‘Better Call Saul’ Season 6 Midseason Premiere Writer Breaks Down Why Jimmy Changed Lalo’s Plan
Better Call Saul Season 6 Episode 8 picked up in the aftermath of Howard Hamlin’s death. Lalo finally revealed why he came to pay Jimmy and Kim a visit. His plan was for Jimmy to shoot Gus while Lalo held Kim hostage. Jimmy, however, manages to make Lalo deviate slightly from his original plan. “Point and Shoot” writer Gordon Smith broke down why Jimmy pushed to change Lalo’s mind.
[SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers ahead regarding the Better Call Saul Season 6 episode “Point and Shoot.”]
Jimmy convinces Lalo to send Kim to kill Gus in ‘Point and Shoot’
When Better Call Saul Season 6 left off after the midseason finale, Jimmy and Kim were standing terrified in front of Howard Hamlin’s body. “Let’s talk,” says the gun-wielding Lalo Salamanca. Episode 8 returned to this frightening scene and Lalo gives the lawyers his shocking demands.
He gives Jimmy the keys to his car, telling him there is a loaded gun and camera inside. Jimmy is to drive to Gus Fring’s house, shoot him until the gun is empty, take photographic proof, and return within one hour. Lalo tells Jimmy that he will wait behind with Kim.
Even in this terrifying moment, Jimmy is gifted with the art of persuasion. He tells Lalo that Kim should be the one to carry out the hit. Jimmy points out that the intended victim will be much more likely to answer the door for a woman, who perhaps might need help, than a man. Lalo finally agrees to send Kim.
Gordon Smith breaks down Jimmy’s motivations in ‘Better Call Saul’ Season 6 Episode 8
Although Kim is clearly terrified, episode 8 writer Gordon Smith believes Jimmy’s only motivation was to protect Kim. “I think he knows whoever stays in this place dies. However it plays out, he just thinks there’s no chance, and if he leaves Kim here with Lalo, she’s dead,” Smith told The Rolling Stone. “I think he’s just, like, ‘Get out. I don’t care where you go. You go to the cops, that’s fine.'”
Better Call Saul creator Peter Gould echoed this sentiment while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, “I think he wants to get her out of the apartment. I think what he would probably hope for is that she goes to the police, but I think he believes he’s going to be dead. He believes with all of his heart that as soon as Kim walks out that door, he’s a dead man. And he’s very close to being right.”
Kim was prepared to kill for Jimmy
Despite what Jimmy may have wanted, Kim doesn’t make a run for it. She doesn’t even go to the police, though there’s a brief moment where she rolls down her window next to a cop car. Shockingly, Kim made it all the way to Gus’ front door.
“I think it’s a testament to how much Kim loves him that she makes it all the way to that door with a gun in her hand,” Smith told The Rolling Stone. “Whether she could pull that trigger, I don’t know. I don’t know if she knows. It’s a situation of, ‘I don’t have to make a decision until the door is open,’ and you just push those terrible decisions off as long as you possibly can. I think she made it way further than Jimmy would have expected.”
Watch the final episodes of Better Call Saul airing on AMC Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.
