Tony Dalton Talks Lalo Salamanca and Better Call Saul’s Return

[SPOILERS FOR BETTER CALL SAUL SEASON 06 EPISODE 08]

After spending a good chunk of the first half of Season 6 in hiding, Lalo Salamanca comes back in full terror in the second half of Better Call Saul 6. While fans were expecting him to be a major presence in the season, he’s shockingly killed off in the premiere episode.

Though it was the character’s death, he still goes off in classic Lalo fashion—with a smile on his face. Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Tony Dalton reveals the intent behind Lalo’s final smile and what it meant for Gus after their standoff.

Dalton explains:

So we did it. And then I smiled and Vince [Gilligan] [who directed the episode] goes, “That’s good, that’s good. But don’t smile laughing, smile like, ‘You lucky bastard, man. This could have gone the other way. I’ll see you in hell, Gus Fring.'” We shot it and it was great, and I got up, the first person I went to was [writer Gordon Smith] and I go, “Was that ugly?” And he goes, “No, man, that was a beautiful death. I wrote it wrong.”

With Lalo killed off so early in the season, this kind of derails a lot of fan theories, especially regarding Kim Wexler. While a lot of fans thought Kim could have died in the hands of Lalo, his death so early in the season kind of marks Kim as ‘safe.’ Now it’s looking like the struggle is going to be Jimmy and Kim dealing with the consequences of their actions.

Better Call Saul is still amazing, and the series’ return is nothing but strong. Fingers crossed Gilligan and Peter Gould end this series with a bang as well.