Oh damn, our worries turned to reality way to soon in this shockingly beautiful episode of Better Call Saul. Standing true to Breaking Bad’s legacy, it is proving to be one the best TV shows ever made and debatably the best show on TV right now. As for Season 6 Episode 3, it was definitely one of the strongest episodes of the series and showcased a gut wrenching moment. If you haven’t seen it yet, this is your last chance to avoid massive SPOILERS.
Episode – Rock and Hard Place
Rating – ★★★★★
Better Call Saul Nacho Varga’s Death
Before we get to this heartbreaking moment, let us quickly cover other areas of this episode. On the legal side of the show, Suzanne has cornered Saul/Jimmy and Kim Wexler as they must decide whether to rat out or be a friend of the cartel. Alongside that, Saul and Huel team up once again in Saul’s quest against Howard. As for Lalo Salamanca, he was absent from this particular episode and we have no idea what this dangerous man is planning. Rest of the episode was solely focused on Michael Mando’s Nacho and rightly so.
Since, Nacho was not a part of Breaking Bad, most of us were expecting him to die one day on Better Call Saul. Sadly, that day came too soon as this fan favourite character has breathed his last. In a fitting but heart-breaking climax, Nacho Varga met his end in front of the Salamancas, Fring and Bolsa. The good thing about this was that he went out on his own terms and secured the future of his family before shooting himself to death. That aside, we saw him delivering a satisfactory curse filled monologue, also revealing that he’s responsible for Hector Salamanca’s condition.
“So when you’re sitting in your shitty nursing home and you’re sucking down on your Jello night after night for the rest of your life, you think of me, you twisted fuck,” he yelled infuriating the Salamancas.
Why Did Nacho Commit Suicide?
You must be thinking that Nacho literally had Bolsa in his grasp so why didn’t he take him or anyone else out instead of blowing his own brains? Well, the answer is that his final act was an act of sacrifice and not hate or revenge. Michael Mando explains this himself and quite beautifully in an interview with Variety.
“They’re already dead, they just don’t know it yet. The image of Nacho is the image of sacrifice, true love and bravery. It’s not the image of revenge. The ultimate act that defines the character is the act of sacrifice, and not anger, but love.”
Also, he had to assure that he keeps his end of the deal so that Gus secures his father. This episode had tons of symbolism regarding Nacho from his escape to his final conversations and meal. In the beginning, we see Nacho narrowly escaping the hands of Salamanca twins by submerging himself in an oil tanker. That basically served as the character’s baptism and led the way for his smart and right choices throughout the episode.
“It was amazing to seep my actual body into that darkness and to come out of that tanker in the middle of the night with the star-filled sky, to literally wash myself off and clean myself of all that darkness by this abandoned gas station on the side of a highway.”
The thing we all love about Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad universe is that everything has a meaning behind it. Even something as simple as a man eating his final meal before death. While to many this scene might have felt like a filler footage, it wasn’t. It had meaning behind it and once again, Michael Mando was very articulate with his explanation.
“It was really important for me that he use a fork and knife and that he put salt and pepper on his food. It wasn’t about sustenance at this time, but it was about a man who was going out with a lot of love for life. And when you love life, you enjoy life. So Nacho didn’t lose the appetite for life, if anything he was filled with love and life at that point because he knew he was doing the right thing.”
So, that’s that. We have lost a character very close to our hearts but we can’t say, we didn’t see that coming. The decision to kill him off as early as episode 3 though, has me quite worried for the rest of the characters in the series. Breaking Bad held its most tragic death (Hank) till the final few episodes and if that continues, it means bad things for Kim Wexler. While I expect Lalo’s death in the season finale, I worry we are gonna lose Kim before it. While we all want her to survive the series, her absence in Breaking Bad isn’t a great thing, given the kind of universe this is. Guess we’ll have to wait to find out what happens next. Till then, adiós amigos, hasta luego!
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