Warning: this article contains spoilers for Better Call Saul season 6, episode 7.
Lalo Salamanca's return to Jimmy and Kim's home in Better Call Saul is a shocking twist, but the reason for Lalo's actions creeps across the scene just moments earlier. Lalo makes sure that Better Call Saul's mid-season finale ends with a bang as he arrives unannounced and kills Howard Hamlin, who is just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The nail-biting scene mirrors a terrifying moment in season 5 when Lalo waltzes into Jimmy's home, demanding to hear his version of what happened in the desert. That season 5 scene ends without any casualties, but lightning definitely strikes this time around.
Lalo is embroiled in a game of cat and mouse with Gus Fring in Better Call Saul season 6, and Fring and his superlab remain Lalo's main target, so his motivation for going to Jimmy and Kim's remains murky. Lalo and Jimmy have history, with Jimmy representing Lalo in court during season 5 and securing Lalo the opportunity to escape on bail. This trial has led many to call Jimmy "Salamanca's guy," a title he embraces as he morphs fully into Breaking Bad's Saul Goodman. One of the reasons he has embraced said title, however, is because Jimmy believes Lalo to be dead. This revelation could cause friction in Jimmy and Kim's relationship, as she was informed by Mike that Lalo is very much alive.
The twist of Lalo's arrival comes as a surprise to viewers, as well as to Jimmy, but one detail in the scene prior explains exactly why Lalo turns up at Jimmy's. As Lalo is on the phone to Casa Tranquila, the residence of his uncle Hector Salamanca, he sees a cockroach running along a pipe. This may seem like nothing at first glance, but to Lalo, it makes him think directly of Jimmy. Back in Better Call Saul season 5, when Jimmy is collecting Lalo's money in the desert, Kim visits Lalo in prison to try and find out more. Lalo insists Jimmy is fine because "he's like la cucaracha" (cockroach in Spanish), which, according to Lalo, indicates that Jimmy is a "born survivor."
Jimmy and Kim may no longer seem like born survivors now that they're at the mercy of Lalo. However, they're not Lalo's main targets. After seeing the extent of Gus Fring's force at the superlab, Lalo knows there's no safe way in. Also, knowing that Gus has bugged the phones at Casa Tranquila, he chooses to throw Gus's men off the scent so they'll remobilize at Gus's house, resulting in their lesser priorities, such as Jimmy and Kim, becoming vulnerable. Lalo could plan to use Jimmy and Kim to his advantage. After all, Jimmy is "Salamanca's guy" in Better Call Saul now. Lalo will suspect that Jimmy has ties to Gus or Mike, and he could therefore try to use him as leverage. But such a plan seems too simple for a mind as dastardly as Lalo.
Lalo will no doubt try to squeeze any information out of them that he can, but ultimately, they have very little to give, which might lead to yet another tense stand-off between them that could leave Kim's fate hanging in the balance. The fact that Lalo views Jimmy as a cockroach could be grave foreshadowing. As he said, cockroaches are "born survivors," and audiences know that Jimmy is alive during the events of Breaking Bad. The same cannot be said for Kim, however, and the fact that Lalo only refers to Jimmy as a cockroach could imply that Kim may not survive the events of Better Call Saul.
Better Call Saul season 6 returns on July 11th, 2022, on AMC.