Breaking Down ‘Saul’, Season 5 Finale: “Something Unforgivable”

“You know who really knew Jimmy? Chuck.”

The best season of Better Call Saul so far has officially come and gone, and we don’t know when we’ll be seeing Season 6 quite yet. But before we start missing Jimmy and the rest of the gang, we must dive into this spectacular season finale. While things may not get as tense as they did last week (we’re still not over “hey, guys!“), they certainly take us deeper into the workings of the cartel – and farther away from any Jimmy McGill and Kim Wexler we’ve ever known – than before.

“Something Unforgivable” picks up immediately where “Bad Choice Road” leaves off; a shaken Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) and Kim (Rhea Seehorn) watch to make sure Lalo (Tony Dalton) is really leaving, and the two of them finally take a moment to breathe. Mike (Jonathan Banks) is predictably vague about what their next steps are, pushing shaken Jimmy and Kim to check into a hotel for the time being. Jimmy finally caves and tells Kim the truth about what happened, and wonders if he’s bad for her, but she brushes this off. He learned his lesson right? Right? Well, by the end of “Something Unforgivable”, it seems like Jimmy might be the one of the only ones who has learned anything. Terrified for their lives, he begs Kim not to go back to work, and basically bangs down Mike’s door in pursuit of information about Lalo and when they’ll be able to feel safe again. Mike winds up caving and telling him that Lalo’s going to die, but Jimmy’s pleas leading up to this reveal are gutting – he does genuinely seem to be overwhelmed with fear for Kim’s life. If we know anything about Kim Wexler, though, it’s that she can look out for herself.

Perhaps fueled by the fire telling off Lalo lit inside of her, Kim spends much of this finale on a seemingly noble warpath; determined to make the most of her new self-employment, she asks for 20 felony cases to work on pro-bono and finds herself totally floored by the number of pending cases in the public defender’s office. She wants to make a difference, and perhaps that difference starts with putting one Howard Hamlin in his place. When the former colleagues run into each other at the courthouse, Howard requests a word and proceeds to fill Kim in about all of Jimmy’s shenanigans, from job offer to prostitutes and beyond. Howard’s just looking out for her, or so he claims. He doesn’t want her to get sucked into Jimmy’s unhinged world. And boy, does Kim have some thoughts about that, thoughts so strong that she goes from hanging on every word to laughing in Howard’s face, even after he tries to tell her the only person who ever really knew Jimmy was Chuck.

One of the most surprising twists in “Something Unforgivable” is that Jimmy actually seems to be the voice of reason. Later, as the two celebrate their (assumed) safety by taking advantage of their hotel’s amenities, Jimmy and Kim fantasize about exacting revenge on Howard. Should they shave his head? Bleach his hair? Put sunblock in his tanning lotion? It’s all fun to entertain, but Kim wonders what if he did something really terrible? (Like, worse than murdering a waiter for putting butter on his cauliflower). No, Kim wants more. She wants him to experience a career setback, something so bad that HH&M will go under, that Sandpiper will settle, that Jimmy and Kim will walk away millionaires and Howard will have to start over. This all seems fun to Jimmy in theory, but when he realizes Kim is serious – and she throws him the same finger guns he threw her at the end of last season – he’s stunned, and perhaps just as blindsided as she was when he pulled his first fast one on her as Saul Goodman. We’ve spent so much time worrying about what Kim’s fate might be that we never considered that maybe Jimmy becomes Saul to save her from herself. We’ve still got a season left to see how it all plays out, but the ponytail has been let down, and Slippin’ Kimberly no-middle-name Wexler seems to be alive and well and ready for some action.

While Jimmy and Kim exhale a sigh of relief away from the cartel, Nacho gets way closer than he ever hoped for. Mike does his best to win Nacho some points with Gus – and perhaps a rescue mission – but Gus only considers the idea when he realizes he can use Nacho as a man on the inside to help make Lalo’s assassination go more smoothly. Lalo (with Nacho as chauffeur) returns to Mexico in a blaze of glory, delighting all of his guards and the staff at his house, and later, Don Eladio. Lalo is excited to introduce Nacho to Don Eladio, and tells him he’ll likely be up for a promotion if Eladio likes him. And if he doesn’t? Well, we’ll just cross that bridge when we get to it. Don Eladio’s heart is won with a swanky red sportscar (“Magnum P.I.!“) and a “frunk” full of cash from Lalo, much to Bolsa’s annoyance, and thanks to serious talk from Nacho about pitting rival biker gangs against one another to take more territory north of the border, he winds up liking just about everything Lalo’s brought to him.

The most thrilling (and stressful!) sequence of “Something Unforgivable” happens around 3am, when Nacho plans to make his stealthy escape and instead finds Lalo outside having a fireside nightcap. In an attempt to draw Lalo away so Nacho can make a break for it, he sets an oil fire in the house. Before Lalo notices, the two are chummy and toast to their insomnia, but to say Nacho is sweating would be an understatement. When Lalo runs into the house, Nacho takes his chance to run for it, picking the lock to open the rear gate and letting the assassins in to ambush the property. Despite Nacho’s previous pleas to do this “clean” and leave the elderly staff out of it, they kill everyone – well, at least it appears that way.

In perfect Salamanca fashion, Lalo evades his would-be killers and turns the tables on them, utilizing his own escape tunnel to ambush the remaining men after taking down the others in his house. After tying up some loose ends – forcing the last living assassin to call in and say the job was a success – a fuming Lalo limps away from his home, hellbent on taking down those responsible. Look out, Gustavo!

(A side note: I know I’ve gushed about Tony Dalton week after week, but I am genuinely thrilled he’s likely going to be around a little longer. He is, without a doubt, one of the most delightfully deranged villains to ever enter the Breaking Bad universe).

“Something Unforgivable” was full of plenty of familiar faces and places from Breaking Bad, but it told a story aaallll its own.

Will Lalo get his revenge? Is Nacho done for? Will Jimmy and Kim really do something unforgivable? All this (and more!) will surely be revealed in Better Call Saul Season 6, but we have a feeling we’ll be waiting a while. Until then…

Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines and harboring dad-aged celebrity crushes. She is also a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.

Watch Better Call Saul Season 5 Episode 10 on AMC