‘Better Call Saul’ Recap: ‘Rock and Hard Place’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 603 of ‘Better Call Saul’. To revisit the previous two episodes, click here.
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One thing that fans of the Breaking Bad Universe can agree upon, is that all the shows within this harrowing world… feature some specific constants. For instance, there are always quality performances to be found in these stories since every series features top notch actors that bring their A-game to every single second of every single episode they are in. Plus, these shows always feature incredible stories, the kind that engage us through and through and captivate us and tug on our heartstrings emotionally. But above all else, this is a universe, that is mired and darkness and death. For Walter White and Saul Goodman operate in an underbelly where danger is everywhere, but what’s wild… is that death has managed to take a backseat in one particular show in this universe, Better Call Saul.
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Granted, it’s been there. After all, the death of Charles McGill was a big and powerful moment, one that helped to begin the formation of Saul Goodman. But outside of Charles, major character deaths and sorrow and suffering from it… has been elusive in this tale. But alas, as we inch toward the inevitable union between Saul Goodman and Heisenberg, and all the chaos and suffering that would come about from that… death is beginning to make its way into this show, as evidenced by last night’s tale. For ‘Rock and Hard Place’ featured the exit of a major character from this particular series, in a manner that was both stunning and heartbreaking, and all of this came about… courtesy of a painful realization for one Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Varga.

For when we catch up with him in this tale, he’s managed to evade the Twins and is on the run in a truck that can barely hold up and when given the perfect opportunity to hide from them and live another day, he most certainly takes it and eventually finds safety within the confines of an out of the way car repair shop. A move that made it appear as though Nacho was finally going to get back to the States and deal with Gus and the double cross pulled upon him. But a quick conversation with his father, one that helped him to understand how lost he was at this point in this life and how bad his situation currently was, and how badly he wanted out of the life… motivated Nacho to do something quite bold, and call Mike and Gus to make quite the fascinating deal.

In that, he would return Stateside and ‘turn himself over’ to the Fring Empire to make it appear as though Gus and his boys managed to capture him, wherein they would hand him over to the Salamancas and find a way to stealthily fake his death and allow for him to live a life away from the game at last. Which was a bold decision on Nacho’s part, since it came with great risk. But this plan offered him assurances that his father would remain safe in the end, and that made it worth his while since that was all he wanted for his pops and well… at first it appeared as though this wild plan was going to go off without a hitch. After all, Mike tuned him up well enough to make it look as though he’d put up a fight during his ‘capture’ and the right words were installed in his mind. 

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Not to mention, the hand off happened as planned and the exact questions that they practiced for were asked. But in that moment, something changed for Nacho. In that, he came to realize that Gus was going to double cross him in this moment… which put him in the midst of a no-win scenario. One that came about at the price of keeping his family safe and well, that motivated Nacho… to go for broke and make his death worthwhile. Which is why he egged Hector on and let years of frustration out vocally. To cleanse his soul and his conscience before doing the unthinkable and turning a stolen gun upon himself. Putting an end to the story of Nacho Varga in a stunning and heartbreaking manner since he was so close to redemption. But that is the tragic way of this universe and speaking of tragedy… we’d be foolish to not discuss Jimmy and Kim’s journey in this tale. 
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Because they are obviously barreling toward it by immersing themselves within the framework of revenge and they hatched the beginning of the next wave of their plan in this tale… by going the extra mile to get something quite important… a key to Howard Hamlin’s car. And with a little help from Huell… and one master key-maker, they were able to get a carbon copy of Howard’s key, complete with a janky wireless key fob. A move that will undoubtedly bring about something dastardly for their plans and they also had to deal with quite the legal surprise in this tale as well. Since the D.A. figured out that Jimmy’s seven-million-dollar bail client, was in fact Lalo Salamanca and she expressed hope that maybe… Jimmy would talk to her about his dealings with Lalo and perhaps enjoy his own get out of jail card in doing so.

Which are of course, moments that speak more to the future since that’s setup stuff through and through and not really mired in tragedy. But there was a moment that related to that theme present in this segment, one that took place between Huell and Jimmy. For shortly after the key was delivered unto Jimmy… Huell wanted to know why he was doing this kind of stuff when he and Kim made good money and were clearly talented lawyers. A question that Jimmy struggled to answer of course, simply because he couldn’t express aloud what we already knew… that he chose to do this. That he desired to get back at a system and people that had marginalized him and hurt him deeply, and knowing that Jimmy was actively making such decisions and that they were getting easier… was ominous for certain. Since it served to remind us… how we are barreling toward the finish line. Where Saul Goodman will take over completely and bad choices are all that Jimmy will know.
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But while that was a wonderful and subtle way to express and remind the audience of where Jimmy is headed and how close he is to ‘breaking bad’ if you will, make no mistake about it… it is Nacho’s tragic story that dominated this episode. For his swan song and farewell were about as epic and as powerful as it gets and well… this writer can only offer up a round of applause to Michael Mando for giving us one hell of a goodbye. One that will be remembered and fawned over for some time and what’s wild… is that his exit only accelerates what this show is ultimately trying to accomplish. For every closed chapter involving the cartel and Gus… focuses the story harder on the metaphysical death Jimmy McGill and the harrowing birth of Saul Goodman. Until next time.

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