Nacho's fate was inevitable. Breaking Bad had already done the "run off into the sunset" ending with Jesse and jail seemed like too simple a solution for him. Aside from Kim, Nacho seemed like the character most guaranteed an unhappy ending. But in typical Gilligan/Gould fashion, the show upended my expectations and still made the moment as shocking as it was heartbreaking.
"Rock and Hard Place" wisely focuses the bulk of its runtime on the cartel storyline. Nacho continues to make his escape from the Cousins and gets into contact with Mike, offering to do whatever Gus wants him to do on the condition that Mike protects his father. Mike smuggles him back to Albuquerque to await his death. The way Gordon Smith writes this sequence of events makes it clear that Nacho is going to die. He makes one last phone call to his father. He has one last meal and drink. Mike offers to be the one to put him out of his misery. Yet because this is only the third episode of the season, there's the expectation that somehow, Nacho will make it out of this. Similar to Hank's death in the desert years from now however, Nacho goes out on his own terms. He mocks both Gus and Hector, revealing to the latter he was behind his stroke. He shoots himself in the head rather than let Victor do it. It's a somber end to the character, yet entirely fitting with the slow-motion tragedy that is Better Call Saul.
The episode gives just enough time to Jimmy and Kim's story so that it doesn't feel like it's spinning it's wheels. They plan out the next phase of their plan to discredit Howard, in an electrifying sequence where they swipe the keys to his car with the assistance of Huell, Ocean's Eleven style. Kim is confronted by Suzanne Erickson on Jimmy's association with Lalo and the possibility of him giving up information on Lalo despite lawyer-client confidentiality. Lalo doesn't appear physically in this episode, yet his specter still looms over Jimmy and Kim. We get see more of Kim's dark side as she delivers the matter of the situation to a perturbed Jimmy: "Do you want to be a friend of the cartel or do you want to be a rat?" With Nacho's story over, the show will presumably focus more on Jimmy and Kim's story and how it'll pan out. If it it's anything like the way Nacho's panned out, it won't be any easier to watch.
Notes:
* Michael Mando has consistently given one of the show's most underrated performances, but he truly shows his range in his final episode, from his tearful final phone call to his father to resignation regarding his fate to his hate-filled spiel to the Salamancas. If he doesn't get at least an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor, I'll eat my hat (then again, the Academy has consistently failed to reward Rhea Seehorn for her work, so why am I placing any stock in the Emmys?).
* Gordon Smith is mainly known for writing many of the show's best episodes including "Five-O", "Chicanery" and "Bagman" (and rightly so), but he also knocks it out of the park with his direction. The cold open alone makes this episode one of the best he's ever helmed.
* I don't want to think about how many takes it took for the scene where Nacho submerges himself in oil while hiding from the Cousins.
* Some people have complained that Gus' plan for dealing with Nacho in the premiere was sloppy (true) and out of character for the consummate professional he is on Breaking Bad. That's exactly the point. This Gus is years away from the mastermind he will eventually become.
* The scene of Huell asking Jimmy why he is going to the trouble of pulling the scam when he and Kim are already making money as lawyers runs the risk of being the one flaw in an otherwise outstandingly written episode with how on the nose it is, yet Bob Odenkirk manages to convey so much emotion as he attempts to justify what he and Kim are doing that the scene is saved.
* I love the fact that Jimmy pretends to be shocked by the news of Lalo's "death" upon being told by Kim. Another white lie to protect the (eroding) innocence of the woman he loves.
* One detail I forgot to mention in my review of the premiere is how the opening intro is now black-and-white. A nice callback to the Gene scenes, especially if you subscribe to the theory that intro is him watching his old lawyer commercials repeatedly from the pilot.
* With Nacho dead, it remains to be seen how the rest of the season will deal with Lalo, Gus and Mike. I can easily see a scenario where Lalo goes after Nacho's father upon finding out he missed his chance to get revenge. Whether Mike will be able to keep his promise to Nacho is an entirely different question.
