In the second week since its return, Better Call Saul gives a deserved break to its hard-working protagonist to focus on Ignacio Varga, the young man who became the Jesse Pinkman to this prequel but whose fate ultimately is not as rosy as the El Camino star. The closing of this chapter though is definitely delivered exactly how one would expect Vince Gilligan to do, with it being equally beautiful and tragic at the same time.
Series veteran Gordon Smith pens and directs “Rock and Hard Place”, doing a great job at controlling the pace of the episode after last week’s double-header premiere that now seems even more adequate to get the ball rolling in the aftermath of Lalo’s assassination attempt. Speaking of which, while Tony Dalton’s character was an absolute standout in the first two episodes, he is completely absent from this, although it’s definitely for a good cause as Michael Mando shines through like he’s always done so in Better Call Saul.
The opening shot could easily pass off as one of so many other Breaking Bad intros, it’s the very desert where later Nacho faces his demons, yet unlike more obvious instances where the showrunners show exactly what goes down later, this piece of glass is more subtle. It could very well be that Nacho was caught by the Salamanca twins, but that’s not the case, against all odds he’s escaped and he has a plan to, at least, get the chance to die another day.
This sequence with Nacho jumping in the oil tank is classic Breaking Bad, it’s a tense moment out of which he could or could not come out alive of, and one that’s obviously complemented by the twins’ imposing presence. However, our hero knows he’s a dead man walking, everyone south and north of the border wants him killed so after finding help from a kind stranger he uses his phone call to talk to the person that makes this character tick with audiences, his dad.
Manuel Varga remains in himself, he’s the stern worker who only wanted his son to keep his nose clean, a desire he share with him until the very last moment, but this is not that type of call. Nacho expresses the feelings of a son who knows this is the last time he’ll hear his father’s voice, he can barely talk, and his dad knows something’s up, the entire scene is simply heartbreaking and it’s the first real sign that he’s not making it out of this alive.
His second call is about securing his father’s well-being, striking a deal with Gus via Mike so that he can turn himself in, and pretending to be captured by the chicken man so that he can exonerate himself from all blame. This scene’s true payoff actually comes later when Mike finally meets him north of the border as the two share a few words (and a very important drink) in a night that sums up how much they really respected one another for at least staying somewhat honorable in this world, especially since Mike is the one guaranteeing his dad’s safety.
Prior to that, it’s time to catch up with Jimmy and Kim, who continue to plan out their scheme to ruin Howard Hamlin which now requires the aid of the lovable Huell. The real development between these two comes from the Justice Department’s attempt to get Jimmy Saul to give up Lalo -whom they believe dead- after a deal is proposed to Kim; its true meaning is summed by her perfectly: it’s time for Saul to decide if he’ll continue being a friend of the cartel or a rat.
While the choice is left up in the air, even pre-Saul Jimmy knows that rats don’t have high life expectancy. Nonetheless, the tone of the conversation serves as a nice contrast between the moment he and Huell share, as the big guy is left dumbfounded to ask him “Why do you do all this?”.
Nacho’s trial obviously does not go as expected, as he doesn’t care to follow Gus’ instructions to complete his execution in a less painful way. Practically since making his first appearance on the show, Nacho has been deprived of choice by the Salamancas, by Mike, and now given his death sentence by Gus, so it’s time to take control and he does it with a heartfelt outburst towards Juan Bolsa and Hector, telling the later he’s the one who put him on a wheelchair before butting himself free with a shard of glass he kept the earlier drink.
The entire scene is fantastically well-executed as just when one thinks he’s about to kill Bolsa, he delivers his own death sentence by putting a bullet through his head. It’s unlikely this is the last time his actions will play a big role in the show’s plot, after all, it was Hector who first harassed him with threats to his father and Mike will surely want to keep his word.
Better Call Saul will turn its focus back to Kim and Jimmy now, but the ballad of Nacho Varga can be put to rest with the kind of closure only this series and Breaking Bad can deliver. Let’s just hope his sacrifice was worth it.