Better Call Saul Season 6 Episode 8 review: Lalo Salamanca and Gus Fring wage their final battle 

Better Call Saul season 6 episode 8 comes close on the heels of The Boys season 3 finale. In doing so, it raises a question - which is the best show on television right now?

The answer to that question is neither easy nor important. What is notable, though, is that Giancarlo Esposito plays a vicious villain on both shows. And yes, in both of these pop culture staples, he is the lesser evil. In The Boys, Stan Edgar's maliciousness pales when compared to Homelander, and in Better Call Saul season 6 episode 8 — the mid-season premiere — you find yourself rooting for him against the dreaded Lalo Salamanca.

But first things first. As Salamanca, the great Tony Dalton informs Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) that he has to kill another human being. And while he is on his mission, his wife Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) will be held hostage.

When Goodman volunteers his wife for the task, it seems like an act of cowardice at first. Then, it seems like he wants her to make a break for it. However, she ends up doing the task anyway and failing, spectacularly.

The action does not abate at any point during the episode. It is soon revealed in Better Call Saul season 6 episode 8 that it was all a ruse.

Soon enough, the two forces of evil — Lalo and Gus — come face-to-face in their final showdown. In typical supervillain fashion, Salamanca takes far too long, dillying and dallying like so many of his kind. This is just the distraction that is needed for Fring to fire a volley of bullets into his archnemesis.

Tony Dalton as Lalo Salamanca in Better Call Saul S6 E8 (Image via AMC)

Sure, we all knew that Salamanca would not survive the series. We expected him to die anyway. We also knew that Fring would make it out alive. But your heart still palpitates with every passing moment, your breath still trembles as the events play out on your screen. This is television writing at its finest.

Let it not distract from the fact that the quality of writing on Better Call Saul season 6 episode 8 is exemplary. There is no big verbiage, no Rick Grimes-style monologs, no punchlines a-la Marvel shows. Much of the presentation is non-verbal. And this is what makes the show so compelling, so realistic, so very gritty.

Of course, Better Call Saul season 6 episode 8 is recommended. But if you're so far down the rabbit hole anyway, how can we ever stop you?

---

What can fans expect following Better Call Saul season 6 episode 8?

There are three main questions at this point. What is the fate of Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) considering that she wasn't a part of Breaking Bad? At what point do fan-favorites Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) enter the prequel? What will be the aftermath of Howard Hamlin's (Patrick Fabian) demise?

Catch a new episode every Monday on AMC. With only five episodes to go, it'll be interesting to see how all of the pieces fit before the iconic sequel comes around.