, Lalo hops into an escape tunnel, scurrying for the other end. He manages to get out, escaping the compound confines, but he heads back to the estate and finds the entrance of the tunnel where the assassins have mistakenly followed him — now he kills them from behind, shooting into the tunnel. Finding one surviving assassin, he makes the man call his employer to say the job is done before he kills the man himself.
Finally, we see Lalo walk back out into the yard to find the corpses of his family and friends slain, and as he walks sounds fade away and we can see the wrath growing in his glare. Can Nacho evade certain death? Are Jimmy and Kim safe? Only time will tell as fans will have to wait until next season to find out.
Better Call Saul, Season 6, TBA, AMC
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