Spice curls might've just saved Gus Fring's life in Giancarlo Esposito, Better Call Saul's Gustavo Fring is a man accustomed to control, but control is eluding him in season 6. After Fring's plot to assassinate Lalo Salamanca went badly awry in Better Call Saul season 5's finale, his target has vanished without a trace. Gus knows Lalo will come for revenge, but constantly guessing when and where has the Los Pollos Hermanos owner flapping like a headless chicken.
Desperate to distract himself, Gus decides to take some orders at his restaurant, and asks a customer if they'd like to spice up their life with a side of spice curls. As these words pour from Fring's mouth, a light bulb moment hits - Lalo can't attack straight away, and is actually gathering proof Gus has started building a secret underground superlab. As one of the smartest players in the narcotics game, it's no surprise that Gus Fring eventually figures out Lalo's intentions... but why do spice curls nudge him toward the truth?
Better Call Saul season 6, episode 5's spice curls line is a callback to season 5's "JMM," which includes a boardroom meeting attended by all Madrigal's fast-food restaurant owners. Here, Gus serves up a sample of Los Pollos Hermanos' new product - spice curls - to his boss, Peter Schuler. Despite holding a senior position at Madrigal, Schuler is actually Gus Fring's sponsor in the drugs trade, and they've worked together in secret since long before Better Call Saul's timeline. When Gus utters the phrase "spice curls" out loud in the present day, therefore, he's reminded of this meeting, and of Peter Schuler. It's thinking of Schuler that finally makes Gus realize Lalo is seeking proof of the superlab.
Peter Schuler is connected to Gus Fring's superlab in two major ways. For starters, Schuler is backing the project financially behind the cartel's back. Secondly, Schuler is German - just like the superlab's architect, Werner Ziegler, whose wife Lalo Salamanca is currently harassing for information. While it's impossible to completely deduce how Gus connects the dots, his thought process jumps from spice curls, to the spice curls taster meeting from Better Call Saul season 5, to Peter Schuler who tasted them, to the superlab and Werner Ziegler, which he then realizes is precisely why Lalo has been conspicuously quiet.
If that seems like a stretch, Better Call Saul already laid the groundwork in season 4's finale. Shortly before Gus had Werner Ziegler killed, Lalo Salamanca realized the architect was working on something Fring-related, and phoned him pretending to be a "friend of Michael's." Werner carelessly itted a construction project was underway, but Mike grabbed the phone before Lalo learned any firm details. Thanks to Werner's loose lips, Gus knows Lalo already had a hunch about the superlab's existence. It stands to reason that's where he'd look first for proof of Fring's betrayal.
season 6 continues Monday on AMC